Copyright © 1998 Sunrise

"Classic anime." For some it is GUNDAM or MACROSS. For others, ORANGE ROAD or MAISON IKKOKU. Still others include PATLABOR or all of Studio Ghibli and Miyazaki's films. Through the years anime fans have either experienced or heard others talk about "classic anime," and it's usually followed up by some sorrowful or angry introspection about how "anime these days ain't what it used to be." In many ways, they are right, as those classic anime titles cannot be replaced. Yet, before you think that "classic anime" has to be relegated to something from ten years ago, along comes Bandai's release of a brand-new, modern classic that rivals anything that came before it: ESCAFLOWNE the TV series on DVD. Folks, this is an all time classic; a true masterpiece, and it's just being released on DVD! From the outstanding animation, to the gorgeous music, to the perfectly laid out story, ESCAFLOWNE is truly a classic for the ages.
ESCAFLOWNE is a tale that masterfully combines romance, giant mechs, a fantasy world, chivalry and one of the most engaging storylines into an epic experience truly beyond words. Take a bit of shoujo, sword fighting, political intrigue, deep characters and some love, mix it together, and you'd still only scratch the surface of the glory that is ESCAFLOWNE.
For those that had the unfortunate pleasure of watching ESCAFLOWNE on Fox TV, forget what you've seen, as that is only a pale shadow—severely cut and edited to cater to 3-second-long-attention-span kids—in comparison to the unedited, beautiful and bad-ass original series now available on DVD. If you thought what you saw on U.S. TV was good, you haven't seen anything yet.
ESCAFLOWNE is a tale of an ordinary high school girl named Hitomi, who runs into a mysterious warrior from another world, and then gets suddenly transported to that strange world called "Gaea." It is from this strange twist of fate that ESCAFLOWNE'S story really begins to unfold. We discover that the warrior is actually Prince Van (soon to become King Van) of Fanelia, a kingdom marked by a population of Land Dragons. From there Fanelia suddenly gets attacked and Van and Hitomi flee after a ferocious but hopeless battle. The action and story never let up, always keeping a firm and masterful grip on the viewer as plot twists and engaging characters get unveiled at every turn. But before you think that this gets too complicated, fear not, as it never gets overly complex or hard to understand. The pacing never seems to be rushed or too slow: it just moves along at a perfect pace, a mark of a true masterpiece. The DVD contains four episodes and, as if destined for this pacing, it ends on a perfect climactic cliffhanger.
The visuals alone are worth buying this DVD for, as the animation quality and high production values throughout rival that of many anime movies, let alone OAV series. (And this is a TV series!) Imagine this wonderful artwork for 26 episodes, and you'll understand a fraction of the greatness of ESCAFLOWNE. The character designs are by Yuuki Nobuteru, the master character designer behind BATTLE ANGEL/GUNNM, RECORD OF LODOSS WAR OAV and X: THE MOVIE. Then there's the amazing mecha designs by Yamane Kimitoshi, with original concepts by Kawamori "MACROSS" Shoji! Yet even that amazing art is topped by the masterful film direction of Akane Kazuki—every scene, every minute of ESCAFLOWNE is filled with a perfect composition and meaningful moments; there's never any "filler episodes" in this entire series.
The music is already considered one of the greatest anime soundtracks of all time, written and composed by Kanno Yoko and Mizoguchi Hajime, who also collaborated together on MACROSS PLUS. Their music, like the rest of the show, cannot be truly defined, although it is mainly an epic orchestral type of music. The music is driving and soothing when it needs to be, and like Kanno's other work, COWBOY BEBOP, it perfectly fits each scene. Even beyond the amazing instrumental music are the wonderful vocal songs that never feel "too JPOP." They too were written and composed by Kanno (except the ending theme), and, amazingly enough, they are sung masterfully by the original Japanese voice actress for Hitomi, Sakamoto Maaya.
Perhaps the greatest part of ESCAFLOWNE'S audio may be its original voice actors. The Japanese voice cast is just phenomenal as each character is portrayed realistically and convincingly. From Van's angst-filled moments to the ever-somber Folken, the voice actors should be commended. One of the highlights would be the voice of Hitomi, the main girl in this series. The ESCAFLOWNE staff wanted someone who could act and sound like a real-life high school girl, and they found Sakamoto, who really was a girl in high school at the time! Yet when you listen to her voice, throughout the episodes and in the songs, you would never guess it—Kanno once said that Sakamoto has one of the sweetest voices that she's ever heard. Another surprise would be the voice of Dilandau, the crazed male leader of the Dragonslayers, who is voiced by none other than the female Takayama Minami—the voice of Kiki in KIKI'S DELIVERY SERVICE, Nabiki in RANMA 1/2 and the lead singer and songwriter for the JPOP group TWO-MIX, who sings the opening song in GUNDAM WING. Talk about flexibility and true vocal range.
Unfortunately the English dub doesn't even compare. In fact, it's not even adequate, featuring some of the worst voice acting for a dub I've ever heard. The dub was made back when Bandai was just starting in the U.S., so there's some leeway there, but trust me, just go directly to the original Japanese language track with English subtitles and you'll be much happier for it.
On the DVD itself, the video quality is solid, but it suffers from some slight moire effects on complex lines, but there's no artifacting. Again, this is not Bandai or Cinram's fault, as the original source material was the culprit; even the original Japanese DVDs had these problems. Overall it is a solid transfer, though, and something that is far superior to any other version available today. One downer on the video transfer is the opening animation sequence: it comes across as very blurry and soft, as if taken directly from an S-VHS tape or something. When compared to the rest of the episode, the difference is marked. One can only hope that they remaster the Opening (and possibly the Ending sequence) for future DVDs.
The audio is solid Dolby Pro-Logic 3.0 channel audio. It can be listened to in just stereo or with Pro-Logic. This is a nice bonus for fans as the original was just 2.0 stereo made for TV.
The DVD menu design definitely deserves some recognition, as it is all based around the theme of tarot cards—which Hitomi uses throughout the series. There's wonderful Kanno music running through all the menus and sub-menus, using different tracks on each page. One page that you should not miss is the individual episode page, the one that allows you to pick the chapter within an episode. Normally, you would just pick "play" after getting your settings right, but be sure to visit it once, as the menu actually "morphs" into the next screen, just like Zaibach's Guymelefs in the anime! Very cool. They also include four music videos, all sung by Sakamoto Maaya, of course. Besides the non-credit opening song, all other music videos have two sets of lyrics: you can have the English translated lyrics, or you can sing along with the original Japanese romaji lyrics, and both are switchable via the "subtitle" button on your DVD player. Talk about having it any way you like! (One important note: the music videos contain major spoilers for the rest of the series. I would recommend watching them only after you've seen the rest of the series.)
As if this package couldn't get any better, Bandai Entertainment went the extra mile and included a fully translated, full-color reproduction of the original Japanese LD inserts/liner notes. This DVD insert contains an English translated reproduction that talks about the dragons on Gaea. This (and all future inserts) are from the original Japanese LDs, and they talk about various aspects of the world of ESCAFLOWNE, accompanied by a full color illustration. Bandai also went with the rare, almost never-seen-before, ESCAFLOWNE artwork used originally for the rental versions of the series. The first cover is a wonderful piece with Van and Hitomi.
In the end, ESCAFLOWNE TV Volume 1 DVD is a must own title, and a true masterpiece of anime. If you're looking for a masterwork, or the epitome of anime, this is it. From the stunning animation and artwork, to the beautiful music, to the compelling story and characters, ESCAFLOWNE is the magnum opus of all the releases by Bandai to date. What's even more amazing is the time we're living in. Some people think that the "golden age" of anime is long gone. Yet look around at what's being released today: from the amazing ESCAFLOWNE, to the equally stunning COWBOY BEBOP, to TRIGUN, to the cute and romantic LOVE HINA (in Japan). Welcome to the "New Golden Age of anime." Simply amazing.

Released in North America by Bandai Entertainment
Bilingual DVD, 100 Minutes
English dubbed / Japanese subtitled, BEI-0430
$29.99
Available now in the USA
Where to buy