Escaflowne

From Fanlore
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Fandom
Name: The Vision of Escaflowne, 天空のエスカフローネ
Abbreviation(s): Esca, VoE
Creator: Sunrise Studios
Date(s): April 2, 1996 - September 24, 1996
Medium: anime, manga, light novel
Country of Origin: Japan
External Links: Bandai's page for the Play Station game (JP)
website for the card game (JP)
Biglobe - Anime (JP)(dead link) archived version
Biglobe - Esca Movie (JP)
Escaflowne.jpg
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

Escaflowne is a 26-episode fantasy mecha series about Hitomi, a schoolgirl who is whisked away to an alien planet invisible in Earth's skies, and the people she meets there. The series was extremely popular in many countries when it was first fansubbed, so it was eventually released in several languages (English, French, German, Russian, and Spanish) by Bandai's official representatives.

The series was followed by an Alternate Universe movie in 2000, with music by Yoko Kanno.

Fandom

Had enjoyed a fairly large fandom in the late 1990s and early 2000s, possibly more so in the West where the tv series allegedly found more success than in Japan.

Fanfiction.net hosts well over three thousand fics and has long been the center of English-language Escafowne fics. There are comparatively fewer fics on AO3, though it has grown more recently.

Beyond the main archives, one could find fics and fanart on Livejournal and on individual websites.

The most popular ships back in the early days seemed to be Van/Hitomi and Van/Dilandau. The former was bolstered strongly by the series' abrupt ending, which left the main characters living apart. This fueled a desire for fix-it fics that brought Van and Hitomi back together, usually several years after the tv series ended. Another popular trope was to send OCs to Gaia for new adventures on the planet.

Actual discourse seemed fairly uncommon by today's standards, though it must have existed.

Mailing Lists

Fansub

The TV series was fansubbed into English by several groups in the late 1990s. Those who completed the series include:[1]

The movie was fansubbed by a smaller group, including:[1]

Anime Music Videos

The series is popular with AMV editors.

One of the best AMVs is a more recent work, featuring a brilliant choice of song, strong editing and storytelling:

Moonfall AMV for Otakon 2013 by Shin AMV (Hitomi-centric)

Popular early AMVs included:

Several AMVs were also made from the movie, including:

  • Salva Hitomi by Katt

Additional AMVs:

Included in the AMV Elvis vs. Anime.

Fanart

  • Dilandau by uglynicc (Portrait of Dilandau) "Diving deep into some 90's anime nostalgia"

Resources

References

  1. ^ a b Fansub Database, Accessed Nov. 30, 2012.