Tenku no Escaflowne

Tenkū no Esukafurōne (天空のエスカフローネ, lit. Sky Escaflowne^?) is an anime series produced by Sunrise, originally broadcast in Japan between April 2 and September 24, 1996. The series it would inspire two manga series and an animated film. However, the manga series debuted before the anime itself, due to the latter's lengthy pre-production process.^{[citation needed]}

The story is a mixture of literature from different cultures, drawing even from the mythological past of humanity. The music, composed by Yōko Kanno and Mizoguchi Hajime, incorporates elements such as Western choral and electro-pop. The series marked the anime debut (in a lead role) of Maaya Sakamoto as the voice of the main character Hitomi Kanzaki and singer of the opening theme song Yakusoku wa Iranai.

In addition to the regular release, Bandai's now-defunct brand Anime Village also released an American version of the so-called Special Edition that Bandai Visual created in Japan.. It was the entire 26-episode story arc released on three VHS tapes in 1996-1997. In 1998, it was broadcast in Mexico by TV Azteca 7 under the name La visión de Escaflowne. That same year, Anime Village released a North American edition titled Vision of Escaflowne Best Collection. Escaflowne aired briefly on Fox Kids in the United States, in another version edited between August and October 2000, but was cancelled. Said version was modified to fit the tastes of adolescents, and has been nicknamed Foxcaflowne. A 23-episode version, heavily cut for content and time, and with a different title sequence, aired several times on Fox Kids in the UK. The series was also broadcast in Chile in 1999 by the ETC cable channel and at the end of 2000 through the state network TVN. The Vision of Escaflowne also aired on YTV Canada under the title Escaflowne. In Spain it was released for the first time on VHS in 1998 by Selecta Vision, due to its great success in that country they began to broadcast it on television, in 2001 it was broadcast on El 33 dubbed in Catalan and later it was distributed on DVD that included Spanish, Catalan and Japanese with subtitle. That same year, in the month of May, it was released on the Argentine cable channel Magic Kids.

The unedited 26-part series has since been released on US and UK DVD packages, offering a choice of dubbed and subtitled versions, which have been used for release in other countries, as in the case of Spain. TokyoPop published the manga in English.

Plot

Hitomi Kanzaki is an average high school student. In addition to being an excellent athlete, she also possesses an exceptional power to glimpse the future of others through a tarot deck, and lately she has had strange visions of fantastic people and beings. One day while running on the school track after classes, a boy in armor materializes in front of her fighting with a dragon from which a gem is pulled from its heart after managing to kill it thanks to Hitomi's predictions, however both are transported to the world of Gaea where Van is from.

Gaea is a world in an alternate plane created by the inhabitants of Atlantis when it began to sink into the ocean, it has 100 different countries and from there the Earth is visible in the sky, being known as " The Ghost Moon". In this medieval fantasy world there is magic, beastmen, supernatural monsters and the Guymelef, gigantic mechs in the form of warriors armed with swords and bladed weapons piloted by knights and samurai in battle.

Van turns out to be the heir to the kingdom of Fanelia, who needed the dragon jewel to pass the test that would recognize him as the rightful king and allow him to command Escaflowne, a legendary guymelef in whom magic and the most powerful technology are fused.. Unfortunately, shortly before the coronation, an army of mysterious invisible guymelefs attack the city and the kingdom is destroyed, managing to escape Van and Hitomi, thus beginning a journey where they must fight and make allies to restore the kingdom of Fanelia, save Gaea and help Hitomi return. to Japan.

List of episodes

1. For Confession (The Promise of Destiny)
2. The girl of the ghost moon (Gata, a strange and distant world)
3. A splendid fencing (The Great Knight)
4. The Devil Gentile Boy (The Devil Boy)
5. The Seal of Brothers (The Brotherly Link)
6. The city of intrigues
7. Unexpected Separation (Unforeseen Separation)
8. The day the angel flew (The Day of Angel Dance)
9. Memories of a winged being (The wings of memory)
10. The prince of blue eyes
11. Mortal Prophecy (Mortal Prediction)
12. The Secret Door (The Secret Door)
13. Red Destiny (The Red Destiny thread)
14. Dangerous wounds (the scar of danger)
15. Lost Paradise (Lost Paradise)
16. The guides
17. The edge of the world (the age of the world)
18. The Gravity of Destiny (The Force of Destiny)
19. Operation golden line of love (The Golden Rule of Love)
20. False oaths (Deception)
21. Fate Reaction (The Reverse of the Medal)
22. The angel of black wings (dark wings)
23. Storm premonition (Storm prelude)
24. Critical Election (The Choice of Destiny)
25. Zone of absolute fortune (The sphere of absolute happiness)
26. Eternal love (an eternal memory)

Movie

The film, released on June 24, 2000 in Japan, was called Escaflowne: The Movie (エスカフローネ, Escaflowne: The Movie^?), and is based on the series, with some changes to the plot and the way the events unfold. characters, in addition, some of the characters from the series are eliminated and a greater role is given to the few that remain.

In Spain the film was distributed on DVD by Selecta Visión in 2005.

Hitomi Kanzaki is in a very depressed mood. She just wants to sleep and disappear. Her misery happens when she has a vision with Folken, which sends her to Gaia. The people of Fanelia think that she is the Winged Goddess, who can call the legendary dragon armor, the God of War, Escaflowne. In Fanelia, King Van, sole heir to the White Dragon Clan, is also in a depressed state. He swears an oath to take revenge on the Black Dragon Clan, which the kingdom of Van hates. Now that the Wind Goddess has finally appeared, she holds the fate of the world of Gaia in her heart. Escaflowne will bring peace or total ruin to Gaia.

Cast

Character	Voice actor (Japan)	Voice actor (Spain - TV series)	Voice actor (Spain - film)	Voice Actor (Latin America - TV Series)
Hitomi Kanzaki	Maaya Sakamoto	Nuria Doménech	Nuria Trifol	Alma Wilhelme
Van Fanel	Tomokazu Seki	Jordi Pons	Angel of Grace	José Gilberto Vilchis
Allen Schezar	Shinichiro Miki	José Luis Mediavilla	José Posada	Oscar Flores
Dilandau Albatau	Minami Takayama	Victòria Pagès (ep. 3, 5-7, 9) Pilar Gefaell (ep. 4, 10-26)	Albert Trifol Segarra	Victor Ugarte
Gadeth	Mitsuaki Madono	Enric Isasi-Isasmendi	Paco Gázquez	Genaro Vásquez
Princess Milerna/Mirana	Mayumi Iizuka	Aurora García		Martha Ceceña
Merle	Ikue ⋅tani	Elisabet Bargalló	Rosa Riba	Claudia Mota
Folken Fanel	Jouji Nakata	Pep Sais	Jordi Ribes	Jorge Santos
Lord Dolkirk/Dornkirk	Masato Yamanouchi			Federico Romano
Dryden Fassa	Juurouta Kosugi	Jordi Ribes	Alfonso Vallés	Jorge Ornelas
Prince Chid	Minami Takayama	Geni Rey		Rebeca Gómez
Princess Eries/Elise	Yuri Amano	Pilar Gefaell		Pilar Scandon
Princess Marlenne	Sakurako Kishiro			Ada Morales
Naria	Yuri Amano	Pilar Gefaell		Ruth Toscano
Leon Shezar	Takaya Hashi			Victor Mares (†)
Selena	Minami Takayama			Rebeca Gómez
Yukari Uchida	Mayumi Iizuka	Elisabet Bargalló	Angel of Grace	Martha Ceceña
Jajuka	Kouji Tsujitani	Javier Viñas

Music

The music, composed by Yōko Kanno and Hajime Mizoguchi, bets on a decidedly European style, although it also incorporates diverse styles such as contemporary music, classical music and Gregorian chant.