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The Vision of Escaflowne

The Vision of Escaflowne
★ 8.1/10•1996•25m•TV-14•Animation•Drama•Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Similars

High school student Hitomi is transported from Earth to the magical world of Gaea, where she meets boy prince Van Fanel, and is caught up in his quest to unite the countries of Gaea against the ominous Zaibach empire. On the way, she discovers an hidden ability and strives to unravel layers of mystery surrounding Van, his past, and the giant machine known as Escaflowne.

Shoji Kawamori · Director

Shoji Kawamori · Screenplay

Ryota Yamaguchi · Writer

StatusEnded
Runtime25m
LanguageJA
First Air DateApr 2, 1996

Episodes

Episode 1 - Fateful ConfessionE125m

Fateful Confession

One fateful day, high school sprinter Hitomi Kanzaki experiences a disturbing vision of another world and discovers from her best friend that Amano (the track team star she has a crush on) is about to go abroad. On an impulse, she asks him the next day for her first kiss -- if she can sprint 100 meters in thirteen seconds. But then, a young warrior prince and a dragon appears before Hitomi during the run ....

Apr 2, 1996

Episode 2 - The Girl From the Mystic MoonE225m

The Girl From the Mystic Moon

In a shaft of light, Hitomi and the prince Van tranports to the world of Gaea, where Earth is known only as the "Mystic Moon" in the nightly expanse. Van returns to the capital of his country Fanelia to be coronated after obtaining the Energist crystal from the dragon. During the coronation rite, the Zaibach empire launches an invasion with Guymelef Alseides mecha, and Van must retrieve at his mentor Balgus's bidding Escaflowne, the legendary god of protection of Fanelia.

Apr 9, 1996

Episode 3 - The Gallant SwordsmanE325m

The Gallant Swordsman

Hitomi and Van find themselves separated and lost in the neighboring country of Asturia, where a handsome knight save Hitomi from a thief and apparent lecher. Allen's haunting resemblance to Amano does little to alleviate Hitomi's confusion, specially after Van and Allen challenge each other to a duel not once, but twice...

Apr 16, 1996

Episode 4 - The Diabolical AdonisE425m

The Diabolical Adonis

Once again, Hitomi sees a disturbing vision, this time of Allen's fort engulfed in flames. Van reunites with his attendant catgirl Merle after she escaped Fanelia's fiery destruction, but both she and Hitomi fall ill. Both eventually recover, but then Hitomi's vision of a Zaibach invasion comes true at the hands of a devilish youthful commander named Dilandau...

Apr 23, 1996

Episode 5 - The Seal of the BrothersE525m

The Seal of the Brothers

After his capture by Dilandau and the Dragon Slayers, Van is imprisoned aboard the Zaibach floating fortress Vione. Here, the Zaibach strategist Folken reveals his identity to Van and attempts to invite him into the folds of the empire. Fortunately, Hitomi uses her dowsing abilities to discover the Vione, and the crew of Allen's ship Crusade mount a rescue operation...

Apr 30, 1996

Episode 6 - City of IntrigueE625m

City of Intrigue

After the successful rescue, Hitomi and Van's party seek refuge in Paras, Allen's home and the capital of Asturia. However, the Zaibach forces and their entreaties to King Aston upstage their entrance. (Zaibach and Asturia have a non-aggression pact.) Folken meets with Van to offer a personal entreaty to join the Zaibach cause. Meanwhile, Dilandau attempts to avenge the grevious facial scar Van inflicted...

May 7, 1996

Episode 7 - Unexpected PartingsE725m

Unexpected Partings

After a gladiatorial fight to ascertain the legendary power of the Ispano-built Guymelef Escaflowne, King Aston invite omi and Van's party into the royal palace. The king is about to marry off his third daughter Millerna to a noble merchant's son, but Hitomi is shocked by the not-so-discrete kiss between Millerna and Allen. Meanwhile, agents hoping to lure Escaflowne out into the open seize the opportunity to capture Hitomi...

May 14, 1996

Episode 8 - The Day the Angel FlewE825m

The Day the Angel Flew

Hitomi, Van, and his attendant Merle are forced to depart from Paras in the wake of the devastation Dilandau caused. Allen is imprisoned for having abetted them, and Millerna learns that the Zaibach forces intend to invade Freid. As Millerna attempts to free Allen to warn Freid, Hitomi's party tries to disrupt the operations of a Zaibach Energist quarry. The ensuing events forces one of them to reveal a closely guarded secret ....

May 21, 1996

Episode 9 - Memories of a FeatherE925m

Memories of a Feather

A feather from Van invoke visions of the past for Hitomi, who sees the courtship of Van's parents and his early childhood. The Dragon Slayers pursue and confront the Escaflowne, and Allen appears as if by Hitomi's prayers to assist. Unfortunately, Allen sacrifices himself to protect Hitomi from a deflected liquid metal attack. Millerna appears in time to operate with her nascent medical skills on Allen's wounds...

May 28, 1996

Episode 10 - The Blue Eyed PrinceE1025m

The Blue Eyed Prince

After Millerna successfully nurses Allen's wounds, the party turns towards Freid, the kingdom where her deceased eldest sister Marlene married into the royal family. Here, they meet Marlene's son Prince Chid, a blue-eyed innocent who still remembers stories his mother recounted of the peerless knight Allen...

Jun 4, 1996

Episode 11 - Prophecy of DeathE1125m

Prophecy of Death

Suspicion of treachery falls on Hitomi and the rest of the party, and chameleon-like Zaibach operator Zongi (disguised as a Freid Praktu high priest) is sent to pry open her mind. During the ordeal, Hitomi reveals her origins from the Mystic Moon, but visions of Zongi's own past intervenes -- as well as a prophesy of death that send omi into a deathlike trance...

Jun 11, 1996

Episode 12 - The Secret DoorE1225m

The Secret Door

Hitomi's party exonerate themselves, and Duke Freid (the ruler of Freid who just returned) grants them an audience at his palace. With their input, Freid prepares for the imminent Zaibach invasion. Meanwhile, Millerna discovers a secret door in her sister Marlene's music box. It reveals a diary -- a diary recounting Millerna and Allen's past...

Jun 18, 1996

Episode 13 - Red DestinyE1325m

Red Destiny

Zaibach devastates the capital of Freid, and the duke and Prince Chid flee with Hitomi's party to Fortona temple in the country's outskirts. The monks here present the duke with the sword that unseals the legend of the power of Atlantis. Folken directs the Zaibach troops towards the temple, intent on claiming the sword and fulfilling Hitomi's vision of a bloody outcome to the battle.

Jun 25, 1996

Episode 14 - Dangerous WoundsE1425m

Dangerous Wounds

In the last battle, Van incurs life-threatening injuries which Hitomi discovers to match Escaflowne's battle damage exactly. Fortunately, Dryden (Millerna's betrothed) appears and uses his knowledge of ancient technologies to summon Escaflowne's original builders. The Ispano repair Escaflowne and in the process, heal the pilot whose blood pact intertwines his fate with the Escaflowne's. Thus restored, Van rushes to mete out vengeance upon the Dragon Slayers, despite the consequences.

Jul 2, 1996

Episode 15 - Lost ParadiseE1525m

Lost Paradise

Van is enveloped into the world of the dead, and Hitomi goes to retrieve him -- but not before envisioning the destruction of Atlantis. The previous battle's trauma disorients Dilandau as well, so Folken sends out Naria and Eriya (the intensely loyal leopard girl twins who directly answer to him) to continue the mission of capturing the Escaflowne.

Jul 9, 1996

Episode 16 - The Guided OnesE1625m

The Guided Ones

Dryden discovers the location of the Mystic Valley (and purportedly also, the entrance to Atlantis) in Allen's father's diaries. In the process, Allen confronts his bitterment towards his absent father, and Hitomi discovers her grandmother also visited Gaea. The party is pursued by Folken's floating fortress until Hitomi's pendant and prayer opens a portal to Atlantis.

Jul 16, 1996

Episode 17 - The Edge of the WorldE1725m

The Edge of the World

At the ruins of the legendary Atlantis, Hitomi, Van, and Allen encounter various figures in their past, including Hitomi's grandmother, Van's mother, Balgus, and Allen's sister and father. Hitomi also watches the history of Atlantis from the creation of the thought-realizing Atlantis Machine through the genesis of Gaea to Atlantis's eventual destruction.

Jul 23, 1996

Episode 18 - The Gravity of DestinyE1825m

The Gravity of Destiny

After Van receives a new Energist from his mother, Hitomi, Allen, and Van tranports to Dornkirk's fortress when Dornkirk attempts to activate his Destiny-Altering Device. Dornkirk explains to the disbelieving trio his apparently well-intentioned motives for all of Zaibach's actions.

Jul 30, 1996

Episode 19 - Operation Golden Rule of LoveE1925m

Operation Golden Rule of Love

Three weeks have passed since Hitomi, Van, and Allen's ordeal in Dornkirk's fortress, and all of Asturia prepares for Millerna and Dryden's wedding and worries over King Aston's ailing state. Van give Hitomi an almost-but-not-quite love confession that disillusion Hitomi, making her vulnerable to Folken's test of the Destiny-Altering Device.

Aug 6, 1996

Episode 20 - False VowsE2025m

False Vows

With her upcoming marriage to Dryden on her mind, Millerna ask omi for a tarot reading on its outcome. Hitomi reads a prediction of misfortune and disaster, but decides to tell Millerna a prediction of happy fortune instead. She hopes her thoughts and faith alone would be enough to change fate and reverse the prediction. Her hope is shattered by the entrance of fortune-enhanced soldiers Naria and Eriya at the wedding.

Aug 13, 1996

Episode 21 - Reaction of FortuneE2125m

Reaction of Fortune

Hitomi surrenders herself before the twin Zaibach leopard girls, but the reemergence of the sun causes a debilitating reaction in the fortune-enhanced soldiers. Naria crashlands back on Asturia, and returns to the royal castle on foot to capture Hitomi again. However, the side-effects of the fortune-enhancement process continues to stymie she and Eriya and eventually leads to Folken rethink his cause.

Aug 20, 1996

Episode 22 - The Black Winged AngelE2225m

The Black Winged Angel

Asturia's royal council discusses whether to submit to Zaibach or rally against the empire. Folken summons Van (and Hitomi) back to the ruins of Fanelia which he indirectly helped destroy. Here, the brothers and Hitomi face two dragons, and Folken reveals the truth about his disappearance during the pre-coronation dragon-slaying ritual ten years ago.

Aug 27, 1996

Episode 23 - Storm PremonitionE2325m

Storm Premonition

Asturia and its neighboring countries agree to unite their forces against Zaibach and prepare for war. Folken joins the allied effort against Zaibach and lends his expertise and knowledge, despite Van's doubt and lingering resentment. Also, Dilandau at last returns to strike preemptively on the assembled forces at Rampant Port and fight Van again.

Sep 3, 1996

Episode 24 - Fateful DecisionE2425m

Fateful Decision

When Hitomi asked to get away from this world of fighting, she found herself transported back to Earth. It is once again the day before Hitomi would make her fateful confession to Amano and thus encounter Van. Reliving the events would reunite her with Van, but at the risk of hurting her best friend Yukari and returning back to the war.

Sep 10, 1996

Episode 25 - Zone of Absolute FortuneE2525m

Zone of Absolute Fortune

The pivotal battle between Zaibach and the allied forces continues. Even after the Basram army employs the "doomsday weapon" in the form of a devastating Energist bomb, the fighting goes unabated. Folken decides the only way to end the war is confront Dornkirk personally and end his vision of the Sphere of Absolute Fortune.

Sep 17, 1996

Episode 26 - Eternal LoveE2625m

Eternal Love

At long last, Dornkirk's vision of reviving the power of Atlantis seems realized as the Sphere of Absolute Fortune's effects spread across the battlefield and the world of Gaea. However, the war does not end as the Destiny-Altering Device only turns the combatants' bellicose thoughts into reality. Gaea's fate in the end lies in a girl from the Mystic Moon and a white-winged dragon.

Sep 24, 1996

Actors

Maaya Sakamoto

Maaya Sakamoto

Hitomi Kanzaki (voice)

Tomokazu Seki

Tomokazu Seki

Van Fanel (voice)

Shin-ichiro Miki

Shin-ichiro Miki

Allen Schezar (voice)

Mayumi Izuka

Mayumi Izuka

Millerna Aston (voice)

Minami Takayama

Minami Takayama

Dilandau Albatau / Prince Child (voice)

Jouji Nakata

Jouji Nakata

Folken Fanel (voice)

Yuri Amano

Yuri Amano

Eries Aston / Naria (voice)

Ikue Otani

Ikue Otani

Merle (voice)

Toru Okawa

Toru Okawa

Gaddes (voice)

Ginzo Matsuo

Ginzo Matsuo

Kio (voice)

Masato Yamanouchi

Emperor Dornkirk (voice)

Jurota Kosugi

Jurota Kosugi

Dryden Fassa (voice)

Chafurin

Chafurin

Mole Man (voice)

Toshihiko Nakajima

Toshihiko Nakajima

Teo (voice)

Tessyo Genda

Tessyo Genda

Balgus (voice)

Narumi Hidaka

Eriya (voice)

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