As far as I know all of them tell variations of more or less the same story, but you better wait for someone with more Escaflowne-knowledge to explain this.
Isnt this a bit of erm.. unfair? Cos all anime is supposed to be suitable for all gender..
You obviously don’t know very much about anime, my friend. There are whole genre distinctions of manga and anime based on whether or not it’s aimed at males or females. There are terms for them that Japan-head type people know, and I don’t. Like… Shunen something or other or something. I think. Misao can probably explain it better. But, yeah… anime is highly segregated. Trust me.
Keep in mind it’s not like there are laws that say "You cannot watch this if you are a guy" or anything like that. There are guys who like to read comics aimed at girls and vice versa, and they really vary in how extremely they are associated with a given gender. I really have no idea to what extent Escaflowne was aimed at girls. It’s probably worth your time checking it out to see.
But I don’t think Escaflowne is typically shojo. There are elements of both shonen and shojo, I think.
And like TK said, even if something is shonen it doesn’t say anything about the REAL audience. Nobuhiro Watsuki once mentioned that 90% of the fan letters that he got because of Rurouni Kenshin were written by females. It doesn’t really matter at all. It’s a pretty stupid way of defining a manga in most cases…
So, I don’t think that the TV series and movie can be seen as "shojo this and shonen that", while the two manga versions obviously are. You can buy one Escaflowne manga in the USA, and that’s one by Katsu Aki (or Katsuaki… there was something weird with that name…) and anything this guy does is shonen, or seinen… created for slightly horny boys. 🙁
Some main characters in Escaflowne the Movie have different personalities than their counterparts in Vision of Escaflowne. Hitomi is suicidal and depressed. She no longer has visions of the future. Her new power is summoning Escaflowne but not from her own will. She looks slightly different than in the show.
Van has new psychic powers. He wears leopard skin and is almost half-naked. He became a ruthless killer. Hitomi doesn’t like Allen in the movie but she does in the show. Dilandau is less intimidating than he is in the show. The plot of the movie has little substance and an anti-climactic final battle. The music was great though.
The Vision of Escaflowne is much more better than the movie.
[B]
"The plot of the movie has little substance and an anti-climactic final battle. "
Yep, you absolutely got that one right. A REAL lousy finale.
I’ve seen the movie dozens of times. I think it’s great. And I liked the ending, personally. It’s simple, but it works well.
The movie, on the other hand, did had the characters change a bit from their TV series counter part. Hitomi is very depressed, Van lost his kingdom, Allen is no longer a gallant knight and other characters are what you might not expect them to be.
Personally, the TV series is a lot better than the movie since it portray the characters more and a lot of surprises keep popping up out of nowhere.
As for the PSX EscaFlowne game, I heard that it already came out, but in Japan, that is. Its possible that there might not even be a US release. Seeing the graphics for the game, it looks like its loosely based on the TV series with a mix of new characters. I would like to play that game…possibly have to import it myself.:)
I have the anime series and movie. The Japanese version is so cool! The dubbed version isn’t really that bad just Hitomi’s dubbing UGH! Her voice is so low compared to her Japanese voice.
I love the music that Yoko Kanno composed. (sigh)
Love it!!
Has anyone played the DVD video game Phantom Inferno? Just some cool info. The Japanese voice actress for Merle from Escaflowne also does the voice for Cal for Phantom Inferno.
I don’t think the series was made for girls. There’s too many mechas and blood for a shojo. I’m not sure I’d say it’s a shonen either. The main character it’s a girl, and she’s not a fighter. Still, I think it stands somewhere in between. It’s like an aventure story, with a romance element.
The movie it’s not that different from the anime, just, more violent and crude. There are some things that are different, but the main plot doesn’t change much. So it’s still aventures and romance.
As for the mangas, there are two versions. One is a shojo, and the other is a shonen. But the series and the movie aren’t based on them. The tv series is the original stuff, on which the mangas were based upon.
Anyway, I think the series deserves to be watched. I never get bored with it, and it’s one of the only animes I can rewatch and still be interested.