The Vision of Escaflowne is, without a doubt, my favorite anime of all time. Dating back to 1996, the series tells the story of a high school girl named Hitomi who is transported to the world of Gaea and finds herself an instrumental figure in war where men fight with superpowered mechs known as Guymelefs. Though the premise may sound similar to countless other anime, its beautiful soundtrack, compelling cast of characters, and mix of action with an art style and emotional depth typical to shōjo series make it, in my opinion, a true masterpiece. Not only is it rare to see an series created as an anime first and then adapted to manga (Escaflowne actually got both a shōjo and a shonen manga, which shows how diverse its viewership was), but Escaflowne was markedly more popular internationally than it was in Japan, making it somewhat of an oddity.
Perhaps it’s that last point that spelled disaster for the series’ video game adaptation. Whatever the reason, the Escaflowne game looks about as bad as it gets –– not only does it condense the 26 episode series into a measly 2.5 hour game, but the graphics are atrocious! See for yourself:
 |
Drab colors, blasé textures… Hardly fitting for one
of the most artistically-inspired anime of the 90’s! |
Of course, it should be evident from the title that I haven’t actually
played the
Escaflowne video game, nor do I own it. It’s been on my “most wanted” list for many a year now, and though a copy generally won’t set you back more than $30, I have yet to add it to my collection. Luckily, blog posts like
these give some insight into what the game is actually like, which is enough to make any fan of the anime downright depressed.
The game reportedly plays a lot like an adventure/visual novel – there is an abundance of text, some voiced dialogue, walking around, and a few mech battles thrown in for good measure. Apparently, the battles aren’t even that much fun. The only plus I can see is that at only 2.5 hours total, it would be easy to get all of the multiple endings if you had the stomach to subject yourself to the entirety of the experience more than once.
But when all’s said and done, no amount of bad mouthing the game will deter me from my eventual purchase. Why? Just look at this limited edition set:
I’d say the box art and that rare tarot edition (modeled after Hitomi’s set) is more than enough to justify the price tag, don’t you? Of course, I’d be tickled pink if the game itself was actually enjoyable, but I doubt I’ll find many redeeming qualities in it outside of seeing how it condenses 26 twenty minute episodes into 2.5 hours.
For the curious, here’s a video of the first eight minutes of the The Vision of Escaflowne game:
Has there ever been a game you knew wasn’t going to be very good, but you bought anyway?
Hmm, I don’t think the game’s graphics are *completely* terrible, Anne. I don’t like the sounds of the gameplay, though. Anyway, I think you should find a cheap copy of it, buy it, give it a go and then review it for us, your loyal readers 🙂 I’d certainly be interested in such a post!
It certainly looks drab. But hey, fandom knows no bounds, sometimes. I’ve bought plenty of games people told me were going to suck. I end up loving them for their idiosyncrasies anyway…even if some of the art is bad or the gameplay is so-so.
BTW, speaking of recommendations: I went ahead and bought Rainbow Moon based on your recommendation on the Nichiest Podcast Ever (You were great, for the record!) and I am loving it! I’m not really into strategy RPGs, but this one is different and colorful and not as serious as they tend to be in that genre. So…thanks!
OMG I loved watching The Vision of Escaflowne when it was broadcasted in the middle of the night on MTV.
I would buy this game too only because of the fact that it’s an Escaflowne-game.
But did you like the manga?
I saw the anime first and hated the drawing-style of the manga from that day on.
Bryan – You’re right, I may have been a little too harsh on the graphics! They’re not all that bad I do think the character portraits are quite nice, but all in all it just seems a bit lackluster, especially considering it’s such a great series. I can’t even imagine what they fit into 2.5 hours.
And don’t worry, I plan on adding a copy to my collection very soon 😉 Just gotta keep on the lookout for a complete limited edition!
Viewtiful_Justin – Passion for a certain series/IP forces people to put up with all sorts of things, doesn’t it? Even though all of the impressions from other bloggers talking about the game are supremely negative, I just can’t help but want it anyway.
And wow, I’m so glad you’re having fun with Rainbow Moon! I found thee battles to be strangely addictive, in particular. And thanks for listening to the podcast – I don’t have a lot of experience podcasting and I tend to be a lot more nervous about sharing my opinions vocally, so it’s great to hear that you enjoyed it 🙂
Melody – Ah, another Escaflowne fan! Welcome 🙂
Which manga are you referring to? I believe there’s one aimed at male readers and another much shorter one for female readers, so if you didn’t like the art style in one, perhaps you could try the other? For the record, yeah, I didn’t really like the manga. It think there’s a huge disconnect between the two, which probably comes from the fact that they made the anime first.
Oh, I think there was only one of the mangas released in Germany. I mean the one made by Katsu Aki (I don’t know if both are made by the same mangaka.
Never knew the anime was made first!!!
The manga looks so old… I always thought the manga was released first.
Strange that the manga is so absolutely bad.
Melody – Oh, come to think of it I think Katsu Aki’s manga was the only one that came out in America, too, I think. That’s considered to be the shonen version. The shojo verison is by Yashiro Yuzuru, and was two volumes long. There’s a great write-up about it here: http://www.ex.org/1.x/16-esca_manga.html
Actually, according to that link above, Katsu Aki’s manga came out a year and a half before the anime, but it’s not considered the “parent” work. Apparently the anime had been in development for about five years , and Kadokawa (the manga publishing company) approached the companies working on the anime and asked if they could use the basic premise in a manga they were going to serialize in one of their monthly magazines. Interesting stuff!
So technically the manga did come out first, but the two were largely created separately 🙂
Melody – Oh, come to think of it I think Katsu Aki’s manga was the only one that came out in America, too, I think. That’s considered to be the shonen version. The shojo verison is by Yashiro Yuzuru, and was two volumes long. There’s a great write-up about it here: http://www.ex.org/1.x/16-esca_manga.html
Actually, according to that link above, Katsu Aki’s manga came out a year and a half before the anime, but it’s not considered the “parent” work. Apparently the anime had been in development for about five years , and Kadokawa (the manga publishing company) approached the companies working on the anime and asked if they could use the basic premise in a manga they were going to serialize in one of their monthly magazines. Interesting stuff!
So technically the manga did come out first, but the two were largely created separately 🙂
Great informative article!!! °o°
Thank you 😀
Well it’s graphics are similar to most ps1 games that are tactical/RPGs…. So I’m not too surprised people are unhappy with it but it is an AU where instead of everything happeneing from the 26 episodes its a different story altogether its like comparing the movie to the series. It’s a different universe.
Btw it is a tactical/RPG there’s some tactics parts with the mech and some RPG menu attack, but don’t complain too much there’s some new cel animation that went into this game that are gorgeous.
Well I haven’t actually played it myself yet, I’m just going off of the general impressions of others. I finally got a copy, so we’ll see how it goes!