Draconians: The Descendants of Atlantis. They say those who get close to these winged
beings are doomed to disaster. And Van
just happens to be one, son of a human father and a Draconian mother. That’s just one of the many revelations
awaiting Hitomi on the road to the country of Freyd, where Zaibach intends to
strike next. But darker foes than
Dilandau and Folken are now after Hitomi and Van and even trustworthy allies
are being turned against them by Zaibach’s word. How long can Van and Hitomi stand the
pressure? Will the weight of dark
visions finally begin to weigh on Hitomi’s soul? And what will happen when Van decides to take
his training with Escaflowne to the next level?
Well, now we’ve gotten to the point where it was clear
why Fox Kids yanked this show from it’s Saturday morning line up. I mean up until now it mustve been a cinch to
edit out most of the blood and violence like they did with Digimon. But from this point onward…it was impossible
to edit anything and not tone down just how bad things get for almost every
character on this show, this goes double for Van and the Escaflowne.
In short version, this show got freaking brutal
quick. Images of armies descimated and
the screams of falling soldiers litter this set of episodes, more so in the
second half. And what of Van’s
wings? Oh we did get some classic worlds
apart fantasy romance as we saw the story of Van’s parents fated romance. Vans mother, a beautiful Draconian fell in
love with Van’s father, the king of Fenelia and gave birth to Folken and Van
despite Van’s father being warned of disaster befalling any who falls in loved
with the winged descendants of Atlantis.
Yeah that’s about all but it’s sill touching. But even that was of course doomed and led
into the darker set of episodes this week.
(Quick note: Ive upped the number of episodes ive been
watching due to the fact that every volume after the first two only has 3
episodes instead of 4. So to speed up
full review of this series, ill be watching two volumes a week for the
remainder, so 6 episodes a week…just incase anyone was wondering, I know it’s a
lot to cover but I’ll do my best).
The first half of the episodes was kind of irksome even
with some great developments…Van finally asking for help from Hitomi rather
than whine about being saved by her.
What is it with kingdoms not really caring whether or not the heroes are
innocent of crimes and just immediately siding against them. Prince Chid struck me as a wise beyond his
age kid even though he’s short and adorable.
But his sudden turn against Allen and Van and the crew of the Crusade
just made me go, “What evidence do you have? Why are you so quick to believe
the bad guys when the good guys have done nothing to threaten you since they
got there?” Chid did step up and
eventually let them off the hook once the Doppelganger of his top interrogater
was revealed but still…innocent until proven guilty guys, come on.
The Doppelganger himself was a little scary with his
skinny bod and scary eyed face and was even given a little bit of sad
backstory, accidentally killing his disguised brother in battle. But his biggest moment of his short time on
screen was first with hitomi, who had a violent vision of his inevitable
demise…then the demise itself at the hands of Dilandau. I only bring this up because of the
circumstance. The Doppelganger kills one
of Dilandau’s men for fear he will spill secrets…and Dilandau in turn kills him
for it. Wow, Dilandau actually cares for
his subordinates besides using them for punching bags? I mean he’s still a douche but that was
just…wow really? Actually this was one
of two sides we got to see of Dilandau this week, the second being him scared
sh**less when Van went Berzerker on his Dragon Slayers and literally killed
them all like they weren’t even there…just like a boy and his Gundam. Seeing Dilandau freak out was both scary and
gratifying as he was faced with a darkness far beyond his own violent mind and
almost lost his life to it.
See ya next week.
Speaking of Van, I will never understand mecha systems
like the Zero System from Gundam Wing or the Neural Interface from Neon Genesis
Evangelion, technology that basically links one body and soul with a
mecha. It just seems counter productive
and never ends well for the pilot. Van
deepens his bond with Escaflowne through his blood pact to become it basically
and when it takes damage, so does he, leading to one of the scariest
cliffhangers with doom sounds and shots of a bloody Escaflowne and Van’s
bloodied hand gripping the controls in the darkness. Van needless to say looks like hell when he
is brought out and as cool as it was to see the creators of Escaflowne heal
him, it was terrifying to see Van feeling the pain of the Escaflowne
repairs. It did give Hitomi and Merle a
nice bonding moment as one of the most important people in their lives thrashed
about as Allen tried to keep him down.
Worse yet is when Van got back into the saddle and decimated the Dragon
Slayers, only to find himself captured by their and drawn into a dark abyss
turning Escaflowne black. What does this
mean and where is Van? Nowhere good im
sure.
Before we sign off this week I should take a moment to
look at a couple of new heavy players to the story. First is the now Duke Chid of Freid. Uhh remember when I mentioned Allen having a
connection to Millerna’s sister last week…yeah how hard was it to not just
shake your head at the revelation everyone should have figured out the moment
you saw these two in a room together?
Even though it’s pointing out right by Millerna’s Sister’s diary, come
on, it’s no surprise Chid is Allen’s son.
Now whether or not the Duke of Freid knew that before he passed is still
up in the air. But the Duke was stern
but also caring, just looking to make sure his tiny, tiny son was ready for the
trials ahead. Lastly there’s the smooth
businessman Dryden. Rocking some sweet
shades and confidence and wit for days, I’m thinking Dryden’s going to be a
nice addition to the case, especially since he seems to rival Allen in the
ladies man department. Oh and bonus
points to him for being a serious Guymelef otaku.
Blood was spilt, kingdoms were toppled and Van tried to
up his sword game at a terrible price.
And I get the feeling the bad times are only getting started…and the
best is starting to begin.
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