| Vision of Escaflowne TAS | |
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Creator |
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Starring |
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Run |
01/22/2009 - 7/02/2010 |
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Episodes |
25 |
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Link |
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Vision of Escaflowne Abridged is the third series to be abridged by hbi2k. It is the steampunk fantasy story of plucky shounen anime hero Van Fanel, and magical schoolgirl Hitomi as they try to stay one step ahead of the well-intentioned extremist empire of Zaibach...who are trying to capture Van's bad-ass mecha, the Escaflowne.
Production[]
The Commentaries for the Series [1] provide details about its production. Episode 3 was the first episode that Hbi2k edited in Sony Vegas, after previously useing Ulead Video Studio. Because of the switch, editing was a bit rough during the early episodes from 3 and onwards, particularly a lower quality of lip-flap syncing, due to learning the controls of the new program being a greater concern at the time. The switch to Sony Vegas would overall benefit the series, particularly through allowing more control with the use of masking for both obvious inserts (ie. Merle's shoulder angels) and subtle details. TehExorcist, cheesemanjoe, and Zeromaster are among those credited with helping him learn to use the program. In Hbi2K’s opinion, episode 4 was the first one where the pacing, voice acting, sound, and editing really comes together.
Each episode features a different song played over the opening title, alternating between cheesey love-songs and satirical anti-love songs.
Guest Openings:
- Ezekieru - episode 12
- Cheesemanjoe - episode 14
- Hayabusa449 - episode 17
- KaiserNeko - episode 19
Cast[]
- Hbi2k-- Van, Allen, Folken, Dornkirk, and most other male voices
- Cassius614-- Hitomi, Eries
- AngelElric-- Merle, Nariya, Yukari
- KaiserNeko -- Dilandau
- Takahata101 -- Prince Chid
- Cheesemanjoe -- Dryden
- Whip0fAlchemy -- Eriya, Varie
- Vegeta3986 - Duke Freid
Cameos:
- GanXingba - characters from Avatar Abridged
- Clytemnaestra - Mrs. Kanzaki
- Takahata101 - G-gundam (opener for episode 6)
- Lanipator - Void (opener for episode 8)
Characters[]
Van Fanel: "Snickety-Slice!" Van hates any element of the show not about fighting and especially loves pointless fight sequences. Naive on many common sense topics, he thinks empathy is a superpower when he develops a little bit of it. Initially Van suffers from a "problem" of being too well-adjusted, leading him to have virtually no angst (thus limiting his power and preventing him from accruing fangirls).
Hitomi Kanzaki: "Yes, I will get back to the plot and bloody well like it." Perhaps the most medium-aware of the characters, Hitomi is considered a seer despite demonstrating very little in the way of seer abilities. When asked to produce fortunes, she just wings it on common genre cliches. Hitomi claims to know how to read tarot cards, despite apparently having Magic: the Gathering cards mixed in with them.
Dilandau: "You like that?! That wasn't just a bitchslap, that was a full-on, closed-fist suckerpunch!" Described by Folken as the only legitimately evil and insane person in the Zaibach empire (everyone else being well-meaning extremists). Dilandau loves to slap his men even moreso than in the original series. He reacts hostily to threats against his Dragonslayers because he feels he's the only one who is allowed to abuse them. He can't stand Van's lack of seriousness in regard to him as a villain (at least until Van finally snaps and kills all of his Dragonslayers).
Merle: "This is Merle, we keep her around because she's so good at detecting irony. (Van)" A cat girl who follows around, and lavishes affection on, Van. Virtually no characters like her and she is occassionally treated like a pet instead of a cast member. She evidently has far more than the usual 2 "shoulder angels", having a good side, a bad side, a logical side (Merle with Spock ears), two sides that are inexplicably Uncle Iroh and Zuko from Avatar: the Last Airbender, and a side that is GiR from Invader Zim.
Folken: "... and we will rule the galaxy as brother and... other... brother..." Van's older brother that failed the dragonslaying ritual and lost an arm in the process. As Zaibach's cheif strategos (tactician) he has to deal with both the Emperor's vague and idiotic demands and Dilandau's insanity. He feels all of Van's friends are losers, but is far more deeply hurt by Van saying Alan was his best friend.
Dornkirk: "If I 'ad known little girls could do that, I'da just gotten myself married and made one'a those in nine months!" The painfully senile ruler of the Zaibach empire. Dornkirk is prone to making highly vague demands (chiefly "finding the dragon" with no clarification) and getting distracted by things like metaphors and lame jokes.
Folken's "Flamboyant Minions": Various colorful characters Folken employs who mostly end up dead. Includes Zongi the Doppleganger, the Gecko Ninjas and the "Incestuous Bisexual Ninja Catgirls".
Episode List[]
| Episodes | Air Date |
|---|---|
| Episode 1 | Jan 22nd, 2009 |
| Episode 2 | Feb 5th, 2009 |
| Episode 3 | Mar 3rd, 2009 |
| Episode 4 | Apr 6th, 2009 |
| Episode 5 | Apr 23rd, 2009 |
| Episode 6 | May 9th, 2009 |
| Episode 7 | Jun 8th, 2009 |
| Episode 8 | Jun 25th, 2009 |
| Episode 9 | Jul 4th, 2009 |
| Episode 10 | Jul 27th, 2009 |
| Episode 11 | Aug 22nd, 2009 |
| Episode 12 | Sep 24th, 2009 |
| Episode 13 | Oct 1st, 2009 |
| Episode 14 | Oct 8th, 2009 |
| Episode 15 | Nov 7th, 2009 |
| Episode 16 | Nov 30th, 2009 |
| Episode 17 | Dec 6th, 2009 |
| Episode 18 | Dec 9th, 2009 |
| Episode 19 | Jan 14th, 2010 |
| Episode 20 | Feb 11th, 2010 |
| Episode 21 | Mar 11th, 2010 |
| Episode 22 | Mar 14th, 2010 |
| Episode 23 | Mar 21st, 2010 |
| Episode 24 | Apr 18th, 2010 |
| Finale (Parts 1 and 2) | Jul 2nd, 2010 |
Running Gags[]
Magic: the Gathering: An American trading card game that also happens to be one of the genre's long-runners. Hitomi thinks Malurna's "V Card" (aka her virginity) was a Verduran Enchantress card. Alan refers to "wanting to tap that like a Prodigal Sorcerer" in refrence to a card that is activated ("tapped" in game terms) to deal damage. Hitomi has a Magic card mixed in with her tarot cards, which Van claims is laced with drugs to addict players. It causes her to hallucinate.
The Fox Dub: When Fox initially ran the series in North America, the first episode focusing on Hitomi's normal life was cut because it little action and was heavily aimed at girls (while Fox was aiming the show at boys). When Van is describing his dragonslaying, a noble says he wishes he could have seen the battle. Van remarks he wishes he did too, prompting the Fox logo to appear.
Oi! Folken!: Dornkirk almost always enters a scene (by appearing on a view screen) by calling out for Folken in this fashion.
Music: Various songs are played in the background of scenes involving some characters. Scenes involving Zaibach fequently use the Imperial March from Star Wars or "Troops on the March" from Final Fantasy IV. Dilandau is often accompanied by Kefka's Theme from Final Fantasy IV.
Bitchslaps: Dilandau's penchant for slapping his troops is exaggerated to the point where looping footage makes him slap his men incessantly. His abuse is so extreme Folken is suprised how upset Dilandau is when he loses his Dragonslayers. When one of his Dragonslayers, Miguel, is captured by Fraid he almost instanteously attempts to defect when he learns that they don't plan on bitchslaping him (Indeed Dilandau specifically bragged that his men were hardened against bitchslapping interrogations). In the ending, Dilandau rules the Empire and spends all day bitchslapping people, making people bitchslap eachother and occassionally taking a few himself.
Prince Chid's Father: For the entire time Prince Chid is in the plot, jokes fly directly over his head about Alan being his biological father. The Duke of Fraid is in denial over this and just thinks all of his genes are recessive. The cast finally let Chid in on it when he explains that if the Duke was his father, they'd all have to fight to the death.
Trivia[]
- There was originally going to be a scene where Dornkirk reveals to Hitomi that her MacGuffin Crystal (given to her by her grandma “Agnes McGuffin”) was actually created by a man named “Silas Plot”…making it a Plot Device.
- Episode 5 is "the Starwars Reference Episode". Hbi2k rewatched Starwars Episode IV specifically so that he could get the dialogue between Allen and Vaan in Zaibach prison exactly right.
- Folken’s voice is specifically based on Darth Vader (as much as possible without using voice filters). Dornkirk’s voice is based on Phil Collins from the “Timmy” episode of South Park.
