July 19 , 2000 - Escaflowne on Fox Kids: Is this a dream… or maybe a vision?

No, I'm convinced this is going to be real.

To have seen Escaflowne is to know what an entirely successful anime should be. The series, which was co-created by the legendary Shoji Kawamori (Macross Plus), involves a high school girl named Hitomi who is magically transported to another world, and gets mixed up in a large scale war between the people of Fanelia and the imperial kingdom of Zaibach, who is attempting to overtake and destroy the kingdom. On Fanelia's side are large magically powered robots, the most powerful of which is called Escaflowne, and their young prince Van. Filled with intrigue, mysticism, robots and dragons, the 1996 TV series doesn't have much new to offer in terms of story, but in terms of music, storytelling, and well-developed characters, it's hard to resist.

I spoke with Bandai Entertainment producer Jerry Chu earlier this week, who was kind enough to let me in on a few of the plans for what has become one of the true holy grails of anime.

Nelvana is to Zaibach as Bandai is to Fanelia

While it should be obvious that the North American version of Escaflowne will see some changes, fans are understandably worried that Escaflowne -- a series of much higher quality than Card Captor Sakura -- will see a similar fate at the hands of American producers that just can't leave well enough alone.

Well, fear not. In the name of anime fandom, I harassed Jerry about every single annoying little nit-picky question I could think of, and truth be known, there is very little to fear. This isn’t going to be another Card Captor Sakura, this will be another Gundam Wing… Nearly unaltered anime exposed to the masses.

But, as always, some fans always like to look on the pessimistic side of things (not only is the glass half empty, but it's filled with battery acid), and almost anything I put down will, to them, mean the certain demise of their favorite anime and consequently, the end of the world. So, I will now attempt to serve the facts -- these are CONFIRMED facts, direct from Bandai -- in the most straight-forward way I can.

In five hours I will check the newsgroups and watch fans scream "boycott" because the Bandai people aren't including free $5 bills with each DVD.

Fact 1: The show will be featured on Fox Kids on Saturday mornings during the prime time kids' slot of 9 to 11 AM. The series is currently set to debut on August 19.

Fact 2: The breathtaking original opening, "Yakusoku Wa Iranai" (I Don't Need Promises) and the nearly adequate ending theme "Mystic Eyes" are both gone from the American TV version, replaced with more conventional opening themes and visuals assembled from the episodes. These were previewed at Anime Expo, and according to Chu, fans were "accepting" of the new opening.

Fact 3: No names, plotlines, or story construction will be altered AT ALL. Bandai had already produced the dub through Ocean Group (the people that dubbed Ranma 1/2 and other Viz Video titles), and this was completed in December, months before the deal with Fox even went through. Fox is working from that unaltered dub (which was originally intended for home video), and while they have asked for replacements for a few lines, they cannot redub the show.

Fact 4: Fox has committed to airing the entire 26-episode TV series. This is a completely opposite situation from Card Captor Sakura, which was 76 episodes, of which the "best 13" were commissioned. This means that Fox can't remove much of anything at all… there just isn't enough footage to make up for it!

Fact 5: The music in the series itself is untouched. (I'm assuming some of the incidental songs that had Japanese vocals were simply dubbed.) Fox wanted to change the music to a more synthesizer-based sound, but both the original Japanese producers at Sunrise as well as Bandai refused, and saw the music as the primary selling point. Fox backed down.

Fact 6: There will be some digital touch-up and minor editing to bring the show into check with Fox censor and FCC children's programming regulations. Some of the offensive material that will be cleaned up include alcohol use and blood.

Fact 7: The unaltered VHS dubbed version and bilingual unaltered DVD release was originally slated for this summer, but was delayed until October to allow the TV airing to build up the audience. The extras included on the DVD include cast and creator inteviews and biographies as extras, but do not include the bonus footage included in the Japanese LD release. ("We couldn't justify the extra cost for the additional production for only one additional minute per episode," Chu explained.) The edited TV version will also be available on dub-only VHS. Replicas of Hitomi's tarot card set may also be included with all video releases.

Fact 8: The newly-produced Escaflowne movie will have a US theatrical release, although whether it will be a small art house tour or a major release depends on the success of the TV series. Expect this to happen in "a year or two."

Now, everyone happy?

Now, while anime fandom breathes a collective sigh of relief, let's think about the possibilities this release may open up. This is an anime playing on network TV, nearly unaltered from the original release, in a good time slot, with a main character with a Japanese name. Depending on how much attention it gets from the press, there could even be an adult cross over audience.

If this isn't mainstream, I don't know what is. Have we actually hit the promised land of mainstream acceptance (among titles that are conducive to a mainstream audience)? Time shall tell… In the mean time, you can guess where I'll be on Saturday mornings.

(Well, actually I'll be asleep, but I will set my VCR!)

You can contact The Digital Otaku, aka Justin Sevakis, at digitalotaku@dvdfile.com.

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