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The Vision of Escaflowne
Episodes 5-6

by Rebecca Silverman,

How would you rate episode 5 of
The Vision of Escaflowne ?
Community score: 4.7

How would you rate episode 6 of
The Vision of Escaflowne ?
Community score: 4.5

As I watched these two episodes, it occurred to me that we don't see “Oh My Beautiful Face is Ruined” syndrome nearly as much as we used to. In fact, Dilandau going into (another) homicidal rage after Van cuts his face is almost a great an indicator of this show's age as the fact that it's kind of grainy and has no wide screen version. It's also, however, one of the better uses of the trope; Dilandau's very clearly more than a few fries short of the proverbial Happy Meal, but the fact that his rage against Van burns so hot that any minor thing can make the flames burn brighter illustrates his particular anger issue very well. We don't yet know why Dilandau hates Van with such a passion–at this moment the best guess available is that he's jealous of both Van's status as Folken's brother and the fact that Van has the Escaflowne–but it's clear that as much as that hatred is his motivating factor, it also functions as his Achilles' Heel. Perhaps even more importantly, it shows that Dilandau is more than willing to allow emotion to override direct orders; over the course of these two episodes he actively tries to kill Van three times, even when reminded that he's meant to be taken alive. If nothing else, this may be the biggest point in favor of jealousy as a motive.

Speaking of jealousy, I could have lived without Millerna's. Upon arrival in Allen's homeland, the group is greeted by Princess Millerna, who clearly has a thing for Allen and immediately decides that belittling Hitomi is the number one way to his heart. Given that she seems like an intelligent person otherwise, this feels a bit unnecessary, especially since all Hitomi's done when Millerna decides to target her is exist in Allen's general vicinity. You can see that Hitomi feels about the same, wondering just what she did to this woman to merit being snipped at with all the skill of a mean high school girl, from being labeled as a servant to being made fun of when she comes out in her new, place-appropriate dress. Given that Allen's not even present for that last one, it paints Millerna as a stereotype rather than a character, something even Merle, who as a catgirl is a walking trope, has largely escaped. I suppose the entire interaction could be intended to provide the anime version of normalcy for Hitomi and the viewers, because up to that point the show has been one moment of terror or strangeness after another. Still, it would have been nice not to see the series immediately pit one of three female characters against another one, although perhaps that's asking a bit much for 1996.

It does, however, make for an interesting contrast with Allen's treatment of Hitomi in episode five. When Van is captured by Dilandau and his goons, Hitomi immediately offers to use her newly honed powers of dowsing and fortune telling to help find him. Allen just as quickly gives her a pat on the head and tells her to basically be a good girl and let the men do their jobs. Hitomi, however, will not be sidelined, and forces Allen to give her a chance to prove herself, one he may have taken just so that he doesn't look like a jerk. Whatever the reason, the minute Hitomi shows herself to be the real thing, Allen begins to treat her like an equal; even when she leaps to Van's rescue on the floating fortress, he doesn't sputter out anything about “why are you here,” he just accepts that she has the right to be, especially if she managed to get across the five meter gap between ship and fortress.

On that note, Hitomi may have two of the most useful powers an isekai protagonist has ever been given: clairvoyance, dowsing, and track skills. That she had all of these already back in Japan makes her even more impressive, because she didn't have to be spirited away or reborn in order to make herself useful in another world. Hitomi always had the potential within her to be amazing; being in Gaea has simply allowed her to bring it out. While being tossed into a major war is perhaps not an awesome trade-off for discovering that you were amazing all along, at least she already knows how to use her skills and can be secure in the knowledge that they were in her all along.

That's something that Van and Folken could both stand to understand. It's clear that Folken felt like a failure when he failed to kill his dragon, and since Dornkirk saved him, he now believes that he's beholden to him, as well as the fact that because he failed the Rite of Succession he can never return to Fanelia. (So he decides to break it. Toddlers aren't the only ones to make that sort of decision.) He's clearly still more than smart enough to have ruled Fanelia, but he's lost the belief that he is worthy, and now he's working hard to rip that away from Van as well, albeit under the guise of doing what he “thinks” is best for his brother. (I'd argue for brainwashing, but we'll see.) Hitomi may not be able to help Folken, but maybe she can help Van to understand that he doesn't have to save his brother. Van's already learning that listening to Hitomi may be in his best interests–and now that he's starting to see her as a person he's interested in, it will be worth paying attention to see how that affects his actions.

Rating:

The Vision of Escaflowne is currently streaming on Funimation.


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