escarii

Guidelines:

Participants create any fan content related to Escaflowne, including but not limited to fanart, fanfiction, edits, GIFs, fanmixes, AMVs, meta, headcanons, and so on.

There are two prompts to choose from each day. Prompts are included in the above graphic and plain text version is included at the bottom of the post.

Using prompts is not required, nor is participating every day of the event. You may fill as many prompts as you wish on whichever days you want.

If you cannot make it on time to the part 1 of the event in April, fret not, there will be a part 2 in September, using similar prompts (but with a twist) that will be announced after the part 1 is over. You may even share the WIP in April and the finished work in September (as a suggestion).

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Tag your creations with #escaflowneweek so that fellow participants, fans, and the blog moderator(s) can more easily see and interact with your work. Since tag search has never been perfect, it is also recommended to tag the @escaflowneweek blog in the post text to notify the moderator(s) of your work.

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For any questions, please message @escaflowneweek.

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Plain text version of prompts:

Van prays for “power to kill his enemies” and takes off, flying away, while Bird Song, the initial part of First Vision is played. First Vision is the OST to the opening scene of the movie, where Van attacks an enemy ship transporting the dragon armor, Escaflowne. Could it be that what Hitomi sees in the vision in the CD drama directly precedes the first movie scene?

The Black Dragon soldiers use the geographical term “Sasu”, according to the Newtype Artbook, it is a name of the elevation and the abandoned city where the war caravan is parked as Van attacks the Black Dragon Clan ship. The name of the ruin of the tower where the war caravan is parked is Tower of Heaven, we see a temple with huge stone statues and a well. The artbook speculates this city may come from the time of ancient Gaea.

The circle around the title card Escaflowne is made out of the word that looks like “Escaflone” in a script similar to the one the series uses for Gaean texts (above is the movie logo, below is the series text from the contract for the Ispano repairs). 

The length of the “veil” on the Black Dragon Clan soldiers marks their level in the command (it's hard to catch them from the back so I had to edit a dark screencap -- this long veil belongs to a general). They also use oxygen masks since they operate at high altitudes .

The scene where Hitomi sees young Dune (who later became Folken) takes place shortly before 12 p.m. Time stops for a while, which happens repeatedly when the movie Hitomi experiences visions of Gaea. Yukari tells Hitomi she sees the dream of the young man as a result of frustration, because she has no boyfriend.

Hitomi’s family seems to be waiting for the 12:00 pm shinkansen “Hikari” heading to Okayama at the Tokyo Station. According to Newtype artbook, they are going “home” (probably to a countryside where one of the parents was born) for the New Year Holidays and Hitomi is 5 at the time.

When Hitomi mentions Dune to Yukari, she familiarly calls him onii-san. It’s like “bro” – similar to “gramps”, “sister” or similar, but when used towards an unrelated stranger.

The scene on the roof takes place on Saturday, 16:45 p. m. Saturday was a school day in Japan until recently, when they tried to relieve the students of the pressure and stress and it started being phased out. This is also why Yukari and Hitomi make plans for the next day, since Sunday is their only free day off of the week.

According to the Newtype Artbook, Yukari is a third (senior) year and 18 years old, whereas Hitomi is a second year and one year younger. Yukari also is “happy, active, and likes fashion”, and has the looks of a “future perfect wife”.

The ages of the other characters appear in the artbook as follows: Van 18, Millerna 18, Merle 15, Allen 22, Folken 28, Dryden 25, Jajuka 24, Dilandau 18, Chesta 15 (youngest of the Dragonslayers) 

Hitomi and Yukari become stranded on a train in Yoyogi, Tokyo. Earlier, they seem to walk through what looks like the area of Harajuku (there is a “Harajuku Ouest” building) and Omotesando. They don’t seem to have their school bags, so going by what happened in the novel, they might have ran away from school. Or they put them in a coin locker at the station. Their trip seems to be a spontaneous thing – Yukari only has a small shopping bag and a bottle, probably bought on the way.

There are sightings of other existing buildings such as the Meiji Museum and the National Stadium. At the stadium, Hitomi has a flashback to a running race. We see her rival who, as stated in the CD drama, always leaves Hitomi behind and finishes first, a long-haired girl with pretty eyes and beautiful running form. She always leaves Hitomi behind, and in one race, she wished something bad would happen to her rival, leading to her losing her concentration and falling. Part of why she quit track was the injury she suffered in that race. The rival runner’s jersey bears the inscription 蘭 ran (orchid). It seems like her high school has that in its name, which is not uncommon (a fictional example would be Ouran Academy in the manga/anime Ouran High School Host Club).

Meanwhile, Hitomi wears a Kama-kita jersey like in the anime, so supposedly, her school is still in Kamakura (it is the case in the novel as well) and they just make a trip to Tokyo with Yukari. Unlike in the series, no Kamakura sights are present in the movie.

Folken’s arrival at the stadium was hinted at in the CD drama. In the drama, Folken, with the help of sorcerer Orm, tries to draw the Wing Goddess to Gaea, where she had once been. Neither Orm nor Sora can do it, and they conclude it can only be a “Dragon king”. Sora says that once the moon is full again, the path to the Wing Goddess will be open again and Folken says he would go out to meet her. As Escaflowne comes alive on the Black Dragon ship, Folken seems to unwillingly disappear though, his plans thwarted again. Hitomi appears to Van instead.

The pillar of light seems to be yellow instead of blue in the movie.

Van first automatically addresses Hitomi with a rude/casual omae (as a king would address anyone) but he immediately fixes it to a more polite anata, considering she might be the Wing Goddess. Once she “makes Escaflowne disappear” and he starts suspecting she may be a Black Dragon Clan spy, it’s back to omae again, and even an offensive kisama.

When the Dragon Armor disappears and Van starts blaming Hitomi and demands answers, she sees a flashback of Yukari. She is in the school and says, “You should definitely answer him, Hitomi”. What do you think it was that she should have answered, back when the scene happened? When I think of high school life as portrayed by the anime, I would think of something like a love letter or an invitation to a date. Especially since Yukari seems to recommend Hitomi getting a boyfriend.

When the Abaharaki make fun of Van for having “snatched Hitomi from somewhere”, they use the word for carry off, kidnap, or abduct​.

The Dragon bones on the wall behind the throne of the Dragon King fade into the dragon bones on the floor of Folken’s palace. I always thought it was supposed to be the Black Dragon Clan god, but comparing the screenshots, it seems that Folken simply took them after he destroyed his homeland.  Anyway, the artbook says there are more dragon fossils on Gaea, from the time many dragons wandered Gaea and also that Folken likes to walk over those bones.

As the kingdom of Salas falls before the Black Dragon clan, Jajuka says “they burn beast villages for conquest”, but this was apparently a whole kingdom. Did he mean the kingdom then? Was the kingdom destroying beast villages, and Black Dragon Clan burned them down in turn?

The Black Dragon Clan calls Folken soushi, the transcription is present in the artbook and the movie novel. It's 総師 and it seems to be a word coined for the movie. It looks VERY similar to 総帥 which means "commander-in-chief" but from the kanji, the meaning is more of a "general master", "general leader" or whatever, less militaristic, more of a position of respect. 

Jajuka, in turn, is a strategist (like Folken in the series), they call him gunshi in the movie and in the CD drama.

Millerna says to Hitomi, it was the “storyteller of Freid” (語り部, official subs use “bard of Freid”) who told them of Wing Goddess. But it was Mole man who claimed that everything happened just as he foretold and that Allen owes him money. Is the bard the Mole man then? They call him the “quack fortuneteller” (如何様占い師  ikasama uranaishi). In any case, Freid seems to exist in the movie as well.

Hitomi’s watch shows Saturday again, 17:05… but it’s the next day (19th instead of 18th). So, is it just a mistake then and it should show Sunday instead? That would make it about one day since she had disappeared from Earth.

In the CD drama and in the movie (although for some reason it was not translated) Dilandau uses gunshi-dono (軍師, strategist) with Jajuka, a title that belonged to Folken in the anime, even including the choice of honorific. And it does really seem like it’s Jajuka’s place to keep Dilandau in line this time. Except, Dilandau didn’t slap Folken in the anime, but he surely does hit Jajuka here.

Miguel is titled Dilandau’s second in command by the artbook. He is also the first to die, same as in the anime.

Chesta is the youngest of the Dragonslayers, aged 15. His ability does not seem to be genetic, it was the sorcerers who equipped him with it.

There are beast men who seem to be the slaves of the Black Dragon Clan. One of them recognizes Van as “Van of Adom”, meaning he knows him from the wolf village. Van calls him “Nukushi”. But since Nukushi (or Nukse) in the artbook seems to be the name of the clan rather than his own, he could have been meant to be referred to in third person as “the Nukushi” instead. The beastman says his own village was destroyed and the survivors enslaved. That village was probably not too far from Adom, if they knew each other. Meaning, Black Dragon Clan got pretty close to Adom, and Van hasn’t been there in some time if he doesn’t know of it. Also, Adom might have been next in line of Black Dragon Clan conquests.

Speaking of, Van isn’t the king of Adom, nor is it implied that he would rule there after the movie, he is more of a refugee there. The wolf village just sheltered him after the total destruction of his kingdom and has its own elders who help Van recover from his injuries. Ruhm is Van’s childhood friend and might be one of them (he is in the novel). Meanwhile, Van was originally to be the king of the White Dragon Clan. White Dragon Clan was very isolated but kept contacts with the neighboring beast villages, that’s how Van knew them (and possibly Nukushi). 

The horses (?) of the Dragonslayers let out strange blue sparks of flame. In the novel, they have referred to these horses as a special breed of “sacred steeds” (神馬, shinme or shinba, the book does not confirm the reading by furigana). In the artbook it is just said that the horses of the Dragonslayers are reinforced by sorcery and have stamina up to hundred times of a regular horse.

The original names of animals living on this version of Gaea include the makusy (the horned goat-like animal jumping the cliffs where the dragon fossil can be seen) and meqras (the strange bird without eyes, seen flying about and shrieking). But we also see more kinds of birds and some deer-like creatures make appearances.

How does Van know Hitomi’s name? She introduced herself to Millerna and Merle knows her name, too. Unless they make introductions off-screen, it seems Van may have eavesdropped on Hitomi's conversation with Millerna. Because when Hitomi was later kidnapped, Merle referred to her by name instead of Wing Goddess and Van immediately understood.

It was just a moment as Dilandau sent the sword shard flying through Van’s chest and Hitomi apparently did not even notice. That’s why she’s shocked and doesn’t understand why he’s bleeding so much.

In the Dilandau torture scene, there are eight other people wearing the white overcoat same as Dilandau. It seems they are the same level of commanders? The guy on the ship and the guy leading the castle attack in Salas are described as generals but they don’t wear white. So, what kind of people are these? Folken says Dilandau is one of the last few with dragon clan blood in their veins, although he’s of lower birth. Could it be those are the people of dragon clan blood in the Black Dragon Clan army? In the same scene in the Novel, Folken asks "who made you into a Demon General?" so that may be the rank of all these people, which is also why his punishment is witnessed by them.

The Artbook confirms Dilandau has “a smaller portion” of dragon clan blood. Does not seem like the fact that he was an illegitimate son of the former Dragon king and half-brother to Folken and Van carried over to the movie.

The scene where Folken breaks Dilandau’s fingers was inspired by the director Akane having a collision with a car on his bike and his little finger being broken off his hand.

Dilandau does “the Lucifer gaze” from The Fallen Angel by Alexandre Cabanel in the torture scene with Folken. Right before he attacks him, too.

Folken “predicted” the location of Alseides in the lake in Torushina. This is strange because in the CD drama, both Folken and Van needed the Wing Goddess to predict the location of Escaflowne. And Folken does retrieve it, based on Hitomi’s vision of the past that Sora eavesdropped on using her powers. It seems Folken was just given credit for Sora’s work with Hitomi’s memories here.

Folken, originally named Dune, is ten years older and only a half-brother to Van, as confirmed both by the Novel and CD drama. In the CD drama, it is said that after Dune showed no sign of a king, his father remarried, to a beautiful, young dragon clan princess. Van, the son by this princess, was the one to have that favor. Dune’s mother died from grief, and his own life became a misery after he was commanded by his father told his only purpose was to be ready to give his life and die protecting his little brother who would be the king. 

After joining Black Dragon Clan, Folken served under a commander called Adel (アデル); however, realizing he was only a tool to him, he eventually turned on him and killed him, rising eventually to the position of leader of Black Dragon Clan. This “Adel” might be a remnant of the Zaibach general Adelphos in the anime, who is the leader of the Copper Army Folken and the Dragonslayers serve with.

Sora is a miko (shrine maiden) and originally a daughter to a priest from a village called Neir (ネイル, other possible transcriptions include Neill), destroyed by Folken. He captured her for her “mysterious power”, called tsuuriki (通力). The kanji suggest it’s a power of “insight” or to “know the unknown”. Folken speaks of this tsuuriki also when he speaks to Dilandau about the dragon blood having "powers" in the punishment scene.

It seems Dryden has spies with the Black Dragon Clan, among the people working at the mineshaft where Alseides is discovered – according to the artbook, his spy holds the title of “factory manager”. He also retains his waka-danna or “young master” handle people call him by in the series.

In the part of the Artbook comparing the characters to the TV version, Dryden is said to be “the only” son of Meiden in the anime. This information was never confirmed by any of the TV anime materials to my knowledge. He is actually called his firstborn son, which may insinuate he does have siblings, but it’s not confirmed, either way. Perhaps in the movie, he is supposed to be the only son, then?

As the Abaharaki repair the war caravan, besides the meqras bird appearing, you may also spot five swords stuck into a stone boulder in the background. Could it be that they lost 5 comrades to the Dragonslayers attack?

Did you ever wonder how Hitomi and injured Van got into Adom? It seems Jajuka must have had a hand in that. He’s a friend of the wolf clan it seems, he even retrieved Nukushi’s body. Hitomi’s speech must have had an effect on him if that’s the case. On the other hand, Van thanks Ruhm upon their departure and it is Ruhm who found them in the novel, so it was also possible they cooperated.

The village of Adom looks pretty similar to Fanelia, if you just take the topography into the account. Adom seems to be a small village in a very similar-looking valley to where Fanelia lies in the anime. In the novel, the name Fanelia is explicitly mentioned for the White Dragon Clan kingdom, but seems to have been totally destroyed, making Van an exile in Adom. Adom is not a purely wolf village, several kinds of beast people live there, which also explains Merle.

The totems (gate?) seen in one of the pictures bear inscriptions similar to the White Dragon Clan tattoos. Could it be some sort of protection?

According to the Artbook, it took a month for Van to heal enough to step outside.

Right after Hitomi and Van leave Adom, there’s a shot of two beast people making an offering to some kind of altar. Could it be a cameo of the little rodent people with their anthill civilization from episode 15 of the anime? There is also a dolphin man in Dryden’s bar, possibly another easter egg.

At the inn, there is a wall scroll with painting of a warrior or perhaps a king, and a dragon.  Hitomi seems to study it for a while. This is the biggest extent of what is visible of it.

Mole Man mentions a song of Gadarasai, speaking about the wing goddess. Who or what is Gadarasai? Is it the Bard of Freid then? Or the whole phrase is simply the name of the song and the bard is Mole himself? In this version, Mole Man is also confirmed to be fully human (in the series, he is half-man half-beastman).

The sorcerers (madoushi) exist in the movie as well, they are responsible for reviving the dragon armor. In design, they seem to be a mix of the series sorcerers and Ispano clan from the series, with lower stature, varying number of eyes that are closed shut, and dark cloaks. Even with their eyes sewn shut, they seem to study some ancient materials as they are reviving the armor.

There are pins connected to (what I assume is) Dilandau’s brain. But the sorcerers seem to have pins in their heads as well. 

What broke in Hitomi’s room at the inn, creating the vision with the shards and liquid reflecting the sky, seems to be a water carafe. She has a carafe and a basin on her side desk but in the next shot, the carafe is missing. There is a similar scene in the novel, but there, Hitomi unconsciously uses psychic power to break Dryden’s glass at the pub when he provokes her.

Van, Mole, and Merle seem to share a tiny room at the inn. Merle has a blanket with a familiar pattern.

When Van finds himself surrounded by flames, he has a flashback to the destruction of his homeland. He calls for his mother, who seemed to have died surrounded by six other people, who mostly appear to be women, possibly her ladies-in-waiting. According to the CD drama, this woman is the mother of Van only, a “pure blood Dragon Clan princess” who arrived to marry the Dragon King. Dune’s own mother had died over the sorrow of her son not having the favor of destiny.

Van’s mother had long hair with thick braids and metal decorations on the bottom, a crown in the shape of a dragon, and on her shoulders, tattoos or markings similar to Van, his father, and young Dune in Hitomi’s vision on the train station. 

In the novel, they are tattoos made by Ruhm to remember his lost kingdom (but they also feature Fanelia’s crest, unlike in the movie itself). It’s hard to imagine Ruhm came in to tattoo Dune, Folken’s mother, and finally Van himself, but maybe it was a tradition, so Van would actively seek someone else who would be able to do them for him once he came of age. Little Van doesn’t seem to bear those markings, neither in the movie nor in the production materials, so it doesn’t seem like something the Dragon Clan are born with. 

On the other hand, on the sketch depicting Dune with little Van and Merle, not even Dune has them, and he is older than what we see at the train station, so the sketch could include a consistency error.

Do you think Folken still has the markings underneath his robes, even if he gave up his wings? In Hitomi’s vision, Van has no markings, neither as a child nor a young man, but that may be a stylistic choice of the lack of detail. Or, removing the markings of the Dragon Clan royalty in this scene may be a symbol (he’s just a boy). He doesn’t seem to have any markings in Folken’s memory, either.

There is also a shot of the royal castle, which seems to have many towers and is built on a side of the mountain, near a river and surrounded by a forest. It’s a shot of the White Dragon Clan kingdom (in the novel it retains the name Fanelia), a separate place from Adom, which is a beast people village and does not seem to be subject to the authority of the Dragon King.

This is a sculpture in the White Dragon castle. Who would hold such a position of respect in this demi-god clan? Do you think it could be a depiction of the Wing Goddess?

According to director Akane, the White Dragon Clan isolated themselves since they knew their powers were dangerous and they wanted their blood to eventually vanish from Gaea. Once it  spread into human populations, it would be impossible to root out. Black Dragon Clan had the opposite approach to that.

The movie armors bleed and are indeed fleshy. Dilandau burns Escaflowne’s hand to the bone but it doesn’t stop Van. Also, he puts a spear through the whole side of Escaflowne and it bleeds, plus, Van bleeds (even more than usual) inside the armor, suggesting the same type of connection seen in the anime. Van uses the same spear and his own sword to pin Alseides to the ground.

When Hitomi and Van leave Folken’s disintegrating castle on wings, Moleman says something that got translated as “Dragon people are dancing”. What he says is 竜人/竜神が舞っている (ryuujin ga matteiru). It is hard to say in fact whether he says dragon people or dragon gods. It uses the same mau verb as the name of the TV version episode as well as the movie novel chapter The Day the Angel Flew. It is an interesting verb that indeed can mean fly as well as dance, but rather “dance in the wind”. It is used also for the cherry blossoms scattering in the wind, so what he is describing are the white feathers that flutter about. It is insinuated they are not just from Van’s wings, but rather, they are the Wing Goddess’ doing. 

The song the kids sing together with Merle is called “Nomitori Uta”, which, believe it or not, means “Fleapicking Song” :D The lyric “Kakurenbo” that keeps repeating there means “Hide and Seek” (the game) and even though the lyrics are difficult to get, I think it could be about playing hide-and-seek with the fleas in one’s fur. LOL.

The lyrics are: かくれんぼ、かくれんぼ おせなにかくれんぼ なじょしてとるか ちいちい Kakurenbo, kakurenbo Osena ni kakurenbo Najoshite toru ka Chii chii Loosely translated as: Hide-and-seek, hide-and-seek On the back, hide-and-seek How do I get you Little flea