While many western anime fans have Cartoon Network’s Toonami and Adult Swim to thank for introducing countless examples of the anime medium, the cable network was far from the only avenue for anime in North America. Years prior to the advent of Toonami, network television would routinely air anime, albeit heavily censored anime, to potential fans. Series like Dragon Ball Z, One Piece, and Voltron were often aired early Saturday mornings, giving many viewers their first opportunity to witness anime glory. For Fox Kids, one of the biggest mech series was brought to the attention of North American viewers and it might surprise you to learn which one.
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The Vision of Escaflowne might be technically categorized as a mech series but it is one far different from the likes of Mobile Suit Gundam and Neon Genesis Evangelion. Rather than taking place in a modern science fiction setting, the anime blended the supernatural with technology and even gave anime fans one of the earliest Isekai. Escaflowne focuses on main character Hitomi Kanzaki, who is transported from the Planet Earth to the planet known as Gaea, attempting to survive her new environment and find her way home. While this premise is far different from most of the stories under the Gundam umbrella, Escaflowne had something in common with the other mech franchise in that both were made by the studio Sunrise, now Bandai Namco Filmworks.
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Fox’s Escaflowne
Chopping down the title to simply Escaflowne, Fox didn’t heavily edit the series in the same way as the now legendary edits of Dragon Ball Z and One Piece had. What Fox Kids did do however is drastically chop down the length of the original anime, only airing ten episodes before it was canceled. Like the two shonen series mentioned above, Escaflowne was given a more “American” intro for new viewers who weren’t as willing to rock out to the original Japanese score of the series.
Ironically, Escaflowne was shockingly more popular in North America than the Gundam series, with the VHS and DVD copies routinely selling out the Mobile Suit franchise. Despite the series’ impact on the anime world, and acting as a nice introduction for many western views to mech anime, a sequel series was never confirmed and the last anime project from this universe was the compilation film released in the year 2000.
A sequel/reboot of Escaflowne would be in good company these days, especially considering its status as one of the earliest isekai series. Ironically, Inuyasha would be the perfect series to follow in this regard as Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon brought back that series with a sequel that many never saw coming. Luckily, if you to watch the original Escaflowne anime, you can catch it streaming on Amazon Prime Video and it isn’t just the ten episodes that were able to make their way to North America.
Fox Kids’ Anime Endeavors
Fox Kids was a major way for viewers to catch anime long before the arrival of streaming services like Crunchyroll and cable programming blocks like Toonami and Adult Swim. While Escaflowne wasn’t popular enough to warrant all the episodes airing in the West, this didn’t stop the Fox block from bringing many other popular anime to North America. Originally, series like Digimon Adventure, Cybersix, Monster Rancher, Flint The Time Detective, Medabots, Shaman King, and Kinnikuman all got a headstart thanks to Fox Kids. Of these entries it was impossible to deny that Digimon was able to run away as one of the most popular, standing toe-to-toe with Pokemon in the anime arena.
In this era, anime is hardly as censored as it once was, which is good news for those hoping to see anime stories in their entirety. While years past saw many having to pay exorbitant fees for physical copies, current technology means that anime is at our fingertips and Escaflowne can find a new audience. As both a mech series and an isekai, The Vision of Escaflowne stands the test of time.
Want to stay afloat on the anime that forged a bright future for the medium? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook.com for the latest updates on Escaflowne and hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics and anime.
