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R2 DVD Reviews
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Thursday, 04 February 2010 00:00 |
 Where Van and Hitomi go, the Zaibach Empire is never far behind, with death a destruction usually part of the scenery once they arrive. This time, it's the nation of Freid that's on the receiving end - and with Freid hiding some important secrets, the stakes may be higher than usual...
12 - The Secret Door
Freid's Duke has returned home, and while he has sympathy for Van's plight, he's less than sympathetic towards Allen, seeing his actions as an abandonment of his country - the one thing a knight should not do. Chid's attempts to intervene on Allen's behalf are also ignored - but an impassioned plea by Princess Millerna, who sees her father's alliance with the Empire as an even greater betrayal of Asturia than Allen's, persuades the Duke that something must be done. Meanwhile, recent experiences have convinced Hitomi that she doesn't want to do any further readings - the visions she's been seeing as a result have been too disturbing for her - but with her visions being so useful to the others, will they respect her wishes..?
13 - Red Destiny
The Zaibach Empire launches a devastating raid on Freid, using a force large enough that the small country has no chance of defending - and soon, with Freid in ruins, the Zaibach forces reach the Duke's castle. Folken and Dilandau are still hoping to draw Van and Escaflowne out into the open, but as they reach there, a fleet of ships - including the Duke's and Allen's - escapes the ruins, and the Empire is thwarted once again. But Dornkirk is able to divine that the fleet is headed for the Fortona Temple, the most holy of Freid's shrines, where the Duke will make his final stand. But Hitomi's visions tell her that the battle will not go well...
14 - Dangerous Wounds
After his most recent battle with the Empire, Van refuses to leave Escaflowne - those outside can see the blood dripping from the cockpit, and so know that Van has been injured, but it's not until Hitomi arrives and pleads with the mech that Van's unconscious body is ejected - with his Draconian wings clear for all to see. Most of the allies around him hadn't been aware of his secret, and the revelation causes some concern amongst Allen and his men. For Van, though, the situation is serious - his wounds match the deep cuts on Escaflowne's body, indicating that the two merged at some deep level. With Millerna unable to stop his wounds from bleeding, could it be that they need to repair Escaflowne to get Van back on his feet..?
Plenty of muss and plenty of fuss with these three episodes, which tie up the Freid arc of the story (in a rather unsatisfying way, to be honest) before introducing Van - and the audience - to the tradeoff that must be made to make full use of Escaflowne. First, the Freid arc, which sees Freid's Duke return from his travels just in time to show how indecisive he is (or susceptible to suggestion, if you prefer) by flip-flopping on the matter of whether to help Van and the others fight the Empire. On the one hand, he may not have much choice - Freid's dark secret is powerful enough that the Empire would have probably come after the little nation anyway - but it never ceases to amaze me how many rulers in Escaflowne seem willing to put their nations and citizens in harms' way over the freedom of one man and his mech. It's honourable, yes, but if I was one of the rulers involved here, Van would have been handed over a long time ago, consequences be damned.
For all the initial bluster and defiance, though, come the end of episode 13, there's the sound of a damp squib going off as the Empire gets want they want with limited resistance, pretty much wasting the plot of three or four episodes. Fun enough to watch it all unfold, yes, but hugely frustrating in the way the arc was tied up. It's fortunate, then, that the final episode on the disc is far more interesting..
Van is still learning how to get the most out of Escaflowne, and having seen how Hitomi can make her readings and predictions by almost meditating and becoming one with her surroundings, he takes some lessons from her in how to reach the same frame of mind - with dramatic results. But becoming one with the mech is a physical as well as mental thing, and once Escaflowne responds to him there's a huge increase in Van's fighting prowess - with the tradeoff being that Van takes the same damage to his own flesh and blood body that the mech takes to its metal one. You can see how this could be a problem. Likewise, as Escaflowne is repaired after battle, so Van's injuries disappear. Now, this is a neat little arc that adds a price to using Escaflowne and adds more of a sense of threat to Van's battles - but I can't help but think that a lot of this will be quickly forgotten about, and that would be a real shame.
But for all that, Escaflowne is still a classic that's well worth watching. This volume advances the main story only in small steps, as the Empire get some of what they want while Van and Hitomi learn a fe useful skills - but past that, there's the usual Gaia politicking and mech battles to keep you entertained. We're halfway through the series now, and despite having seen it all before, I'm looking at getting stuck into the rest again.
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