When Van gets captured at the start of ep5 and Allen tells Merle and Hitomi they shouldn't worry about Van's life, at least, he says, "They say that only the King of Fanelia can operate Escaflowne."
So:
1. There are widespread knowledge and rumors of Escaflowne as a legendary guymelef surpassing normal guymelefs, and that it belongs to the Fanelia royal house, passed from king to king.
2. It seems almost logical to Allen that Zaibach has waged war on Fanelia to capture such a commodity.
3. There must be a bond between the royal blood of Fanelia and Escaflowne beyond merely possessing the guymelef. In the fight with Allen and Dilandu, Van seems to take personal hits from actions on Esca--this is even before strengthening his blood pact.
Tuesday, November 01, 2011
Friday, October 28, 2011
Ep 2 thoughts
I'm in the process of re-watching the episodes (for the 10th time, probably?!) and making dialogue notes since I haven't watched actual content since 2008. I think each time I watch Escaflowne, I am that much closer to my Escaflowne dissertation... So let's start off our multivariate analysis with our favorite character (certainly mine), shall we?
In ep2 when Van first meets Allen, I love those few quick scenes:
- First instance of Van saying Hitomi's name
- Van meets Allen carrying Hitomi and challenges him
- He is defeated in a single stroke, pukes, and falls unconscious
In the series, Hitomi and Van constantly refer to each other as "aitsu", or "that guy/that girl". Hitomi does it in her episode intros, and they refer each other that way talking to other characters. It's a pretty rude and informal way to refer to people, and I think it's so reflective and funny of what they first thought about each other. So when Van first said "Hitomi" was when she screamed bloody murder when they were separated--I think it reflects his personality, as he's particularly vulnerable to emotions whenever he has to rescue her. When there is a chance of loss, he turns very protective and sensitive, probably as a result of him losing his family so young. I think his most endearing qualities appear out of his kingly shroud at these moments.
As to Van's first meeting with Allen, his fateful best companion and competing lover: Van was about to draw his sword, when Allen cautions him that he shouldn't draw lightly as he would surely lose his life. And of course Van drew his sword. Standard anime/movie logic.
But I thought about this scene for a while, my dissertation spider senses tingling. Did Van know who Allen is? Did Van draw his sword because he was protecting Hitomi? But as he drew his sword he kind of smirked a little....
Allen was dressed in the Knight Caeli uniform. Although Van was very young when Aston and his daughters visited Fanelia, as a curious boy he certainly would have remembered the knights who accompanied the King of Asturia. (Later in ep2 when Van interacts with the Mole Man, we can see that Van's memory recall is freaking amazing, as he remembers Folken's discussion of glar leaves before he was 5 years old.) Allen's outpost was the closest neighbor to Fanelian borders, and with Dilandu's comment on Allen's widespread reputation and Allen's non-military-standard striking looks, I think there's a pretty good chance Van has heard about the commander of Fort Castelo.
So if Van knew about Allen's position as a knight of Asturia, he certainly could have been diplomatic in stating that Hitomi was under his protection and that would have been that. Allen would give Hitomi back to him, maybe offer the services and supplies of Castelo for their refreshment. But no, this is Van, who's been crown prince of his kingdom that his father and his brother left for him for 10 years. He had slain the dragon for the Dragonslaying Rite for accession just yesterday, that had taken years of training to prepare and the actual lonely event had required a surprising trip on the Mystic Moon. He just received his monarchy title this morning, and then invisible giants destroyed his kingdom and his people. But he couldn't even see the enemy before everything ended. He wanted to avenge Balgus, who had prevented him from defending the kingdom he was just sworn to protect. He wanted to exact justice for the others slain.
And here is Allen, taking an unconscious Hitomi away, expressly forbidding him to draw the sword of the King of Fanelia. I think that's just too much invitation.
In ep2 when Van first meets Allen, I love those few quick scenes:
- First instance of Van saying Hitomi's name
- Van meets Allen carrying Hitomi and challenges him
- He is defeated in a single stroke, pukes, and falls unconscious
In the series, Hitomi and Van constantly refer to each other as "aitsu", or "that guy/that girl". Hitomi does it in her episode intros, and they refer each other that way talking to other characters. It's a pretty rude and informal way to refer to people, and I think it's so reflective and funny of what they first thought about each other. So when Van first said "Hitomi" was when she screamed bloody murder when they were separated--I think it reflects his personality, as he's particularly vulnerable to emotions whenever he has to rescue her. When there is a chance of loss, he turns very protective and sensitive, probably as a result of him losing his family so young. I think his most endearing qualities appear out of his kingly shroud at these moments.
As to Van's first meeting with Allen, his fateful best companion and competing lover: Van was about to draw his sword, when Allen cautions him that he shouldn't draw lightly as he would surely lose his life. And of course Van drew his sword. Standard anime/movie logic.
But I thought about this scene for a while, my dissertation spider senses tingling. Did Van know who Allen is? Did Van draw his sword because he was protecting Hitomi? But as he drew his sword he kind of smirked a little....
Allen was dressed in the Knight Caeli uniform. Although Van was very young when Aston and his daughters visited Fanelia, as a curious boy he certainly would have remembered the knights who accompanied the King of Asturia. (Later in ep2 when Van interacts with the Mole Man, we can see that Van's memory recall is freaking amazing, as he remembers Folken's discussion of glar leaves before he was 5 years old.) Allen's outpost was the closest neighbor to Fanelian borders, and with Dilandu's comment on Allen's widespread reputation and Allen's non-military-standard striking looks, I think there's a pretty good chance Van has heard about the commander of Fort Castelo.
So if Van knew about Allen's position as a knight of Asturia, he certainly could have been diplomatic in stating that Hitomi was under his protection and that would have been that. Allen would give Hitomi back to him, maybe offer the services and supplies of Castelo for their refreshment. But no, this is Van, who's been crown prince of his kingdom that his father and his brother left for him for 10 years. He had slain the dragon for the Dragonslaying Rite for accession just yesterday, that had taken years of training to prepare and the actual lonely event had required a surprising trip on the Mystic Moon. He just received his monarchy title this morning, and then invisible giants destroyed his kingdom and his people. But he couldn't even see the enemy before everything ended. He wanted to avenge Balgus, who had prevented him from defending the kingdom he was just sworn to protect. He wanted to exact justice for the others slain.
And here is Allen, taking an unconscious Hitomi away, expressly forbidding him to draw the sword of the King of Fanelia. I think that's just too much invitation.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Hello Again 2
Is it weird that although I've away so long, rarely a week goes by when I don't think about the unfinished story?
But this summer and fall I've been better about actual work on the story. I think I just needed to practice? The story is much tighter and better for all this time away; I just wish it hadn't taken me so long! But I'm prepping to try NaNoWriMo for the first time, and I am pretty excited to write actual story again. The 50k words that come out may not be good, but at least it's a second start. It is definitely my goal to finish DS.
I'll also be updating this blog, probably ramble on about the characters like I used to. It's like I should have written an Escaflowne dissertation or something.
Today I was GISing for "Fanelian sword screenshots" and realized that out of the handful of returns, almost all of those pictures are from this blog. Kind of weird...
In preparation for the month of writing, here are two lists that the NaNoWriMo people recommended I make:
1) What makes a good novel to me?
- believable characters
- detailed, accurate setting
- quick succession of crisis buildup
- happy endings
- unexpected romance
- sympathetic character flaws
- lots of character development
- little details in the story that turn out to be important
- magic
- brilliant prose
- food
2) Things that bore me or depress me in novels?
- malicious evil characters without motivation or redeeming qualities
- modern prose style that is obtuse
- unreasonably dramatic conflict between characters (esp when they can just communicate to resolve misunderstanding...)
- weighty moral themes
- feeling of author purposefully jerking my emotions around
- lots of poetry
- main characters who are too good
- conversations that are too witty, esp romantic banter
- psychological horror
Since my old friend Sapphirefly posted a photo of herself (and also a book! I think part of the impetus is that!), here is a photo of me. I'd say it's a fairly accurate portrait :)
But this summer and fall I've been better about actual work on the story. I think I just needed to practice? The story is much tighter and better for all this time away; I just wish it hadn't taken me so long! But I'm prepping to try NaNoWriMo for the first time, and I am pretty excited to write actual story again. The 50k words that come out may not be good, but at least it's a second start. It is definitely my goal to finish DS.
I'll also be updating this blog, probably ramble on about the characters like I used to. It's like I should have written an Escaflowne dissertation or something.
Today I was GISing for "Fanelian sword screenshots" and realized that out of the handful of returns, almost all of those pictures are from this blog. Kind of weird...
In preparation for the month of writing, here are two lists that the NaNoWriMo people recommended I make:
1) What makes a good novel to me?
- believable characters
- detailed, accurate setting
- quick succession of crisis buildup
- happy endings
- unexpected romance
- sympathetic character flaws
- lots of character development
- little details in the story that turn out to be important
- magic
- brilliant prose
- food
2) Things that bore me or depress me in novels?
- malicious evil characters without motivation or redeeming qualities
- modern prose style that is obtuse
- unreasonably dramatic conflict between characters (esp when they can just communicate to resolve misunderstanding...)
- weighty moral themes
- feeling of author purposefully jerking my emotions around
- lots of poetry
- main characters who are too good
- conversations that are too witty, esp romantic banter
- psychological horror
Since my old friend Sapphirefly posted a photo of herself (and also a book! I think part of the impetus is that!), here is a photo of me. I'd say it's a fairly accurate portrait :)
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