Vision of Escaflowne - Anime TV Series Analysis - Gender Roles
Their Jealousy Will Mean Armageddon
(Major Spoilers Ahead!)
Men are dogs. Whether on Earth or Gaea, men are oblivious to a woman’s feelings, selfish to fill their own carnal ambitions and easily manipulated by evil destiny changing forces. Any virtuous act men perform is expected to be rewarded with sexual or maternal favors. An all too common line, “Hey, you were a damsel in distress until I saved you, thank you very much. So, ahem, what do you want to do now?” Ruff, ruff.
Lucky for its intended mixed gender audience Escaflowne is not so obvious in its portrayal of the sentimental, yet impenetrable male leads, Van and Allen. Hitomi, the girl from the Mystic Moon, is the obvious damsel that needs saving in almost every episode of the series. Through stifled formalities and down glances Hitomi thanks either Van or Allen who conveniently trade off rescuing her. Tension builds throughout the series every time Hitomi is saved. Van grows jealous of Allen’s easy beauty. Allen lets his jealousy fester with every ferociously heroic adventure Van returns from in his famed Guymelef, Escaflowne. These stupid jealousies get the better of both male leads and they result in a final battle that threatens the destiny of the whole planet.
Hitomi needs more protective supervision than a two-year-old. She is always falling down some crack in the earth, being captured by gecko-men or underestimating the damage that can come from entering others’ minds or channeling the future through her magic pendant resulting in falling unconscious into the arms of a potential lover.
The ever present damsel in distress dynamic effectively plays into the series most powerful scene. In episode 8, “The Day the Angels Danced,” Van, Hitomi, and Meruru are all captured by a Zaibach Energist (the Dragon Stones used for Guymelef’s energy source) mining crew. After the team escapes their captors the Energists explode in a reaction to Escaflowne’s own stone and Hitomi’s fortune pendant. The resulting earthquake opens a crack in the ground that Hitomi is unlucky enough to fall into. Van, seemingly suicidal, dives headfirst into the crevice after her. The reflection in Hitomi’s eyes reveals that just as Van reaches out to save he sprouts wings. Hitomi had a vision of an angel saving her earlier in the series, that angel is Van. Is this an idealized Van? Is he an angel (or more specifically a direct descendant of the Holy Flying Dragon Tribe) or the tempered, aggressive and fierce warrior whose feelings are as impenetrable as Escaflowne’s armor? Hitomi is even more confused about her feelings for Van after his selfless rescue. She thanks Van.
To spur the macho competition between the male superheroes further, Allen enters a battle with Van against Zaibach’s Alseides and valiantly takes a spear of Alseides liquid metal through the chest to, you guessed it, save Hitomi. In Millerna’s amateur health care Allen barely survives the attack. Hitomi thanks Allen, and with Meruru’s nagging thanks Van, since he initiated the battle.
The entire series continues with Hitomi being pushed, pulled and rerouted between Allen’s and Van’s polar coordinates. In episode 19, “Love’s Golden Rule Plan,” because Hitomi, Van and Escaflowne share some magical destiny that clouds Dornkirk’s (Zaibach’s leader, like the Emperor in Return of the Jedi) Absolute Fortune Control Machine’s ability to predict the future he orders a change of destiny that will keep the two separated. This machine makes Allen and Hitomi meet on a bridge and make-out just in time for the already self-doubting and fragile Van to witness. This event along with the expansion of the Absolute Fortune Zone lead to the final ferocious Guymelef battle between Allen and Van that could lead to the destruction of all of Gaea.
Boys will be boys when there is a girl involved.
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