Jan 09 2009
#11-#12: “xxxHolic: Kei” & “Vision of Escaflowne”
I have read the first volume of the manga version of “xxxHolic,” but unlike most manga I’m not sure whether I liked it or not. The artwork is trippy and strange, and the characters are a bit whiny and contemptible, so it is hard to tell if I could really get into the story of a boy who makes a wish in the wrong place at the wrong time and ends up bound to work for a woman with strange powers and an even stranger wardrobe. This anime was not just an animated version of the manga, but a separate story that picked up somewhere in the future and concerned characters I had not seen before. Obviously they are of some importance to the story and show up eventually in the original plot, as this anime didn’t feel the need to explain them at all. While the animation was well done and the story for this episode somewhat intriguing, I’m not sure I enjoyed it enough to watch anymore of this series.
“Vision of Escaflowne,” on the other hand, I loved form the start. My introduction to the Escaflowne world began when I watched the motion picture several years ago and fell deeply in love with the story and the characters. Then I began reading the manga, which is vastly different than the story presented in the film. I was intrigued to learn that the anime series was also different then the manga, and different then the motion picture. It stands alone as its own version of the Escaflowne tale, about a girl from our world who gets sucked into a world of warfare and mechas and rash young kings in high-powered armor. This series has a little bit of everything, from action to adventure to romance to drama. While I only watched the first two episodes, I will be making time to watch the remaining 24 as soon as I get a chance.
