I finally got down to my storage unit, where most of my personal anime collection resides. In it are these two lovely enamel character pins of Van Fanel and Hitomi Kanzaki! Picked these up in Japantown, San Francisco, CA in the late 2000s at a collectibles store. It’s a shame they aren’t designed to gaze at each other. I believe these were created along with other Bandai-Sunrise characters from Cowboy Bebop and The Big O.
A screen redraw of my favorite Aston sister when she’s visiting the Asturian graveyard in the windswept countryside. The wind blows the puffball flora and her long locks in the air, giving a gentle melancholy to the scene. She’s just about to converse with Allen Schezar, so she slowly turns to meet the visitor.
The Pillar of Light or "Il Pilastro di Luce" is a mysterious, well, pillar of light that appears at critical plot moments in the anime. It has the power to teleport people over vast distances of time and space. Inextricably linked to the beautiful and strange world of Gaea, I thought to use this imagery for today's prompt.
Oh how I wished as a kid that this pillar of light would shoot down from the heavens and take me far, far away from the life around me. Do I still have this fantasy? Of course. That's the enduring love I have for this series, all these decades later.
I took some liberty with today's prompt by using the image of the drag-energist to represent a slain dragon. Without this critical object, guymelefs like Escaflowne cannot be powered, and in order to obtain such a power source, you have to slay a dragon and rip the energist from its body. Van uses his own blood to bond with Escaflowne via a bloodletting ceremony. There is violence inherit in this process, so the blood drop makes its appearance.
As for the art style, I chose the iconic tarot deck that Hitomi uses in the series for its simplified visuals and color schemes. For the title, "L'Energia" is the closest way I thought to translate 'Energist' into Italian.
My idle fan theory~ What if there were more symbols from the series that became an inspiration for a new deck that Hitomi might possibly create after her return to the Mystic Moon? Even though she does say she doesn't read the cards anymore in the finale, I figured she'd channel her otherworldly experiences into something creative.
Happy anniversary, The Vision of Escaflowne. This series opened my eyes to beautiful animation, deeply moving music, and a sweeping storyline (even if it was edited by Fox Kids) when it premiered in North America. I had seen nothing like its kind before then, so it impressed upon me at a critically young time.
I’ll love it forever for many reasons. I will continue to share that love through the shifting stages of digital platforms where fans can still find each other and share their experiences, no matter how much time passes.
This video celebrating the now decade-old redub in HD from Crunchyroll remains my favorite cut of the series (shame about that thumbnail though).
Thirty years ago, in 1996, you could have caught this on TV Tokyo, young Maaya Sakamoto introducing "a new show" called Tenkuu no Escaflowne, where she voices the heroine.
Four years later, in 2000, you could have caught this in a Japanese cinema; the full theatrical trailer for Escaflowne (the movie), a dark fantasy retelling of the story.
We will be celebrating the 30th/25th anniversaries for these two throughout this year, inspired by Japan, where it's being celebrated with a new BD release (here's the trailer for that), renewed movie screenings and a bit of new merch.
And we will be using this little logo for the related posts. Just to tie them together visually a bit:
You can already see it in the prompt post of the @escaflowneweek that STARTS TOMORROW! Check it out please, if you haven't!
Welcome to Escaflowne Week(s) 2026! This event celebrates the 30th anniversary of The Vision of Escaflowne/Tenkuu no Escaflowne anime (and the recent 25th anniversary of the Escaflowne movie). Of course, any material related to the expanded universe is welcome, too.
☄️ Enjoy and spread the love for Esca by reblogging!
Liking is nice, too, but does not do anything.
☄️ Feel free to link this post on other platforms as well.
Looking forward to your participation!
Event guidelines and text version of the prompts follow under the cut.
Guidelines:
Participants create any fan content related to Escaflowne, including but not limited to fanart, fanfiction, edits, GIFs, fanmixes, AMVs, meta, headcanons, and so on.
There are two prompts to choose from each day. Prompts are included in the above graphic and plain text version is included at the bottom of the post.
Using prompts is not required, nor is participating every day of the event. You may fill as many prompts as you wish on whichever days you want.
If you cannot make it on time to the part 1 of the event in April, fret not, there will be a part 2 in September, using similar prompts (but with a twist) that will be announced after the part 1 is over. You may even share the WIP in April and the finished work in September (as a suggestion).
Submissions created using AI technologies are not allowed! If you want to participate, your own creativity and effort is required.
NSFW submissions are allowed, but MUST BE POSTED ELSEWHERE in accordance with Tumblr regulations.
Tag your creations with #escaflowneweek so that fellow participants, fans, and the blog moderator(s) can more easily see and interact with your work. Since tag search has never been perfect, it is also recommended to tag the @escaflowneweek blog in the post text to notify the moderator(s) of your work.
Participants who do not have a Tumblr account are encouraged to submit links to their creations using link below. The moderator(s) will post submissions as they are received.
For any questions, please message @escaflowneweek.
Day 1 (30/3): Changing Fate / Three
Day 2 (31/3): Wish upon a Star / Calligraphy
Day 3 (01/4): Slaying of a Dragon / Beast
Day 4 (02/4): Royal Affair / Sisters
Day 5 (03/4): Guided Ones / Trials
Day 6 (04/4): Mysteries of Gaea / Ruins
Day 7 (05/4): Eternal Love / Time-loop
More 30th Anniversary Merch and Movie "REVIVAL" Screening Info
These items will be available to the visitors of the movie screening on March 20 and 27. The ones at the bottom are clearsheets that will be given as a gift with the movie tickets. Clearsheet is a card with a transparent effect and each screening will have two different sets of 3 clearsheets from the series and the movie.
Before the screening, there will also be more items available for purchase, such as clear files, acrylic stands, and 88graphlite prints of the Nobuteru Yuuki LD covers. 88graphlite is a special method high quality print that can create various interesting effects. Read more about it here. This might be the first time these drawings are actually sold as separate prints.
The two screenings at Shinjuku Piccadilly Cinema on March 20 will be accompanied by a stage greeting attended by Akane (director), and the seiyuus Sakamoto (Hitomi), Seki (Van), and Miki (Allen). The tickets will be available for 4000 yen.
Happy Valentine’s Day, fellow Escafans. Here is a symbolic piece of fanart to celebrate Van x Hitomi. Van’s brown leather glove holds Hitomi’s special pendant, protecting and holding their love. 💖
Here is my personal fanart of our favorite psychic teen protagonist, Hitomi Kanzaki. She is in the left-hand piece to the diptych with Van at sunset in the right-hand piece. I’ve taken the inspiration from the opening sequence when Hitomi floats in space with a shower of blue stars around her. The glowing feather means she’s thinking about her otherworldly boyfriend.
Alright, here's what we know about the 25th movie/30th series anniversary releases coming in 2026 so far:
There will be a new "MEMORIAL" Japanese Blu-Ray boxset of the series AND the movie on sale starting 24 March 2026. The price is already known. There is going to be an extra disc with 60 minutes of extras as well, including new ones: a roundtable discussion with Kazuki Akane (director), Tomokazu Seki (Van), and Shinichiro Miki (Allen); and a "Memorial" PV of Yakusoku wa iranai. The new box art will be done by Kimitoshi Yamane (mechanical design), and the concepts are what you can see on the title picture and previously reblogged post. These concepts as well as all the bonuses are listed as a subject to change, so there may be more surprises. There are also going to be seller-specific item bonuses such as print sets and acrylic stands of the existing official artworks.
A "REVIVAL" screening of the movie will be conducted on 20 March 2026 at six select cinemas all across the country.
All the 5 OST CDs will be rereleased as well!
Random 100 customers will also win a special vinyl single release of Yakusoku wa iranai and Yubiwa.
More info on the website in the source.
NOTE: I researched this real quick so the "changes reserved" applies to this post as well. I'm hype tho and have hopes for even more anniversary stuff coming next year!
It’s been forever and a day since I have drawn anything original from a fandom, especially my favorite one, “The Vision of Escaflowne” and its moody male protagonist, Van Fanel. As I’m on sabbatical and have lots of quiet time during this winter, this is a great excuse to get back to drawing. This will be part of a diptych with Hitomi featured in the other scene. Two complementary people, no?
