u/AdUnfair558

So, The Vision of Escaflowne. I finally started watching this show.

It’s not like it was ever under my radar or anything, but for whatever reason I just never got around to it. I think by the time it really hit the US it was already on DVD through Bandai in the 2000s? I also vaguely remember that heavily cut Fox Kids version that existed for like five minutes, though I never actually watched it.

What finally got me interested was realizing this is a Sunrise show. Somehow I never connected that in my head before. I guess I always mentally filed Escaflowne under “girls anime” when I was younger, which is funny because over the years I’ve watched plenty of shoujo-oriented stuff and ended up loving it.

One thing that immediately stood out was how young Maaya Sakamoto sounds as Hitomi. Apparently this was basically her first major role, which is kind of wild considering how huge she eventually became. Between this, her music career, and all the roles she landed afterward like Aerith from Final Fantasy 7, she really had an incredible start. Makes me wonder what the circumstances were behind her getting cast in Escaflowne in the first place.

But honestly, what hooked me most were the giant mecha fights in a fantasy setting. That combination is just cool. Medieval kingdoms, swords, mysticism, dragons, fate/vision stuff, and then suddenly these massive armored mecha. It feels like Sunrise took a fantasy RPG world and injected it with 90s mecha anime energy.

Also, the soundtrack absolutely deserves the hype. Yoko Kanno was operating on another level here. Some scenes already feel elevated purely because of the music.

I’m still early into the series, but I can already see why people remember this one so fondly. It's just a shame I never watched it sooner because of it's late/slow start in the US. It was the 2000s and I was more interested in the current anime of that time than watching a show from 1996. Vision of Escaflowne has that very specific late-90s anime atmosphere that’s hard to explain unless you grew up around this era.

Curious how everyone here ranks Escaflowne compared to other fantasy/mecha anime from the 90s?

Watching DNA² and this scene absolutely finished me. The soft lighting, emotional music, tears rolling down her face like it’s the climax of a tragic romance… and then:

>“I can’t control when or where I fart.”

I know retro anime could be weird sometimes, but the total sincerity of scenes like this is what makes them so memorable to me. Nobody in the scene is joking. The direction, voice acting, and animation all treat it like an emotionally devastating confession.

That mix of melodrama and completely unhinged dialogue is something I feel like 80s/90s anime did better than anyone. I had to pause the episode because I couldn’t stop laughing.

What are some lines or scenes that cracked you up because they were delivered way more seriously than they probably should have been?

I want to preface this post with a special thanks to the user (sorry I don't know who) that posted a clip from this show a few weeks ago. If not for that I wouldn't have checked this out!

I just finished watching Fantastic Adventure Of Yohko: Leda it was a really fun surprise. If you’re into old-school sci-fi fantasy anime, there’s a good chance you’ll enjoy this one. I kept thinking, "This is a really cool movie." If you like sci-fi fantasy then I think you'll like it. A lot of the story elements are kinda cliche by today's standards but this was 1985. Having a high school girl (Yohko) go to another world and then wear skimpy bikini armor was still pretty new, I think. The only other series that comes to mind are the Valis games, but that was 1986.

For whatever reason watching this movie REALLY reminded me of Jim Henson's Labyrinth. I read another review for this movie and they thought the same thing but they noted that the movie wouldn't even be released for another year! It's just got a lot of those kinds of fantasy elements. Teen gets warped into another world, meets some fantastical characters along with the presence of an androgynous, sorcerer villain who feels very much in the spirit of an the ’80s fantasy antagonist.

Visually, the movie is pretty cool too. The character designs have that unmistakable mid-80s anime style, and some of the backgrounds and creature designs are genuinely imaginative. It definitely feels like one of those anime that captures the experimental energy of the OVA era before everything became more polished and standardized.

Sadly the movie is only about an hour long so you don't really get this long journey that shows the world Yohko is thrown into. It almost feels like there was enough material here for a short series or at least a longer film. Yohko gets thrown into this strange world, but we never really get enough time to explore it properly. Would have loved to see if there were towns and stuff. I mean, there is a talking dog so that must mean there are more like him then?

Still, despite the short runtime and some dated story elements, I had a really good time with it. It’s stylish, weird, charming, and very much a product of that early fantasy-anime era. Definitely worth checking out if you enjoy retro anime or ’80s fantasy films in general.

Overall, it was a good watch. It's a solid 7.5 or 8 I'd say.

Maybe this was just an American thing but when I was growing up anime was always played on TV at 9:00am. I'm older now and been trying to connect with the things that made my childhood special like watching more retro anime. I've been trying to make Saturday morning blocks for watching an anime series a bit or a movie.

Today I was thinking of watching Fantastic Adventure Of Yohko: Leda

Do you have a special time or block in your day where you connect with retro anime?

I teach English in Japan. This is probably just a coincidence but in the new 2nd year JHS textbook there is a story about guide dogs. The dog's name is Coco, and it's spelled the same way. I want to believe whoever worked on this book likes Witch Hat Atelier.

Holy cow what a challenge this was. It took me a little over a year of on and off playing to finally finish this one. Some of those challenges are legit hard if these kinds of games aren’t your thing. I am so bad at memorizing patterns. I am the type that wants to dodge but ends up jumping INTO the attack.

Some of the levels you have to take advantage of glitches and that was rough. A well spent 7 bucks or however much it’s going for. Really nice I can say I beat the classic Mega Man games now.

Wow. Just wow. And they’re treating it like a legitimate problem. Some romance anime have a girl be shy or have some kind of rival to overcome. In DNA² their female cast have flatulence issues.

I've lived in Japan for a while and I have never seen a sign like this in a restaurant bathroom until today.

So I started watching DNA², and this show is absolutely ridiculous.

I’m only a few episodes in, but I keep laughing at moments that feel like they should be serious. Like the guy is in a cafe with this girl and suddenly some punks just show up, pick up the girl and throw her! At the same time, I’m not even sure the show wants me to take it seriously in the first place. Like you have that one dude obsessed with the most perfect DNA. Is it supposed to be a parody of typical romance anime?

The premise alone is wild. The main character, who literally vomits around women, gets injected with a serum by a girl from the future, and that serum starts turning him into a “Mega Playboy.”

Since it’s based on a manga by Masakazu Katsura, the character designs are great, as expected. That part definitely stands out. But the actual story is so over-the-top that I can’t watch it with a straight face. The main character looks like the son of Goku and Crono.

I’ve only just started it, so maybe it develops into something more sincere later, but right now it feels like one of those “so bad it’s good” anime. Not necessarily bad in a boring way, more like bad in a very entertaining, chaotic way.

Is DNA² meant to be taken as a parody, or is this just 90s sci-fi romance weirdness?

I just got done watching RG Veda and this was really boring to watch. I didn't watch both episodes at once. I watched episode 1 with my wife who was the one who wanted to watch it actually, and finished episode 2 today. My wife is a fan of the manga and watched this when she was younger. I honestly was just cracking jokes the entire time with her. It's like one of those OVAs you watch and just make jokes about it. I think you really need to have read the manga first to understand what was going on because I have no idea what was going on or who the characters are.

One thing I want to add though is that the OST by Nick Wood is really good. It's got that kind of jazzy/techno ambient beat (not sure how to explain) but it sounds similar to stuff in Madhouse OVAs by Kawajiri.

I feel like the 90s had a lot of these OVAs that were just snippets of a larger series. If you weren't familiar with the original source material then you're not going to really get it. Although a few months ago I watched Video Girl Ai, and 3x3 Eyes. And while incomplete they both weren't TOO bad, and actually got me pretty interested in the source material. RG Vega did not.

Went to the Square Enix concert in Tokyo last night and I’m still kind of processing it. It was the opening show and it was amazing. The Tokyo Philharmonic orchestra did an amazing job bringing to life many of Square Enix's memorable songs. I had gone to the Bra Bra Final Fantasy Brass be Bravo in 2024 but this was just on a whole different level!

I bought my ticket on a whim. My birthday was coming up and I got a notice about tickets to this show. I heard about it but I thought they were all sold out. I decided to buy them. The price was the same as a front row seat but the problem was my view might be obstructed by something. Honestly when I got there it wasn't that bad! I could see the screen, which played clips from the games, just fine.

The atmosphere was incredible right from the start. A full orchestra, dim lighting, and that moment when the screen lit up with the title gave me chills immediately. They started with One-Winged Angel. It really set the stage for the night. You could feel that everyone there really cared about the music.

The setlist was honestly stacked. We got music from:

• Final Fantasy (multiple entries)
• Chrono Trigger / Chrono Cross
• Kingdom Hearts
• NieR
• Octopath Traveler
• Xenogears
• Live A Live
• SaGa series

Hearing these tracks live hits completely differently. It was really amazing because some tracks sounded so similar to the game it made me wonder if they were just really playing a CD! Sadly the arrangements to the Chrono Trigger songs they played didn't really land well for me. They were okay, but they felt a little different than the originals. The Final Fantasy Tactics Logo Opening and Precipitous Combat songs along with the song Soaring from Xenogears felt so much like their game versions! I really want a Final Fantasy Tactics and Xenogears concerts.

They played MEGALOMANIA from Live A Live which apparently was the first time it was ever played by an orchestra. So that was cool. Listening to tracks from the Romancing Saga and Octopath Traveler makes me want to now check out those series.

I feel like they played too many Kingdom Hearts songs, but it was probably only like 3 songs, but I am NOT a Kingdom Hearts fan so it felt like every track was just me waiting for it to be over...

Also I picked up some merchandise. I got to the venue around 2:30pm and people were already in line. The keychains sold out SO fast. I was hoping for a Chrono Trigger one... I got a tote bag, program, and a few small items instead. The program book is actually really nice. It has breakdowns of the pieces and some art from the games. Also it has English inside too! Nice touch.

Overall, if you’re even remotely into Square Enix music, I’d highly recommend going if you ever get the chance during its tour. Definitely one of those experiences that reminds you why these games stuck with you.

Curious if anyone else here has gone to this concert (or other Square Enix orchestra events). What were your favorite pieces live?

At the music of square enix magic memories and melodies concert in Tokyo and these were on display. Just take my money! Does this mean something Chrono Trigger game related is in the works??