Interest
28 Years Later, Escaflowne Is Suddenly Trending in Japan
posted on by Ken Iikura-Gross
Oricon's X (formerly Twitter) account noted that the 1996 anime series The Vision of Escaflowne was inexplicably trending #1 in Japan on the social media platform on Wednesday.
Oricon stated (roughly translated), “Escaflowne is trending, and fans are excited as they reminisce about their memories.”
『天空のエスカフローネ』トレンド入り中
— ORICON NEWS【アニメ】 (@oricon_anime_) November 13, 2024
思い出語るファンの声盛り上がる
▼今年で放送28周年https://t.co/Omq066jc3R
ロボット・恋愛・ファンタジー要素を併せ持つ物語と、菅野よう子らの音楽が特徴。主人公役は当時16歳の坂本真綾で、OP「約束はいらない」も歌唱。ほか出演の三木眞一郎、飯塚… pic.twitter.com/WOufI6inWT
"Escaflowne" is trending, and fans are excited as they reminisce about their memories
▼This year marks the 28th anniversary of the broadcast.
https://oricon.co.jp/prof/183/products/288721/1/?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=social&ref_cd=jstw003
The story combines elements of robots, romance, and fantasy, and features music by Yoko Kanno and others. The protagonist is played by Maaya Sakamoto, who was 16 years old at the time, and she also sang the opening theme song "Yakusoku ha Iranai". Other cast members, including Shinichirō Miki, Mayumi Iizuka, Yūji Ueda, and Ikue Ōtani, would go on to appear as regular cast members for years in Pokémon, which began airing the following year.
There appears to be no discernible reason why Escaflowne trended on X/Twitter. However, fans expressed their thrill in the series' sudden surge in popularity. Among the commenters was Shinichirō Miki, voice of Allen Schezar.
Miki expressed shock, saying (roughly translated), “The Vision of Escaflowne is trending⁈ Did someone alter fate??! No. It's because it's a wonderful series to begin with!!”
天空のエスカフローネ
— 三木眞一郎 (@miki_shin318) November 13, 2024
トレンド入り⁈
誰か運命改変したのか⁈
いや
もともと素晴らしい作品だからですね‼︎
声優も作画も音楽も音響もそのほか全て
あんな密度の濃い作品には
なかなか出会えないと思います!
観ていただきたい作品です‼︎#エスカフローネ https://t.co/t2vnYYteAa
The Vision of Escaflowne is trending⁈
Did someone alter fate?⁈
No
It's because it's a wonderful series to begin with‼︎
I don't think you'll often come across a work that has such depth in voice acting, animation, music, sound, and everything else!
This is a series I'd like you to watch‼︎
Animator Eiji Nakada also commented on the surge (roughly translated), “I was credited about once a week in the ending credits from episodes 7 to 20 (I think?), but I, in fact, participated every week without any credits lol.” (Nakada would later serve as chief animation director and mechanical designer of another Sunrise hit, Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion.)
エスカフローネがトレンド入りしていたので思い出を
— 中田 栄治 ☆アニメーター☆水面下で稼働中 (@e_nkd08) November 13, 2024
当時は中村プロダクションで原画で参加していて、EDクレジットで7話〜20話くらい（だったかな？）まで一週おきにくらいにクレジットされていたけど
実はノンクレで毎週参加だったw
ハードだったけど作業自体は楽しかったし、すごく勉強になった作品 https://t.co/1bsF1pPxrW
Escaflowne was trending, so here's a memory.
I was a key animator at Nakamura Productions at the time, and I was credited about once a week in the ending credits from episodes 7 to 20 (I think?), but I, in fact, participated every week without any credits lol
It was hard work, but the work itself was fun and I learned a lot from it.
The Vision of Escaflowne aired on TV Tokyo between April to September 1996. Along with the anime series, the franchise inspired two manga series, a manga anthology, and one feature film. The anime celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2021 with a store exhibition in Tokyo, but no plans for its 30th anniversary in 2026 have been announced yet.
Sources: Oricon News's X/Twitter account, Shinichirō Miki's X/Twitter account, Eiji Nakada's X/Twitter account, Bandai Channel's website
this article has been modified since it was originally posted; see change history