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Funimation Escaflowne English Dub Clip Shows Van Awakening Escaflowne

Funimation's official YouTube channel began streaming a clip on Wednesday for its new English dub of the The Vision of Escaflowne television anime series. The clip previews a dubbed scene from the show's second episode, showing Van awakening and riding the titular machine Escaflowne for the first time.

Funimation will release a Blu-ray Disc collector's edition that will include both the television series and the film, and will also release the film and both halves of the television anime on separate Blu-ray Disc/DVD combo packs. All releases are slated for October 18.

The original anime series aired in Japan in 1996 and Bandai Entertainment previously released the series with an English dub. Funimation launched a Kickstarter in February to gauge interest in a new English dub that would cover the director's cut of the series. The Kickstarter reached its goal of US$100,000 within three days of launching, and ended in March with US$318,784 raised by 2,058 backers.

The anime centers on high school student Hitomi. One day, Hitomi is transported from Earth to the magical world of Gaea, where she meets boy prince Van Fanel, and is caught up in his quest to unite the countries of Gaea against the ominous Zaibach empire. On the way, she discovers a hidden ability and strives to unravel layers of mystery surrounding Van, his past, and the giant machine known as Escaflowne.