Final
Vegeta's Escaflowne
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The page still in construction's lullaby:
Escaflowne as a dragon
Escaflowne has the form of a Western dragon, but actually there are some traits of Orientality in it. In Eastern legends dragons have a pearl which is the source of their power. If you think about it, you may recall some istances of power pearls in animes. The most notorious case is Dragon Ball, where seven pearls (the Dragon Balls), which it's said once were one, could summon, you guess it, a dragon to grant a wish. Even Evangelion's fruit of life may be inspired by this legend. Another example may be Tenchi Muyo, where Ryoko's power comes from three red spheres. Even Zeorymer seems to have pearls, set in the chest of robots, but I am judging by simply seeing the design, I personally didn't have seen it.
Now, Eastern dragons hold their pearl in the chin, in the jaws or in the claws. Well, that's it: in dragon form Escaflowne's source of power comes exactly from the power pearl he holds in the left paw. pic
A further trait of Orientality comes from the number of claws each paw has. Chinese dragons have five claws, Indonesian dragons have four and Japanese dragons have only three. Escaflowne has three claws per paw, so it has kind of hidden Japanese appearences.
Earth dragons
If you were keen enough to notice it, the earth dragons have five claws per paw. Yes, it's a Chinese dragon, a species which is called "Lindworm". Actually, Marco Polo reported their existence :D Anyway, as far as Escaflowne goes, the earth dragons are drawn more fatty than a snake with two paws and moose horns like they should be, but it's clear authors wanted to give it a characteristic look. In the booklet there is an earth dragon which looks more true to the original source. pic
Another interesting thing you can notice about earth dragons is that they are drawn with some little feet at the basis of the tail, meaning these things are atrophied rear paws. These is a nice touch of realism. pic
Further touch of realism is the third eyelid which slides horizontally. This transparent eyelid is typical of reptiles like crocodiles, it helps them during dives. pic
The earth dragon has even another feature of reptiles: the gizzard. Since reptiles don't have teeth that enable them to chew their food, they swallow small stones which end up in a bag-like organ the twich of which acts like a mastication. Birds have gizzards, too, their beaks also are not that good chewing. Anyway, it's not said expressly in the show, but Compendium clarifies dragon energists come from the ore dragons swallow, which is refined in their body. Kinda like an oyster which bears, you know what, pearls.
Different types of energists
This information is mentioned even in the Compendium, but I'll requote it: the colour of an energist is a sign of its power. Dragon energist is the most powerful energist, followed by red, then purple, then green. Escaflowne in the chest has a red energist and two green energists in the shoulders, plus the drag-energist. Mind the colour of the energists next time you watch Escaflowne.
One thing I noted about energists is that Alseides attacked with the left arm a considerable number of times. My guess is that the left arm is Alseides' more powerful arm since their source of power is closer (it's on the left shoulder) enabling quicker reaction. The right arm should be less powerful, but the resulting stance would be safer to protect the power source.
In episode 3 Allen punched Escaflowne's energist. I believe the Escaflowne fell down on its knees not because of Van being shocked, but because the hit temporarily cut energist's supply of power.
The explosiveness of energists
Energists seem also quite explosive. They tend to blow with a hard hit. Actually, in the arrow Van shoot in the first episode there was a fragment of energist too. No wonder why the dragon eye blew. It would be curious to see if energist-enhanced arrows act like anti-tanks in the world of Escaflowne :) pic pic
Melef's controls
You all know how a Guymelef is operated, but maybe you didn't notice how a simple melef is operated. It is shown only in two shots, one in episode 2 and one in episode 4. All in all the controls aren't that different, expect that the hands are controlled by a simple handle which looks like a bike brake handle. Despite having fingers, melefs' hands are not big enough to have complex mechanisms inside, so they work like a mitten, they just open and close. Escaflowne scores in realism again. pic pic
Escaflowne's shoulders
I noticed this only from the artbook. The piece of shoulder at the low edge of the green energist, both forward and rearward, works like a flap in dragon form. Not that a Western dragon is designed with a proper type of wings, but it's another great hidden idea. pic
The Alseides
The Alseides is Zaibach mass-produced main Guymelef. I think authors maybe should have inserted some variants of it (as many variants as the VF-1 had ;) ) but, well, I mean, there are really things an Alseides can't do? Well, it can't fly and use stealth mantle at the same time, because stealth mantle is too power consuming. But this is just a trifle. Dilandau's Alseides has more energist power, so maybe other Alseides can't shoot a burst of fire while flying like Dilandau did, but this is just another trifle.
The Alseides is a Guymelef masterpiece in which even Folken got credited. The man invented the stealth mantle, no less. The idea came to him from his studies on chameleon people. It's no coincidence he actually was acquainted with one of them. Aside from Folken being given the characterization of a manipulator, this is a big insight in storytelling, since to justify the stealth mantle authors invented chameleon people, and to justify chameleon people authors invented all kind of animal people. These kind of details weren't just thrown in.
The first idea (back in '91, Escaflowne conception took many years. Yes, its story is a lot older than Evangelion) actually was that all Guymelefs had stealth mantles. I have no idea how the battles would be fought, but a conceptual image showed me how they would be drawn without using CG: under the hems of the mantle you could see only the background. A gust of wind blows the mantle and the legs vanish. It is that cool, even if it's best for watchers been able to spot were the invisible things should be (and here comes CG).
The flight mode of the Alseides is not a transformation like with the Escaflowne. It's just a plain folding back arms and snapping legs together. It is nice from authors not ripping sospension of disbelief apart by having all mechas transforming in mythological beasts. Not many authors have this kind of ability of preventing exageration. Thus, Escaflowne was not "Medieval knight-like mechas which transform in medieval beasts", which sounds a bit childish. Not that Escaflowne's transformation wasn't the coolest ever, but the Escaflowne is a piece of art, while Zaibach Guymelefs came from an industrial society which favours practicality and cost-effectiveness.
By the way, all Guymelefs which are able to fly can do so only thanks to the levitations rocks they embed. Now here is a question: authors inserted levistones in the story because they fit in a fantasy settings and later they thought they could use them to justify flying mechas or they wanted to justify how Guymelefs were able to fly and inserted them? All in all, I don't think the original story as first thought had flying stones, since early mechas transformed in believable planes (and they were designed by Kawamori!).
Anyway, studying their design, I came to conclude that their thrust during flight comes from slits in the back of the Alseides. This is the reason why Alseides are leant obliquely while flying. pic pic
Then I'll speak of Alseides' patented weapon, the Klima Claw. The former word seems the name of its inventor, and on the net is also spelled as "Krima", "Crima", "Chleama" and so on. We'll never know if it actually was an Engrish word or a Portuguese one, and if it really meant something.
This weapon is fed by a characteristic liquid metal whose tanks I believe are placed in those big shoulders. This liquid metal is as Jack-of-all-trades as the Alseides. It is used to propel the Alseides in flight. It was meant to protect the pilot while in cockpit (Dragon Slayers' uniform has embedded gloves, so maybe even the pilot must be protected from this liquid metal. I think those pilots sweat a lot). It can be shot from the forearm shaped as lances or swords or all things you can imagine, and in the next second it cools down enough it is as hard as steel. When heated enough, it could serve even as a flamethrower. It is that nasty. As a backup, Alseides' forearm is even endowed with a mechanical claw.
I think this weapon is one of the things that make Escaflowne awesome. It makes the battles somewhat tactical, and I mean in the choices of attack, defense and counterattack:
And so on.
Every action has a different graphic countermeasure. Every move and countermove flows incessantly without they focus on it. The most important thing for a mecha anime is establishing a battle system, and Escaflowne did it great.
Last thing to be said about Alseides, they even have a snake-like periscope which they use mostly while stealth mantles is on. During flight the head of the periscope is lifted up within a metal support. The pilot sees from there.
The Chafaris
The Chafaris is Duke Freid's Guymelef. Its name means "fountain" or "spring" in Portuguese. Chafaris is the tallest and heaviest of all the Guymelefs in Escaflowne, but his height actually seems just an attempt to intimidation. The pilot's visor is in its beard. pic
Chafaris was designed using an Indian style. Despite you couldn't see it in animation, if its large bow was folded and layed on its proper hooks in the back, it would merge with the line of the elbow blades looking like the floating band some Hindu god has. pic
I personally don't think "elbow blades" is actually a proper name, since they have a pivot in the wrist and not in the elbow. As shown in some artbooks, each blade should have a twin blade hidden inside, which should be able to rotate. I think they were meant to act kinda like a "tonfa". pic
The Teirings
According to the official stats, the Teirings are the tallest and heaviest Guymelefs of Zaibach. They are specifically designed for high-speed flight, with upgraded propulsion systems. Their engines generate so much heat they need a dissipator, which at first glance is mistaken for decorative hairs. Their shoulders house liquid metal propellant tanks, and they are able to fly ten times more fast than the Alseides, but at maximum speed they last only three minutes.
The pilot sees through slits in the neck while in Guymelef mode, but when in flight mode his body is parallel to the ground, and he now sees through slits in the chest of the Guymelef. Since through the head is channeled exceeding heat, this is the best solution. pic pic
Only two test units were produced.
