The Long Road

08/31/2005 Archived Entry: "Shock and Awe"

I still remember the very first episode of modern anime that I ever watched - it was a part of Escaflowne. The ending was what really struck me: as the girl is falling down a canyon, Prince Vann leaps off his dragon diving after her, and as feathers start flying all over the screen the camera zooms out to show that Vann has unfurled a huge pair of pure white wings; revealing for the first time to the girl and the audience what he truly is.

Last year, my brother told me “come watch the first episode of Gundam Seed, they really butcher the names in the dub”, sure enough it was pretty bad. But I watched the entire 20 minutes anyways, at the end of which our hero gets thrown into one of the giant Gundam robots. The last 30 seconds are in slow motion, as explosions detonate all around it, the Gundam begins to rise. All this happens as the ending credit song begins to fade in; it’s a slow yet upbeat Japanese pop song which really manages to elevate Gundam Seed’s endings. In episode two, the supporting characters manage to get to their new battleship, the Archangel. At the end, the Gundams are battling when they suddenly hear a loud explosion, they all look up, The Song begins and the gigantic and beautiful Archangel soars overhead free from its confines and ready to do battle.

It’s moments like these that make anime worth watching; when plot, character, music, and visuals come together in such a way that you feel nothing but awe and the insatiable need to see what happens next. “Awe” is the operative word here - anime is intensely proficient at creating moments of pure grandeur.

The only example of American TV that I can think of which comes close to approximating this feeling is in season 2 of 24. After spending the entire first episode looking like a bum, Jack Bauer is convinced to go back into action. At the end, the camera is looking at a bathroom sink, as it rises so does the music and we see a clean cut-and-shaven Jack looking intensely into the mirror/camera. It just gives you the feeling of “oh shit, ass is going to get kicked now.”

Replies: 6 comments

Its all about the eye-twitchin' in Anime...:P!!

Posted by dAN @ 08/31/2005 02:15 PM EST

I have no idea what you're talking about.

Posted by Rayne @ 08/31/2005 04:42 PM EST

For a better idea of what Gundam's endings are like here is the mp3 of the end credit song.

Posted by Rayne @ 08/31/2005 08:14 PM EST

funny how the two animes you mentioned are mecha-oriented. some animes can give you such chills even if big robots are not involved, such as evange- no, wait! trigun, cowboy bebop, naruto...

another funny thing is that i watched this very episode of escaflowne for the first time yesterday before going to bed. true, very very good. it's somehow hard to believe it is already 10 years old (except for the funny character designs).

Posted by et_god @ 09/07/2005 01:46 PM EST

OH MY GAWD...

i just saw escaflowne's ep26. do you remember the fight in the middle of the ep with the superb animation (is this really 1995???), intense character interactions and awesome choir music? i never had such chills during an anime. wow!

Posted by et_god @ 09/11/2005 03:06 AM EST

Honestly, I have not seen too many anime series =P

maybe 5 or so?

I dont remember ep.26...but Escaflowne is excellent overall, one of the best things I've ever seen on TV.

Posted by Rayne @ 09/11/2005 03:15 AM EST