Escaflowne questions

I don't understand what happens in the episode in the middle of the
series where Hitomi goes back to Earth, and then Van flies to Earth in
the next episode and takes her back to Gaea.

How could Hitomi go back to the same time that she left?

Hiroyuki...

It seems her wish to be back on Earth had the effect of resetting time on
Earth so that she never left in the first place. From the story point of
view this lets them tease us with the idea that the whole thing was just a
dream. However Gaia is real and time there has not been reset, so she gets
caught up again.

Impmon...

I'm guessing time travelled differently on Earth in relation to Gaea.
As for the scene where her friend tried paging her, that would be an
alternate future if Hitomi never returned to Earth.

Or call it a plothole and leave at it.

Invid Fan...

The writers wanted her to :)

And what happens to the scenes that happen later, such as Amano paging
Hitomi and Yukari and Amano visiting Hitomi's mom?

What do Yukari and Amano remember about the night that Hitomi
disappeared?

Hiroyuki...

I think the time reset means none of that ever happened.

One thing that always puzzled me though was why Hitomi returned to Earth in
the end instead of staying with Van. The fact that parting and returning to
Earth seemed to be inevitable suggests that perhaps it really was a dream,
since I don't recall her giving any explanation as to why she wanted to go
back to Earth. Maybe I missed something there, it's quite a long time since
I watched the series.

sanjian...

I can't give a story reason, since it's been a long-ass time since I saw the
ending. As a meta reason, the idea is that it's a story about first loves,
not about the ones they settle down with.

Bill Steele...

Reminds me of the end of Rayearth (and Rayearth 2). Everybody'd in love
with somebody, but they all just say "Well, time to go." Presumably so
there can be another series.

Astrobiochemist...

One of the best scenes of the Escaflowne parody Nescaflowne is the very
end, when Hitomi is telling Yukari about coming back home.

Yukari: So, you met your soulmate...and you came back.
Hitomi: Yes, that's right.
Yukari: The person you are supposed to spend the rest of your life
with...and you came back.
Hitomi: Yes, that's....uh, oh.

Three different serious suggestions that I've heard are
1) Hitomi can go back and forth as she chooses, so she's just going
back for now and will be back in the future.

IsaacKuo...

The implication is that she can go back and forth now
that she's mastered her power, but this ability will
gradually disappear as she grows up and "stops
believing in faery tales". That seems to be what
happened to her grandmother.

2) Hitomi and Van realize that they are 16 years old and have the rest
of their lives ahead of them and any romantic feelings they have now
probably won't be the same once they are mature adults and Hitomi
really doesn't belong on Gaia.
3) Hitomi can't be on Gaia as she alters that world by merely being
there so she has to leave for safety of all.

IsaacKuo...

This seems to be the reason why Hitomi doesn't
return to Gaia even though she has the power to. Her
fortune telling power is repeatedly shown throughout
the series to be terribly destructive in Gaia.

It seems that Van has some ability to travel to Earth,
at least in a limited spiritual way. However, he has
responsibilities to his people in Gaia, so he cannot
join Hitomi on Earth.

Thus, they suffer the fate of starcrossed lovers.

Isaac Kuo

1 is similar to the ending of the Wizard of Oz anime from the 80's
where Dorothy goes home at the end of the series and all her friends
have a heartfelt goodbye but Dorothy realizes that she can now go back
and forth as she pleases. However, unlike the Oz anime, this is not
actually stated and takes away from the significance of the goodbye
scene for some people.

spiritofsupergirl...

It is stated in the final episode that Hitomi and Van can see each
other whenever they want.

Regardless of that, Hitomi would have gone back home anyway, if only
for her mother's and friends' sakes. You don't just leave your home
mysteriously and never go back. That's the ultimate cruelty.

Mark Moore

2 just seems to by way too mature for 16 year old characters to realize
and if they are able to realize that, then maybe they are old enough to
decide to spend the rest of their lives together.

Sea Wasp...

The entire central POINT of the show was their relationship, and the

sanjian...

Their feelings, not their relaitonship. Those two are star... er,
planet-crossed lovers.

fact that in the end it was strong enough to overcome all the
machinations of even Sir Isaac Newton (Dornkirk) and the power of Fate
Alteration itself. There's no doubt in my mind whatsoever.

sanjian...

Fate, yes. But not choice.

S.t.A.n.L.e.E...

So, y'all saying that not everything has a Disney ending. ;)

Laters. =)

I actually only remembered 3 when I was just about to post this (with
only 1 and 2 written down) but I remembered that it made a lot of sense
to me and others who heard it. It's also somewhat of a tragic ending.

Mark Moore