As the development of the TV series really begins to advance, Katsu Aki, author of manga, participated in the meetings of the production team.
Whence comes the idea of creating a manga parallel to the series, it's not clear, especially since it was taken, from the outset, the principle of making two rather different versions.
It's only from the basic work of the animated version that Katsu Aki will develop his vision of Escaflowne.
This one is rather focused on the action, the fights and the machines, the clean one of the shonen, kind of manga intended for male teenagers, shonen being the Japanese word meaning boy.
The story is supposed to inaugurate the new prepublication magazine of Kadokawa, one of the largest Japanese publishers.
This magazine, titled Monthly Shonen Ace, published for the first time on October 25, 1994, with a chapter of Escaflowne in its pages.
The advance of the manga shonen will still be in liaison with the team of the series. The first bound volume appeared in April 1995, one year before the first broadcast of the TV series.
The publication will be completed in 1998, with the release of volume 8.
The success of the manga shonen is difficult to evaluate, but he seems to have met his audience in Japan.
In other countries, such as France and the United States, the fame of the series will give rise to a translation, but the reception will often be cold.
Indeed, the manga shonen seems too stereotypical and simple next to the series. Moreover, the use of "dubious" plans and tasteless outfits for the character of Hitomi is really regrettable and takes a lot of credibility to the story.
Note that the French version is quite disturbing. Indeed, the names of certain characters have been translated differently from the series.
In addition, and there, it's still exaggerated, the translator didn't use the usual transcripts for the names chosen by the members of the original production team.
Van by Katsu Aki
