Wednesday Humpday Midday Music: “Wings” from Vision of Escaflowne

I want to say Vision of Escaflowne’s soundtrack was too good for it, but I like the series too much to commit to that criticism. I suppose I could just say the animation’s quality doesn’t quite match soundtrack’s; the animation values are only a few steps above Saturday morning cartoon. Composer and general musician Yoko Kanno delivered a good deal of orchestral tracks alongside varied genres you hear throughout the series.

The diverse soundtrack reflects the pastiche of the series: a mishmash of shonen– and shojo-friendly storytelling, mixed with mecha, alternate history and alternative historical theories, chivalry and Medieval politics, revenge and romance, kinship and loyalty, duty and luck. But at its heart, Vision is an action-adventure and “Wings” is an exemplary track for that generic handle.

“Wings” is played only once in the 26-episode series, so far as I can tell. I couldn’t find a good rendering of the scene in which it appears, so I made an edit for myself, down below. It’s an important scene for the protagonist, Hitomi, because it’s one of the first times she’s really able to act physically in a way that benefits others. She doesn’t have any superpowers outside of the weird divination thing, so making that jump takes courage, not to mention she’s heading into a violent situation with no weapons or training. The middle part of the song is unfortunately cut out, but it comes back in during the retreat on the skiff. The song itself goes from spirited and bouncy, to more subdued and mysterious, then to a grand crescendo with the chorus, and then a quieter denouement. On iTunes I played the song where it left off in the scene, and though it doesn’t exactly match up when the song comes back on in the actual episode, it gives the fighting and tense conversation a different feel. I guess I can see why they edited it out.

Listen below or load the mp3 of “Wings” in a new tab/window.