The Vision of Escaflowne is a 26-episode anime television series created by Sunrise and directed by Kazuki Akane. It premiered in Japan on April 2, 1996 at 6:00 p.m. on TV Tokyo and ended September 24, 1996. It has elements from the genres of shōjo, shōnen, romance, and mecha, and has since inspired a shōnen manga and shōjo manga series, a video game, and an Escaflowne theatrical movie.