Withdraw
Loading…
Lost continents and found narratives: Atlantis, The Vision of Escaflowne, and the reimagination of myth in anime and manga
Finnigan, Rob
Loading…
Permalink
https://hdl.handle.net/2142/132444
Description
- Title
- Lost continents and found narratives: Atlantis, The Vision of Escaflowne, and the reimagination of myth in anime and manga
- Author(s)
- Finnigan, Rob
- Issue Date
- 2025-12-16
- Keyword(s)
- Atlantis
- Myth
- The Vision Of Escaflowne
- Abstract
- This study examines the adaptation of the Atlantis myth within anime and manga, focusing on The Vision of Escaflowne (1996) and its engagement with themes of lost civilizations, technological mysticism and imperial hubris. The series reinterprets Atlantis not as a mere submerged past but as a spectral force shaping the geopolitical and metaphysical structures of Gaea. Central to this portrayal is the Fate Alteration Engine, an Atlantean artifact that embodies both the allure and the dangers of rewriting history. As the characters navigate the remnants of this advanced civilization, Escaflowne constructs Atlantis as a paradox, simultaneously a utopian ideal and a cautionary ruin of unchecked ambition. By situating Escaflowne alongside Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water (1990) and Laputa: Castle in the Sky (1986), this study explores how these narratives reimagine Atlantis as a site of competing ideologies, reflecting anxieties surrounding modernity, empire and technological progress. Unlike many Western adaptations of the myth, which depict Atlantis as an extraterrestrial or speculative technological utopia, Japanese media often frame it as a failed imperial past whose legacies remain unresolved. Employing New Historicism, media archaeology and transcultural historiography, this article interrogates how Japanese anime and manga transform the Atlantean myth to articulate cultural anxieties about history, colonialism and scientific progress. Ultimately, this study argues that Escaflowne exemplifies how anime engages with global mythologies, offering a uniquely Japanese vision of history and the uncertain promise of civilization’s advancement.
- Series/Report Name or Number
- The Journal of Anime and Manga Studies, volume 6 issue 2
- Type of Resource
- text
- Genre of Resource
- Articles
- Language
- eng
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.21900/j.jams.v6.1856
- Copyright and License Information
- Copyright 2025 Rob Finnigan
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0).
Owning Collections
JAMS V6.2 2025 PRIMARY
Volume 6 Issue 2Manage Files
Loading…
Edit Collection Membership
Loading…
Edit Metadata
Loading…
Edit Properties
Loading…
Embargoes
Loading…