the first volume released on July 8, 2003. The Tokyopop English editions were also imported for distribution in Australia by Madman Entertainment. In 1996, with the premiere of the anime series, Messiah Knight — The Vision of Escaflowne was created. This shōjo oriented adaptation was written by Yuzuru Yashiro and serialized in Asuka Fantasy DX from April 8, 1996 through January 18, 1997. Unlike the first manga, it focused more on the interaction of the characters and severely toned down the violence to the point that the mecha are not used for battle at all and Escaflowne only appears near the end of the series. It was abruptly canceled after only 10 chapters and the end of the anime, due to the slowing popularity of the series. The individual chapters were released in two tankōbon volumes, at which time the series was retitled Hitomi — The Vision of Escaflowne.'' {{Graphic novel list | VolumeNumber = 2 | RelDate = April 7, 1997 | ISBN = 978-4-04-852799-6 | ChapterList = }} A final manga retelling, Escaflowne — Energist's Memories, was a collaborative effort of various manga artist around Japan to create 15 "mini-stories" related to the anime series. The single volume manga was published in January 1997 under Kadokawa's Asuka comics DX shōjo imprint. Artist's who contributed to the volume include: Tammy Ohta, Yayoi Takeda, Kahiro Okuya, Daimoon Tennyo, Kazumi Takahashi, Masaki Sano, and Kyo Watanabe. Novels Yumiko Tsukamoto and Shoji Kawamori collaborated in the writing on a novelization of the Vision of Escaflowne anime series. The light novel chapters were originally serialized in Newtype, and the illustrations were provided by Nobuteru Yuuki and Hirotoshi Sano. The individual chapters were collected and released in six individual volumes by Kadokawa under their "New Type Novels" label between June 1996 and August 1997. Movie is a ninety-eight-minute anime film released in Japan on June 24, 2000 that retells of the story in The Vision of Escaflowne. The film was produced by Sunrise, animated by Studio BONES, and directed by Kazuki Akane. Featuring character re-designs by Nobuteru Yūki, the film focuses on the relationship between Van and Hitomi and their personal issues. The characters themselves are also given different personalities; in the film Hitomi changes from a cheerful girl in love to a depressed, suicidal schoolgirl who suffers from self-induced feelings of loneliness and alienation and Van is now a violent, hot-headed man. In