1/15/03
Anime
The Vision of Escaflowne (Tenkuu no Escaflowne)
Highschool girl Kanzaki Hitomi (family name first) is an average girl. She is a good runner but still not living up to her potential. She also likes to read fortunes for her friends using her tarot cards and her predictions are better than most. She is interested in the star of the male running team, Amano-senpai, and ready to make the first move towards letting him know. Then everything changes when she has a vision of a boy in strange armour weilding a sword. Soon her path collides with his and she is thrown into a battle against a real dragon, and then dragged to another world called Gaea where the Earth and moon are in the night sky. The boy is Van Fanel, the new King of Fanelia.
All is not well on Gaea. A powerful nation called Zaibach is planning to start the war to end all wars. Their first work is to sow fear and dissention through their allies starting by secretly attacking Fanelia using stealth technology to hide their mecha called guymelefs. Their secondary mission is to capture the Fanelian King's guymelef called Escaflowne. Not only does Van stand in their way of grabbing Escaflowne but also Hitomi who can sense the cloaked guymelefs. It's a battle now not only to stop the nefarious Zaibach soldiers but also to unlock the secrets of Escaflowne, and to unravel the mystery of Van's heritage, and his connection to Hitomi the girl from the Phantom Moon (Earth).
Escaflowne is one of the greats of anime. It blends mecha action with politcal intruige, mystical events, and deep characterisation and dramatic interaction. The plot works on many different levels and is backed up by three-dimensional characters, great voice acting, and excellent direction. The designs of the guymelefs are excellent mixing stunning visual form and well-thought out physical design. The animation is phenomenal. The backgrounds, buildings, places are all done in breathtakingly realistic style. The character designs are a little more liberal and take a bit of getting used to (yes I'm talking about those long squarish noses). Escaflowne has an excellent musical score and lyrical soundtrack that really add to the series.
(
Thank you for reading my review.
Bob Male)
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