Escaflowne - The Series (Limited Edition Boxed Set) (2000)

Visually, Escaflowne is pretty remarkable for a TV series that shows obvious signs of extremely high production values. The story may not be the most intricate in the world of anime but it more than suffices. What is most impressive about Escaflowne is the characters. Van and Hitomi are some of my favorite characters ever and are both completely believable in their respective places; Hitomi as the fish out of water teenager and Van as the young kind thirsting for revenge. I also enjoyed many of the supporting characters such as Dilandu and Folken; even the bad guys were given a proper history and motivations rather than simple blind obedience to whatever evil scheme might be in style. In fact evil itself is somewhat grayed as no character is truly evil, only misguided doing what they believe is right and just.

I would recommend Escaflowne to anyone and everyone; it is a series that can have appeal to the very young and old alike. Truly masterful work.

Note that anyone who has seen this series on Fox Kids has been watching a kiddied down version of a show that wasn't really meant for children to begin with. Don't let that Escaflowne-lite ruin your opinion of the show.

Escaflowne begins (to whet your appeitite for more) one fateful day when high school sprinter Hitomi Kanzaki experiences a disturbing vision of another world and discovers from her best friend that Amano (the track team star she has a crush on) is about to go abroad. On an impulse, she asks him the next day for her first kiss -- if, she can sprint 100 meters in thirteen seconds. But then, a young warrior prince and a dragon appears before Hitomi during the run ... that's when Hitomi's world gets turned upside down as she is transported to the warrior prince's homeworld of Gaia!

This Limited Edition Boxed Set comes with a beautiful Black Escaflowne figurine and tons of special features.

Dialogue is offered in both English and original Japanese with English Subtitles.

This is an anime series not to be missed by an Otaku of any level of experience.

(PLOT - 10/10) The plot is great. It's romantic and it's about war. War on another planet, where Earth looks like a moon. War over a giant suit of armor called Escaflowne. Now THAT'S what I call a plot. Hehe.

(MUSIC 7/10) Don't get me wrong; the music is great. The vocals by Maaya Sakamoto are simply GORGEOUS, and the backround music is beautiful and fits every part perfectly. The reason I gave it a 7 is because some of the music gets on my nerves (the chanting and stuff)

(ANIMATION 9/10) The animation is great for a TV series. I noticed a couple glitches, but most of the animation is clear and cool! ^___^

(DUB 8/10) The dub is ok. It's one of the better dubs I've seen out there, other than Bebop. There are a few mistakes, but nothing major. The subtitles are great. I didn't notice any spelling errors at all.

(OVERALL 9/10) This is one of the best. I reccommend it to anyone. I'd rate it 12 and up because of violence, a confusing plot, and some butt-shots of a very ugly blue dude.

Now, put your hand on the mouse. Good. Now move the mouse down to the 'buy' button. Good. Now click. GOOD.