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Title
Rating : 4.5
 
 
Description
Source : Amazon.com
Although it didn’t fare well on Fox Kids, Escaflowne  has a large, loyal following, perhaps because this sprawling fantasy offers the ingredients of classic mecha, sword-and-sorcery and magical girl adventures. After psychic teen-ager Hitomi has a vision of a man battling a dragon, Prince Van of Fanelia and a dragon materialize. He slays the monster and transports Hitomi to the mysterious world of Gaea. An odd mixture of advanced technology and medieval culture, Gaea has links to ancient Atlantis. A typical romantic triangle develops, involving Hitomi, diamond-in-the-rough Van and ideal knight Allen Schezar. The saga attains a Byzantine complexity when the trio is captured by Zaibach Emperor Dornkirk--who is actually Sir Isaac Newton. He's at work on a machine that will enable him to create alternate destinies for Gaea. At times, the story by Hajime Yatate and Shoji Kawamori seems to be careening out of control, as Hitomi whines and the supporting characters appear, disappear and undergo radical personality changes. The most serious flaw is the failure of any of the heroes to defeat the evil Dornkirk, who has dispatched murderous doppelgangers, conducted sadistic experiments on kidnapped children and attempted to subjugate an entire planet. But the combination ofteen-age romance, fantastic robot-suits ("guymelefs"), elaborate battles, hystroinic villains and a world-threatening challenge has made Escaflowne a favorite among otaku. The feature, released theatrically in the US in 2002, repeated much of the story. Rated 13 and up for animated violence. --Charles Solomon
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Product Information
Released on : August 19, 2000
Theatrical Release on : August 19, 2000
Running Time : 653 minutes
Publisher : Bandai
Rated : PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Director(s) : Kazuki Akane, Yoshiyuki Takei
Total Discs : 8
Format : Animated, Box set, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, DV
Languages : English, Japanese, English
Aspect Ratio : 1.33:1
Studio : Bandai
Actors
Shinichirô Miki, Jôji Nakata, Maaya Sakamoto, Tomokazu Seki, Mayumi Iizuka
 
Price
List Price: $49.98 USD
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Customer Review Results
RatingDateSummaryContent
5 2010-02-08 An anime classic you shouldn't miss The Vision of Escaflowne's story is not new. Girl comes in contact with strange world, discovers ancient mysteries and forgotten technologies, has a protracted tease-relationship with the prince, there's mechas and cool fights, flying ships, etc., etc. You've read, seen and played this before. Story archetypes are so cliche as to have been explored and classified for a long time now so truly there's nothing new under the sun.
However, as the creators seem to know, it's in the *telling* that legends are made. And what telling this is! Its beautiful, shoujo style contains character archetypes which get deconstructed into nuanced, real characters as the show goes on. The valiant prince, the dashing rogue, the schoolgirl ingenue, the bloodthirsty youngster; all get a realistic treatment in a fantasy world. Even class issues feature prominently in the arc of one of the characters but I don't want to spoil. The humongous mecha (robots) also get the realistic-within-the-fantasy-world treatment and the relationship between Van and Escaflowne becomes like the relationship between King Arthur and Excalibur: it's both the source of his power, his birthright and ultimately, his burden.
The music, like any Yoko Kanno soundtrack, is a fantastic thing unto itself. From the gregorian chant-style, mood-setting main theme to the dramatic, urgent, almost screechy violins and subsequent thundering of drums and voices of the battle music, the soundtrack has a bit of everything. I was especially touched by Folken's theme, a simple cello melody which becomes more complex in a crescendo of notes and "Blue eyes", the love theme which gets both instrumental and sung renditions throughout the series. The opening song, one of my favorites, is as bright and hopeful as it gets without being corny. Maaya Sakamoto's singing in these two is expert and restrained, very enjoyable.

In short, this is a great anime series, certainly one that winds up in a lot of those "must-see" and "classic anime" lists. It's also a fully-contained work in itself, the vision of a director which throughout its 26 episodes keeps you on your toes constantly and just when you thought you knew what or who was behind it all, another great twist puts everything in context. You won't be disappointed.
5 2009-10-13 Mecha Anime for Mystics Visions of Escaflowne is my favorite anime (along with Neon Genesis Evangelion and Rurouni Kenshin). Although Escaflowne features mechas, it's quite different from your Super Robot and Real Robot shows. If anything, Escaflowne is a blending of different genres including action, adventure, romance and fantasy, all in equal measure... And that's probably Escaflowne's strong point. It's one of the most well-balanced anime titles out there. You'll be hard-pressed to find another anime that blends so many different genres together.

The atmosphere in Escaflowne is also incredible. The series has a deep mystical atmosphere that completely absorbs your attention. If you're a person who loves exploring mystical and exotic things, the atmosphere in Escaflowne will blow you away. It's by far the most atmosphere mecha anime i've seen. The soundtrack (done by the same person who did Cowboy Bebop's soundtrack) is one of my favorite soundtracks in an anime. My favorite track is the one that Folken whistles when he meets with Van ("The Cradle Song"). You should definitely check this track out on youtube to get a sense of the Escaflowne's amazing soundscape. It's one of the very few anime series that i've seen with lots of heart. Escaflowne is simply beautiful.

So if you're looking for a mecha series filled with tons of adventure and fantasy, you can't do better than Escaflowne. Not since Xenogears (an anime-ish mecha RPG) have i encountered a mecha story filled with so much adventure.
5 2009-09-24 great series I just finished up escaflowne and it lived up to the praise that i had heard
5 2009-08-22 One of the Animes You'll Never Forget I remember watching this anime almost five years ago. It was actually the second anime I had ever watched. Since that time, I have watched many more anime, and believe me when I say you won't be forgetting this one anytime soon. For all those years that I didn't own this anime, I'd remember it and think on it; for it has many interesting points to think about.
This anime would be for any age. It has the action, romance, and poetry for the younger kids, and the subtle messages and all of the above for the elder.
The packaging that the anime comes in isn't the best out there, but it is quite durable if your careful with it. Hopefully you are. ^o^
Oh yeah, I would recommend that you watch this anime in the original Japanese with the English subtitles. The English voices, I think, don't have enough emotion in them to do the anime justice.
2 2009-05-21 Highly over-rated A friend of mine lent me his store-bought copy of Escaflowne on VHS tape, and I sat down and watched it. I thought it was a typical anime, but nothing outstanding.

A year passed and then I found the reviews here on Amazon about how this is "the perfect television show" and how it deals with complicated political issues, and so on. So I sat down and watched the whole show a second time, thinking maybe I had missed something.

Well I'm still unimpressed. It isn't a bad show, which is why I gave it 2 stars instead of 1, but it isn't a great show either. In fact it seems rather juvenile and simplistic in the way it deals with problems - something akin to a CW teen soap opera but with Japanese style. In any case, twice viewed is enough for me. I won't be watching Escaflowne again.

In my humble opinion if you're looking for depth (in terms of politics, religion, and interpersonal disputes), then you should look elsewhere like Star Trek DS9 or Babylon 5. Or if you prefer animation then try Macross.