Hitomi Kanzaki is a regular high school girl well versed in fortune telling and track. Drawn into a pillar of light upon seeing a young boy in armor, Hitomi is transported in to Gaea, a world where the Earth shines as the Illusionary Moon. Meeting the handsome swordsman Allen Schezar, she finds out that the world is teeming with big armor combat suits called Guymelefs, ready to defend their forces at war. The mysterious Van Fanel wonders at the presence of this estranged girl but as a crisis erupts in Gaea, Van, and Hitomi must be involved to solve it…as well as understand their own true feelings.

I love mecha anime. And Escaflowne is one of the reasons why. Combine good character design, astounding specs on the Guymelef mecha design within an intriguing and addicting story of love and magic and breathe. Such is Escaflowne. The stories have depth and what better to serve as backdrop for an engaging battle of mechs than the whole motive behind it. Looking for twisted characters with an understandable background? That’s Dilandau and he is already a cult among fans. Frankly, I’m confused at what really stands out with Escaflowne. Is it that there’s suspense each time a new development in the plot unfolds? Is it how the element of love amidst chaos was dealt in the story? Or is it how the battle scenes were perfectly rendered, it’s just total coolness to see how the character rushes his Guymelef towards the other? Yeshh, whatever it is, Escaflowne is a MUST.

I have to say that it did bother me though that this with particular artwork, there’s something amiss about how the noses were drawn in a hook-line pattern. I’ve never seen this kind of style in any anime or manga. But trust me, that’s just one minor setback. ^_^

Individual Rating: Art:8; Story & Plot:10; Characters:9; Sounds:9

This entry was posted on Saturday, August 18th, 2001 at 10:28 am and is filed under Escaflowne, Tenkuu no, Anime. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.