Once upon a time there was a magical kingdom called MovieStop. It was a good kingdom and they used to have a sale on anime. It was a great sale being as much as 50% off on all and a typical buy one get one too boot. Such a sale was the reason that I found this lovely series. I had watched the motion picture and was not impressed but at the same time this series had such a reputation that I had to check it out. Years went by and this continued to gather dust upon my shelf. I finally decided in the end that I needed to hunker down and watch this. So here we go I have finished it and I plan on reviewing Visions of Escaflowne.
Hitomi is a regular High School Girl who wants to enjoy her passion of running and get the handsome boy on the men’s team. Hitomi has a special power to produce oddly accurate fortunes through card readings. When she does one on herself a portal is opened between worlds that lead her to the magical Kingdom of Gaia. She is finally bound in the end to participate in a war that could shake the very foundations of all worlds and unlock the secrets of Atlantis.
The first thing I will address in the plus column here is the sound. I really did think that the composition was pretty powerful and reminded me a bit of how Skyrim had a great background that only enhanced the feelings and powerful nature of the plot. The Opener is a nice solid song and the Ender “Mystic Eyes” to me is at near legendary status if you are one to enjoy anime soundtracks. The Animation is pretty sound and has a unique style that tells me what I am seeing the minute I start watching. I feel that this is a pretty solid product overall when it comes to production value. The characters have a good depth to them and you can follow the political intrigue as you are lead down the rabbit hole with Hitomi. Of course there is plenty of action to be had with lots of mecha sword fighting and bitter rivalries.
Note that I didn’t mention the plot other than for character development. I felt it was a combination of Fushigi Yuugi and Evangeleon. This would if done right make this series very good and well renowned. I feel that it tried too hard in this department leaving me confused at times and over stressed the importance of dashing fate and making your own path. This also had a lot going on with so many minor stories and personal character issues that it made me understand why squeezing this all into a motion picture made me a little miffed. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate the plot by any means but at the same time I feel the plot didn’t do this series any favors. It was juggling too many balls and in the process a few were dropped by the wayside.
Despite its weaknesses Escaflowne has a pretty solid overall feel that makes it a good series overall. I enjoyed my watch through of it and would recommend it to any who are able to get it cheaply.
Rating: 6/10
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