The Vision of Escaflowne
| Anime Title | The Vision of Escaflowne |
| Anime Type | TV Anime Series |
| Applicable Genres | Adventure, Fantasy, Shōjo, Shōnen, Romance, Mecha, Steampunk |
| Anime Length | 26 Episodes |
| Recommended Fansub | Psychlo-Anime |
| Plot Overview | The premise of this anime is about a young girl, Kanzaki Hitome, whose interests include track running, tarot cards and fortune telling. One night, during her last minutes with an upperclassman, Amano, a dragon and a young man materialize out of nowhere and a battle ensues between the two. During this fight, Hitome reveals a hidden skill, the ability to see the future. After the defeat of the dragon, Hitome is sucked into a foreign world along with the young man, Van Fanel, soon to be, king of Fanelia. However, all is not well in this foreign world as Fanelia comes under attack shortly after. Van and Hitome escape the battle in the passed down Guymelef, Escaflowne (a gundam like mech). They soon discover Hitome's unique ability to see the invisible in successive battles to come, as well has her ability to relatively accurately, read fortunes and futures and fates, which allows them a fighting chance against the omnipotent Zaibach Empire. |
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| Rating |  |
| Thoughts/Opinions | This anime, despite the seemingly, relatively, low score that I gave it, isn't all that bad. The story itself, is quite good and there are enough twists and turning points to keep it interesting. There's also enough things about the anime to keep you thinking, in this case, it's the idea of predetermined fate. The Characters, however, I have a problem with. Most of the characters get somewhat annoying. The biggest of these is Merle, who just seemingly doesn't fit in with the group. Hitome isn't a very good lead, and Van isn't all that much better as a secondary lead. Fortunately, they do get much more mature as the anime goes on, so it's not all bad. The music is decent, and it keeps you in tune with the action. The art style leaves a bit to be desired, likely due to its age, but I'm not going to complain too much about that. Note that this marks my first glimpse of Mecha anime, which, to be honest, I wasn't as big as a fan of. I suppose that may have swayed my opinions a bit, so if you're into Gundam/Mecha anime, you can add another 6 - 8 points on to the rating. EDIT: After retrospective contemplation, I believe this anime doesn't deserve that high of a score relative to the others. However, I want to remind you of my rating system. If it's anywhere above 60%, I've watched through it. Below that, and I can't finish it. So a score of 71% isn't all that bad. But it's a longways away from greatness. The best way to describe this anime is that it's "strictly mediocre". |
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