Visions of Escaflowne and Escaflowne the Movie

Overview

Gaea, a world close to Earth…

An otherwise ordinary schoolgirl, Kanzaki Hitomi has one ability: she can sometimes see glimpses of the future. Along with her mysterious pendant, this “vision” becomes the bond between Hitomi and the world of Gaea.

After getting the track team captain to agree to a first kiss should she make the 100 meter dash under 13 seconds, Hitomi starts running — and suddenly crashes into Vaughn Fanel as the dimensional gap between Earth and Gaea is breached for a brief moment. A dragon follows Vaughn through the gap, which Vaughn manages to slay after some difficulty. At this point, Vaughn and Hitomi are dragged back through the dimensional gap to Gaea.

As it turns out, Vaughn is to become king of Fanelia — slaying the dragon was his test of worthiness, and Vaughn has the crystalline heart of the dragon, called a “Drag-Energist,” as proof of his successful quest. Just as Van is about to be crowned, however, the Zaibach army attacks Fanelia. Using Guymelefs (8-meter-tall humanoid armors) equipped with cloaking capes and superior weapons, Dirandu and Volken’s army swat aside the castle defenses with ease and lay waste to the city.

Summoning the Escaflowne by a bloodpact, Vaughn boards it using his Drag-Energist and puts up a valiant but unsuccessful attempt to defend the city. Just as the Escaflowne becomes surrounded by enemy mechs, however, Hitomi’s power teleports the Escaflowne, Van and herself away from the burning city. Although she has no control over them, Hitomi’s latent powers have been growing on the world of Gaea, and until she can find a way back home, Hitomi must use them to help Vaughn and his friends defend Fanelia from the advances of Zaibach. As the story progresses, Hitomi’s power of “vision,” along with the pendant given to Hitomi by her Grandmother, play an increasingly important role in the story.

Review

I’m gonna try and explain this show in one sitting, it ain’t gonna be easy, I’ll miss tons but this will be all the cool s**t that will make you want to check this show out.

Ok, there’s this track running teenage girl named Hitomi who magically meets this kid named Vaughn from a jungle nation filled with dragons. They’re magically transported back to Gaea. This planet exists secretly beyond the moon and shares it with Earth. Except humans can’t see it, but the Gaean’s can see them in their sky and call the Earth the “Mystic Moon”. Upon returning, Van’s nation is destroyed and in the process of escape he unleashes Escaflowne – an Ultra Badass suit of armor designed by the Espano Clan. All these powered suits of armor are called ‘Guymelefs’ and are powered by orbs called ‘Drag-energists’ or dragon hearts. There is a global war happening for rights to dragon graveyards because whoever controls the most drag-energists controls Gaea.

Vaughn’s country is attacked by the Empire of Zaibach and is coordinated by his brother whom he presumed dead. On top of that Vaughn and his brother are descendants of the people of Atlantis and this therefore entitles them to grow wings when they feel, because Gaea itself is a byproduct of a machine the Atlanteans created which destroyed their culture. A machine which converted thought into pure energy. Here’s the cycle, created wings, become gods, destroyed ourselves, last wish to create Gaea. The Zaibach Empire wishes to resurrect the Atlantis machine by creating a Destiny Prognostication Machine and manipulating peoples lives with the fate alteration program.

So this chick hitomi gets a pendant from her grandmother that happens to be a control unit for Gaea. She mysteriously can alter events by what she believes is tarot cards but it’s really wish fulfillment. Overall, everything about this show is cool, transforming robots, wormhole travel, floating rocks called levistones, which float when chilled and sink when heated. Alsadist Stealth Cloaks, luck intensification and Sir Isaac Newton.

I really liked this show. Oh yeah and the movie is really good too.

Review by David Marini
www.everythingevangelion.com