Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

I'd first became aware of this series after seeing ads for it on FOX Kids, four years after it premiered. I'd also heard that the American TV version had butchered the series, but to my surprise, my local movie rental outlet had all the episodes on VHS. I rented them and watched the whole thing from start to finish. What a show!Mecha without the guns, cat and dog-people, royal families, science and magic, an evil empire, countless revelations, and a whole new world, as Disney's Aladdin would put it. When it comes to Japanese animation, this one was the best! You can have your Dragon Ball, your Speed Racer, your Sailor Moon, your Pokemon, your Akira, or whatever, but I found one that really speaks to me. Oh, and Hayao Miyazaki comes in as a close runner-up. If you're new to Japanese animation and want a believable fantasy world without all the guns (and more medieval weaponry), look here!

After the intro with Amano and Yukari on Earth, with Van's arrival the series seems definitely kind of suspicious, and even after the first four episodes you don't get everything because all is mixed up with almost ordinary but still weird love-confusion of Hitomi. But the series has got 26 episodes. After the short uncommon introduction you can't get your eyes off it because the whole idea slowly becomes clear with the characters evolving and telling their tale. Every character, at first presented powerful and heroic, surprises with emotional weaknesses almost too well known, with their biographies told a bit further in every single episode. Therefore even the 'bad guys' soon turn out to be not just objects to fight against, but complex characters not just to be hated. Additionally, the soundtrack is just awesome, thanks to Yoko Kanno.Gaia is more than just a fictional world just to show some Guymelefs, it binds dreams and tragic with the sense of destiny and how to change (or not?) the fates of destined friendships. Those of you who've watched Neon Genesis Evangelion while still having a romantic understanding of certain things may experience an even more inspiring anime.

The very first time I saw this show was when I was watching the start of episodes of the 2nd Season of Digimon: Digital Monsters and it was during break when I saw an ad for this show, so I decided to take a peek. Hitomi Kanzaki is a typical high school girl, with typical problems, but when a vision of a young man battling a dragon becomes a reality, her life changes forever. Drawn into a strange vortex with the swordsman, Van, Hitomi is thrust into the strange world of Gaea. Van must learn to master the suit of armor, Escaflowne, before he and Hitomi are crushed by the ambitions of the Empire of Zaibach. Van and Hitomi will encounter both allies and enemies in an effort to unlock the secrets within Escaflowne, and Hitomi's heart, stirred by love and adventure, will, at times ache with sorrow. But why was she sent to this world? Her journey has just begun! I saw it and it was very cool! It had a lot of good animation and plots. It also had lots of action, drama and thrills! I was really upset when Fox Kids took the show off the air! I really thought it should of had some more seasons. But I think it was probably Power Rangers fault! Because Power Rangers has kicked mostly every good show on Fox Kids. But at least they still had some other good shows on Fox Kids at the time. Like Digimon, Action Man, Spider-Man: Unlimited, Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century, NASCAR Racers and Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot.User Rating: 10/10BOTTOM LINE: FANTASTIC!

I love Escaflowne. It is one of the most beautiful and touching Anime I have ever seen. That said, I also feel that it had no place on children's television.But is this really the work of Shoji Kawamori? The man who designed mecha for Macross and directed Macross plus? The great animation director? Well sure. The mecha (machines like Escaflowne and the Red guymelif(sp?)) are awesome. They take up the whole screen.But the thing I love most about Escaflowne is the balance between Mech and shojo (girls) style. The setting of the story is also one of the best things about the anime. It feels like you're taken back to an Italian castle in the middle of Middle Earth. The rough relationship between the Taro deck that Hitomi uses and the setting really hits the mark. Most of all, the character relationships, the outline of fate and the endless questioning that all the major characters go thorough make the story worthwhile and fun to watch. The story surely will keep you guessing and wondering