Escaflowne

Anyone settling down to watch the usual romantic fluff of the series might be disappointed by this movie. However, if the same audience wants to drown in the glory of wonderful storytelling, a beautiful soundtrack worthy of Williams, and heartstopping animation, this is the perfect film for them.

"Escaflowne: A Girl From Gaea" is loosely based on the already popular series "Tenkuu no Escaflowne", where Hitomi, a young school girl with psychic powers, is whisked away to the magical land of Gaea, filled with mystical creatures, gallant knights, and gigantic suits of armor. However, here, the happy Hitomi and the peaceful Van are very much gone. The movie opens with Van brutally slaying a group of enemies and Hitomi rethinking the decision to hand a suicide note she has written over to her best friend Yukari. This is a very dark, but compelling Escaflowne. Much of the storyline from the series has been changed dramatically, as one can tell, but it gives the movie it's own original feel and one does not have to be familiar with the series to enjoy the movie. The soundtrack, once again handled very nicely by Yoko Kanno, is absolutely top-notch and might remind one of the power of John Williams' score to "Star Wars". The animation is very different as well, more mature and detailed than the average anime series. Older teens will love it, but smaller children familiar with the series might find the action too intense, some scenes and animation echoing the works of Akira Kurosawa, particularly "Ran".

I have only seen bootleg copies of this, but I hope the rumour of the movie coming stateside is true and we American otaku will get to enjoy the majesty that is "Escaflowne: A Girl From Gaea" on a theatre screen. Anything less cannot do it justice.

I have to say as far as the animation goes the movie was well done, great art work, but the plot itself was poorly thought off. The movie might resemble the series with the characters and the setting but the plot itself was not the same. So if you guys are expecting to be like the series, is not, I found it to be a waste of time, and for those who think that the movie was good, it was just a knockoff of the series just to make money of you.

For those who have seen the Escaflowne television series know that it was a beautifully complex shoujou anime with plenty of action, adventure, and romance.

The movie, however, is a completely different animal. Most viewers try to compare the television series to the movie, and thus usually disregard the movie as trash, as it is not a faithful retelling of the series. So, if you haven't seen this movie yet, but have seen the series, remember they are two completely different creatures, each wonderful and unique.

The most noticeable change is in the character design. Nobuteru Yuuki (who also did the designs for Chrono Cross, X, and Record of Lodess War) slightly altered the character's distinctive looks from the TV series. They now closely resemble the characters from Chrono Cross (the similarity between Millerna and Kid is the most obvious). The plot was also trimmed of the intricate subplots to fit into a decent running time, and thus some of the characters from the series do not appear. The biggest change is the inclusion of more action and violence, so we're talking flying body parts and lots of blood spraying. This was done to attract more males to the fanbase as the TV series had a fanbase that was 80% female.

Other things, however, haven't changed. Yoko Kanno and her partner Hajime Mizoguchi return with an excellent score of blended nationalities to give it a truly unique sound that makes it seem as if we are really listening to the music from another world.

Overall, the movie is an excellent example of anime at its best. Between the quality of the animation and overall production, this movie is a must see for anyone who loves any form of animation.

Several things bothered me while watching this film. One of the first thing i noticed was the animation - the faces on the characters were horridly drawn, making it hard for facial expressions to appear believable. The animation in itself was fine, however the way the people were drawn was distracting. Secondly, the plot was disorganized and scattered; making the film hard to follow for even fans of the Escaflowne TV series. The closing doesn't redeem much of the films' weak points - I wouldn't recommend this for those new to Escaflowne or those who are fans. It would be disappointing either way.

I haven't seen the entire series `The Visions of Escaflowne'. What I saw I really liked, but it needed something. It needed to be a much darker and more grim story. Well, this movie has a grim and dark story, with plenty of graphic violence to boot (now why did it get a PG-13?). Even though it kind of is a condensed version of the series, it does tell it's own story in a way. Though some `Escaflowne' fans may be disappointed by how much different the movie is, many people will be happy with the style.

The story is basically the same as the series: A normal high-school girl named Hitomi is transported to the world of Gaea to help the survivors of countries that fell to the powerful Black Dragon empire in one final battle that will determine the fate of their world.

It's actually a pretty good story with amazing animation and characters who are much less annoying in the movie than they were in the series. The music is also stunning with several great tracks.

Every way I look at the movie I love it. It's even kind of a cute romance movie. If you have a friend who wants to see some anime, show him this. If you liked the movie then get the 3-disc DVD. Well worth watching, but do get the subtitled version. Dubbed: C, Subtitled: A.

Rated R for graphic animated violence/gore, language, and sensuality. Suggested for ages 15 and up.