The Vision of Escaflowne rewatch: episode 1-10

[timepiececlock]

Just been watching these episodes in the background the last few days, alternating between DVDs and AVIs. I do have to say that although FMA and Trigun hold my heart, Escaflowne is still the best anime I've ever seen. It's the perfect anime: romance, robots, magic, swordfights, psychics, people with wings, a collection of multilayered characters with competing interests and complex motivations, a hero and heroine who are neither stupid nor annoying, historical characters brought to life, and dragons.

It's like, how can you fit all of that in 26 episodes and not have a jumbled mess? Easy: do it in such a way that you have a fantastic symphony instead. Glorious music, an ongoing plot that never falters, and a beautiful ending that almost made me cry. The character design is unusual, but most anime it takes me a while to adjust to the visual differences, and pointy noses aside, the art here never falters. The fact that this show is probably ten years old and still looks better animated than some shows out today speaks to its quality.

Definitely holds up to a rewatch; it's been years since I saw the whole series from beginning to end. I'm especially enjoying Dilandau, who is still my favorite batshit insane anime character. If anyone has a legitimate reason to be batshit insane, it's Dilandau. Plus, he has a bitchin' name.

Comments

[evilredmenace.livejournal.com]

I have to agree.

Escaflowne has been my favorite anime for some time.

It's been a while since I've watched it from beginning to end... I used to have a yearly ritual of sitting down and power-cycling through the episodes. Then, if I was up to it, I would re-read a fanfic called "Return to Gaia," which I thought to be the best post-series fic out there.

Now, it's probably been about three years since I've done that.

I think the only critique I have is that I tend to be annoyed by Hitomi's helplessness. Yes, she's supposed to be this normal, ordinary girl, but she seems to spend a lot of her time pining and whining... and getting rescued. And for someone who is a sucker for female asskickers, this tends to be quite tiring.

But I love Dilandau as well. I was also a fan of Folken, who I think is a sexy bitch.

[hex-the-ex.livejournal.com]

Okay so read this and was completely charmed by the review. So went off and watched myself the entire series in the last few days. And it was Excellent! Thanks so much!!! Just a generally enjoyable series that had that oldschool feel but for the most part wasn't too cheesy or overbearingly romantic. A few things here and there I had issues with, but great for the most part.