I was once asked why I liked Escaflowne. I quickly replied, "Er, Ah... Um... Hrm... I'm not sure exactly, but it's still really cool," or something to that effect. While sitting down to write this, I've had do think a little harder about that question. Here's my answer: "Er, Ah... Um... Hrm... I'm not sure exactly, but it's still really cool."

Escaflowne is the kind of series that defies catagorization. On the surface, it's a mech show, but the main character Hitomi, unfortunately, has more in common with Serena (or Usagi, if you must. See, I DO actually do research about the things I make fun of) than Heero. In fact, she doesn't even pilot a Melef (as the mechs are called), but instead uses her power to predict and alter the future. Unfortunately, she often ends up messing stuff up more than she helps, leading to some very nice and dramatic scenes.

Of course, she's also caught up in a love triangle between Van, the young king of Fanelia, who is incapable of showing his feelings for Hitomi, and Allen, the gallant knight. Of course, Van has the overprotective, mischevious, and super-cute catgirl Merle, who resents Hitomi and Van's feelings towards her. And Allen already has to figure out how he feels about Millerna, the princess who's in love with him. That is complicated with other facts that you don't find out until later. The relationships are all pretty complicated, but of course you don't know all this at the begining, but find out along the way. It's actually paced very well, if rather fast. No filler episodes here.

All of these plot points are intersperced with action, namely fighting off the evil Zaibach Empire, which is trying to do something. No one's quite sure what, but it probably isn't good (of course it tells you at the end, but I'm trying to avoid having too many spoilers). Evil Zaibach comes in the flavor of Dilandou, my absolute favorite character ever. He acomplishes the nearly impossible feat of being even more femme than Allen, while kicking even more ass. He's really bloodthirsty, a dedicated pyromaniac, and constantly whacks his subordinates whenever they disagree with him. Heh heh. There's also Folken and his pair of leapard twins (the twins appear later). The fights are remarkably well done, and the invisable enemies are really cool too. Plus, there's a high amound of collateral damage. Entire armies get wiped out, citys are razed, fun ensues. Well, for Dilandou anyway.

So, basically it's a mix of really cool (and deep) characters, kick-ass mechs, a great storyline, a romance story that actually manages to be entertaining to teenage guys (take notes, future anime creators), plenty of great scenes, and an awe-inspiring soundtrack, including two of my favorite battle themes, Dance of Curse and Epistle. How can you not like a soundtrack where one of the songs is called "Murder?"

This is the series that I watch whenever I need to remind myself why I watch anime. If you miss this, you'll be sorry.
SCORE: 10