The gist of the story is that a Japanese Schoolgirl Hitomai is swept mysteriously to the world of Gaia with a boy named Van on a beam of light. Now, Van is not an ordinary boy but the prince of a country on Gaia called Fanilla. At Van coronation to be King of Fanilla, mysterious mechs(From the country of Zaibach) attack Fanilla, and destroy the country. Van and Hitomai escape in Van’s mech( Guymelef on Gaia), the Escaflowne, in a another one of those mysterious beams of light that seem to be just running rampant currently. Next, they run into Allen and his crew, and the story goes from there. Basically, I do not want to ruin the story any more than I already have in this pathetic plot synopsis.

This does not explain why I have a fondness for Escaflowne. In all reality, the story holds only a little reason why I love the series. One of my major loves of the series is the fact that the kingdoms of Gaia are allegorically based on real countries on the Earth. For instance, Fanilla is like an ancient Japan with steam powered mechs while Zaibach is a technologically advanced Germany. For me, this adds fun to my viewing because I love trying to figure out which country is which on Earth. Also, the character design add to the story by being normal for animé but different at the same time. Well, the characters have bigger noses than the average character designs for animated programs that adds a sense of stylized realism. However, who can forget a character like Hitomai? A girl who has to put up a the cat-girl, Meerle. A girl swept away to a planet on the other side of the sun by a mysterious beam. A girl who is in love with every boy, she sees. Yes, I like Hitomai because she is kinda of like me at the age of 15: a dreamer, a ....... oh forget it. Ok, I just like her because she is cute. But, the major reason that I love this show is because it has a transforming Mech that turns into a dragon. Yes, I like the one, the only, Escaflowne! Like her predecessors from Macross (Robotech 1st generation), she transformers like only a thought from her creator Shoji Kawamori could form, awe inspiring robot to dangerous vehicle mode.(Note: Shoji kawamori also created Macross.) This is the way that I like my mechs, basically looking like a knight of the roundtable. Hear that Hasbro with Transforemrs: Beast Machines!

Well, I also like the show for the politics, the intrigue, and the suspense, but I have only so much time to write. If you would like to buy a copy of Escaflowne, just click on my Amazon.com link to order a copy of the video or DVD. I highly recommend this series to anyone who is a dreamer.