As promised here is my review of the Vision of Escaflowne.
The 90s were the renaissance of Anime as some of the most memorable in history were created but kind of lost in the bunch is Escaflowne. Escaflowne is about a girl named Hitomi who's interest in divination lands her in the mystic world of Gaea with a winged Prince named Van Fanel who was slaying a dragon at the time of the incident.
Gaea is at war as the deadly Zaibach Empire attempt to take over the world so it's up to Van to awaken the mecha Escaflowne and along with the knight Allen Schezar, fight back and save the world while Hitomi is stuck in the middle of everything when her powers somehow react with Escaflowne.
Escaflowne can be anything from memorable to forgettable depending on your experience with the series, the first half of the series was fantastic, it showcased some great action, some great suspense and provided a story which was really setting up for a climatic finish but then it got all complicated and kind of fell apart in an attempt to look more intelligent than it really was during the second half, even the extra villains and some of the side characters came across as bland and uninteresting but what really let the series down was the total lack of chemistry between the leads Van and Hitomi. True story now, the Escaflowne Manga featured a glasses wearing school girl who became a busty blonde when she made contact with Escaflowne, and she suited the franchise much better than Anime Hitomi ever did. I guess I'm saying that I don't really like Hitomi as a character, her design compared to other female anime characters at the time was bland, her personality was dull and she never really delivers what the fans want. Okay I don't expect her to be a femme fatale like Faye Valentine, a rambunctious girl like Aisha Clan Clan or a proper audience surrogate character like Meryl Stryfe, but at least those female characters stood out. Hitomi is lucky to be remembered and Escaflowne isn't exactly well remembered to begin with.
Dub is pretty good and the art style is a little dated and a little hard to ignore the big pointy noses, the music is by Yoko Kanno who never fails to bring in viewing numbers.
Final Verdict: Take it or leave it, there's enough to enjoy in the series but if you really want to avoid some of the anime's shortcomings you may want to skip a lot of the second half.
A popular theme at the moment in all the industries in geekland is the reboot. Take a popular show from eons ago and reboot it for a modern audience, but there are some that still need doing, so here are ten series that need that treatment.
10. Dirty Pair
This series has already been rebooted once with the Flash series in the 90s but deserves another go in the modern era with new art directive and Dirty Pair's universal laws allow for limitless possibilities.
9. Moldiver
Moldiver in basic terms is the geekiest way of becoming Superman. The plot had potential to expand further and the 20th century memorabilia could easily make for a character of the week plot.
8. Yu-Gi-Oh
I'm probably one of only a select few who want to bring back the original Yu-Gi-Oh series with the Russian Roulette style games instead of Children's Card Games but that series is in dire need of a new art directive.
7. Shamanic Princess
The story was utterly confusing but the mythos and art style are worthy enough to give this show another chance and maybe simplify what's going on.
6. Pokemon
Those who saw the Black & White 2 trailer witnessed a Pokemon that could never exist, but petitions demand that the edgier, older, more serious stories, replace the childish repetition of seeing Ash go on a journey he's never going to finish.
5. Fruits Basket
This series is one of the few shows that should've followed the entire story and I'm willing to bet that it would make way more money than it's original.
4. Escaflowne
It's sad that this series has been forgotten in recent years, but that's because it holds such an obscure and confusing legacy; new guidance would breath new life into this series and maybe Hitomi would actually kiss Van Fanel.
3. Sailor Moon
As of now, this is in development but has been announced as delayed. I am hoping for great things out of this project, especially when it goes up against Pretty Cure a.k.a Magical Girls who can actually fight.
2. Wedding Peach
Now here's an interesting choice but it is justified. Anyone who's seen the recent lineup of young shojo shows will point out the Pretty Rhythm & Pretty Cure franchises as being the most popular, Wedding Peach could easily tap into those models and come out just as popular.
1. Sonic the Hedgehog
There's a rumor going around that Sega may drop Sonic as a mascot so a reboot is essential for Sonic's survival; no humans, no catchy songs, no childish repetition and no video game plots. Play Sonic & his friends in a series that can equal the likes of the SatAM Sonic and it's Archie Comic counterpart.
