The Vision of Escaflowne anime has been a favourite of mine, since I was a kid.
Escaflowne is a mecha/other world anime, but it also has a tonne of romance. I hate romance, but the romance in Escaflowne doesn't bother me too much, because the series isn't centred around the romance. There's also a lot of angst, but the characters aren't all terribly angsty (like Cloud from Final Fantasy VII Advent Children), and there's a few weird characters. Overall, the anime is very different from most animes of this genre.
Plot Summary: The main character is Hitomi Kenzaki who gets teleported to another planet called Gaia/Gaea, where she meets the young king of Fanelia and pilot of the Escaflowne (a guymelef [mecha]), Van Fanel. However, Gaea is on the brink of another huge war. The Zaibach Empire attacks Fanelia during its quest to discover the secrets of Atlantis, a world of angels who were able to control fate, but were almost completely wiped out. Hitomi and Van are able to change fate, and most of the series follows their travels to discover their fate and the pasts of other characters. The series also carries on with the war against the Zaibach Empire and how all of the characters relate to each other. Escaflowne is 26 episodes long, and the movie shouldn't be mistaken as a part of the anime series (the movie is a separate entity).
Plot/General:
All 26 episodes are worth watching, and it's highly recommended that you watch them in proper order, because Escaflowne has a very intricate plot. Next to The Lord of the Rings, Escaflowne probably has the most in-depth fantasy ever. Besides being on another planet with animal people and melefs, there are fate altering machines, gender switching, and tarrot card reading. The series is extremely different from most animes in almost every way, so as a warning, don't watch it if you're looking for an average romance or an average mecha anime.
It's also pretty amazing how all the characters are linked by their pasts, including the "bad guys." Escaflowne is a shounen anime that was made from a shoujo manga, and the manga is very different from the anime (I didn't like the manga very much, but that's a personal preference). So the genius behind the connections between all the characters is the director, Kazuki Akane. Overall, the series starts off well and ends well, giving the viewer a sense of satisfaction.
The only thing that Escaflowne seems to be lacking in is a solid theme. Since the anime isn't centred around the romance, the only semi-descent themes don't really stay with the viewer. Escaflowne's possible theme makes love, being a good or bad thing, debatable. At times the love that Hitomi has for Van or Allen (another love triangle... possibly a love square if you include Amano) can make good things happen and at other times it can destroy the planet.
Art:
Like everything else in the series, Escaflowne has a very unique art style. The characters have rather long noses, and the animal people don't have the usual cute, little, pointy ears 
that are so common in anime. Also, the style is generally a shounen style, but the characters are still tall, thin, and elegant like most shoujo characters.
The artwork of Gaea can make you believe that there's such a planet out there that exist like Gaea. The different countries and landscapes make the show so much more interesting to watch, and the difference in Gaea's cultures just makes everything so much more realistic. For example, the animal people have rather simple outfits (such as the plain yellow dress that Merle wears) and use somewhat more primitive weapons and modes of transportation. Whereas the Zaibach Empire has very detailed, special armour and is able to invent a variety of melefs.
There are very few slip ups in the art and the animation is pretty great. Obviously, I'm rather fond of Escaflowne's art, but there are a lot of people who can't see past the difference in the characters' art style (with the long noses, bishounen-ness, and such).
Characters:
There's a kinda average-sized cast for Escaflowne and very consistent main characters, so I'm just going to tell y'all about those main characters mostly. As for the dubbing in Escaflowne, I kinda like the Japanese and the English. There are certain characters with better English voices and other characters with better Japanese voices.
Hitomi Kenzaki/Kanzaki: She's sorta your average 15 year old school girl who plays with tarrot cards and runs on the track and field team. She gets teleported to Gaea, in the first episode, while practicing on the track, when Van and a dragon pop up on the track and start trying to kill each other. Gaea's fate depends mostly on Hitomi and her psychic abilities. Hitomi's supposed to be that kinda stupid female character that animes seem to always have, but she's much more tolerable compared to all the other stupid anime girls.
Van Fanel: The 15 year old king of Fanelia and soldier in training. His mother was an Atlantian (angel) and his father was the king of Fanelia. Since Van is the king, he has inherited the right to pilot the Escaflowne, after killing the dragon to power the Escaflowne with its heart (also called an energist).
Escaflowne: A guymelef (large mecha) that can only be piloted by members of the Fanel family. It uses a big sword, and can turn into a dragon-like flying machine. Unlike the other melefs, the Escaflowne can have a much more spiritual bond with its pilot.
Folken Fanel: Van's older brother who was unable to defeat a dragon to use its heart to power the Escaflowne. He ends up working for Zaibach as a scientist (called sorceror), then becomes a commander and strategist.
Allen Schezar: A knight of Asturia around the same age as Folken (in his 20s) who is very good at pretty much everything he does (sword fighting, melef piloting, commanding, and romancing). He's one of the many guys that Hitomi has a thing for, and is also loved by princess Millerna, and used to be loved by princess Marlene as well.
Dilandau Albatou: My favourite character ^.^ He's a sadistic pyromaniac and a total loony. He's the captain of the Dragonslayers (an elite team of soldiers that work for the Zaibach Empire) and he's only 15 years old too. He pilots the Alseides and Oreades; guymelefs that have a flamethrower, stealth (invisibility) cloak, and crima claws (liquid metal claws that can change shape and harden into different weapon usage).
Merle: A 13 year old cat girl who is completely loyal to Van. She exists mostly for comic relief, and helps advance the plot a bit by helping out Van. She doesn't get along very well with Hitomi.
Millerna Aston: One of the princesses of Asturia; the other 2 princesses being her older sister Eries and her other older sister, the deceased, Marlene. She's rather infatuated with Allen, but ends up marrying Dryden for better or for worse. She doesn't really wanna be a princess too.
Dryden Fassa: A wealthy merchant who becomes Millerna's husband due to an arrangement he made with her father, king Aston. He reads a lot and seems to be a bit of a phylosopher and collector. He helps out the other characters by giving them knowledge and money most of the time.
Emperor Dornkirk: The leader of the Zaibach Empire. He is a scientist from Earth who helped revive Zaibach from poverty and suffering. He invents the fate alteration machine and is trying to discover the secrets of Atlantis, so he can make himself all powerful and make Gaea into his ideal world.
Sound/Music:
Well, the music was made by the talented Yoko Kanno, so of course it's all good. Escaflowne has many memorable themes, especially themes involving Gregorian chants. If you're listening to the music by itself, it can be a little overwhelming, but with the animation and dialogue in place, the music suits the series perfectly. The opening theme is alright, in my opinion, but I don't like the overdone pop beat in the ending theme.
Overall Rating:
If you don't like things that are totally different and unique= 4/5
If you're looking for a fantabulous anime= 5/5
^ Dilandau being happy. :P
