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Escaflowne

Play trailer Poster for Escaflowne PG-13 Released Jan 25, 2002 1h 38m Fantasy Adventure Sci-Fi Animation Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
43% Tomatometer 14 Reviews 68% Popcornmeter 10,000+ Ratings
"Escaflowne" blends romance and fantasy to tell the story of Hitomi Kanzaki, an ordinary high school student whose life has lost all meaning. Feeling at her most desperate, she wishes that she could just disappear into thin air -- a wish that is immediately granted when a mysterious man suddenly materializes and catapults her away from Earth. Hitomi is instantly thrust into Gaia, a strange new world ruled by sword and sorcery. In this world she realizes she can make a difference.

Critics Reviews

View All (14) Critics Reviews
Loren King Chicago Tribune Its ambitiousness and artistry should satisfy discriminating fans of the anime genre. Jul 20, 2002 Full Review Melanie McFarland Seattle Times Romantic, riveting and handsomely animated. Rated: 3/4 Mar 29, 2002 Full Review Tom Maurstad Dallas Morning News A visual spectacle full of stunning images and effects. Rated: B+ Mar 7, 2002 Full Review Philip Martin Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Rated: 2/5 May 5, 2003 Full Review Robert Roten Laramie Movie Scope It is just too bad the film's story does not live up to its style. Rated: C Feb 13, 2003 Full Review Oregonian Required viewing for anime fans. May 24, 2002 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (468) audience reviews
Audience Member the movie was like most anime movies in the era an eye candy, but they story tend to be boring when the philosophy enters in the story. Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 01/17/23 Full Review Audience Member Beautiful movie with classic visuals, high fantasy settings and heart warming story Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/13/23 Full Review Audience Member Escaflowne is the best animation have ever seen, scorch development and straight to the important points while being careful with the slower segments and blend of the rest of it even when in lower form really save the film. An amazing feat in animation that has re-watch value. Very hopeful themes and the good team does win most of the time inclusive in the finish. Beautiful render of scenery as well as character development despite what might seem frustrating this feature film is astonishing. Thanks for this, a new all time favorite, could in actual see to the completion the entire feature presentation. Much applause as well. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/24/23 Full Review Audience Member Thought this animated movie was ok, but, didn't really seem to follow the story as it was a bit complicated Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/13/23 Full Review Audience Member I rewatched this today after 10 years since the day i first watched it and I loved it 100% as much as I did back then. Back then, i went in expecting some sort of sequel/prequel biz to the tv series that I was obsessed with and I remember that I was shocked that I resonated with this movie at a much deeper level past the whole animu fandom. Today as a 31 year old, I can assess what it was that I found so inherently beautiful about this movie (aside from the stunning animation which holds against time!) - was that the whole thing was really all just about Hitomi. This whole movie is a gigantic metaphor and I know it sounds reeeaaalllly "INCEPTION!!!" to say this, but I imagine the creators just didn't want to bother recreating Tenkuu no Escaflowne's overblown and twisted plots and complex characters and jam it into 90 minuets, so I feel they went the 'Eva route' and made it about something much more metaphorical and emotional. Unfortunately 90 minuets truly isn't enough for 'character development' but I don't think it actually hinders the plot or anything much since the only character really being developed here is Hitomi in her fight against depression. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/20/23 Full Review Audience Member Another decent anime movie perpetuated as being bad by the mongoloid, pseudo intellectual critiques of rotten tomatoes. If you enjoyed the vision of Escalflowne I do recommend watching the animated movie. It's a remake of a classic and it will captivate the newer generation more than use veterans of the original. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/20/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Escaflowne

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Cast & Crew

Movie Info

Synopsis "Escaflowne" blends romance and fantasy to tell the story of Hitomi Kanzaki, an ordinary high school student whose life has lost all meaning. Feeling at her most desperate, she wishes that she could just disappear into thin air -- a wish that is immediately granted when a mysterious man suddenly materializes and catapults her away from Earth. Hitomi is instantly thrust into Gaia, a strange new world ruled by sword and sorcery. In this world she realizes she can make a difference.
Director
Kazuki Akane
Producer
Masahiko Minami, Minoru Takanashi, Masuo Ueda, Toyoyuki Yokohama
Screenwriter
Kazuki Akane, Tetsujiro Yamagami
Distributor
Bandai Entertainment
Production Co
Sunrise
Rating
PG-13 (Strong Animated Violence)
Genre
Fantasy, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Animation
Original Language
Japanese
Release Date (Theaters)
Jan 25, 2002, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Mar 10, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA)
$56.5K
Runtime
1h 38m