Escaflowne the Movie - A Girl in Gaea
Synopsis
Was it all just a dream or a vision? Kanzaki Hitomi is an unfortunate girl. She is without a boyfriend, doesn’t belong in any clubs, and has just quit the athletics squad. Everyone is energetic except for her. Hitomi is tired of it all. She sleeps all day long to disappear from a world that takes no notice of her. Suddenly, a shrouded man calls out to her: Let this sad world and everything in it just vanish. You who share the same dreams as I come to my far away homeland. You the chosen one, the Goddess of Wings, shall fulfill your destiny.
Review
Escaflowne the Movie A Girl in Gaea appeared in select theaters January 25, 2002. It was advertised as A Place You’ve Never Seen and A Story You’ll Never Forget. For an already perfect series, there was great expectation for the movie to either be as astounding and on equal footing as the originals or even surpass them on a whole new scale. However, it was that expectation that lead the movie to its downfall. The movie was not meant to be a sequel or prequel but was to be appreciated standing alone as a retelling of the story from a totally different viewpoint. The plot itself has little resemblance to the series storyline. Those turn of events that were similar and the choice of characters to include in the movie were forced.
The Breakdown
Escaflowne the Movie proved impossible to stand up against the anime series.