Here's where the anime "The Vision of Escaflowne" comes in.

The 26-episode series centers on high school student Hitomi who, by some manipulation of the threads of fate and a pendant she received from her grandmother, is transported from Earth to a planet called Gaea.

She lands in the middle of a fight between a dragon and Van, the prince of Fanelia. She returns with Van to Fanelia, where he is crowned king just as an enemy country, Zaibach, attacks with floating fortresses and huge mechs called guymelefs.

Back at home, Hitomi is known for her tarot card readings. Those abilities quickly show themselves on Gaea as she begins having visions of the future -- the first being the bloody destruction of Fanelia.

After escaping, Van and Hitomi try to gather allies to fight against Zaibach and discover that the wars on Gaea are, ironically, the work of a man with a misguided sense of world happiness.

The story line is nothing groundbreaking, but it does have something for almost everyone, running the gamut of personalities that really makes this anime fly.

You want a kick-butt swordsman who keeps his chivalrous cool no matter what the situation? There's Allen Schezar, a King Arthur type obviously consumed by a guilty passion despite his honorable exterior.

Looking for a wacko who's not afraid of death and slices down anyone in his path without turning a hair? You've got Dilandau, the bad guy you love to hate and one of the most psychotic characters ever to grace an animated series.

Addicted to the huge fighting machines that have become a staple of anime? Check out the guymelefs, almost every bit as cool as the never-ending stream of Gundams in the "Gundam" anime series.

And the requisite romance? Well, you can guess whom that involves. Van is a typical headstrong youth with secrets of his own, while Hitomi is naturally unsure of herself in unfamiliar surroundings, but not to the point of being whiny. In fact, she often takes the initiative and, in some ways, has a stronger character than Van.

"Escaflowne" makes the grade with a wider range of viewers by avoiding much of the sappiness that most shoujo (girls) anime thrive on. It's the cliché of "boy and girl love each other but are afraid to say so," but the emphasis on action keeps the story from spiraling down the stereotypical path of the "chick flick."

As with the rest of the story, the ending winds up somewhere in the middle of the road. Everything seems to be wrapped up on one level, yet "Escaflowne" would have done better with a more esoteric explanation, considering how such aspects come into play from the very beginning.

The general story line of "Escaflowne" was retold in an adult-oriented movie version that was released in the United States last month, with the emphasis on "adult." The differences between it and the series would take a whole other article to explain, but be warned there is much more violence in the movie, and the characters' personalities are, shall we say, much less refined than their TV counterparts.

Click for online
calendars and events.