Story Summary
Hitomi is a middle school student with psychic abilities who gets transported to another world where she meets up and travels with a prince named Van, a cat-girl named Merle, and a giant robot called Escaflowne. This world, Gaea, is on the brink of a world war and Van sees Hitomi's psychic abilities as a powerful tool for getting the upper hand in battle. Together they travel to many cities and meet allies and enemies alike.

My Opinion
An amazing fantasy series with complex characters and a fascinating storyline.

Notes
A heavily edited version of The Vision of Escaflowne was aired on FOX in 2000, but was canceled before completing its run due to low ratings.

As for the manga series, 2 different series were created. A shounen version by Aki Katsu consists of 8 volumes (1994-1998) and was released in the US by Tokyopop. Yuzuru Yashiro made a 2 volume shoujo version (1996) that is based more on romance and isn't available in English.

General Information
Original Story/Creator: Hajime Yatate & Shoji Kawamori
Based on Manga?: yes
Episodes: 26
Japanese Production: Sunrise
Japanese Release: 1996
US Distributor: Bandai
US Release: 2000
Aired in US?: on FOX