Escaflowne ran on American television from August 19th to October 21st 2000 for a total of 9 episodes. It was pulled from FOX dut to poor overall ratings. The reason for this was probably due to the fact that the show was aimed at too young an audience, and was changed to the point that it was almost unrecognizable to older fans. Thankfully, all character names and the majority of the dialogue was kept intact, but entire episodes worth of footage was cut, along with much of the show's outstanding and trademark background music.
(I'll go into a little more detail with this one, since they never showed this episode) Hitomi runs through the schoolyard, as she is late for track practice. After getting chewed out by Yukari, her best friend and manager of the track team, they stare in awe at Amano's record-breaking time (he's the highschool heartthrob). However, when Hitomi has her time trials, she has a sudden vision of a young boy preparing for a great task, and two giants doing battle. The ground breaks away, and a silhouetted winged boy appears and saves her. When Hitomi awakens from this dream, she finds herself alone in a room with Amano. She explains to him that she has a pendant that is a memento from her grandmother, and that when it is swung, it swings once a second like a pendulum. However, Hitomi isn't confident about her running ability, and wishes she could run like Amano. On the way home, Yukari reveals that Amano is going abroad, and that Hitomi won't have much more of a chance to tell him how she feels. So, the next day, Hitomi asks Amano that if she can run the 100 meters in under 13 seconds (13 swings of the pendant), than she would like him to give her her first kiss. Amano accepts. However, when Hitomi begins running, the vision from before begins again, except this time the boy is real, and standing right in her path. She runs into him, and, after some confusion, the boy says that he is Van Fanel, and that there is a dragon coming. A portal opens up, and the dragon menacingly steps out. After a short skirmish, Van shoots one of the dragon's eyes out with a crossbow. Enraged, the dragon attacks Hitomi, Yukari, and Amano. The three run to a shrine across the street, the dragon pursuing them, and Van pursuing the dragon. They get cornered at the shrine, and Van confronts the dragon again. Suddenly, Hitomi has a vision of the dragon taking Van by surprise and impaling him on its tail. She runs out to warn him, and Van jumps out of the way just in time. This leaves the dragon's underside exposed, so Van rushes in and slices it down the middle. After some excessive bleeding, the dragon dies, and Van cuts open its chest to pull out the Energist, a crystal in the dragon's heart. After this, the dragon simply vaporizes (easy cleanup!). Hitomi isn't quite sure what happened, but Van comments that he wasn't in so much trouble that he needed a girl to help him, and that when he gets back home, he wants to take all the credits for the dragonslaying. At this point, Hitomi just smacks him. She yells at him that she doesn't care about that and the least he could do was thank her for saving his life. Van assumes his Clueless Male expression, which we'll see from time to time, as the Energist in his hand starts to glow. A pillar of light comes down from the sky and lifts both Van and Hitomi to the heavans. Amano comes running to grab Hitomi, but all she can catch hold of is her pendant, which he still had. Then, Hitomi and Van vanish into the sky.
The light drops them off in the middle of a field. Hitomi looks up and sees both the moon AND the earth in the sky. Then, the two are surrounded by many pairs of glowing eyes, presumably from wild beasts ready to attack them. Was it a dream, or maybe a vision?
Escaflowne Pics
