Episode One: Fated Confession
Kanzaki Hitomi is an athletic, fifteen year old girl that runs track, and has a strange psychic ability with Tarot cards. She has a good friend and running partner named Yukari. Her instructor is an older student named Amano. One day while running at a meet, Hitomi sees a mysterious young man suddenly fall down from the sky, mysteriously transparent. She then hallucinates by seeing the war machines that will later be revealed as Guymelefs amidst burning villages and the young man talking to an older man about dragons. Instantaneously the ground disappears from underneath Hitomi's feet. But while she is falling, a strange winged being swoops down to rescue her in the nick of time. Hitomi then springs awake in the school infirmary's bed with Amano leaning over her in concern. He explains that Hitomi had passed out during the meet and fell. To possibly get her mind off of the very embarrassing incident, he asks her about her small, gemstone necklace. She tells him that it was a gift from her grandmother, and that if you swing it the pendant will continue to swing like a pendulum in one-second intervals until you physically stop it. After she recovers, Hitomi and Yukari walk home. On the way, Yukari breaks down and reveals that Amano is moving to England to study abroad. Hitomi gets home that night and decides to do what she does best by reading hers and Amano's futures with Tarot cards. She takes the cards' advice and runs to the track. She meets Amano and Yukari there, and she offers a deal that he will give her a kiss if she makes a 100-meter dash in 13 seconds. The deal is accepted, and Amano uses her pendant as the clock. As she runs, the young man from her hallucination appears again, but this time he is real, and she runs into him. He reveals himself as Van just as a forest scene appears and a dragon-like creature, called an Earth Dragon, suddenly appears. Van struggles with the creature as it rips his armor off. However, Van is successful in killing the dragon and removes a glowing gem from inside the beast. This is called an Energist. Energists provide power to Guymelefs. From out of nowhere, a column of light appears and sucks Van and Hitomi into it. Amano and Yukari run after her, but can't reach her. As Amano reaches out to grab Hitomi's arm, she only manages to get her pendant, and is whisked completely away. When she comes to, the sky is lit by the light of the Moon and planet Earth in the sky... As an opening episode, this is not a bad one. It establishes a major plot line and some of the main characters quite well. I think the Earth Dragon is not a dragon in the sense I know, but it is still a very good design. Just remember that this is the episode that opens up the epic that is The Vision of Escaflowne.

Episode One: Fated Confession

Kanzaki Hitomi is an athletic, fifteen year old girl that runs track, and has a strange psychic ability with Tarot cards. She has a good friend and running partner named Yukari. Her instructor is an older student named Amano. One day while running at a meet, Hitomi sees a mysterious young man suddenly fall down from the sky, mysteriously transparent. She then hallucinates by seeing the war machines that will later be revealed as Guymelefs amidst burning villages and the young man talking to an older man about dragons. Instantaneously the ground disappears from underneath Hitomi's feet. But while she is falling, a strange winged being swoops down to rescue her in the nick of time. Hitomi then springs awake in the school infirmary's bed with Amano leaning over her in concern. He explains that Hitomi had passed out during the meet and fell. To possibly get her mind off of the very embarrassing incident, he asks her about her small, gemstone necklace. She tells him that it was a gift from her grandmother, and that if you swing it the pendant will continue to swing like a pendulum in one-second intervals until you physically stop it. After she recovers, Hitomi and Yukari walk home. On the way, Yukari breaks down and reveals that Amano is moving to England to study abroad. Hitomi gets home that night and decides to do what she does best by reading hers and Amano's futures with Tarot cards. She takes the cards' advice and runs to the track. She meets Amano and Yukari there, and she offers a deal that he will give her a kiss if she makes a 100-meter dash in 13 seconds. The deal is accepted, and Amano uses her pendant as the clock. As she runs, the young man from her hallucination appears again, but this time he is real, and she runs into him. He reveals himself as Van just as a forest scene appears and a dragon-like creature, called an Earth Dragon, suddenly appears. Van struggles with the creature as it rips his armor off. However, Van is successful in killing the dragon and removes a glowing gem from inside the beast. This is called an Energist. Energists provide power to Guymelefs. From out of nowhere, a column of light appears and sucks Van and Hitomi into it. Amano and Yukari run after her, but can't reach her. As Amano reaches out to grab Hitomi's arm, she only manages to get her pendant, and is whisked completely away. When she comes to, the sky is lit by the light of the Moon and planet Earth in the sky...

As an opening episode, this is not a bad one. It establishes a major plot line and some of the main characters quite well. I think the Earth Dragon is not a dragon in the sense I know, but it is still a very good design. Just remember that this is the episode that opens up the epic that is The Vision of Escaflowne.