I'm collecting the ESCAFLOWNE series on DVD and have yet to be disappointed. I've really enjoyed watching the story and mech battles develop.

In the past couple volumes we've seen Hitomi transported to the mystic world of Gaea, which is caught up in civil war. She travels this plane with her new friends Van Fanel, Allen Schezar and several others trying to fight the Zaibach Empire.

This disc covers episodes 9-11, in which Hitomi sees the meeting of Van's parents, a handsome human king and a woman of the Draconian race, who have wings and are feared/hated by humans. Van's childhood is a happy, yet guarded one. We also get to see their subsequent fates. Afterwards, the Zaibach's Guymelefs (the series mecha) attack Hitomi and company, and Allen is severely injured.

The group heads to Freid, where Prince Chid, a huge fan of Allen's, is extremely saddened to see his hero in pain. There are also many implications of a relationship between the two, but you should be the judge.

Also, there is the problem of a captured Zaibach Guymelef pilot, which Lord Folken decides to rectify by employing a creature known as a Doppleganger for the assassination. Its talents are superb, but there is a snag when he comes across Hitomi's foresight abilities.

For the past few years, I've considered ESCAFLOWNE to be one of the best anime of the 1990s. It hasn't really used any story or mecha concepts that were new to anime. We've seen romantic and magical elements in countless anime, as recent as FUSHIGI YUGI, while the mechs-in-a-medeival-world bit has been used in titles like AURA BATTLER DUNBINE and PANZER WORLD GALIENT. However, the familiar concepts have been utilized very well and create a solid series to focus on. As evident in this DVD, the story moves at a good, even pace.

Also, the animation techniques are absolutely first rate. This is the best mix of cell based and computer animation I've seen in anime, along with MACROSS PLUS, PRINCESS MONONOKE, and KING OF BRAVES GAOGAIGAR. Everything meshes into one world even though I realize two techniques are being used, and here I've found it to be more visually enjoyable than the incidental overuse of computers in a lot of recent anime titles.

As far as the video of the disc itself, I have seen small traces of rainbows appear, but nothing remotely significant at all. For the most part, the visuals are beautiful to look at. The audio is real good too. The English 5.1 and the Japanese 2.0 both function well and clear, though one day, I'd like to have Japanese 5.1 on a disc too.

I'm also enjoying the extra segment called Club Escaflowne, in which the voice actor for Van Fanel plays a bartender having a conversation with the other voice actors. It's similar to the segment from volume 2, except with different actors, and it's no less enlightening. For example, I had no idea that one of the actresses (won't spoil who) has three roles in the show. Another one is much younger than I expected, but you'll learn about this when you pick up the disc.

And pick it up you will, or at least should. This remains a solid series to watch, with some good payoffs at the end. As long as the DVDs continue to be of high quality, I definitely recommend picking up this volume, as well as the rest of ESCAFLOWNE.