The Vision of Escaflowne

Hitomi is a normal teenage girl who likes running track, doing tarot readings, and mooning over hot boys. Until a boy named Van and the dragon he’s fighting with come through a mystic portal, and drag her back with them to the world of Gaea. There, Hitomi discovers that there’s more to her fortune-telling abilities than she’d ever guessed. Also, there’s sword-fighting, giant magitek robots, dragons, mad science, musings on the nature of fate, catgirls, politics, ill-fated romance, sibling rivalry, lost civilizations and really nothing that could possibly qualify as “filler”.

( Note that there are spoilers in here so I can discuss plot points. )

Overall: Stan Lee figured out that little boys would read soap operas if the characters had laser eyes and claws. This follows a similar principle, appealing to both those who like giant swordfighting magitek power armor that transforms into a flying dragon, and love triangles guided by magical destiny.

Pacific Rim

In the near future, giant monsters start emerging from the Pacific Ocean, causing physics to break down and humanity to decide giant robots (co-piloted by mind-melded martial artists) were the best way to beat them. But the monsters keep getting bigger and stronger, and more and more of the robots are getting destroyed. Can the threat be ended before the last Jaeger falls? (Spoiler: It’s an action movie. Seriously, what do you think?)

( Exactly what I was expecting. )

Overall: For what it was trying to be, this could only have been better if the Jaegers required five pilots and could form blazing swords.