Ranked #261

Last Exile

I was looking forward to seeing Last Exile from all the rumors and good ratings that had cross my eye related to it, but the fact is: I expected much better. On to the review.


Starting with Story. A science fiction story that at first glance was joining up elements of advance technology (e.g. flying battle ships) and medieval element (e.g. musketeers; honor code from European battles). It reeled me in at first, as the first 2 episodes were intense and interesting. The third episode continued with good pace also ( this time bringing a race and it was not only this element but the junction of others from the first 2 which made me feel that this anime got many inspiration from Star Wars). But it's was in the 4th ep. that I first start seeing plot holes (eg. in character relationship, and background), and it wouldn't be the last time. Even so the overall story was interesting although it sometimes developed faster or even in a slower pace than it should have.
This will depend a bit on people tastes, but I did not enjoy the ending, and especially how some of the plot lines around some characters resolved.
So in resume, the story has its ups and downs, it's pace it's quite irregular sometimes moving fast and other times going slow, it's good in overall but fails in many details.

Like the story, the characters started up promising, but many of them turned out to be disappointing. Especially main characters who got little development whatsoever in terms of personality. In fact the characters that got more evolution were within secondary cast, and at some point in the anime I actually started to care more about the latest then the ones I was supposed to care about. Good examples are Sophia, Mullin and Dio. Being the last one the character that most appealed to me, mostly due to is initial personality and also because he got a good evolution during the anime.
I can't stop thinking a bit of romance would have done wonders to improve character interaction but no moves were made in that direction.
So the strong points turn out to be the interesting secondary cast and the overall character design wich was very good.

Animation is Last Exile strongest point. It combines regular animation with 3D CGI sequences. And this is done quite well making not only battles but also many other scenes very pleasant to watch. The animation level is kept high during the whole anime and no glitches are worth mentioning. The overall ship design is very good and the same goes for character design stated above, background scenarios are also amazing.

As for Sound, it's pretty good as well. VA's do a great job, sound effects are very good and background music is so-so. The opening theme was very good and the ending theme was well done although it did not appeal so much to me.

The Enjoyment you take out will very much depend from person to person. For me personally it had it's ups and downs due to some periods of or indecision, and because I did not identify myself with the primary cast. Even so there were memorable sequences that made this show worth while.

In overall Last Exile is a good watch but not more than that. It has an interesting story, and although not having a really good primary cast, the secondary characters manage to complement this flaw. It has great animation, joining up 2D and 3D Computer Generated Imagery that give action scenes and other ordinary scenes a very good look, which is complemented by good sound effects. I do recommend this one, however don't have really high expectations because apart from the animation, there is nothing of really outstanding nor breathtaking in Last Exile. read more

Since I was a kid I have always been a fan of aeroplanes and intrigued by the concept of flight. Like Area 88, Macross Zero, Last Exile pandered to the child in me in a way you watch an old Tom and Jerry cartoon that's playing on TV.

In terms of plot, yes there is something of a story, but you really have to pay attention to keep track of things. Besides, to be honest the story is quite inconsequentional. There is a bit of suspense and foreboding of impending disaster to keep you going from episode to episode.

The artwork was excellent, even by modern standards. The "vanships", the equivalent of an aeroplane and the huge zepellin like airships are superbly drawn.

The sound is appropriate and goes well with the visual images of vanships flying the corkscrew at high speeds. Plenty of explosions juxtaposed to arias, it was quite interesting.

The characters, although well explored and given a sense of emotional depth, are quite cliche. A bit of whinying here, a bit of heroism there. very reminiscent of the characters from Full Metal Alchemist.

As far as enjoyability goes it's a great anime to watch over a weekend when it's snowing outside, which is exactly what I did! it's faced paced, with enough action and intrigue to be called a "page turner", and then there's the excellent artwork.

I recommend this anime to all mecha, airware, action buffs, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I have. read more