Last Exile
Publisher
ADV
Director
Koichi Chigira
Production
GONZO, TV Tokyo
Country of origin
Japan
Format
Series
Running time
26 episodes
Year
2003
Last Exile vol 1: First Move (eps 1-4)
By John Huxley
9th Jan 05  We all know that we shouldn't judge anything by its cover, right? Books, films, games, even people can be a welcome or not-so-welcome surprise once you get beneath that first seductive layer. But credit where credit's due, most anime publishers make a decent effort to convey the tone of a series with their packaging. You'd be a troubled person to pick up a copy of Slayers expecting a hard-hitting police drama, for example. But Last Exile presents an altogether different challenge - this bizarre cover really doesn't tell us much about the series bar the intriguingly unusual aesthetic. Incase you haven't spotted the small cover scan just below this review, Last Exile's cover is dominated by the silvery hull of a metallic aeroplane, the two central character's heads peeping up just below a somewhat anorexic logo. It can take you a quite a few seconds to figure out exactly what it is you're looking at, by which time you'll probably be too intrigued not to rip open the cellophane wrapper and slip the disk carefully in to your DVD player's tray. It's a fantastically bold cover that leaves you wanting more. Unfortunately the back cover goes some way to ruining the surprise, but we can just ignore that for now. I won't pretend that Last Exile lived up to my expectations, it didn't. But it is a really very enjoyable show and easily one of the best Gonzo has produced so far. Last Exile follows the adventures of two young pilots who ply their trade as couriers for hire; Claus controls the beautiful silver machine while Lavie navigates and helps to keep her partner in check and on time. They've remained close friends ever since their parents were world-famous pilots and now they intend to keep their legacy alive by following in their footsteps. But the daily routine of relatively monotonous jobs is disturbed when a chance encounter with a downed pilot leads to Claus and Lavie taking care of a rather unusual package - a mysterious little girl who has the misfortune of being relentlessly chased by a deadly mechanical gunship. Although it gets off to a very slow start, Last Exile's story holds plenty of promise. I doubt it will break new ground, but the introduction of two warring factions and a group of mercenary pirates should at least deliver an exciting adventure of the less cerebral variety. How exactly these various parties cross paths with our heroes and the significance of this young girl remains to be seen. The two central characters, however, are given plenty of time to settle as we're inducted into their hectic lives. There's little surprise here - Claus is the reserved quiet type to Lavie's more outgoing and brash personality - but they're nevertheless a fairly likeable pair who you certainly wouldn't mind spending some quality time with. Hopefully their relationship will have room to blossom as the series progresses. Short on laughs, Last Exile keeps the viewer's interest with a few well-paced and varied action scenes ranging from dog fights and races to full-scale aerial warfare. The imaginative ship designs help give these sequences a unique flavour, the nimble fighters and vast battleships adding a real sense of scale and occasion to the proceedings. One scene in which we see a battle through the eyes of a gunman as he watches his fellow soldiers massacred at the front line is particularly memorable. As Claus and Lavie become increasingly involved in this war we'll hopefully be treated to some more spectacular battles. Central to Last Exile's appeal is the magnificent world in which it the story takes place. With a distinctly retro flavour to the ship design and rustic, European feel to the architecture, it's no boast to claim that Last Exile's world would not look out of place in a Hayao Miyazaki movie. The attention to detail may not be comparable, but the general aesthetic is certainly reminiscent of the great director's most famous works. If you're after a more modern comparison, you only need look as far as the recently released Sky Captain & The World of Tomorrow, a movie which heavily borrows from the old serials such as Flash Gordon. Anyway you look at it, Last Exile is a beautiful anime. Gonzo have continuously improved the implementation of their CGI animation and Last Exile is no exception. Whilst the many CGI models are easy to spot, they're very difficult to fault. Each is lovingly rendered and most blend seamlessly with the background, a testament to the quality of the artwork if nothing else. Yet most impressive is the way in which Gonzo has illustrated the various skies. I'm not too sure if they're hand painted and manipulated with computer effects or totally computer rendered, but either way they're some of the most beautiful skies I've seen in an animation since Voices of Distant Star. This might seem like a moot point, but considering that much of Last Exile takes place in the sky, Gonzo's efforts do not go unappreciated. I could complain about the haphazard pacing or the lacklustre music, but barring a few minor niggles this first volume is really a decent start for Last Exile. The fantasy adventure is a crowded genre in anime ruled by the unsurpassable Miyazaki and Castle in the Sky, but if you're after something new then Last Exile should be your first port of call.
R2 DVD Notes
Features: English 5.1 & Japanese 2.0 audio, English subtitles, clean opening, original Japanese opening, art gallery, promotional trailer, character profiles, ADV previews
Release information: UK: ADV, December 2004
Notes: Open the box and you'll find a colourful piece of artwork spreading the entire length of the box. I guess this could be used as a reversible cover, but there's no logo and it looks fine where it is. The disc itself is presents a few extras, including the original Japanese opening, a sizeable art gallery, a trailer and a few character profiles. They won't keep you busy for very long but they're welcome additions all the same.
-- John Huxley 9th Jan 05
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