No love for Last Exile? What gives? (Spoilers)

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Alright, what this really boils down to is that I'm tired of ranting about why I don't like stuff and would much perfer to rant about stuff that I do.

But with that in mind it does make me wonder why this show seems to pepetually get the Shaft. It doesn't help that the north american distribution got all mangled in that Geneon thing, but when FUNImation bailed it out at the start of this year, there seemed to be a suspicious lack of exhaltation from anyone but, well, me.

I chalked this up to the fact that it isn't exactly the kind of show that naturally engenders insane fandom. The animation style is pretty dark and the main character is admitedly nothing to write home about but the supporting cast is very strong, the animation is gorgeous and top notch and did I mention the Air Ships.. and the airship battles?

I'm especially surprised given all the complaints that people tend to have about anime, the constant fanservicing, the lolis, the painfully ineffectual and over sexualized females, the endless flasrabroadacks and horrible pacing. Last Exile is lacking in any of these problems. Well, you might have a bit of traction with the pacing argument on a few episodes but that's it. Unless you get off to art deco the show basically refuses to fanservice you, there's an even ballance to strong males and females, there's a single flasrabroadack episode which flows very nicely with the overall plot and there's all of one character who could even be considered a loli and honestly, she wouldn't be intresting if she was older. She's never the least bit sexualized either so, not much traction there.


It could be argued that some of the characters are a bit bland (Claus, Tatiana, The Emperor and PM of anatoray and bunch of the one dimensional incidental villains) and I'd grant you that and it could be argued that the plot is a bit confusing, given that the show refuses to explain it's self. I happen to LOVE that about it because all the answers are there hidden in the material if you have the mental wherewithall to look for it but if you're the type that expects to have your hand held through all the technical bits... Fine, it's a bit confusing.

Likewise, some of the dialogue got a bit lost in translation I think, 'Chivalry' and thier conception of it being the best example of this. I think they meant Bushido but wanted to sound european and thought they could simply interchange the two. It didn't really work though it does make for a fairly comedic scene where a character basically pulls a Mrs Lovejoy (Think of the children!) only with Chivalry. I don't know if it was SUPPOSED to be funny, but I sure thought it was.

So it's not like I don't know what the weaknesses are, but thematically it's pretty similar to Gurren Lagaan and to my mind, vastly superior in execution, yet, time and again it is Gurren Lagaan (and I use it here only as an example that comes to mind. The theme of people banding together to overthrow thier oppressors is nothing new to anime or fiction in general) or other shows that get the praise and the 'top 10 anime of all time' nominations whilst poor old maligned Last Exile get's not so much as a 10th place or runner up nod.

So why is this I ask you, cause it's one of the best anime I've ever seen. Is it that my oppinion of best differs so drastically from the majority or, is it what I suspect, that no one even knows it exsist.


Anyways, thoughts either way, what I'd mostly like is to be on the 'defense of critisism' side of things for once instead of on the 'Hopelessly spitting into the wind of angry backlash about why I hated something' end of things.
 
Great point. Why doesn't Last Exile, in all of its Final Fantasyish glory, get any love?
Well, while I love Last Exile, there is just something... missing.

Here is what I think it is:

1. The must-watch plot.
The main plot is rather confusing at times. That said, I've seen worse. Much worse, in fact. I mean, it's Japan. And just because the main plot gets a "huh?" from me every once in a while doesn't mean the show is unintelligible. You can still follow the story, for the most part, and there are enough good side-plots to keep you entertained even if you don't know what's generally going on. The auction in particular comes to mind.
So what's the problem?
The problem is that the main plot isn't a "must see!" plot. Clause and Lavie are going to cross the grand stream. Alex is going to stop the Maestro. Everyone is searching for the Last Exile. Good story points that keep you entertained - but they don't intensely grab at you. There are no great cliffhangers that force you to keep watching. Do you keep watching? Well I did. The show is entertaining. But I never felt that I HAD to keep watching.

2. Fanservice and overly-sexualized characters.
People complain about these things all the time, but obviously they're in most animes for a reason. So, while you note the lack of this as a positive - and it is - you should also realize this is one of the reasons why the show isn't very popular.

3. A great character.
Alex comes closest to this. He is pretty badass. Outside of him, however, there is nobody that really grabs you. Don't get me wrong, there isn't a single annoying character that I can think of. Everyone is pretty lovable. But only just.

You noted these lackings in your post, but in the end, that is probably why it isn't very popular.
The animation is good. The soundtrack is great. And, despite the few criticisms already mentioned, it is a pretty solid show.
But there isn't anything that really grabs you and makes you say "I must finish watching this show, in case I die before then."

So, while I love it as well, I think I understand why it isn't a very popular show.

And this is a shame too, because it is a very good show. I'm telling you guys, Last Exile is better than 90% of the crap you are watching now.
I know I mentioned some negatives here, but please don't let that detract you from the good of the show. The good far outweighs the bad.

So while it can be a bit bland in some aspects, Last Exile is still definitely a great show.
I'm with Unwardil on this. Check it out and show it some love.
 
I'll admit I loved it when I first saw it, but I've never really felt the need to rewatch. It has arguably some of the most arabitious and cinematic atmosphere of any TV anime, but I agree with Sam that something felt missing. I blame this partly on the fact that Claus really doesn't stand out that much as the lead character.
 
Ah well, See I actually would have put both Mullin and Dio in the categories of great characters, though admitedly, neither of them are leaRAB. Mullin because he's the reason that the first two episodes work as well as they do. It's plainly obvious that the world is insane and while you don't understand why, you understand without being told that this is a problem that neeRAB to be addressed.

And I'd put Dio in there because he's the one you don't expect. If there is one truely unique and memorable thing about Last Exile (Beyond the pretty awesome setting which was always my 'have to keep watching' element) it's Dio and Luciola. They both develope as a unit and do so far more than any other characters in the show and you don't really know that Dio's going to die until Luciola does. When that happens, anyone paying the least bit of attention knows Dio's gonna bite it too and by extention, you've got to know Alex is gonna die.

Now, Alex, I love, for obvious reasons but while he's a favorite character of mine, he's not really one of anime's best and certainly much of the rest of the cast could be replaced with just about any stock character of a similar archetype and you wouldn't miss them... Well, I'd miss Sophia, but that's just cause she's in a nice frame.


So now onto the setting which is what I think is really the standout element of Last Exile that makes it not just quality but great.

The Grand Stream is the first mystery that I needed to have solved. How in the hell could there be a singular conduit in the sky that connected two countries I thought. Well, obviously, because it's an hourglass shaped space collony. DUH! And what's so great about it too is that they drop all the hints you need to figure this out in THE FIRST EPISODE. That there is some good planning and speculative fiction done right.

Second is the water thing. Water is very rare and is in fact the whole reason for the war between the two countries. Disith is climate changing to death and Anatoray is becoming airid and can't accomodate the influx of a few million refugees and support it's own population as well. Not only is this fact reveal in a very un-expository way but it sets up the dillema of thier technollogy which is ALL STEAM POWERED!

I was talking in the Gurren Lagaan thread about why I hate asspulled things with no consequences, well, if that's not the biggest price for use then I don't know what is. The technollogy they use in thier warships is handed down to them by contract from the guild and it's STEAM POWERED! Even the Vanships, the one piece of technollogy that is free of guild control use fuel that is about 90% distilled water. It's litterally the choice between surviving like pitiful human waste on the scraps of charity handed down by the big bad guild or flying thier ships... You see why I love this setting?

So, the setting alone was enough to hook me on Last Exile, Mullin, Dio, Alex and Sophia were just sort of pleasant extra features.

Yeah, Claus is a giant snore and the fact that every single female on the Silvana at some point feels compelled to hook up with him is a continuing bafflement to me this day. Despite all that though, I still think it's one of Jonny Young Bosch's greatest roles to date...
 
Last Exile rules. It's got plenty of good characters and Claus and Lavie are very likable. They're just two kiRAB/young teens trying to make their own way that get pulled into something much bigger than themselves. Alex Row seems to take a page from Captain Harlock, but I'm not complaining. He's very cool. The animation and design is visually stunning, and as far as I'm concerned it has one of the coolest and best realized fictional settings out there. The vanships, the fusion of flying airships with old style European military corabat...ah lord. I have the original Geneon release.

The villains are a weak point I think, but all in all it's a fascinating and gorgeous series. Not perfect, but certainly original in the best kind of way. Oh, and the opening is riveting stuff. Cloud Age Symphony fits very well with the footage used.
 
You should all be watching Last Exile now, legally, for free like I did.
http://www.crunchyroll.com/library/Last_Exile

(I think it was because of these forums that I even saw it in the first place)
 
The first 13 episodes of last exile had me pegged as a fantastic show with a wonderful soundtrack and at the time, one of the best blenRAB of 3d and 2d I saw. And I was really ready to sit down and finish it off for the last remaining episodes...and then it happened
Claus muyo! (and its what I title when practically anyone characterized as a woman is after the main character where there is very little if any sign of this happening beforehand). And it lasted for a few episodes (maybe 4 or 5 at most) but it completely turned me off on the series. The series redeemed itself quite well when Rowe was captured as was Dio and the series was about to end, but then the ending felt a tad bit rushed at the end of it all...and personally I did like Rowe and sorta disliked it when he became an emo obsessive twit (of course you can argue he was an emo obsessive twit throughout the entire series truthfully). Overall you are right, its a good show, just the middle arc really messed me up a bit and I literally lost the plot
 
I bought this a few months ago and I got halfway through it and then kinda stopped. I generally like the show, but it isn't exactly the anime equivalent of "page turner" for me.

It's a show that does a lot of things well, but for some reason it hasn't hit an extra gear for me through the first 16 or so episodes. It has intrigue, but not juicy enough intrigue. It's got mystery, but not enough to grab me and not let go. It's got likeable characters but they can be a little bland at times.

Last Exile, at heart, is fairly old school in attitude, hearkening back to 80s anime in the way the story is structured. But somehow it lacks a certain amount of juice that puts it into "must see" for me.

That said, I'll get back to this after I finish the series.

But one thing I'll agree with is that the show just looks absolutely fantastic. The character designs by Range Murata of course are sexy, slick, crisp and appealing without actually being sexualized, and the mechanical aircraft design work rivals anything Miyazaki's done. Great, great stuff. Production wise, this is Gonzo's best animation work hanRAB down.
 
agreed
the show is one of the most visually appealing of this decade easily and it really does to reinforce the story made. pacing issues were in the beginning granted to adjust to the characters and overall plot, but beyond the entire middle part that i disliked, it was an enjoyable experience.

now where is the dub crunchyroll???
 
Yeah the Claus Muyo was a little wierd, though hilariously it's not just the girls that want him.

Though, the only one that was actually out of the Blue was Sophia. I mean, Tatiana hates him to start with but that hatred is of increadible irrationality and it could easilly be argued she's simply reacting to her own insecurities (which turn out to be totally justified) and actually wants nothing more than to jump Claus' appealingly underagged bones.

Dio's infatuation with Claus was well established before the second season.

Sophia on the other hand was just a 'Wait... What?... WHAT?!' With ever so slight undertones of... 'Hey, way to go Claus!' but far more major overtones of 'Sophia?! NOOOoooooooooo Oh say it ain't so babe! *cries*'

All in all though it does set up a pretty hilarious love triangle with most of the Cast in love with Claus, Claus in love with Vanships and the Vanships being an emotionless 3d computer rendered image incapable of emotion.

Still oRABet the kind of awkward Harem of the begining of the second season with the stuff that happens in the guild and I can forgive 2 mundane episodes for the awesomeness that is that arc. The way the whole thing was presented made it especially impactful, with the guild being all pristine and shiny clean, despite the horrible horribleness that goes on there, all of it concluding with Luciola pulling the most badass **** for great heroic sacrifice.

Now on the issue of the villains, I assume we're talking about the incidental ones here, like Captain Fatty McSillybeard who tries to use the Scolopendra cannon to kill Sophia and Vincent. Yeah I suppose it did have it's fare share of one off villains but for ever one of those it has it's got a clearly good guy who happens to be on the wrong side.

You've got Vincent, Commander Nestor (The Disith commander), Madthane arguably falls into this category as well, Dounia aaaaand.... I'm sure I'm forgetting someone but anyway, I always find it the strength of a piece when it acknowledges that both sides have good people. Actually if you're counting the Guild as well then Dio and Luciola would be the last two, though I don't know how good Luciola would have been if Dio had continued to be the sociopathically vicious character he starts as but never mind.

But I'd argue anyone that said Delphine wasn't a good villainess. She does at first appear to be a wee bit one dimensional which she very well may be, but she's totally justified in being so, if you think about how the guild goes about choosing it's leaders. It's only the malicious and the vindictive and the casually evil who will survive the right of Agoon.

Now, you could argue I guess that Delphine could be replaced by any of the other evil guild cronies and you wouldn't see any difference and you'd probably be right. Alex himself says that killing Delphine would change nothing, that it's the world that neeRAB to be changed. But in this case it's the orginisation of the guild that is the Villain, which continues to exsist by supplying weapons and equipment for a war for which only it profits, but in that Context, Delphine is the perfect personification of that organisation making it all the more satisfying that in the end, Everyone teams up to fight the big enemy while simultaneously Alex takes out the Personal one for the nice one two punch.
 
I love Last Exile. I first learned about it from your abridged series, saw most of it subbed on Crunchyroll, and plan to buy the complete series box set from FUNimation soon. FUNimation obviously loves it too, since whenever they advertise their new Tower of Druaga anime, they always start it off by saying it's by the director of Last Exile, and they don't usually advertise anime by the director's other works.
 
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