Last Exile

This is a frustrating series because it had so much promise. The artwork and animation are superbly detailed. I couldn't believe I was watching an anime produced 8-9 years ago. The premise and story are pretty interesting as well, though somewhat disjointed. It felt like a love letter to the art and culture of air flight, but then that line clashes a bit with the whole sci-fi aspect of the series. The ending also feels abrupt and rushed. It felt like the story took an abrupt turn, the way that James Cameron's "The Abyss" did. But the ending wasn't built up the same way, leading to the rushed feeling at the end.

On the bright side, not only does the artwork shine, but there are a few bright dramatic moments where the director builds the scene to an impressive crescendo. And on the dark side, the dialogue also suffers from the same disjointedness that the plot does.

I will skip the talk about how good the animation is. I am not an expert in animation, nor do I let it get in the way if the story is good. Enough said, it is very good. What pushed my buttons is the way the series constructs a world, adds interesting lead characters and then ends the story. Yes, this is not one of those animes that drag the story, no matter how nice, and then end the series with no closure because the ran out of steam before finishing the plot. This is a good all fashioned circular story with build-up and release.

Then there is the world, reminiscent of Frank Herbert's Pandora mixed with a little Dune, both in storyline and socio-ecological meaning. I would say that there are no great surprises in this anime. This is a bad thing, but also a good one. If you build things up too much they quickly become unmanageable. There is hope for a sequel, I guess, but no pressure for it. All the goals set in the beginning are met in the end, either in success or disaster.

It is a nice anime series. It is worth watching, but I've seen better. I guess what really is missing is a way to truly connect with the characters. Even in the most tensioned moments, the levels of emotion don't get too high. I would say the starting theme song (complete with worthless karaoke style translation) is also a bad thing. The rest, though, is just visual and comfortable beauty.

My girlfriend and I caught this series on 'Tech TV' during a Sunday marathon. We were drawn to the compelling story line, Intelligent characters and fantastic visuals. We were so drawn that we went out and found it on DVD at a good video store so we could watch it again.

It does bear a passing resemblance to "Castle in the Clouds", but with a more 'grown-up' sensibility. It's a shame episodes 14 through 26 will not be available to be shown on TV until next year, it's going to be a long wait.

Tech TV has previews of the various episodes if you want to take a closer look.

Update: Saw the last 13 episodes, and the pace of the series grows more relentless until the tension is almost unbearable for the last four episodes. Excellent story arc, and some very affecting tragedy at the end. Strongly recommended to any interested in a good story, strong characters, and inheritable visuals should check this series out.

Last Exile is a masterpiece through and through.

The most attention drawing aspect of this series is its incredible animation. It mixes 2d animation with 3d CGI almost perfectly and delivers an explosive, in-your-face presentation that can only be rivaled by feature anime films like Blood: The Last Vampire.

The story behind Last Exile is interesting and emotional. The characters are lovable and their interactions are genuinely enjoyable and surprisingly human. The setting is steampunk inspired and meticulously detailed.

Overall, one hell of a ride, and easily the best anime I have ever had the pleasure of viewing. This is a must see for not just fans of anime, but fans of excellent storytelling and entertainment in general.

Last Exile has to be one of the best anime series I have ever seen. It's imaginative and inspiring. It's truly worth seeing! Just when it seemed like anime series seemed to be coming from a cookie cutter type mold; Last Exile came and broke it. You can't help, but become involved in such a well written, well directed, and well animated story. The character development is superb. Each character's stories, their ambition's, their reason's being, for doing what they do, living or dying, are deep. It's happy, gloomy, funny, sad, touching, exciting, vengeful, and romantic. There's something for everyone, who watches this series. This series takes you for an adventure you'll never forget! And when you're done, you'll never look at the sky the same again. You'll wish you were flying in it.