I am definitely adding this to my List. Shamus posted some screengrabs and they remind me of Myst, brought to life. There’s an over-exposed quality to the artwork that adds a layer of both realism and fantasy at the same time. He found the ending to be unsatisfying, but maybe this is one of those anime where the story just takes a backseat to the craftsmanship.
5 thoughts on “Last Exile”
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I admit I experienced serious WTF at the ending the first time I watched it through. Even so, I bought the thinpak set. I’m glad I did. The second time through, the ending was more satisfying and the plot threads started to come together more for me. I wouldn’t say this is the tightest story line, but it is one of those series that rewards repeated viewings. And the flying continues to thrill me — the screengrabs don’t do justice to the experience. I’m glad I bought it.
I went looking on YouTube but didn’t find much – too low quality. The main problem I have is that I don’t have much free time, and buying a title is a major investment for me, so there’s high risk. I am sure that I will enjoy Last Exile but there’s some hesitation with respect to cost (how much did you pay for the thinpak, if you don’t mind my asking, and from where?)
Maybe I just need to bite the bullet and sign up for NetFlix…
If you’re looking for a sense of how it looks, try http://www.jvcmusic.co.jp/m-serve/last-exile/ . That’s the website for the series; I’d give you a direct link to it, but the site is all flash. Under Movie they have a number of .ram movies of the series; your best bet is probably the one labeled [ ダイジェスト MOVIE ]. It’s about ten minutes of clips taken from the early part of the series; mostly flying scenes and fleet combat.
That said, it’s not DVD-quality. If you must see it in its full glory, there are a couple of AMVs which will give you an idea of the flying scenes, and had DVD sources. Your best bet here is probably Kusoyaro’s video (http://www.animemusicvideos.org/members/members_videoinfo.php?v=78167); no spoilers, and a good quality look at the series.
In any case, Last Exile won’t disappoint your eyes. The ending is somewhat muddled, but it is an undeniably _pretty_ series.
It’s been a while, but as I recall I paid about $90 at Fry’s. It is a lot to spend on a unknown. I saw it first from the library, and I wouldn’t have bought it sight-unseen either. Netflix isn’t a bad way to get a taste of series. If you get the 1 disk at a time option, you can end up sampling series for about $2 a disk. I did that (although I have to alternate with my wife’s romantic comedies).
I’ve seen sevaral Kusoyaro AMV’s, and they’re always really good captures. I haven’t seen the Last Exile one, but I imagine it’s good too.
The show is beautifully done, GONZO really put their hearts into it.
The story varies from the whimsical to ever so dark. The ending is not a take your breath away ending, but it is not a kick your screen and cuss ending like Evangelion or BeeBop, Or Big “O” or……
….and unlike some shows it DOES have an ending that wraps up most loose ends. I did not feel robbed.
It’s pretty and has likeable charachters.
Ken