Last Exile (One) had a tremendous amount of charm that extended not only to it's beautiful blend and rendering of CG and Traditional style animation, but to music, story, and all out characters.
Probably our of all of those things that made Last Exile completely outstanding wast the inter-relationship between the Hero and Heroine of the story (Claus and Lavie). From the very first get-go they opened up with action preparing you for what was to come, but then broke away to more "Storytelling" aspects about the main characters. It was easy to tell the kind of relationship that Claus and Lavie shared which would later lead them to the great epic story that made it an instant classic.
But that wasn't the only thing that stood out. I want to say that the first and foremost important introduction was Alex Rowe and the crew of the Silverna. Having such a tremendously impacting character as Alex truly turned the series from a "Show" to more like a -Feature Film-.
This was a story -a work of art- that was very carefully planned, and constructed with each piece in their proper order. (I'll excuse the momentary cuts in Episode 3 where Lavie produces a pink heart towards "Fat Chicken" and Fat Chicken later is animated awkwardly (considering the nature of the animation).
Finally, my favorite part about Last Exile was the fact that they used so much down-to-earth elements to bring out the story- a more pseudo-historical approach rather than a super-technological approach which is seen in most animes these days.
Enough said about Season 1.
I may be jumping the gun a bit here, but this new "Season" is nothing like its predecessor. None of the rules, storytelling skills, nor structure is being used at all. The characters are being thrown at you far too quickly. The only one I have even slightest interest (maybe) is Fam herself, but even then nothing thus far has led me to believe that something significant is happening like there was with the first season.
I may be biased in my opinion, but I do believe that I see a FORCED season 2 out of GONZO. Maybe it's because they've been out of the loop for quite some time now and they're hoping that this'll put them back on the board. From what I have seen so far they're working too hard to mimic the original by recapping the first season's music, ship design (slightly borrowed), and overall story elements being thrown back in at random.
--So is this the future? A side-step? A retelling?
It's clear that their art style is definitely more advanced, but I do feel that it's been a bit rushed. (They took less time or money on bits and pieces of the animation.)
It's only been two episodes so far, but I hope I find a reason to like FAM and the other characters including the cameo DIO.
Somehow, I don't think that if this were English Dubbed that we'd be as fortunate to have Joshua Seth do the voice of Dio again... or could we?
Anyways, for the time being I vote that Last Exile 2 is by no means a faithful sequel to its CLASSIC Masterpiece. I have followed GONZO for a while. I liked Gankutsuou, Romeo X Juliet, Chrono Crusade, Kazuma no Stigma, Tower of Druaga.... and many other Gonzo productions. However, this series is not turning out to be one of them. But again, it's too early to tell.
(Then again, the First Last Exile caught my eye instantly --- the reason I am obsessed over Anime today.)
I have just finished the entire series a couple days ago and though I would say that's its a nice show, I have these problems with it overall... Though I would consider the original to be a modern day steam punk epic... So here I go. And I agree with what “nickjeromana" has said about it... I am a big fan of the original steam punk epic and I feel I have a right to say what I have to say about "Fam, the silver wing". I feel like what the original Last Ecile was to anime is what Star Wars was to theater.
Last Exile: Fam, the silver wing
Pro's and cons
Biggest con: Failure to stay true to the nature and spirit of the original steam punk epic.
Con: No character growth. In the original epic, all the main character grew. Some even returned to their original lives but were changed people, even better. Example: Mullin went back to being a Musketeer. Claus and Lavie left the Silverna and didnt stay, but still they had grown up.
Con: No real feeling of family. In the original epic Claus and Lavie were very close, like family, and the series took the time to develop that aspect. Even Sophia and Alex, Tatiana and Alister had a relationship that was real. Sophia loved Alex, Alister loved Tatiana and was a real friend to her, even putting up with her a lot.
Con: Fan service. The original Last Exile didnt have stuff like that in it.
Con: Bad computer graphics engine. I dont know why but Gonzo with this one has returned to using bad cg. What they should have done was just use the same cg engine that they used with the first one.
Con: Convoluted and trippy soundtrack, no specific assemblance of order, random.
Con: There was lots of filler before getting to a plot point. In the original, maybe not as much happened, but what did took the time to develop and in turn made what you were seeing on screen feel organic and real.
Con: Horrible, horrible vanship re-imagining design. The vespa's look like flying go carts. They no longer have any soul to them.
Con: Sky pirates are not like actual rogues as were the original Silvana crew. Technically the Silvius crew are the real sky pirates as they behave similar to how the Silverna did under Alex's captaining.
Con: Inconsistency of original characters from original, specifically Tatiana. In the original she was cocky but was brought to her senses and changed. But here she seems almost identical to how she was before she changed for the better, and as a result she became a better person. Here in “Fam the silver wing”, she has almost turned back into her old self. I really think that the creators should have watched their original work before they wrote the sequel.
Con: Scarce amount of actual new content in character development. Copies too much off of original plot and character arch's.
Con: Animation isnt as detailed as the original.
Con: All new characters have very little if not any depth to them and come off as two dimensional. I didnt really care about them.
Con: I dont care if they are earth Guild or not, the Guild cannot move that fast. The Guild in the original were believable. This is supposed to be the Last Exile universe, not the Matrix. Luscinia cannot dodge bullets that fast and in that way.
Con: Men and women have un-equal parts. In the original Last Exile each gender had equal parts.
Inconsistency in plot, and story pacing
Con: The ending was trippy. Wait, everyone's wrong, or is it that there was even a true villain? Decide already!
Con: There is no definite good or evil characters. This is not a good thing. Even the supposed main villain should not have been the main one but an underling of a main villain. The main enemy of "Fam the silver wing" is actually an anti-hero instead of a real villain.
Con: "Buddy" the new opening for the show. There is no excuse why this should be in a Last Exile series. Cloud Age Symphony was like something out of a dream. It honored the spirit of adventure in that it was like a moving slide show of various landscapes from some amazing world. It would have really been cool to see the new world. Sadly this choice for an opening keeps the show two dimensional instead of having the show and its world really come to life.
Con: The main character. She would have been good as a side character but not as a main character.
The thing is that a lot of the things presented in the show were under-developed. They really could have done something great with the material. But, sadly they didnt. They presented a story and world that looked real great but failed to actually develop it and its inhabitants.
.
Ms. Kuroishi has done an awesome job with the music in the second series. I am enjoying this series more than the first.
My Animation Appreciation forum
Last Exile (One) had a tremendous amount of charm that extended not only to it's beautiful blend and rendering of CG and Traditional style animation, but to music, story, and all out characters.
Probably our of all of those things that made Last Exile completely outstanding wast the inter-relationship between the Hero and Heroine of the story (Claus and Lavie). From the very first get-go they opened up with action preparing you for what was to come, but then broke away to more "Storytelling" aspects about the main characters. It was easy to tell the kind of relationship that Claus and Lavie shared which would later lead them to the great epic story that made it an instant classic.
But that wasn't the only thing that stood out. I want to say that the first and foremost important introduction was Alex Rowe and the crew of the Silverna. Having such a tremendously impacting character as Alex truly turned the series from a "Show" to more like a -Feature Film-.
This was a story -a work of art- that was very carefully planned, and constructed with each piece in their proper order. (I'll excuse the momentary cuts in Episode 3 where Lavie produces a pink heart towards "Fat Chicken" and Fat Chicken later is animated awkwardly (considering the nature of the animation).
Finally, my favorite part about Last Exile was the fact that they used so much down-to-earth elements to bring out the story- a more pseudo-historical approach rather than a super-technological approach which is seen in most animes these days.
Enough said about Season 1.
I may be jumping the gun a bit here, but this new "Season" is nothing like its predecessor. None of the rules, storytelling skills, nor structure is being used at all. The characters are being thrown at you far too quickly. The only one I have even slightest interest (maybe) is Fam herself, but even then nothing thus far has led me to believe that something significant is happening like there was with the first season.
I may be biased in my opinion, but I do believe that I see a FORCED season 2 out of GONZO. Maybe it's because they've been out of the loop for quite some time now and they're hoping that this'll put them back on the board. From what I have seen so far they're working too hard to mimic the original by recapping the first season's music, ship design (slightly borrowed), and overall story elements being thrown back in at random.
--So is this the future? A side-step? A retelling?
It's clear that their art style is definitely more advanced, but I do feel that it's been a bit rushed. (They took less time or money on bits and pieces of the animation.)
It's only been two episodes so far, but I hope I find a reason to like FAM and the other characters including the cameo DIO.
Somehow, I don't think that if this were English Dubbed that we'd be as fortunate to have Joshua Seth do the voice of Dio again... or could we?
Anyways, for the time being I vote that Last Exile 2 is by no means a faithful sequel to its CLASSIC Masterpiece. I have followed GONZO for a while. I liked Gankutsuou, Romeo X Juliet, Chrono Crusade, Kazuma no Stigma, Tower of Druaga.... and many other Gonzo productions. However, this series is not turning out to be one of them. But again, it's too early to tell.
(Then again, the First Last Exile caught my eye instantly --- the reason I am obsessed over Anime today.)
I have just finished the entire series a couple days ago and though I would say that's its a nice show, I have these problems with it overall... Though I would consider the original to be a modern day steam punk epic... So here I go. And I agree with what “nickjeromana" has said about it... I am a big fan of the original steam punk epic and I feel I have a right to say what I have to say about "Fam, the silver wing". I feel like what the original Last Ecile was to anime is what Star Wars was to theater.
Last Exile: Fam, the silver wing
Pro's and cons
Biggest con: Failure to stay true to the nature and spirit of the original steam punk epic.
Con: No character growth. In the original epic, all the main character grew. Some even returned to their original lives but were changed people, even better. Example: Mullin went back to being a Musketeer. Claus and Lavie left the Silverna and didnt stay, but still they had grown up.
Con: No real feeling of family. In the original epic Claus and Lavie were very close, like family, and the series took the time to develop that aspect. Even Sophia and Alex, Tatiana and Alister had a relationship that was real. Sophia loved Alex, Alister loved Tatiana and was a real friend to her, even putting up with her a lot.
Con: Fan service. The original Last Exile didnt have stuff like that in it.
Con: Bad computer graphics engine. I dont know why but Gonzo with this one has returned to using bad cg. What they should have done was just use the same cg engine that they used with the first one.
Con: Convoluted and trippy soundtrack, no specific assemblance of order, random.
Con: There was lots of filler before getting to a plot point. In the original, maybe not as much happened, but what did took the time to develop and in turn made what you were seeing on screen feel organic and real.
Con: Horrible, horrible vanship re-imagining design. The vespa's look like flying go carts. They no longer have any soul to them.
Con: Sky pirates are not like actual rogues as were the original Silvana crew. Technically the Silvius crew are the real sky pirates as they behave similar to how the Silverna did under Alex's captaining.
Con: Inconsistency of original characters from original, specifically Tatiana. In the original she was cocky but was brought to her senses and changed. But here she seems almost identical to how she was before she changed for the better, and as a result she became a better person. Here in “Fam the silver wing”, she has almost turned back into her old self. I really think that the creators should have watched their original work before they wrote the sequel.
Con: Scarce amount of actual new content in character development. Copies too much off of original plot and character arch's.
Con: Animation isnt as detailed as the original.
Con: All new characters have very little if not any depth to them and come off as two dimensional. I didnt really care about them.
Con: I dont care if they are earth Guild or not, the Guild cannot move that fast. The Guild in the original were believable. This is supposed to be the Last Exile universe, not the Matrix. Luscinia cannot dodge bullets that fast and in that way.
Con: Men and women have un-equal parts. In the original Last Exile each gender had equal parts.
Inconsistency in plot, and story pacing
Con: The ending was trippy. Wait, everyone's wrong, or is it that there was even a true villain? Decide already!
Con: There is no definite good or evil characters. This is not a good thing. Even the supposed main villain should not have been the main one but an underling of a main villain. The main enemy of "Fam the silver wing" is actually an anti-hero instead of a real villain.
Con: "Buddy" the new opening for the show. There is no excuse why this should be in a Last Exile series. Cloud Age Symphony was like something out of a dream. It honored the spirit of adventure in that it was like a moving slide show of various landscapes from some amazing world. It would have really been cool to see the new world. Sadly this choice for an opening keeps the show two dimensional instead of having the show and its world really come to life.
Con: The main character. She would have been good as a side character but not as a main character.
The thing is that a lot of the things presented in the show were under-developed. They really could have done something great with the material. But, sadly they didnt. They presented a story and world that looked real great but failed to actually develop it and its inhabitants.
.
Is there an adequate explanation for what happened to Claus between the first and second series? Why is he apparently injured?
Stephenjazz
Leina would be the perfect Queen, with Tomoe as her Senior advisor!