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Last Exile Complete Collection – Review

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Last Exile Complete Collection - Review 1Title: Last Exile – Complete Collection
Published by: Madman Entertainment (Australia / New Zealand), Funimation Entertainment (North America)
Based on: Anime Original Series
Genre: Steampunk, Adventure
Audio: English and Japanese Dubs
Subtitles: English
Aspect Ratio: Anamorphic Widescreen (16:9)
Runtime: 650 minutes
Cost: $69.95
Classification: This title is rated M for Medium level violence, mild coarse language and mild themes.
Special Thanks: Special thanks goes to the Madman Entertainment PR Team for providing me with a review sample of this title.

I still remain uncertain if this series is named Last Exile or LastExile in Australia, given that I have seen both forms used in the recently simulcast series LastExile – Fam- in almost every country in the world from the looks of it. For those of you who have not yet had the chance to watch this original season, you will be glad to know that from the get to you shouldn’t need to have too deep  a knowledge of this season to enjoy Fam. However, if you have some spare cash lying around and and would like to get the full story, Madman Entertainment still have this title in stock as a Fatpack. If you want to know my thoughts on this series, please read ahead!

Last Exile Complete Collection - Review 2

Studio GONZO presents a richly romantic action-adventure fantasy, set in a world where retro-futuristic vehicles permeate the skies. 

Against this lavish background are the lives of young and heroic van ship sky porters – Claus and Lavie – who are forced to take on the mission to deliver a mysterious girl, Alvis, to the battle ship Silvana. Before they know it, they become entangled in an aerial adventure between two countries gripped in an eternal war of magnificent air battleships.

A word of advice before beginning this series… it is one of those where you should try and watch all 26 episodes in as short a period of time as possible, as especially around the later episodes you will find that the number of plotlines that intermingle with each other, not only surrounding the different characters that have backstories and the like, but also the overarching storyline of the war between nations and a mysterious object or entity known as Exile. The storyline is a bit different from the normal anime series you would watch – in that it is in a futuristic world where people fight not in tanks or through a gun-barrel, but in airships. It is indeed a very creative concept and implemented well, but at the same time tried to perhaps be a bit too ambitious resulting in some episodes which dragged. But hey, the “bad guys” in this series really are hard to read – which are a plus!

Last Exile Complete Collection - Review 3

After being introduced to a two episode long airship battle which is just a taste of what is to come, you return to the simpler life of Claus and Lavie, two vanguard pilots who were orphaned after their parents died in airship accidents or through other means. During a Vanship race, a popular and mentally challenging event in their home village they come across a crashed ship. While the driver sacrifices himself to save the two, they are left with the task of bringing his passenger Alvis to the ship Silvana, an airship that is on the front lines in the ongoing war. Upon arriving upon the Silvana, they join the crew and from there deviate into many a storyline – from battles against rival ships, the the mystery of The Guild to even the opportunity to take part in even more airship races – a fan of the steampunk genre should not be disappointed.

From the original three main characters – Claus, Lavie and Alvis (Debatable, as she doesn’t have a major role in quite a few episodes except for the cuteness factor), they do include a number of secondary characters, none of which remain there for the purpose of being there but have their own backstories, from the captain of the Silvana Alex Row (Voiced by the amazing Crispin Freeman) and his cold personality / interest in Exile, to the self-focused personality of Tatiana Isla… they are all interesting characters and all get a sufficient level of development.

I am aware I have not gone into all that much detail about the storyline, as GONZO has crammed so much of it into this series it is better you watching it and finding out yourself, but be aware that while there may be times you want to drop the series in the earlier episodes, your diligence in finishing the series will be well rewarded.

Last Exile Complete Collection - Review 4

Despite Last Exile originally being released in 2003, it is near impossible to fault their design quality. As this is quite possibly Gonzo’s anime masterpiece, it does hold true that the CGI airships are incredibly well detailed, the very interesting character designs in which every character stands out among the crowd and of course, the environment designs that are respective of a steampunk era but also mixed with some more modern environments. The animation quality is also strong however I did feel that either the quality dipped at times during the more intense scenes or it was just the DVD format not doing the anime justice.

Last Exile Complete Collection - Review 5Last Exile Complete Collection - Review 6Last Exile Complete Collection - Review 7

Opening Sequence
Cloud Age Symphony by Shuntaro Okino

The song by itself would be classed as average to me… but when you add in what could be some of the best opening animation I have seen in a long time, it suddenly goes from average to pure awesomeness. I love this sequence to put it simply.

Ending Sequence
Over The Sky by Hitomi

While not reaching up to the same standards as the opening sequence did, this ending still does a good job at showing off their design skills, both through minor animated sequences and designs of ships.

Last Exile Complete Collection - Review 8

I echo others sentiments when I say that this series has a soundtrack worthwhile purchasing on disc and looping it on your CD Player or iPod – need anything else be said? The English dub was a clear winner for me, particularily with Crispin Freeman as Alex Rowe and Michelle Ruff as both Tatiana and Alvis. Both of these are my favourite voice actors/actresses on the market and both provide quality voices to the series. Johnny Yong Bosch and Kari Wahlgren also provide strong voice acting for Claus and Lavie respectively even if Lavie sounded a bit too child-like for her character role.

This collection comes in the form of a fat-pack, and due to there being seven discs in total, they are crammed into the box using attached disc slots, similar to what Madman Entertainment also did with Princess Tutu and Negima – which does make it a slight hassle if you have a loose DVD. But regardless, the cover art (Pictured at the top of this article) is nice althrough the DVD designs are bland and the same for all seven discs. In terms of extra content, you are provided with a significantly big pile of extras including:

  • Galleries
  • Promotional Trailers and TV Spots for the Series
  • Staff Interviews
  • Character Profiles
  • Textless Opening and Closing Sequences
  • Original Japanese Opening
  • Trailers
and many more things that I am too lazy to go through all seven discs to find.

Last Exile Complete Collection - Review 9

To conclude, for those who are in the market for a storyline driven action series, you cannot look past Last Exile, which provides something for almost every anime fan except fanservice (Unless you are an airship addict, then I am sure airship eye-candy is plentiful). Do however look forward to my coverage of Last Exile -Fam- when I get a spare moment to watch the simulcast episodes.

Final Score

Storyline/Character Development: A-
Design: A
Music/Voice Acting: A
Extras: A
Personal Opinion: A-
Overall Score: A

Sam
Sam
Founder of The Otaku's Study. I have been exploring this labyrinth of fandom these last fifteen years, and still nowhere close to the exit yet. Probably searching for a long time to come.

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