Name: Last Exile
Genre: Adventure, Science Fiction
Year: 2003
Rating: Recommended
Claus and Lavie are two young Vanship pilots living in a world where the wealthy and powerful live like indulge in the finest pleasures like gods and the poor can barely afford clean drinking water. Two two make a living off delivering messages and cargo in their small aircraft. Within the world of Last Exile there are three forces, the eastern and western country who are at war, and the Guild. The group known as the Guild are seen as superior beings with a powerful technology that is unique only to their class. Although the two countries battle in a chivalrous manner, it is soon revealed that the battlefield is anything but honorable. On one of their missions the two encounter a mysterious girl, and are given the task to deliver her to the legendary mercenary ship Sylvana. The Sylvana’s capabilities sets it apart from normal aircrafts that the east and west possess. Although they cannot compare to the guild, the crew are determined to set the nations free from the guild’s oppressive grasp.
Last Exile is like Eureka 7 in the age of steam power. Actually it would be more accurate to say that the latter has similar traits as compared to Last Exile of which came first. I’m quite a fan of dystopian worlds, and I find that its quite common within anime to have the protagonists join a minority group in order to provide true justice. Much like in Gundam Seed the two Vanship pilots join a team fighting for peace and fairness in society. I was quite surprised to see that much of the scenes involving aerial battles were rendered in 3d. For its time, it was actually very well done. Though I gotta admit the design of the Vanships did remind me of those downhill home made racing karts. Though much of the time all you can see is cloud, Last Exile is an enjoyable series simply for its interesting concepts and overall plot.
