Saturday, April 2, 2011

Last Exile (Episodes 1-3)


Feeling the need to invest my time into a new anime series, I began watching Last Exile yesterday. A series that aired in Japan several years ago, spanning 26 episodes, Last Exile is an instantly engrossing adventure. It takes nearly two episodes before you even get a good sense of what is going on, but once you do, it's clear the journey will be an epic one.

There is a war going on, that much is clear by the striking battle scenes between two rival armies of Star Blazer type air ships. Caught in the middle of this war are a fleet of messengers known as sky couriers. The story follows two young messengers, Claus and Lavie, who perform a daring mission in the middle of a brutal battle only to find themselves pulled further into the conflict by the end of the third episode where they encounter a little girl, which they must then deliver to the mysterious ship known as the Silvana. These two characters are a great pair, the kind of perfect team that every good story needs to guide the viewer through.

So far, I'm loving every second of the incredible animation and evolving story. One of the things that I truly love about many anime series is that they challenge the viewer in a way American television rarely does. The stories tend to be told more in the way a great novel unfolds than traditional television writing. This especially true for the opening episodes of Last Exile. Personally, I can't wait to dive into the next batch of episodes.


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