 It's GONZO's 10th anniversary series, and it's visually gorgeous. Can Last Exile live up to its hype?
1 - First Move
Introducing Claus Valca & Lavie Head - two young orphans who also
happen to be vanship pilots, running courier missions for whoever's
willing to pay them. Quite the ace pilots, too, despite their young
age. Their world isn't a peaceful one, however, with nations at war,
using fleets of flying ships & with the rules of engagement
enforced by the mysterious Guild. While Claus & Lavie are arranging
what appears to be a simple letter-delivery run, flashes to combat
between airship fleets show the true state of the world - but on this
occasion it seems the balance of power is shifting, as the Guild
appears to be taking sides...
2 - Luft Vanship
Claus & Lavie's courier run has left them stranded in the middle of
a warzone, and yet Claus insists on delivering their message
personally. Not that easy... To be honest, there's little in the way of
story here, with the vast majority of the episode being aerial combat
between the rival fleets. Claus & Lavie manage to deliver their
message, however, making a young girl very happy in the process...
3 - Transpose
Time for a break from battle, and time for the vanship races. Claus
& Lavie are starting in last place, having missed the qualifying
races thanks to their mission last episode, but that's not about to put
them off from trying. If you get sudden flashbacks to the podraces from
Star Wars: Episode I,
you're probably not alone... Just when they've managed to get
themselves into a position where they could win the race, however, fate
intervenes - Claus spots a badly damaged vanship going down, and his
sense of duty won't allow him to just pass it by. It's a decision that
leads Claus & Lavie into further danger...
4 - Zugzwang
Claus & Lavie's new mission: to take Al, a young girl, to the
Silvana. Lavie's not happy at the prospect at all - the Silvana's
reputation is of almost legendary proportions, and very little of it is
good - but she just can't get round Claus' sense of duty, and so they
set off on their mission. The problem: there's a strange 'mecha'-style
ship following them that seems to have some interest in Al & in
making sure they don't reach the Silvana...
First of three new series I have on my backlog shelf at the moment,
and the one that I've been most looking forward to it. GONZO have put a
lot of effort into Last Exile - not surprising given it's their 10th Anniversary title - and it certainly shows on the screen. This disc is full of jaw-dropping set piece battles & graphical niceities - and it even seems to have a good story to go with it.
Admittedly, the story comes in fits & starts - those set-pieces
get in the way a bit to break things up - but it's showing promise.
After this first disc, Claus seems to have formed a relationship of
sorts (guardian-type role) with Al, they have their second encounter
with the Silvana, and there have been one or two hints dropped about
Al's importance, although nothing of substance. Not much, but enough
that you can see where it's going.
The main parts, though, are those battles and races - even without a
story to pin them down they're almost worth the price of the disc on
their own. A lot of effort seems to have been put into making this series as visually stunning as possible, and it makes it a joy to watch.
Overall, then, highly recommended, and I can't wait for volume 2... |
