Last Exile
Claus Valca is a mere vanship pilot from the Vanship Union(?) who freelances missions(cargo deliveries) to earn money and make ends meet. Together with his good friend Lavie Head who also acts as his navigator, they accidentally stumbled upon a dying pilot from a dangerous mission when they were in the middle of a race. Conveniently, they accepted the dying pilot's request to finish the mission for him and ended up being caught in the middle of a war. (Sounds familiar? think Gundam Seed and Eureka 7). The starting plot of the story is indeed a bit outdated. The fact that Claus is the good-hearted-heroic-naive-type of person doesn't help at all other than making the story more mundane and predictable. However, I've only watched 7 episodes of it, and is yet to see how the anime turns out. One thing is certain though... Although I am not too fond of the typical story plot, it doesn't deter me from liking the anime as a whole. I love the dogfighting and flight scenes they offer. The vanship graphics are spectacular(emphasis added), great flight scene choreographies.
Claus is the typical naive kid who got himself involved in the story plot conveniently. He starts with very good vanship piloting skills matching those of the war aces. However, he still lacks real combat experiences. His naive(and childish) attitude does nothing to make me like him at all.
Lavie is Claus's good friend (I thought they were siblings in the start). She is the typical tomboyish girl-next-door. She acts not only as Claus's navigator in his vanship, but also a close friend who cooks and take care of Claus (That's why I thought they were siblings) at all times. Though she is afraid of dangerous missions and often tried convince Claus to back out from dangerous things, she still attaches herself closely to Claus. I'd think she's more 'real' compared to Claus who would accept deadly mission from a stranger, participate in combats without any experience/training, and pulls off real dangerous stunts as if he already knew he was the hero of the anime and would never die or fail.
Alvis Hamilton. The 'cargo' that Claus was suppose to deliver, which in turn ended up being caught in a one of a lifetime adventure. There might be more secrets to her but not that I am that far yet into the anime to know about it (xD). One thing for certain, she is definitely cute.
Tatiana Wisla, the ace pilot of the Silvana (neutral battleship). She pilots a red vanship which is probably one of the deadliest forces in the skies. Matched only(probably) by the newcomer Claus. She has a quiet and cool/cold character. A girl with an attitude!
Alex Row, the captain of the dreaded battleship Silvana. Has a very cold and quiet character.
What is this? Its the vanship!! The flying vehicle in the world of Lost Exile. Despite its appearance, it is capable of great maneuvers which enticed me to the anime. Perfectly crafted in CG animations, it looks way cooler in the anime than one would appreciate. Before watching the anime, I've always thought the 'thin' end was the 'head', since the cockpit is positioned near there. However, it was actually the other way around (=.=). Probably designed to look like the cars in the older days(of our world), since the anime was also set in such a time period (supposingly).
A good anime (though not one of the best), I am looking forward to seeing though the whole series of it.
-End of post-
2 comments:
Does it make the starting plot outdated when the anime was aired half a year after the 1st episode of Gundam SEED?(and GS is still running)The reason why many anime features naive male lead is because it's teaching us not to give up,do not run away or dare to dream.You can't really find an anime which is truly realistic(and don't tell me it's GS).The fact that we are more mature doesn't mean that we should hate the naive.Claus is more like naive than childish.He believes in himself and confident.I don't mean that he's right but that's what the author tried to implement these values in the(Japanese)society.That's also how the male lead grows throughout the story.Try to change the point of view of watching a show,it might make it more enjoyable.
Well, I am not saying the anime is outdated, but the starting plot of it certainly is. You can see this "countryboy-accidentally-caught-in-the-war-and-became-hero" scenario almost anywhere in RPGs and animes. Whilst this idea gets bored fast, however, I don't deny the fact that this anime as a whole is enjoyable, especially the graphics.
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