Episode 23 Final-
And so Ginyoku no Fam comes to an end with a rather anticlimactic, almost peaceful, final episode. With that being said, things resolved in a way that didn’t have Fam stereotypically saving the day, which was a rather good move on Gonzo’s part. The finale pretty much pointed out how Fam’s ideals didn’t necessarily pan out over the course of this war, and that in the end, she played a minor role in the state of affairs. It’s an ending completely different from the expected “Fam somehow saves the day”, and is rather fitting considering Fam’s noncritical role in the final arc.
The episode explores how Fam’s ideals are indeed high-flying, yet did not really apply to the real world up until this point. The world was far more grounded in reality, and Luscinia’s use of the Grand Exile reflected upon such. What was more interesting to note was not Fam’s tirade on idealogy, but on the actual destruction of the Grand Exile. The Grand Exile was itself poorly built and too impractical (probably due to it’s huge size). Luscinia himself seems to have known this flaw as he began flying it, and accepted his fate for what it was. He had failed to impose his version of peace on the world, and in the end he was left wondering about how things will turn on after his downfall.
The Grand Race itself was simply a symbol of the war coming to an end, and was handled in a happy manner (as expected). The ending itself feels very much like a “happily ever after” end, with peace finally at hand and the cast no longer at war. The return of Claus and Lavie was an added plus, though I do wish they had been able to pilot in the race itself.
In the end, the critical mistake that this series made was not handling it’s characters properly, which resulted in a plot that was lacking near the end of the series. The characters failed to really elicit any form of strong emotion, were at times rather foolish, and never really grew out of their foolishness until it was far too late to even matter. Idealogy is admirable, but Fam took it too far without taking time to think things through, and that’s what became her critical flaw. Fam really isn’t title-character material, and it’s probably expectations of her as the main heroine that proved to hurt our impressions of this series. I still don’t understand the significance of “Fam of the Silver Wing” in the title, but perhaps Gonzo never got a chance to give it any sort of meaning. Nevertheless, with Ginyoku no Fam now over, all that’s left is to look at the Hourglass manga that covers Claus and Lavie’s experiences on Earth.
Overall Enjoyment: 3.4/5
Screenshots are later in the post.
Distant Paradise 
i would say that this one was both an interesting and disappointing end to the series. first i do like the resolution of Luscinia simply handing back sara and then then choosing to to die rather a good twist. but the circumstances leading to that were really handled badly for instance, them revealing that the cannon things were actually the grand exile’s engines and that he intend to destroy it feels like something that the writers just pulled out of the blue.
also, i wouldn’t really mind that fam is not really that critical to the plot if they had actually used her as a viewpoint character, giving insights on her thoughts about the events. but that one really didn’t happen. even the last part revealing her to be sadri’s granddaughter turns out to be not significant at all (heck, they didn’t even bother presenting raha’s story and why she left in the first place).
I do believe Ginyoku no Fam suffered from a combination of Gonzo being too ambitious with it’s plot, along with having too many filler/unnecessary episodes. The result is “not enough time” to wrap up everything, and thus, a messy ending.
Admittingly, Gonzo sure did make the ending rather different from expectations, but it nevertheless hides the fact that Gonzo probably wanted to do a lot more with the series. The lack of development for Fam, the rushed conclusion, the increasingly noticeable decline in animation quality.
In other words, Gonzo definitely messed up on execution (no thanks to the writers at all).
“Fam really isn’t title-character material, and it’s probably expectations of her as the main heroine that proved to hurt our impressions of this series. I still don’t understand the significance of “Fam of the Silver Wing” in the title, but perhaps Gonzo never got a chance to give it any sort of meaning”
Agreed. I’m pretty sure a lot of people would have had less of a problem with Fam if her name wasn’t in the damn title.
IMHO, Millia is the main character of the series. That being said, and in reference to the title: Fam is the Silver Wing, or to be more precise Millia’s Silver Wing. Fam did tell Millia at the beginning, after she had lost everything, that she would be “her wings”. Silver is probably in reference to the color of Fam’s Vespa and, to a lesser extent, the former Turan flagship Lasas (aka The Winged Maiden).
I guess that explanation for Fam makes sense, though I personally feel Fam didn’t contribute too much to the overall story. Millia and Gisey’s attachment to Fam almost feels unnecessary; Fam’s relatively non-important role in the closing episodes of this series is indicative of such.
Picture 31 is the only thing that could tie into “silver wing” think a Dove’s wing on its side which is a symbol of peace (though why Fam is a part of it i don’t know). That only really ties in at the end but /shrug. Overall nice series but i agree didn’t play out as well as season one.
^ just thought of refreshing to check comments i think given what i said that Fam is in the title since she was the only “anti-war” advocate and since all she every wanted was a peaceful race for all ie the Grand Race. Since that happens in the end it makes a bit of sense to me. Fam & the Silver Wing = one girls idealized quest to have a peaceful race in a war torn world that unifies after the Grand Exile (grand wing) is brought down.
Not really the most blatant connection there’s I guess. Well, what’s done is done. All that’s left for me to see is the story behind Claus’ injury.