Series Review – Last Exile ~Ginyoku no Fam~

Last Exile ~Fam of the Silver Wing~

The original Last Exile series was Gonzo’s way of celebrating their 10th anniversary, and it turned out to be a fan favorite for many. With high-flying battleships in the sky, fast paced battles between vanships, and some decent characters, it was a flawed but fun show that I personally enjoyed. With that being said, it seems that Gonzo was looking for something that would be a surefire hit to prove the studio still had life in it, especially after Gonzo had recently left bankruptcy.

The original Last Exile was actually fairly conclusive, so Gonzo deciding to make a sequel seemed a bit unnecessary. Nevertheless, Gonzo continued the story on a different planet, bringing some of the characters back along the way. Gonzo definitely didn’t hold back with this effort, with some superb airborne battles and great animation. Unfortunately, the problem here was consistency, where quality deteriorated over the course of the series. On top of that, the characters were the weakest aspect to this show, where some of the characters showed little to no development by the end of the series (which is a somewhat astounding feat considering this series was 20+ episodes in length).

The standout aspect to this sequel was, without a doubt, the CGI battles meshed into traditional animation. CGI usually blatantly sticks out in anime, but Ginyoku no Fam did a superb job with maintaining an impeccable level of detail that blended in perfectly. The CGI battleships were designed well, animated well, and had a unique feel to them that was characteristic of the grand world that Gonzo was trying to portray. The CGI was also superb at emphasizing just how grand and powerful these ships really were, and how there was a lot at stake with each battle. The battles had characters using an intensely strategic approach to warfare, resulting in some ruthlessly brutal and monstrous battles in the sky. The battle sequences were superb, though admittingly quality decreased as budgets were clearly running out. Another point worth noting is how the music was quite good, and complemented many of these battles.

The setting, and the emphasis on worldbuilding, was also done well in Ginyoku no Fam. The series went out of it’s way to flesh out different nations, each with their own unique cultural traditions, languages, foods, and so forth. Gonzo even went through the trouble of having cultural barriers such as language, where we saw a group of people that spoke only Russian. The worldbuilding worked out well partially because of the very diverse main cast, where each member of the cast came from different occupations and nations (princesses, pirates, soldiers, etc).

The main problem to this series is, without a doubt, the characters themselves. The story centers around three girls; Fam (an idealistic sky pirate), Giselle (Fam’s navigator/partner), and Millia (the Princess of Turan). All of the characters are flawed in their own way, but the problem arises from how there isn’t much development for them (excluding Millia).

Fam, the titular character of this series, is an idealist who constantly spouts for peace and hates war. Her inspiration for peace is the Grand race that she saw when she was a young toddler, which was a perfectly fine idea in my book. The problem is that Fam refused to grow up and accept that reality is more complicated than purely good-vs-bad, and her frustratingly simple mindset was insulting when the show tried to make everybody else agree with her. Fam stuck with her ideals all the way till the end, something that I feel should have gradually changed to reflect upon her maturation as a character.

Millia, on the other hand, should have been the titular character precisely because of how she matured through all the hardships she faced. Millia had plenty of insecurities and character flaws, but the ruthless world of politics and war forced her to make some tough decisions. She developed as a character through her encounters with other nations and cultures, something that never happened with Fam.

This second iteration of Last Exile, in the end, actually had quite a few strong points. It had some magnificently done battles, great worldbuilding, and a surprisingly decent soundtrack. The scale, intensity, and ruthlessness to the battles were engrossing, and the setting was well-realized. The only major flaw is with the characters, where heroines like Fam detract from the overall experience of this series.

Animation/Art: 8.5/10

Music: 8.5/10

Setting: 9.0/10

Characters: 6.5/10

Story: 7.0/10

Overall Enjoyment: 7.9/10

Last Exile ~Ginyoku no Fam~ – 23 (Final)

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.

Last Exile ~Ginyoku no Fam~ – 22

Episode 22 –

With the finale of Last Exile fast approaching, it’s no surprise that the conflict has escalated to tremendous proportions.  With the ominous approach of the gargantuan Grand Exile, it seems that our main protagonists are putting up some last-ditch resistance against the overbearing super-weapon. While these final episodes promise to be action packed and filled with explosive fights, the reasons behind the conflict ring a bit shallow in tone; Luscinia has taken up the role of the antagonist with some very weak justifications, and our main characters haven’t exactly been developed well enough to take their opinions seriously. The result is a flashy battle with no real strength to the reasons behind the battle.

The one thing that this episode did pull off fairly well was portraying just how overbearing the Grand Exile is as an opponent. The sheer gargantuan size to the ship is explored via not only it’s massive super-weapons, but also by showing how Fam took a long time to traverse the inside of the ship, even on a speedy vanship. The episode did well in building up the tension with regards to piercing the defenses of the exile, showing the desperate efforts of allied forces at approaching this tremendous beast of an airship.

In terms of the overall picture, though, Ginyoku no fam has really lost a ton of steam in this second half. Character development faltered tremendously, with Fam and Gisey little different from the beginnings of this series. Millia has had the most notable development, but she doesn’t particularly stand out as a central figure. Luscinia’s justifications, as the main villain, are flimsy and weak at best, where his actions are almost like a knee-jerk reaction to the assassination of the previous empress and Liliana. He is forcing a form of “peace” that is almost guaranteed to be short-lived, unsustainable, and almost childish. He doesn’t feel like a fearsome character anymore, and it’s his lack of a strong presence that also hurts his villain status.

The story itself also shifted from a mix of world-building and tactical battles to pure politics, and simple politics at that. The story became much more dry in the second half, and the battles also lost much of the energy and creativity that the first half of the series had in spades.

In the end, Ginyoku no Fam seems to have faltered in two critical areas. One, Ginyoku no Fam had far too many characters, and thus, wasn’t able to develop any of them properly. And two, the story faltered as time went on, all while marginalizing the well-choreographed battles that made the series mesmerizing. With Fam, of all people, confronting Luscinia in next week’s finale, I honestly don’t have much hopes for the conclusion to this series.

Overall Enjoyment: 3.0/5

Screenshots are later in the post.

Last Exile ~Ginyoku no Fam~ – 21

Episode 21 –

Hah, I never thought I would see the day when Fam would admit to her own mistakes and follies, mainly by noting how she has been very ignorant of other people. But hey, it looks like it finally happened in this week’s episode. Unfortunately, though, merely pointing out a character flaw is completely different from actually addressing it, and Fam definitely hasn’t ironed out that issue of hers. To be fair, acknowledging a flaw is the first step towards solving it, but with only a few episodes left in this series, I have doubts as to whether it will ever be addressed.

On the plus side, all of the very slow buildup we’ve seen in the past few weeks finally erupted in a final conflict of immense proportions, one where an all-powerful exile takes to the center stage (courtesy of Luscinia and the kidnapped Sara). The motivations behind the main villain are, admittingly, shallow and lacking in depth, but the final conflict itself looks to be one that will require an all out, total war of immense magnitude. It’s tough to imagine how else the main protagonists of this series could overcome such a monstrosity of a super-weapon aside from a use of sheer force, but perhaps the series will hold a few surprises by tackling this opponent in unconventional ways. After all, in war, tactics and strategy can be just as devastating as super-weapons.

But as I was mentioning earlier, Luscinia’s motivations behind instigating this final conflict feels weak at best. All he’s doing is justifying his declaration of war on humanity by saying “it’s in their best interest”. He is simply trying to force peace through creating a powerful overseer that would make sure nothing falls out of hand, but this mindset is very much along the same lines as the oppressive Guild back on Prester. The Guild oversaw peace by oppressing the inhabitants of Prester, and imposing their own rules that benefited themselves the most. While Luscinia is an idealist in the sense that he believes an absolute power is needed to maintain peace, he doesn’t seem to realize that an absolute power is not immune to corruption (which we saw the results of back in season 1).

In the end, this final conflict is winding up to being a flashy finale, though the conflict itself rings a bit hollow. Luscinia has taken the spotlight for now, bringing to focus his rather flawed beliefs. Then there’s the issue of wrapping up the story revolving around Fam, Giselle, Alvis, Dio, the Silvius and it’s crew, Anatoray, and the Gracies remnants. There’s a lot left to wrap up for this second season, and with no conclusion in sight for these many plot lines, I’m bracing myself for a very rushed final arc.

Overall Enjoyment: 3.2/5

Screenshots are later in the post.

Last Exile ~Ginyoku no Fam~ – 20

Episode 20 –

Well, with this episode, at least it can be said that the finale for this series will be quite drama-laden. After all, with the return of Luscinia, the advent of peace, and the bits of drama with Liliana (and her death), there’s no way that some major conflict won’t break out within the next episode. The issue I see here, though, is how there are only 3 more episodes left to Ginyoku no Fam. There’s only 3 weeks left, yet the story has barely had any legitimately good character development for Fam, nor has the role of Anatoray in the story been elaborated upon, and even characters like Millia suffer from some poor character development. The story is also obviously trying to rush things to try and reach a proper conclusion, but I fear that a rushed plot will derail from this series the very little it had left going for it.

The main highlights for Last Exile in recent episodes have been the ratcheting political tensions amongst the nations on Earth. While the main cast still spouts on about peace (especially Fam), the atmosphere has been quite intense. With the Gracies remnants always seeming to plot some sort of back-stabbing, the arrival of Luscinia (who has been the villain for a while), and the constant conflict between Millia and Liliana, the general atmosphere to this show has been one without much trust. It was quite obvious that one of the factions would eventually cross that forbidden line, and induce some sort of conflict; the Gracies remnants doing so is honestly not much of a surprise.

What was rather interesting about this episode was how it tried to redeem Liliana in the eyes of viewers before her dramatic death while she tried to protect Luscinia. After so many episodes of distrusting Liliana, Gonzo’s attempts to redeem her as a “good guy” wasn’t quite convincing, which made her death ring hollow to my ears. I honestly didn’t care for her dying, which attests to how poorly Gonzo went about trying to make her a sympathetic character. The somewhat symbolic-yet-predictable moment here was how they had Liliana die in a manner strikingly similar to the previous empress had died protecting her. Subtlety was obviously the least of Gonzo’s concerns this week.

Liliana’s death does introduce some intriguing possibilities though. With her gone, now Millia is the key to Turan’s Exile-in-the-sky, and there’s also no telling what Luscinia will do here. He’s been a giant enigma for most of this series, and even now, we have yet to learn much about him. All we do know is that he had a severe reaction to the death of the Ades Federation’s former empress, and I’d imagine that Liliana’s death might trigger a similar fiery reaction. With the prospects of a peace treaty seemingly shattered by the attempted assassination of Luscinia (and Liliana’s resulting death), I get the strange feeling the situation is going to escalate a lot. Oh yea, and Fam once again doesn’t play into the plot too much this week; thank god 😀

Overall Enjoyment: 3.0/5

Screenshots are later in the post.

Last Exile ~Ginyoku no Fam~ – 19

Episode 19 –

At this point in Ginyoku no Fam, it’s starting to become quite evident that there just isn’t any buildup happening for a final conflict of any sort. Instead, we’re getting a lot of different plot points resolved in a rush, no doubt because the show is slowing drawing towards the final few episodes of the series. As a result of all of these plot lines being wrapped up, I can’t feel anything more than a passing curiosity for exactly what will happen with Luscinia and the Exile ships. There’s no real sense of an impending “final boss” yet, and with this series ending in a few weeks, that’s quite worrying.

What I think the main issue of Ginyoku no Fam is that it was a bit too ambitious, with a huge cast that hurt the show’s ability to develop any of them in depth. The most developed character out of the whole series would probably be Millia, and even then, she hasn’t really been an awesome character to watch. The end result of this huge cast is a shallow sense of understanding to each of their conflicts and goals.

The same can definitely be said of Luscinia and Fam, where I don’t quite connect with what they are trying to accomplish. Sure, their justifications logically make sense in my head, but I don’t care enough for the cast to really find their conflicts compelling. There’s no real sense of emotional investment, and that’s really starting to show up as the finale draws near.

What makes these weaknesses more noticeable is how the airborne battles, normally the highlights to Ginyoku no Fam, have started to falter. The tactical aspects to the battles have slowly diminished over the course of the series, and was especially pronounced this week with the Deus Ex Machina save from the Silvius.

In the end, Ginyoku no Fam is starting to falter while the end is drawing near. The plot is still decent, but it’s starting to show flaws now that the emphasis is shifting from the battles to the characters. Then there’s still the issue of how there hasn’t been terribly much buildup around the main villain. All in all, the plot isn’t maintaining my interest in a compelling manner.

Overall Enjoyment: 2.9/5

Screenshots are later in the post.

Last Exile ~Ginyoku no Fam~ – 17

Episode 17 –

Oh my, never did quite expect Gonzo to give Fam a set of guns and missiles. Considering how anti-war she is, you’d never expect her to take up arms. To be fair, she was very reluctant to do so, and was terrible at using the weapons anyways. :3

In any case, this episode was pretty much build-up. The episode focused in on Luscinia’s enemies slowly building up some strong opposition to his faction, though I guess with the Ades Federation turning it’s back on him, that’s to be expected. Nevertheless, Luscinia obviously seems to be brooding over something, and is comfortable knowing he has some sort of ace up his sleeve. Obviously the face-off against Luscinia will somehow involved Dio, Alvis, and the Exiles, but it’s still unknown exactly how things will unfold.

On the plus side there were actually two good developments for our main heroine, Fam. For one, she’s getting a lot less screentime. Ignoring my biases of her characterization, the focus has instead been drawn to the highly political and tense struggles between different factions of the Ades Federation. Watching the power struggles unfold, and manifesting in outright combat that is enormous in scale, once again plays to the strengths of Ginyoku no Fam. What makes this a positive for Fam is that it entangles her in a brutal warzone where ships are ruthlessly shooting each other down, and where she sees her own allies being gunned down in front of her eyes. The lack of focus on Fam accomplishes two things: it draws attention to just how serious and complicated the situation at hand is, as well as forces Fam to confront the harsh reality right in front of her.

In the end, the episode managed to accomplish a change in Fam that should have happened at least a few weeks ago; that is, how Fam is coming to the realization that her ideals are very out-of-touch with the harsh, unpredictable reality in front of her. As to whether this change will have a profound impact in her future actions (as opposed to her returning to her normal cheerful self) remains to be seen. With the end of this series drawing near, I’m quite curious as to how Gonzo plans on wrapping up the loose ends to this show. There’s the issues with Anatoray and the Exiles, Luscinia’s scheming, the potential revival of Turan, the ambiguous situation with the Ades Federation, the Glacien refugees, and so on. Hopefully Gonzo can gracefully bring closure to this series.

Overall Enjoyment: 3.2/5

Screenshots are later in the post.

Quick Impressions – Last Exile ~Ginyoku no Fam~ – 16 (Recap)

Episode 16 –

Normally I try not to cover recap episodes in anime, but when the recap covers the entirety of the previous season of a series, it’s a bit tougher to do so. And not to mention, the extra few bonus scenes were a nice plus, and reveals a potential reason why we haven’t seen the titular characters from the 1st season play a larger role in this sequel.

The one thing that I found striking about this recap episode is not only the content itself, but just how wildly different the 1st season feels from the sequel (Ginyoku no Fam). Just based on the color scheme you could tell how different the two series are, where the 1st season has a very dark and gritty feel. The scenes in the 1st season span vast amounts of the sky, with very few bits of greenery and a ton of barren land. It’s a veritable wasteland in comparison to the lush, green, watery environment of Ginyoku no Fam.

It’s interesting to note how the color scheme differences contributes a lot to the overall atmosphere of each series. The original feels very chaotic, conflict-ridden, and characterized by desperate battles between two unwavering opponents. The inclusion of Delphine, Alex, and the Grand Stream all add to the more enigmatic atmosphere of the show. Ginyoku no Fam is more about massive battles in the sky, power plays, politics, national pride, and the occasional moments of goofing off. The two series felt completely different, and this recap was a great reminder of such.

That being said, I don’t quite see the point of this recap episode aside from informing first time Last Exile viewers about the previous season (by the way, you should seriously check out the 1st season :3 ). Aside from confirming that Claus and Lavie are alive, nothing has changed with regards the overall situation. The Federation still remains in a dominant position, Alvis is still on the run with Dio, and it is unknown as to how Anatoray will play a role in this war amongst nations. And not to mention, we still have no idea what in the world Luscinia invoked in the snowy northern lands. I guess the plot will move forward starting next week.

P.S. Last Exile’s 1st OP made a nostalgic comeback this week. Just comparing the OP themes makes you realize just how different the original and the sequel are in terms of atmosphere.

Screenshots and OP theme are later in the post.

Last Exile ~Ginyoku no Fam~ – 15

Episode 15 –

Ugh, Fam once again proves to be the most irrelevant character out of Last Exile. Or, at least, Fam contributes nothing of real value to the show, and instead continues to be the most naive and foolish member out of the entire cast. I really wish she would gain a sense of perspective to the real-world demands of the situations at hand, but unfortunately that has not happened yet (and I suspect it might not ever happen). She hasn’t really made any real contributions aside from some short term ones, such as emotional support for Millia, as well as stealing some ships that ended up being useless. Her presence detracts from an otherwise fascinating political drama of sorts, where we are finally seeing signs of a concerted effort amongst nations against Luscinia’s aggressive behavior.

That being said, I do like the overall direction that this episode took. It seems that there is finally some form of organized resistance against Luscinia’s encroachments on other nation’s territories. It’s a plot twist that I’ve been expecting for a long time, so finally seeing it happen is a relief. Unfortunately, as I’ve already mentioned, Fam does ruin the atmosphere to a significant degree. I mean, who in the world interrupts a meeting of world leaders spouting on about anti-war ideas while they are discussing self-defense measures? Fam is seriously out of tune with reality, and doesn’t really have a sense of shame either.

What makes me worries is how, at this point, it looks like Luscinia will be fighting onwards solely based on a deus ex machina of sorts. And it’s still a complete mystery how Anatoray and it’s citizens will play a role here, and depending on how the execution of their involvement is handled, the story could take a dive for the worst.

In the end, there’s a ton of uncertainties with regards to this series. The story is solid, but the characters have been doing a heck of a job with messing up . Of course, this is just by biases kicking in here, but I honestly feel that Last Exile has been flawed due to a mismatch in main characters.

Overall Enjoyment: 2.7/5

Screenshots are later in the post.

Last Exile ~Ginyoku no Fam~ – 14

Episode 14 –

This episode brought to attention one of the major issues that has seemed to have drawn the ire of many anime fans (and bloggers); that is, the episode highlighted just how naive and out-of-touch Fam is with the reality of the situations at hand. That being said, at the same time the episode focused upon Fam slowly coming to a realization that things will not always fly how she wants it to, and that there’s only so much that her high-flying optimism could do. It’s a stark contrast to what we normally see of Fam; that is, rather than the usual carefree girl who kept spouting on about peace and the grand race, we see how Fam is finally coming to a realization that without the power to induce change, those ideals of hers might as well be a distant fantasy. To be fair, Fam is probably the only one who is even trying to be positive about the situation at this point, and that is a good way to cheer people up. But Fam still could use a ton of work in terms of character development and improved writing. She is, by far, the most annoying character out of the series so far.

All of that being said, I find it extremely disappointing that the Ades Federation once again claimed victory, this time against Gracies. Gonzo has seriously overpowered the Federation, and while that has definitely set it up as a formidable adversary, at the same time it makes all the conflicts to this series feel one-sided. Is there seriously not a single nation that could match up to the Federation in terms of firepower? Nevertheless, the battles to this series haven’t disappointed me yet, so I guess there’s not much to complain about in terms of action.

On a different note, while I’ve been complaining about Fam as a character, Millia has been a much better main protagonist. She is the one who is going through some serious emotional rollercoasters, all while burdened with the duties of being a princess of a fallen kingdom, as well as having to accept cruel reality for what it is. The story certainly hasn’t been nice to her, especially considering how even the only companion she had remaining from before the fall of Turan, the little pipsqueak of a servant, has disappeared. It certainly feels like she is in a hopeless situation, and seeing her endure through all of this is admirable. Her (and Gisey) are a bit too over-obsessed with Fam, but at least their character development is decent when Fam isn’t in the picture at all.

In the end, this episode served as a closure of sorts, where each character made their resolves towards whatever goals they have. Millia decides to firmly face her role as princess, and Fam realizes that she wants to make a difference rather than be a spectator. Gisey… well, she’s still obsessed over Fam as always. Then there’s Luscinia’s mysterious actions in Gracies territory, and Augusta’s decision to abandon him due to his hostilities. I’d say that this week’s episode marked the turning point in the story, with some rather intriguing situations on the horizon.

Overall Enjoyment: 3.1/5

Screenshots are later in the post.