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
Distant Paradise 