Last Exile
This is a spoiler free review.
Last Exile is an adventure/sci-fi/steampunk anime about two childhood friends who fly their own vanship (picture a chunky monoplane) and get themselves into something much bigger than what they ever planned. The anime came out in 2003 and was made by Gonzo, kind of known for their fumbled endings.
The animation was digital as that became the standard at the time, but it also features some of the earliest CGI during action scenes, mainly for animating the ships. The early CGI is definitely noticeable and jarring at first, but I feel like the amount of it lessened later, or I just got used to it.
Something this anime stands out in, in my opinion, is the good character design, totally fitting for the world the characters are in. The characters were designed by Range Murata who has a very recognizeable artstyle that you must've encountered if you ever frequented any weeby space ever. I don't know how to describe his designs other than all of his characters look very round and soft, and the color palettes are usually warm toned and muted. He draws a lot of machinery, stylish sci-fi or steampunkish uniforms without abusing a million details or making the designs look messy, tacky and not coordinated. His use of color accents etc. always reminded me of Kazuma Kaneko's art in the early 2000s a bit. Just gives me the same vibes. The sci-fi uniforms too.
He does have a thing for lolis though, but ughhhhh I can't say I don't like his artstyle, I really do. Wish we had more of that instead of Genshin Impact/vtuber/Mika Pikazo/glossy ai generated anime girls-core or whatever the fuck I should call it. You know what I mean.
Anyway, all of the characters are dressed for the ocassion, the main characters don't stand out like crazy or each have their own signature outfit (unlike the second season I'll mention later). I really appreciated that. I'd also love to add the voice acting was good, natural and not screechy or annoying at all. Even the child character, Alvis, had a nice voice and it didn't get too grating hearing her repeat two names over and over again lmao. There's only one character with a, let's say stereotypical unnatural anime voice and her whole purpose is to be an extravagant, rich and immoral leader so it fits her and makes sense, everyone else sounds really low key and natural. I didn't even take this voice acting into account until the second season.
The characters, I was mostly a fan of. A lot of attention is given to the secondary cast in this anime which I wasn't expecting. It makes the environment feel more alive. I don't believe it was done entirely to the detriment of the main two characters, childhood best friends, but their conflict mid show felt a bit weird as the anime suddenly decided to be harem-like for 2 episodes only to never be brought up again.
The story wasn't perfect, as some things were never fully explained and imo should have been (like the whole deal around Alvis), but some things I was fine with not having a clear answer for. It just sucks plot important stuff was fully explained on the back cover of the DVD for the anime, and not in the anime itself, but I believe those things were kind of understandable from the context. I don't think everything needs to be spelled out really (like what the Exile really is), but it wouldn't have done any harm if things were a tiny bit more clear since the worldbuilding is quite an important aspect of this anime and it's important to understand the gravity of the situation our characters are in... This whole thing aside though, I enjoyed the ride. The first few episodes are slow but then the pace picks up and I really got into the world and the politics etc. Although imperfect I think it was pretty satisfactory.
Now, was the ending fumbled? I don't think it was disappointing at all, we got a decent conclusion for most characters. I think the last few episodes leading to the ending were really good, especially surrounding the crew of Silvana and the final battle etc. All in all I think this was a solid anime. Also, almost completely devoid of fanservice, so, yay!
Right after I finished this anime I noticed there was a second season I didn't even know existed, so I gave it a try. Immediately it begins with a little girl in her underwear. All the things I said here about character designs and voice acting went out of the window RIGHT away. Every character has their own stupid unique looking gadgets, the two sister princesses are dressed like they come from entirely different eras/cultures despite being sisters and leaders of the same kingdom, mismatched accessories, grating, squeaky, exaggarated and moany voices... A true marvel of modern anime and such a slap in the face compared to the tame first season.
