This review is based on the English dubbed version and may contain very minor spoilers.
Last Exile is a wonderful series that takes place in a world that appears to be an alternate reality that is similar in appearance to 19th century Earth. The whole thing just oozes quality in nearly every aspect.
I'm not in any way shape or form an expert in animation, but even so I can say with some confidence that visually this is a masterpiece. While I find it very pleasing to the eyes all around, I have to say that the CGI scenes, most notably the battles, are exceptionally well done. They transition seamlessly from CGI to normal animation and integrate everything very well without ever having it smack you in the face with a jarring change. Last Exile prevails in that respect where a number of other anime titles have failed.
The soundtrack matches the visuals tit for tat and compliments them very well. The music is charged for the battles and more subtle for the more tender scenes all while staying with the sort of classical meets modern theme of the show.
The English voice actors consisted of some of the best in the business and they turned out very good performances all around. Johnny Yong Bosch plays the lead male Claus and manages to keep the voice youthful without being too high pitched or whiny. Kari Walhgren's Lavie is probably the weakest link for me; not because of poor acting abilities though, since you can feel the emotions coming across as you should. I simply find her voice somewhat shrill and screech-like.
The supporting cast voicing is very strong as well with some highlights in particular. Michelle Ruff played both the adorable Alvis and the rigid Tatiana. Her Alvis was cute and very Chi-like which was fitting for the character while her Tatiana seemed stilted at first but improved quite a bit as the series went on. Though, she may have done this on purpose to help show the change of personality that Tatiana went though. Others of note were Joshua Seth's Dio who came off as child-like and carefree and fit the character pretty well and Steven Jay Blum's Vincent who sounded like, well like Steven Jay Blum. He usually sounds pretty much the same in everything but that's OK when you sound like he sounds. In fact, I wouldn't have minded having him and Crispin Freeman switching roles in this series. While I found nothing all that bad about Freeman's dark and brooding Alex Row I think Blum's voice would have been a better fit for the character.
The story, ah the story; unfortunately this is what kept it just shy of being great. Don't get me wrong; what's there is very well done. The problem is that even though the show has finished, the story isn't complete. I was watching and watching, wondering when the answers would come. Soon the series was nearly over so now I'm thinking well this must be one of those shows that weaves a story loosely together and then ties it up tight with an episode or two in the end; that's cool. Then the final episode came and went and still I was left with many important questions unanswered as well as a few new ones.
The one other aspect of the story that I didn't particularly care for was the awkward romantic angle that seemed to come out of nowhere. All of a sudden, boom, there's this love triangle thing going on that never really goes anywhere. It all seemed pretty pointless in the end. The only purpose for it I see was that of a catalyst for Tatiana's character growth. That could have been handled any number of ways, though. Now I'm all for romance, I love love, but if you're going to do it then do it right. Make it a full blown sub-plot or at least let us know how it might turn out; don't just start the engine and let it sit there until it runs out of gas.
So there's the bad; where's the good? Well the characters are all well done and likable, unless you're not meant to like them. Even Dio, who at first seems to be kind of an effeminate weirdo, (and he is), but by the end of the series you really feel for the guy. There is great character development for most of the characters. The main characters certainly run their course but the, "lesser", characters aren't just there taking up space either; you actually get to know and relate to them. Mullin, for example, was probably my favorite character in the show and while he didn't get much screen time at all in comparison to other characters he shows a surprising amount of depth and growth.
All in all Last Exile was extremely good from beginning to end, although the end did feel a bit rushed. With spectacular audio and visuals, a story that pulls you in and makes you care about the characters and the world they're in, it seems to have everything a great show needs. Well, almost everything. With just a couple more episodes to fill in some fairly important story gaps it could have been truly great.
Last Exile is a wonderful series that takes place in a world that appears to be an alternate reality that is similar in appearance to 19th century Earth. The whole thing just oozes quality in nearly every aspect.
I'm not in any way shape or form an expert in animation, but even so I can say with some confidence that visually this is a masterpiece. While I find it very pleasing to the eyes all around, I have to say that the CGI scenes, most notably the battles, are exceptionally well done. They transition seamlessly from CGI to normal animation and integrate everything very well without ever having it smack you in the face with a jarring change. Last Exile prevails in that respect where a number of other anime titles have failed.
The soundtrack matches the visuals tit for tat and compliments them very well. The music is charged for the battles and more subtle for the more tender scenes all while staying with the sort of classical meets modern theme of the show.
The English voice actors consisted of some of the best in the business and they turned out very good performances all around. Johnny Yong Bosch plays the lead male Claus and manages to keep the voice youthful without being too high pitched or whiny. Kari Walhgren's Lavie is probably the weakest link for me; not because of poor acting abilities though, since you can feel the emotions coming across as you should. I simply find her voice somewhat shrill and screech-like.
The supporting cast voicing is very strong as well with some highlights in particular. Michelle Ruff played both the adorable Alvis and the rigid Tatiana. Her Alvis was cute and very Chi-like which was fitting for the character while her Tatiana seemed stilted at first but improved quite a bit as the series went on. Though, she may have done this on purpose to help show the change of personality that Tatiana went though. Others of note were Joshua Seth's Dio who came off as child-like and carefree and fit the character pretty well and Steven Jay Blum's Vincent who sounded like, well like Steven Jay Blum. He usually sounds pretty much the same in everything but that's OK when you sound like he sounds. In fact, I wouldn't have minded having him and Crispin Freeman switching roles in this series. While I found nothing all that bad about Freeman's dark and brooding Alex Row I think Blum's voice would have been a better fit for the character.
The story, ah the story; unfortunately this is what kept it just shy of being great. Don't get me wrong; what's there is very well done. The problem is that even though the show has finished, the story isn't complete. I was watching and watching, wondering when the answers would come. Soon the series was nearly over so now I'm thinking well this must be one of those shows that weaves a story loosely together and then ties it up tight with an episode or two in the end; that's cool. Then the final episode came and went and still I was left with many important questions unanswered as well as a few new ones.
The one other aspect of the story that I didn't particularly care for was the awkward romantic angle that seemed to come out of nowhere. All of a sudden, boom, there's this love triangle thing going on that never really goes anywhere. It all seemed pretty pointless in the end. The only purpose for it I see was that of a catalyst for Tatiana's character growth. That could have been handled any number of ways, though. Now I'm all for romance, I love love, but if you're going to do it then do it right. Make it a full blown sub-plot or at least let us know how it might turn out; don't just start the engine and let it sit there until it runs out of gas.
So there's the bad; where's the good? Well the characters are all well done and likable, unless you're not meant to like them. Even Dio, who at first seems to be kind of an effeminate weirdo, (and he is), but by the end of the series you really feel for the guy. There is great character development for most of the characters. The main characters certainly run their course but the, "lesser", characters aren't just there taking up space either; you actually get to know and relate to them. Mullin, for example, was probably my favorite character in the show and while he didn't get much screen time at all in comparison to other characters he shows a surprising amount of depth and growth.
All in all Last Exile was extremely good from beginning to end, although the end did feel a bit rushed. With spectacular audio and visuals, a story that pulls you in and makes you care about the characters and the world they're in, it seems to have everything a great show needs. Well, almost everything. With just a couple more episodes to fill in some fairly important story gaps it could have been truly great.