Last Exile
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Last Exile is a steampunk anime series produced in 2003 and created by Gonzo Digimation, the same studio responsible for works such as Blue Submarine No. 6, Full Metal Panic! and Hellsing.
The story revolves around Claus Valca and Lavie Head, a young courier pilot and his navigator, and their adventures in the floating world of Prester. In this romantic sky world based on stylised Victorian fashion and society, two countries, Anatole and Dysis (rendered phonetically as Anatoray and Disith in some versions), are engaged in a war under the constant supervision of the mysterious Guild. Claus and Lavie, piloting their vanship (a wingless plane-like machine) find themselves involved in a plot surrounding a mysterious little girl named Alvis Hamilton, whom they must deliver as "cargo" to the much-feared neutral battleship Silvana.
The animation features a combination of 2-D and 3-D CGI sequences and several key staff members (like the character designer Range Murata and Gonzo veteran Mahiro Maeda) also worked on the production of Blue Submarine No. 6.
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Major characters
Claus Valca: a fifteen-year-old vanship pilot working for the Norkia Vanship Organization. His navigator is Lavie Head, with whom he shares a deep friendship since early childhood. Claus is no stranger to the vanship courier lifestyle, having been born into and raised for the lifestyle by his late father Hamilcar Valca (much like navigator George Head raised daughter Lavie). Their fathers died while attempting to cross the "Grand Stream" on a mission that would have brought peace to Prester. After this and his mother's death, Claus follows in his father's footsteps throughout his childhood and early adolescence to becomes a top-notch pilot. He is very focused on his job and makes sure the mission is completed each time. Claus is protective of both Lavie and their "cargo", Alvis Hamilton. With their vanship damaged, he is, in a sense, forced to stay on the Silvana.
Lavie Head: also fifteen-years-old, she is Claus's navigator and vanship mechanic. The moody, outspoken redhead is proud of her lineage as seen in her protectiveness of her vanship (thought to have belonged to their fathers). Unlike Claus, she is relatively reluctant to stay on the Silvana and favors the freedom of the vanship lifestyle. She abhors the use of vanships for military purposes, and deplores Claus's interest in becoming a combat pilot. Along with her friendly nature, she can hold grudges with others. Her feelings for Claus are obviously conflicted. She treats Claus mostly like a dear friend and sibling, sometimes acts the part of nagging but caring wife, insofar as she cooks for him and rustles him out of bed. She seems to have repressed romantic feelings for Claus, however, judging by the somewhat angry jealously she feels when Tatiana Wisla starts showing an interest in Claus.
Alvis Hamilton: is a peculiar eleven-year-old child and "the cargo." Alvis (or "Al") is targeted by the Guild and it becomes apparent that she is the "key to Exile." Her nurse, Guita, and the pilot who was commissioned to transport her, Ralph Wednesday, were killed as a result of the Guild's pursuit. Claus and Lavie take up the mission and successfully complete it. Al does not know of her importance, but learns of it while under the care of the Silvana. She's the only person who holds the key to unlocking Exile by knowing the answers to the questions that form the Mysterio (see below).
Alex Rowe: at twenty-eight-years-old, he is the enigmatic captain of the infamous battleship Silvana. He is given the responsibility of protecting Alvis from the Guild. He has an outwardly cold façade that seems unemotional, but some of his past is revealed by the middle of the series. In general, his past is marked by tragedy and is also one that intersects with both Claus and Lavie. He was the only one of four people to return from the failed peace mission delivery through the Grand Stream; two of the dead Vanship pilots were Lavie's and Claus' fathers (He was also the one who delivered the news of their deaths to Claus's mother). He is a graduate of the Anatole Officer's Academy like several characters in the series, but he is now independent of both Anatole and Dysis because of events not directly approached in the series. Due to this and the Silvana not being in the service of either nation, his ship's actions are directly his orders. Alex displays his astounding marksmanship several times during the series, most iconic is his first appearance before Claus and Lavie, where he flawlessly shot a Guild Starfish pilot directly in the head; killing him instantly. He is also a master strategist in many contexts outside of warfare. He meets his end after strangling Maestro Delphine, when the Silvana destroys her battleship, killing Alex as well. Alex's shattered body is last seen in the snow, notably lacking most of his legs.
Sophia Forrester: at nineteen-years-old, she is the Silvana's first officer, holding the title Vice-Captain. Another graduate of the Anatole Officer's Academy, she is one of the few people Alex trusts and is often seen left in command of the ship when the Captain is out in pursuit of his own agenda. It becomes apparent that she has special feelings for Alex and sometimes reveals too much, much to Rowe's chagrin in his sometimes snarky comments to her. Sophia is of royal heritage and the daughter of the Anatole emperor. At times in the series, she feels that she is unloved, both by Rowe's visible actions to her and her father's response to her when she returns to the capital city. She commands the deep respect of the whole Silvana crew and is often referred to by them as the "XO". With the death of her father, she became queen of Anatole and seeked the alliance of Dysis against the Guild, having realised that the Guild was playing both countries against each other. She became the captain of the Silvana after Alex's demise, having ordered the ship to attack the Guild's flagship, with Alex and Delphine on board.
Tatiana Wisla: Tatiana is the only child of "the proud and noble" Wisla house of Anatole. At the age of about fifteen or sixteen, Tatiana left home permanently to become a member of the newly-formed Anatole Military Vanship Corps, a new military division dedicated to using vanships as weapons as opposed to just couriers and transports. She excelled in both piloting and dogfighting, quickly becoming one of the best vanship pilots in the sky, possibly second only to Alex Rowe. She sent all the extra money she made as an ace pilot back to her family so that her mother could care for her ailing father. Before too long, she found herself on the Silvana as Rowe's handpicked wing commander for his small vanship fighter fleet. She pilots a twin-engine vanship fighter which she painted red to distinguish herself from the other pilots as well as all other vanships in the sky. With her trusted friend, confidant, and navigator, Alister, she quickly becomes one of the most dreaded forces in the sky next to the Silvana herself, for which the technicians onboard the Silvana start calling her the "princess". Her cold demeanor manages to alienate even her close friend Alister, who elects to fly with Claus Valca as his navi for a time, as a rebuke to Tatiana (and because Lavie does not want to fly any more combat missions). She is second-best to no one in her own mind, but this stone-cold lifestyle quickly comes crashing down around her when she meets Claus, who turns out to possibly be a better pilot than she. From then on, her feelings toward Claus goes on a roller coaster, making her feel anger, disgust, awe, respect, fear, and even attraction to the young vanship pilot. Her frosty aloofness is clearly a self-defensive façade; she suffers a mental breakdown of sorts after getting shot down over the desert, but recovers, and from that time she begins to show a greater depth of feeling, especially towards Claus.
Alister Agrew: "Alis" is Tatiana's trusted confidant, best friend, and expert navigator. By nature, she is a very quiet, reserved, and otherwise unflappable, reacting very little to even the strangest of circumstances. Her only reactions are shown in the way she carries herself, and the quickest way to earn her loyalty is to not dismiss her and act like she is not around. By her behavior, it is clear that she is a consummate professional, just like Tatiana, which professes to why they work so well together. However, she is far more than that, but will do nothing to prove it outright. She has displayed unfathomable respect for Tatiana, a strange attraction to Claus, and even motherly behavior towards Al.
Image:Dioface.JPG Dio Elaclaire: is the sixteen-year-old younger brother of the most powerful Guild member, Maestro Delphine. People see him as a rare find that will someday take over the Guild. He is very playful and fearless, and treats many things like they were games. His odd nature can be seen in his awe of Claus's skills and giving him the nickname "Immelmann" (referring to the World War I German ace, Max Immelmann and the maneuver Claus frequently used while flying, the Immelman Turn). This strange nature is mostly due to the Guild lifestyle and fear of his sister Delphine. His first appearance in the series is marked by a chess-match with close-friend Lucciola and with the Guild's power and surveillance, watches the skies of a skirmish between Guild ships searching for Alvis and the Silvana. He finds extraordinary talent in Claus's vanship piloting, and from when he wished to go against Claus in the Horizon Cave Eight vanship race, he starts to have strong interactions with the main characters. He later joins the main characters on the Silvana in order to escape his sister, but is forced back to the Guild before long, and his mind is destroyed by a guild device in preparation for the "Rite of the Covenant". Driven to insanity, he participates in the Rite of the Covenant, where the next Maestro is chosen, and emerges victorious. he escapes with Claus and Alvis soon after, and is nursed back to health in the Mad-Thane residence. He flees from there in a vanship and travels to the Grand Stream. Being delirious, his memory resets to the moment of the race in Horizon Cave, and attempts to pass Claus. At a moment he tells his navi, Lucciola (who isn't there) to jump out so they can get more speed. He crosses a flock of rainbirds believing them to be the finish line and congratulates Lucciola on their victory and tells him to party, but he then turns around to find he is not there. He attempts to cross to his seat while crying, but his vanship is then hit by a gust of wind and he is swallowed by the Grand Stream.
Mullin Shetland: A nineteen-year-old rifleman on the battleship Claimh Solais, which is the flagship of the Anatole fleet. He has fought in nineteen battles and needs only one more survivor medal (received from surviving a battle) to stop being a rifleman. A third of the way through the series he joins the Silvana and becomes a mechanic servicing the vanships. He has a brief crush on the vanship captain Tatiana Wisla but soon forgets about it realizing the futility of it as he moves on to other things. Around the end he leaves the Silvana to train again as a rifleman in a secret joint operation to take back their battleship's Claudia engines and free the world of the Guild. At this time he meets Dunya from the Dysis fleet, also involved in the operation. He and Dunya fall in love with each other, climaxing in Mullin asking Dunya to go on the same ship together. Dunya accepts and the operation to take back the ship's Claudia unit. The operation ends with Mullin taking the unit back, but being gravely wounded in the process. In the final scene, he appears to have married Dunya and had a son and a daughter, he appears to live on a farm with most of the rest of the Silvana 's crew.
Lucciola: is a member of the Guild and personal bodyguard to Dio Elaclaire. He is an exceptional martial artist and a very capable bodyguard to Dio. He was assigned the role of protecting him from a very early age, and Dio considers Lucciola not just a servant, but also a friend. Tragically, Lucciola was to betray that trust when he was ordered by the Maestro to bring Dio back before her. Luciola then redeems himself by helping Claus, Alvis and Dio escape from the grasp of Maestro Delphine. In a confrontation against the Maestro, Luciola kills his brother, Cicada and is then disintegrated by the Maestro's power.
Maestro Delphine: Dio's older sister and head of the Guild. A run-in between her and Alex Rowe in the past has left her the sole target of his vengeance, and one of his only goals, it seems, is to personally kill Delphine. The Maestro is portrayed as a decadent aristocrat, callous and ruthless in her ways. When Lucciola decided to let Dio escape, the Maestro casually caused him to disintegrate. However, she did not go unpunished, for Alex managed to strangle her even though he had been tied in place by rose tendrils. Like her favourite flower, the rose, the Maestro is beautiful but dangerous. With her death and the release of Exile by Alvis, the might of the Guild was broken, never to be restored again.
Vincent Arthai: An officer of Anatole, Vincent was a friend of Alex and Sophia. Initially appointed Admiral of Anatole's fleet, he was relieved of his command after Alex sank many of his ships. Despite this, he respects Alex, knowing his strengths in combat and strategy (They were in the Officers' Academy together. Indeed, before the battle, Vincent met Alex to try to persuade him to keep the Silvana out of battles). A great lover of coffee, Vincent likes to enjoy life. But when duty calls, he's not about to sit back either. When Sophia was imprisoned by her father and about to be killed by a guard, he barges into her room and saves her. With her command as Queen, Vincent resumed his command as Admiral, this time leading his ships into a grand battle together with Dysis against the Guild.
Episode list
There are twenty-six (26) episodes of Last Exile in all. There is a common pattern behind most of the titles. Most of the titles in the series refer to certain chess moves, which often represent the actions taken by the characters in the episodes.
- First Move
- Luft Vanship
- Transpose
- Zugzwang
- Positional Play
- Arbiter Attack
- Interesting Claus
- Take Back
- Calculate Alex
- Swindle
- Develop
- Discovered Attack
- Isolated Pawn
- Etude Lavie
- Fairy Chess
- Breakthrough
- Making Material
- Promotion Sophia
- Sicilian Defense
- Grand Stream
- Rook Dio
- Queen Delphine
- Castling Luciola
- Sealed Move
- Quiet Move
- Resign
The Mysterion
(This is called the Mysterion or Mysteria in some translations.)
- Poem: What lies beyond the furthest reaches of the sky.
- Alvis: That which leads the lost child back to its mother's arms; Exile.
- Poem: The waves that stain the land in gold.
- Alvis: The breath of blessing that nurtures life; The Land of Wheat.
- Poem: The path upon which the angels walk.
- Alvis: You are the path of great winds; The Grand Stream.
- Poem: What lies beyond the furthest reaches of memory.
- Alvis: Where everything is born and to where everything returns; The Blue Star.
Theme songs
Opening
- "Cloud Age Symphony" by Shuntaro Okino
Ending
- "Over the Sky" by Hitomi Kuroishi
Trivia
-When Mullin first boarded the Silvana, he was humiliated by Ethan and the rest of the mechanics, who forced him to strip. This is an insider joke; Mullin is voiced by Miki Shinichiro while Ethan was voiced by Seki Tomokazu, his Weiss bandmate and best friend.
-The name of Claus' father, Hamilcar Barca (Valka in the anime) is taken from a real-life historical figure - Barca was the father of Carthaginian general Hannibal, one of the greatest military masterminds of all time.
External links
fr:Last Exile it:Last Exile ja:LAST EXILE pt:Last Exile ru:Изгнанник (аниме)