Here is a link to the opening trailer to The Last Exile..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUjiXriGFbo
Music is in Japanese, but the anime was in English.
Saturday, June 30, 2012
The Last Exile expounded...
I've been thinking that I did not do the Last Exile justice by just expounding on the characters only...there was so much more to it than that. So here goes my attempt to better portray the series - adding the note that a lot of this was not known until the end. Only now can all the pieces be put together; but that is what is great about a good anime, it gives you the clues and hints along the way...and at the end you are like "ah, I get it all now"...well, except for Alvis, and I still don't think she was ever fully explained...if she was, someone let me know!
So the Last Exile begins with two vanship pilots, Claus and Lavie (well, Lavie is actually Claus' navigator, or "navi" as they say). Think of a vanship as a Model T limousine with wings, and think of all vanship pilots as air mail carriers.
They live on the planet Prester in the nation of Anatory. There are actually only two races on the planet - Anatory and Disith. The races are in a perpetual, never ending war between each other. They are watched over by aliens called "The Guild", from a fortress in the sky. While the technology of Anatory and Disith mirrors that of the late 19th century industrial revolution, the Guild is far superior - in technology and weaponry. It is only later found out the that Guild gives just enough technology to the two races to keep them in a never ending war...to the Guild, it is like playing a game of chess.
"Clean" water is hard to come by, and it is rated by grade in relation to purity. The Guild supplies power to both the Anatory and the Disith, in a form called "Claudia" (think of this as what we might call "rocket fuel").
During an annual vanship race, Claus is winning, but is knocked from the sky by an errant vanship which crashes. When Claus and Lavie go to rescue the pilot, he hands them a seven star mission...and his "cargo", an 11 year old girl named "Alvis". The danger (and reward) for a courrier is based on the stars of a mission...rating from one (easy) to ten (only the best do 10).
The mission is to take Alvis to a ship called the Silvana, and it's legendary captain, Alex Rowe. Rumor is that none come back from the Silvana alive (think of the Silvana as the Flying Dutchman). To make matters worse, they are now being chased by the Guild, who for some unknown reason, want Alvis.
Against all odds, Claus and Lavie deliver Alvis to the Silvana, and meet Alex Rowe (and live to tell about it). However, by now Claus and Lavie have bonded with Alvis and feel personally responsible for their safety. To ensure her protection, they board and "join" with the Silvana crew, for which Captain Alex Rowe neither approves nor disapproves.
During an attack on the Silvana by the Guild (to capture Alvis), Claus feels obligated to fight against them to protect Alvis (in the vanships). It is during this battle that Claus meets Dio (Guild brother to Maestro Delphine) - think of Delphine as Queen of the Guild. Dio is so impressed by Claus' flying that he allows himself and his bodyguard Lucciola to be captured by the Silvana to get to know him better.
Describing the story to this point hasn't been too bad, but there is no way I can bring the whole thing together in writing, but here goes -
When Claus and Lavie were 5, both of their dads (vanship pilots) left on a 10 star mission to deliver a peace treaty to the Disith and end the violence between the Anatory and the Disith. Seperating these two nations is what is called "The Grand Stream" (think of this as the jet stream, only that you can't fly through it). Both of their dad's were killed trying to cross the Grand Stream - and their dad's were the greatest vanship pilots to ever live. There was however a young man and his fiancee that flew with them that day...only the young man returned to tell the tale. It turns out this man was...Alex Rowe, now Captain of the most feared ship, the Silvana.
Alex and his fiancee were the back up to Claus and Lavie's dads on the mission...and when the Grand Stream blue Alex's fiancee out of the navigator seat, he admittedly, turned tale and ran (well, turned tail and flew). As he was flying away, he saw two things...one was Maestro Delphine on the Guild ship, smiling and laughing at him, the other was an object called "The Last Exile". Alex vowed from that day forward to avenge their death against Dephine, because the Guild not only was causing the endeless war, but could have also saved them all with the superior technology of the Guild ships.
Lost you yet?
Good, because it gets even better. As it turns out, Alex's First Officer of the Silvana is actually, Princess Sophia of Anatory (Alex knew, but no one else did).
Due to the Exile "object" in the Grand Stream, the weather on Disith is getting colder, and they found a way through the Grand Stream and launch an all out attack on the Anatory. Princess Sophia reveals her true identity and when her father the king is killed, units the Anatory with the Disith in an alliance to once and for all destroy the Guild and their power over them.
To do so, they need to find and activate the Exile. As it turns out (for now, sorry, it will change with the surprise ending) the Exile is a spaceship of great power, that neither the Guild nor the Anatory/Disith have ever controlled. Caught and lost in the Grand Stream. There were four ruling factions of the Guild - each knowing a phrase that would activate the Exile. Because of the Exile's power, no one Guild member new all four. Maestro Delphine had the other three members assassinated in an attempt to learn the other three phrases - but they were able to pass them on and she never knew. But guess what...ever since Alex saw the Exile while first trying to cross the Grand Stream, that had been his mission in life...to find all four phrases and use the Exile to destroy the Guild..and guess what...he got them all.
Here in lies the mystery of Alvis, which was never quite explained, but she is needed to recite four other phrases in conjunction to unlock the Exile, which she knows, but only in her subconscious.
So Alex enters the Grand Stream with the Silvana to find the last Exile (you'll find out why it is "last" at the end). Upon finding it, Maestro Delphine and the Guild take it from him and capture Alex. He is then bound and given truth serum and forced to tell Delphine the four phrases. As it turns out, although the obtained phrase four, he gave it to Princess Sophia so he could never be forced to activate the Exile.
Yes, this is coming to and end...
So, all the vanship pilots (the mail carriers) are called upon to assault the Guild mothership and destroy Delphine. While they are fighting, Claus and Alvis land on the Exile and recite the last phrase given to them by Princess Sophia and unlock the Exile.
As it turns out...follow me on this one...the Exile is a spaceship from Earth...in the final days of planet earth, spaceships called "Exiles" were sent out to other planets to colonize - this one got caught in the atmosphere of planet Prather and caused the disturbance called the Grand Stream. Because the ship felt it was being threatened it went into defense mode...hence it always seemed to be "alive". Solving the "riddle" unlocked its defenses and made it usuable again, stopping the Grand Stream and turning weather patterns back to normal on Prather.
In the last moments of the mothership, Maestro Delphine stands in front of a drugged and bound Alex, gloating, thinking she has won. In one final moment of strength, Alex frees one of his arms and manages to catch Delphine by the neck, crushing it with his bare hand while uttering the name of his fiancee (remember, Delphine could have saved his fiancee but chose to let her die).
At the same time, with the Guild mothership destroying the Anatory and Disith fleets, Princess Sophia, now at the helm of Alex's Silvana, gives the command to shoot down the mothership, knowing full well Alex is still on board (only the Silvana could destroy the mothership). As the mothership is exploding, Alex's final words are "To the Sky" (remember, Alex was first a vanship pilot, and this was the motto of the vanship pilot).
The story ends with a visit by Princess Sophia to Alex's grave, where his tomb stone reads "Eternal Rest".
So the Last Exile begins with two vanship pilots, Claus and Lavie (well, Lavie is actually Claus' navigator, or "navi" as they say). Think of a vanship as a Model T limousine with wings, and think of all vanship pilots as air mail carriers.
They live on the planet Prester in the nation of Anatory. There are actually only two races on the planet - Anatory and Disith. The races are in a perpetual, never ending war between each other. They are watched over by aliens called "The Guild", from a fortress in the sky. While the technology of Anatory and Disith mirrors that of the late 19th century industrial revolution, the Guild is far superior - in technology and weaponry. It is only later found out the that Guild gives just enough technology to the two races to keep them in a never ending war...to the Guild, it is like playing a game of chess.
"Clean" water is hard to come by, and it is rated by grade in relation to purity. The Guild supplies power to both the Anatory and the Disith, in a form called "Claudia" (think of this as what we might call "rocket fuel").
During an annual vanship race, Claus is winning, but is knocked from the sky by an errant vanship which crashes. When Claus and Lavie go to rescue the pilot, he hands them a seven star mission...and his "cargo", an 11 year old girl named "Alvis". The danger (and reward) for a courrier is based on the stars of a mission...rating from one (easy) to ten (only the best do 10).
The mission is to take Alvis to a ship called the Silvana, and it's legendary captain, Alex Rowe. Rumor is that none come back from the Silvana alive (think of the Silvana as the Flying Dutchman). To make matters worse, they are now being chased by the Guild, who for some unknown reason, want Alvis.
Against all odds, Claus and Lavie deliver Alvis to the Silvana, and meet Alex Rowe (and live to tell about it). However, by now Claus and Lavie have bonded with Alvis and feel personally responsible for their safety. To ensure her protection, they board and "join" with the Silvana crew, for which Captain Alex Rowe neither approves nor disapproves.
During an attack on the Silvana by the Guild (to capture Alvis), Claus feels obligated to fight against them to protect Alvis (in the vanships). It is during this battle that Claus meets Dio (Guild brother to Maestro Delphine) - think of Delphine as Queen of the Guild. Dio is so impressed by Claus' flying that he allows himself and his bodyguard Lucciola to be captured by the Silvana to get to know him better.
Describing the story to this point hasn't been too bad, but there is no way I can bring the whole thing together in writing, but here goes -
When Claus and Lavie were 5, both of their dads (vanship pilots) left on a 10 star mission to deliver a peace treaty to the Disith and end the violence between the Anatory and the Disith. Seperating these two nations is what is called "The Grand Stream" (think of this as the jet stream, only that you can't fly through it). Both of their dad's were killed trying to cross the Grand Stream - and their dad's were the greatest vanship pilots to ever live. There was however a young man and his fiancee that flew with them that day...only the young man returned to tell the tale. It turns out this man was...Alex Rowe, now Captain of the most feared ship, the Silvana.
Alex and his fiancee were the back up to Claus and Lavie's dads on the mission...and when the Grand Stream blue Alex's fiancee out of the navigator seat, he admittedly, turned tale and ran (well, turned tail and flew). As he was flying away, he saw two things...one was Maestro Delphine on the Guild ship, smiling and laughing at him, the other was an object called "The Last Exile". Alex vowed from that day forward to avenge their death against Dephine, because the Guild not only was causing the endeless war, but could have also saved them all with the superior technology of the Guild ships.
Lost you yet?
Good, because it gets even better. As it turns out, Alex's First Officer of the Silvana is actually, Princess Sophia of Anatory (Alex knew, but no one else did).
Due to the Exile "object" in the Grand Stream, the weather on Disith is getting colder, and they found a way through the Grand Stream and launch an all out attack on the Anatory. Princess Sophia reveals her true identity and when her father the king is killed, units the Anatory with the Disith in an alliance to once and for all destroy the Guild and their power over them.
To do so, they need to find and activate the Exile. As it turns out (for now, sorry, it will change with the surprise ending) the Exile is a spaceship of great power, that neither the Guild nor the Anatory/Disith have ever controlled. Caught and lost in the Grand Stream. There were four ruling factions of the Guild - each knowing a phrase that would activate the Exile. Because of the Exile's power, no one Guild member new all four. Maestro Delphine had the other three members assassinated in an attempt to learn the other three phrases - but they were able to pass them on and she never knew. But guess what...ever since Alex saw the Exile while first trying to cross the Grand Stream, that had been his mission in life...to find all four phrases and use the Exile to destroy the Guild..and guess what...he got them all.
Here in lies the mystery of Alvis, which was never quite explained, but she is needed to recite four other phrases in conjunction to unlock the Exile, which she knows, but only in her subconscious.
So Alex enters the Grand Stream with the Silvana to find the last Exile (you'll find out why it is "last" at the end). Upon finding it, Maestro Delphine and the Guild take it from him and capture Alex. He is then bound and given truth serum and forced to tell Delphine the four phrases. As it turns out, although the obtained phrase four, he gave it to Princess Sophia so he could never be forced to activate the Exile.
Yes, this is coming to and end...
So, all the vanship pilots (the mail carriers) are called upon to assault the Guild mothership and destroy Delphine. While they are fighting, Claus and Alvis land on the Exile and recite the last phrase given to them by Princess Sophia and unlock the Exile.
As it turns out...follow me on this one...the Exile is a spaceship from Earth...in the final days of planet earth, spaceships called "Exiles" were sent out to other planets to colonize - this one got caught in the atmosphere of planet Prather and caused the disturbance called the Grand Stream. Because the ship felt it was being threatened it went into defense mode...hence it always seemed to be "alive". Solving the "riddle" unlocked its defenses and made it usuable again, stopping the Grand Stream and turning weather patterns back to normal on Prather.
In the last moments of the mothership, Maestro Delphine stands in front of a drugged and bound Alex, gloating, thinking she has won. In one final moment of strength, Alex frees one of his arms and manages to catch Delphine by the neck, crushing it with his bare hand while uttering the name of his fiancee (remember, Delphine could have saved his fiancee but chose to let her die).
At the same time, with the Guild mothership destroying the Anatory and Disith fleets, Princess Sophia, now at the helm of Alex's Silvana, gives the command to shoot down the mothership, knowing full well Alex is still on board (only the Silvana could destroy the mothership). As the mothership is exploding, Alex's final words are "To the Sky" (remember, Alex was first a vanship pilot, and this was the motto of the vanship pilot).
The story ends with a visit by Princess Sophia to Alex's grave, where his tomb stone reads "Eternal Rest".
Art Forgers...
How does one go from Anime to Art Forgery?...well, it's called only three channels and Netflix! And I should add, all three channels are PBS...
Just watched a show called History's Detectives, about art forgery. In the episode, a forger had successfully painted a "1795" painting of George Washington...in 1939!
This got me thinking about the fallacy of art (hmmm...who knows, I might actually get my first comment on this one!)
Art is only valued because someone said it was worth something...think about it. There are thousands of great artists and paintings out there, but what separates them? Because someone felt they were better than another...not necessarily that they are (and in most cases, they are not)
Herein lies the fallacy of art, and the ode goes to the forger in this case, for pointing out the ignorance and gullibility of mankind.
If another artist can paint a Rembrandt, a Picasso, or any other "famous" painting...then what made that painting famous and valuable in the first place, is no longer true (hmmm...maybe that is really way the art world detest a forger...because it points out to them that they've been believing a lie).
Let me expound...
If Denton (a well known art forger) can paint (in this case) a Stuart painting and fool the populace...then why does Stuart get the accolades, when Denton's painting was just as good (or maybe better, eh?) Why did Stuart become famous, and not Denton? There are many paintings well worth over $1 million...while homeless are starving. Yet that same painting, can be duplicated...or made better? It is not the forgery that lowers the value of the original...it is the enlightening of some to realize that value is truly in the eye of the beholder.
Now, take gold for example...technically it is just a rock that someone said was valuable...but hey, what do I know...I used to buy just a "hamburger", but now I get a "deluxe hamburger"...they both taste the same, I just pay more because someone said it was that way...
...and again I say...think about it : P
Just watched a show called History's Detectives, about art forgery. In the episode, a forger had successfully painted a "1795" painting of George Washington...in 1939!
This got me thinking about the fallacy of art (hmmm...who knows, I might actually get my first comment on this one!)
Art is only valued because someone said it was worth something...think about it. There are thousands of great artists and paintings out there, but what separates them? Because someone felt they were better than another...not necessarily that they are (and in most cases, they are not)
Herein lies the fallacy of art, and the ode goes to the forger in this case, for pointing out the ignorance and gullibility of mankind.
If another artist can paint a Rembrandt, a Picasso, or any other "famous" painting...then what made that painting famous and valuable in the first place, is no longer true (hmmm...maybe that is really way the art world detest a forger...because it points out to them that they've been believing a lie).
Let me expound...
If Denton (a well known art forger) can paint (in this case) a Stuart painting and fool the populace...then why does Stuart get the accolades, when Denton's painting was just as good (or maybe better, eh?) Why did Stuart become famous, and not Denton? There are many paintings well worth over $1 million...while homeless are starving. Yet that same painting, can be duplicated...or made better? It is not the forgery that lowers the value of the original...it is the enlightening of some to realize that value is truly in the eye of the beholder.
Now, take gold for example...technically it is just a rock that someone said was valuable...but hey, what do I know...I used to buy just a "hamburger", but now I get a "deluxe hamburger"...they both taste the same, I just pay more because someone said it was that way...
...and again I say...think about it : P
Friday, June 29, 2012
The Last Exile...
What do you do when it is 105 degrees outside? Watch Animes that is...6 of them to be exact, well, 6 episodes straight, or rather the conclusion of all 26. Maybe I should start from the beginning? My been over a month since I've blogged!
The Last Exile comprised of 26 (30 minute) episodes of one of the best Animes I've seen to date. Here is my usual disclaimer...if you plan to watch, don't read. And believe me, if you are a fan of Animes, you will want to watch.
So here is what I have to say about the Last Exile, after having watched all 12 hours over about a two week period...
I guess I'll start with the ending...it couldn't have been any better. Claus' swan song of going from supply point to supply point in each vanship (sorry, have to watch to understand some of this) he had flown in the series, with each navigator he had flown with, and with each of the crew members seeing him off at each point...that was classic.
I had high hopes that Mullin Shetland lived, but he did capture the Claudia unit solely by himself, thus saving the entire Anatory and Disith fleets. It is not until the end of the last episode, you find out he actually lived. Yeah! Sorry, told you not to read this if you plan to watch first.
As for Dio...I actually hated to see him go. At first you couldn't stand him, but by the end of the show you are rooting for him. As it turns out, he was rescued from his fall by a Guild ship and seen in the final seconds of the last episode, just not by face.
As for Lucciola, never was there a better, more loyal body guard - I really, really hated to see him taken out. Although he took out many Guild members in his quest to free Dio, now there was one Guild member who could fight!
And I guess I saved the best for last...Alex Rowe. By far my favorite character...I had high hopes he would somehow make it in the end. Calm, cool, and resiluent under pressure...the only time you ever saw him get emotional was when there was a chance to take out the Maestro Delphine. And if you thought Lucciola could fight, well, Alex would have gave him a run for the money. He took out quite a few Guild members in his quest to reach the Maestro. And his final scene...I guess if he had to die, it was a fitting end...taking out the Maestro Delphine with one single hand. Classic.
Yeah...hated that Alex didn't make it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)