Last Exile ~ Fam, the Silver Wing ~

[RyougaZell]

Alternative Title: ラストエグザイル-銀翼のファム-

Type: TV
Episodes: 24?
Source: Original / Sequel to 2003's Last Exile
Studio: Gonzo
Genres: Adventure, Fantasy, Sci-Fi

Synopsis: A new story with new characters set in the Last Exile universe.

The descendants of the planet's evacuees have returned to a rejuvenated environment, now free from the pollution that drove them out so long ago. However, they now face a constant and ever-increasing conflict with the planet's neglected inhabitants.

On the eve of signing a historical peace treaty with Luscinia of the Ades Federation, princesses Millia and Lily of the Turan Kingdom are lured into a trap and attacked by Luscinia, ruthlessly provoking war. Left for dead, the princesses are intercepted by The Vespa, a Vanship piloted by our titular heroine, Fam Fan Fan - a member of the Sky Pirates..

Sources: ANN | AniDB | MyAnimeList | Official Site

MAIN CAST:
Fan Fan Fam: Toyosaki Aki
Colette Giselle: Yuuki Aoi
Eraclea Dio: Noda Junko

EPISODES:
Episode 1 Commie Whine-Subs SFWhine
Episode 2 SFWhine Commie
Episode 3 SFWhine
Episode 4 SFWhine
Episode 5 SFWhine

MUSIC:
Opening: "Buddy" by Maaya Sakamoto
Ending: "Starboard" by Hitomi Kuroishi

TRAILERS:
RandomC Preview

NOTES:
1st post will be updated as releases, anime or music, come along.

[Archangel]

I never watched the original, will that be an issue?

[Lucifus]

O wow! When did this happen? Great stuff. For future reference, which fan-sub groups would you guys recommend for this season's shows?

@Arch, if you've never seen the original, I can't say anything about this one, as I haven't even seen the first episode yet, but the original was quite a trip, and one of my favorite all time shows. You should give it a shot.

Quoted from below: Ryllharu@Arch if you don't have me on ignore (pretty sure you do!): I don't think it will make much of a difference. I saw the old Last Exile years ago, and remember vague details about the main cast. This didn't make that many references to it. They are there though, and at least one character shows characteristics they developed at the end of the first series. I honestly don't think GONZO has any clue how this series is supposed to relate to the first, but it is treated like a sequel.

It'll help, but I do not think watching the first series is essential.

[Ryllharu]

@Arch if you don't have me on ignore (pretty sure you do!): I don't think it will make much of a difference. I saw the old Last Exile years ago, and remember vague details about the main cast. This didn't make that many references to it. They are there though, and at least one character shows characteristics they developed at the end of the first series. I honestly don't think GONZO has any clue how this series is supposed to relate to the first, but it is treated like a sequel.

It'll help, but I do not think watching the first series is essential.


-----------------

Regarding the episode:

As always, I love Murata Range's character designs. On the one hand they are ornate (the princesses), and on the other hand they do wonders with simplicity and clothing with clean lines (Fam, Jizel and the rest of the pirates).

Fam and Jizel are an excellent duo. Fam is a free-spirited moron (perfectly played by Toyosaki Aki) and Jizel is her shy but diligent counter-balance. A great combination of a risk-taking pilot and cautious navigator. Even if Fam totally controls what they do because Jizel just does what Fam tells her to. But Fam's got some smarts too though, since it was her plan that saved the Princesses' flagship with minimal harm. If ever there was a single scene to perfectly sum up a character for a great first impression, it's Fam just randomly hanging from the window, oblivious that her underwear is showing, saying "Uwah! Check it out! Real life princesses!"

I'm also glad Dio is living more carefree. We'll see how the two princesses fit into this mess, aside from the elder one having a possible romantic connection to the male antagonist (with customary eye-patch).

Nice OP. Always enjoy a good Sakamoto Maaya song. I was ambivalent towards the ED.

edit: That does bring to mind one concern. Why is Fam wearing a skirt if she's a vanship (or vespa) pilot? They wear thick coats because it's cold up in the clouds. She's got thick coat, thick boots, but wears a dress. At least Jizel appears to wear thick leggings/tights. Fam has stockings held up by garters.

[RyougaZell]

@Arch
Pretty much what Lucifus and Ryll said. This series has references here and there to the original, but it can be watched as a standalone really well. It takes place 2 years after the original but... I think its safe as it is.

@Lucifus
I watched Whine-subs since it was the only group that had subbed it at the moment. When I finished, Commie came up. Neither are favorites of mine... but when there's no source I go with the less worse. Whine had quite the mistakes, like typing scared instead of sacred when talking about the lake. I'm getting Commie's version right now to see which ranks better. Seems only small or new groups are doing this series so far.

@Ryll
Like Lucifus, I loved the original series... but is has been so long I too don't remember much of it. I also love the character designs... it was draw me into Last Exile in the first place. The girls, Fam and Giselle, do look a bit younger than how the characters of the 1st series looked, even if they are in the same range of age. But it doesn't look bad nor off

I must say I didn't notice Fam was wearing a skirt until you mentioned. And I normally watch all this details. Damn.

I also loved how Dio acted now. The Immelman turn brought back good memories.


Also... updated 1st post with the Opening MP3
http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=torrentinfo&tid=253549

[DarthEnderX]

Great, all the main characters are young girls. I wonder how long till that gets annoying.

Oh well, at least there's still CGI sky battleships blowing up.

[Buffalobiian]

I noticed the skirt right from the beginning since Fam was stripping it off. Didn't notice that her underwear was showing when her leg was through the window however.

Talking about that, the first scene was one of my favourite - that Giselle keeps Fam on a leash/rope. And the ears on their earmuffs. :3

The princesses (both of them, but particularly Lily) give off Releena Peacecraft vibes so badly..

I can always do with a good steampunk.

[Barumonk]

I suspect it's closer to the original series than what has been stated. When Dio is shown he notes the return of someone, and we see Exile appearing in the atmosphere. I fully expect to see Claus by episode 5.

[Lucifus]

@RZ Thanks. I've always been a fan of the character design/animation style.

So do all agree that Commie is the better preference for speed subs?

[RyougaZell]

I haven't watched Commie's version yet. I have it at 60% because I downloaded other things first. I'll probably watch episode 2 with them though. I've seen other show with them and, while not perfect, they don't make the kind of mistakes Whine-subs did. So yeah... I'll stick with Commie unless another group picks it up.

[RyougaZell]

Commie seems to be late this week. Meanwhile Whine-Subs has partened with another not-known group called Subsfuckingwhere and has re-released episode 1 alongside episode 2... downloaded to check if they improved or not. Commie is really irregular so we can't really trust their releases to be on time.


Episode 1 SFWhine
Episode 2 SFWhine

[Ryllharu]

Meanwhile Whine-Subs has partened with another not-known group called Subsfuckingwhere and has re-released episode 1 alongside episode 2... downloaded to check if they improved or not.

SFW a no-name group? Where have you been? They've done a fair number of shows, and were the among the best groups for a couple of them. They do drop a number of shows.

-------------------

Regarding episode 2, I take back my original statement. Unless they go back over some of the stuff they showed there, watching the original series would be a pretty good idea. Reading a summary if you watched it before. There was a fair amount of stuff I don't remember, specifically about how overpowering Guilders are supposed to be and the Exile.

While the CG wasn't blended as well this time (typical for Gonzo of late), overall the episode still looked good.

Fam is one hell of a pilot. It also makes perfect sense why the Vespa is such a tiny Vanship, it allows Fam and Jizel to play to their particular strengths. Jizel having photographic memory feels a bit cheap, but she is a navigator.

I still don't think Gonzo knows what they want to do with this series.

[RyougaZell]

SFW a no-name group? Where have you been? They've done a fair number of shows, and were the among the best groups for a couple of them. They do drop a number of shows.

Consider me guilty then. I honestly never saw them before.

Here's Commie's version for whoever is waiting. Im sticking with SFWhine for now.

And I honestly didn't quite get what happened on episode 2.

Fam is an amazing pilot as Ryll said though.

[masamuneehs]

a reload of a show i loved to death?

i'm grudingly interested. this better not suck. i'm not 15 anymore...

the first 30 seconds of this show epitomize why people think people who watch anime are weird. It was neutrally perverted, and dizzyingly confusing. I really wasn't sure I wasn't about to watch some hentai.

"open file" is this title supposed to represent some kind of theme that they're going to explore here? i'm resigned to it not being as good as another possible analogy, but it might be a good move if they continue to explore it in creative ways that play with and tie into the episodes.

really. do we need all the nudity? oh, well if they're pirates, then they might as well be slutty pirates, i suppose.

lots of rehashing used to flesh out the backstory. a bit lazy. but it makes quick work...
but the one bit of backstory that is just sitting there being weird is Dio. i mean, unless you were a hardcore fan, it's a little shocking to see him just sitting around like that whole big scene at the end of the first series was obviously leading up to what he's doing now, just sitting there, looking at the stars and singing the birthday song. i mean, because i know that i was more than a little shocked and had to go "okay, wait, so that's somebody named Dio? Or that's Dio?" and then go look it up.

on the whole, i was pleasantly pleased with the first episode of this. it's a bit "happy go lucky" for my tastes, but it's nice to look at, some of the tactics used in episode 01 were fucking awesome clever, and a fun first episode on the whole. it's going to be interesting to see how the Ades Federation bad guys progress, because, if anything, they're the one tire on this wagon with a bit of sag to them.

[Buffalobiian]

ut the one bit of backstory that is just sitting there being weird is Dio. i mean, unless you were a hardcore fan, it's a little shocking to see him just sitting around

Wait.. Dio's a guy?


I noticed he used "boku", but thought she was just being a tomboy..

And yeah, after this episode, I think I will try to watch the original series between now and next week. Fam's cool and all, but I find Gisey cuter.

[DarthEnderX]

Why the hell do Commie's stuff never seem to work right with any of my normal players. First X-Men, now this. Christ...

[RyougaZell]

Why the hell do Commie's stuff never seem to work right with any of my normal players. First X-Men, now this. Christ...

I've never had problems with their releases in Media Player Classic. Have you updated your codecs yet DE?

[DarthEnderX]

I've never had problems with their releases in Media Player Classic.

I had to use MPC also, but it's not my normal media player.

[RyougaZell]

SFWhine Episode 3

[Ryllharu]

Hopefully, Milia is done with her mopey selfish phase, and we can get on with the main plot. It helps that she was taken in by Fam and the Sky Pirates, particularly given that Fam was brought into the pirate in a similar way. Unfortunately, this also leaves open the option that Fam's lineage may be special too. In fact, it probably is.

I was glad to see the pirates scrapping the ship they earned, rather than converting it to one of their own. They also honored those who died aboard it. They're the type who uses every bit of a ship for the largest gain in the community as a whole, rather than taking on an additional liability by using a large ship they're not as intimately familiar with.

It's cute that Fam and Gisele have been such close friends for so long, and both of them knew they wanted to participate in a revived version of the race.

But what keeps me watching (in addition to the character/uniform/mechanical/building design) is Fam's endless well of pirate ambition. She wants to steal the Slyvius (successor to the Slyvannia?), a legendary "ghost ship," and then give it Milia, just because she can.