Simply one of the best series I have ever watched. Clever script, beautiful animation, great characters, and you feel good after you have experienced it.

I can't wait for the novel to be translated into English.

A wonderful soundtrack too.

Last Exile (ラストエグザイル)
Series of 26 episodes
Genres stretch from action, fantasy, to sci-fi, and adventure
This series was created by the studio GONZO DIGIMATION, and started airing on the 7th of April, 2003 and finished airing on the 29th of September, 2003. It was released on behalf of GONZO’s 10th anniversary.
 
Are you a fan of Hayao Miyazaki’s works such as Laputa: Castle in the Sky, Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind, and Porco Rosso? Were you fascinated by the plot of Akira Kurosawa’s work, namely Hidden Fortress? Did the dog fights and races in Battlestar Galactica and Star Wars I appeal to you? Then I highly suggest that instead of wasting any more time on this boring wall of text, you click on play and let yourself get engulfed by the laudable aero-naval battles the spectacular CGI and animation of this show have to present.
 
 
Now, for the remaining people who apparently still aren’t convinced enough to jump into the series right away, I shall proceed with my awkward literary style and grammatically disappointing sentences to create a nifty little thing called “Review”.
 
The reason why this series actually caught my interest was because of the many controversial ratings this show has received. People seemed to be intensely disappointed by its pacing, supposedly abrupt but ambiguous ending and the plot’s rather predictable nature...then there were those who referred to this series with sentences such as “will keep you hanging on the edge of your seat”, but one thing they all agreed on, they all seemed to be fascinated by the rendering of CGI and animation, scenery and character design overall. So I was all “Oh, now THAT sounds interesting” and after seeing a few screenshots I was all for it.
 
And after having watched the first few episodes I was left with an open jaw and glaring eyes. Yes, I was literally struck by the quality of the animation and that so much that I didn’t even remember whether I stubbed my cigarette out or just forgot to smoke it...did I stub it out? No clue. But one thing is for sure, for a series that was created in 2003 GONZO DIGIMATION did, indeed, create a masterpiece of its time. Epic blending of 2D and 3D; spectacular animation. Not to forget the effort they’ve put into every bit of this animation; very detailed.
 
The thing that I noticed quite quickly though, was that the scenery, costumes, and engines had a strong Miyazaki flair to them. Among Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, and Howl’s moving Castle it particularly reminded me of Laputa: Castle in the Sky. Because both of these shows have a notable weakness for flying engines, bolts and so forth. A modern Laputa painted in gray-pale pastels granting it a rather dark atmosphere, so to say. This shouldn’t be a big minus if you liked Miyazaki’s creations.
Other than that, Last Exile is filled with 1700’s technology and culture; musketeers, nobles, peasants, steam-powered muskets (they use a liquid called “Claudia”), naval battles, etc. (Steampunk anyone?!) yet somehow all of this blended with elements of alienated nature.
The other thing that caught my eye was the character design. I was like “Oh, I saw that somewhere already..*thinks*..Oh yes, in Blue Submarine No.6 and in the newly airing series named Shangri-la.” so I got curious and went to check out who could possibly be the character designer for each series. Renji Murata. You certainly can’t hate this show for its character design....quite a pleasant sight.
 
Music and sound effects – pretty decent. The opening theme, "Cloud Age Symphony" by Shuntaro Okino, is quite appealing, and the ending song, "Over The Sky" by Hitomi, quite matches with the series' melancholic and serious aura.
 
Now coming to the story itself. It sure as hell isn’t the most original one, and similar attempts can be found in Akira Kurosawa’s Hidden Fortress as well as George Lucas’ Star Wars. It mainly takes place in the sky. People living on zeppelin-like airships, or those aircraft carriers you might have already seen in video games such as Xenogears’ Yggdrasil III, or in animes such as the Gekko from Eureka Seven, or the Imperial Capital in Samurai 7 or the Tiger Moth from Castle in the Sky.
Main characters are Lavie and Claus, both orphaned at a tender age, and then there are others such as Alex Row, an enigmatic personage a la Amon from Witch Hunter Robin, Alvis, a girl just as mysterious and who seems to be of immense importance, Tatiana, a la tsundere, Lord Dio and his servant Luciola, and then Maestro Delphine, the leader of the Guild, Dio’s mischievous sister who’s playing with the two kingdoms and its people as if they were mere...lifeless puppets or pets.
To put it short, each and every character is special in his own way, and I don’t think that it should be particularly hard to develop an attachment or at least interest whether negative or positive for some of them.
 
Whilst sustaining its mystery Last Exile isn’t the typical series where it would be detrimental if you’d miss out on one episode because it keeps each episode plot-wise rather simple and unfolds just enough development to flesh out the gist of the story. I wouldn’t exactly say that the story is easy to understand; therefore I don’t think that it’s a series for kids who haven’t yet reached that state of mind where they could actively participate in thinking and understanding. It’s more for the 13+ audience.
 
No nudity, nor gore yet full of intense battle scenes with stunning visual and sound effects. Definitely a must see for people who like stories and settings a la Miyazaki or are just generally curious about fantasy worlds filled with steampunk elements.