Last Exile
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Last Exile | |
|---|---|
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| ラストエグザイル (Rasuto Eguzairu) |
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| Genre | Adventure, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Steampunk |
| TV anime | |
| Directed by | Koichi Chigira |
| Studio | GONZO |
| Network |  TV Tokyo TechTV / G4techTV    Animax QTV 11 HERO TV HYPER Buzz |
| Original run | April 8, 2003 – September 29, 2003 |
| No. of episodes | 26 |
Last Exile (ラストエグザイル Rasuto Eguzairu?) is a steampunk anime directed by Koichi Chigira for the anime studio Gonzo Digimation. It ran on TV Tokyo from April to September, 2003. It was brought to American audiences through Tech TV's (now G4) television program Anime Unleashed in March 2004. It ended in December of the same year, with a full season marathon on Christmas Day.
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 stylized Victorian fashion and society, two countries, Anatole and Dysis (sometimes phonetically rendered as Anatoray and Disith), are engaged in a long and bloody war under the supervision of the mysterious Guild. Claus and Lavie, piloting their vanship (a small wingless aircraft) 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; several key staff members such as the character designer Range Murata and Gonzo veteran Mahiro Maeda had previously worked on the production of Blue Submarine No. 6 which was done in a similar style.
The series is also notable for having much of the text in English but written with Greek letters, with all numbers given in Roman numerals.
Contents |
[edit] Plot Summary
[edit] Characters
- Claus Valca (Κλαυς Βαλκα) (クラウス・ヴァルカ Kurausu Varuka?)
A fifteen-year-old vanship pilot who finds himself at the center of the Exile mystery.
- Lavie Head (Λαβη Εαδ) (ラヴィ・ヘッド Ravi Heddo?)
Claus Valca's navigator and mechanic.
- Alvis Hamilton (Αλβις 'Αμιλτον) (アルヴィス・ハミルトン Aruvisu Hamiruton?)
Daughter of the Hamilton family, and key to the mystery of Exile.
The enigmatic captain of the infamous battleship Silvana of Genocide.
- Sophia Forrester (Σοφια Φορεστρ) (ソフィア・フォレスター Sofia Foresutaa?)
The Silvana's first officer, and future Empress of Anatoray.
- Tatiana Wisla (Τατιανα Φισλα) (タチアナ・ヴィスラ Tachiana Visura?)
The only child of "the proud and noble" Wisla house of Anatoray, and the Silvana's best fighter pilot.
- Alister Agrew (Αλιστρ Αγγρω) (アリスティア・アグリュー Arisutia Aguryuu?)
Tatiana Wisla's trusted confidant, best friend, and expert navigator.
- Dio Eraclea (Διο Ελακλαρ) (ディーオ・エラクレア Diio Erukurea?)
The younger brother of the most powerful Guild member, Maestro Delphine Eraclea.
- Mullin Shetland (Μαλην Σετλανδ) (モラン・シェトランド Moran Shetorando?)
Nineteen-year-old rifleman and mechanic aboard the Silvana.
- Dunya Scheer (Δωνια Σερ) (デゥーニャ・シェーア Duunya Sheea?)
A soldier from Disith who fights with Anatory against the Guild.
Member of the Guild and personal bodyguard to Dio Eraclea.
- Maestro Delphine Eraclea (Δελβινε Ελακλαρ) (マエストロ・デルフィーネ・エラクレア Maesutoro Derufiine Erakurea?)
Leader of the Guild, and older sister to Dio Eraclea.
- Vincent Alzey (Βινξεντ Αρδαι) (ヴィンセント・アルツアイ Vinsento Arutsuai?)
Captain of the Urbanus, and friend to Alex and Sophia.
[edit] Episode list
There are twenty-six (26) episodes of Last Exile in all. There is a common pattern behind most of the titles. All but two of the titles in the series refer to certain chess moves, which often represent the actions taken by the characters in the episodes. Each opening sequence, where the title is displayed, has a closed book with a picture of a map of Prester. The title of the book is "λαστ εξιλε ιν τηε βοττλε." That is, "last exile in the bottle."
| Episode Number | Episode Title | Episode Number | Episode Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | First Move | 14 | Etude Lavie |
| 2 | Luft Vanship | 15 | Fairy Chess |
| 3 | Transpose | 16 | Breakthrough |
| 4 | Zugzwang | 17 | Making Material |
| 5 | Positional Play | 18 | Promotion Sophia |
| 6 | Arbiter Attack | 19 | Sicilian Defense |
| 7 | Interesting Claus | 20 | Grand Stream |
| 8 | Take Back | 21 | Rook Dio |
| 9 | Calculate Alex | 22 | Queen Delphine |
| 10 | Swindle | 23 | Castling Lucciola |
| 11 | Develop | 24 | Sealed Move |
| 12 | Discovered Attack | 25 | Quiet Move |
| 13 | Isolated Pawn | 26 | Resign |
[edit] The Mysterion
The Mysterion (This is called the Mysteria in some translations.) is the key to opening Exile. It is a set of four questions and responses, which, when spoken aloud near Exile, will cause it to transform into its true form. Each one of these questions was entrusted to one of four noble Guild houses, three of which who have been either eradicated or ejected from the Guild over the years. Only special individuals of these houses - such as Alvis Hamilton - can speak the answers to the Mysterion. The power generated by these individuals while they are in their Mysterion trance can disrupt energy reactions, including causing flames to suddenly explode, complex machinery to act strangely, and Claudia-engines to overload. Here are the Mysterion, in the order spoken by Claus Valca and Alvis Hamilton:
House Eraclea's Mysterion
- Poem: What lies beyond the furthest reaches of the sky?
- Alvis: That which will lead the lost child back to its mother's arms: Exile.
House Dagobert's Mysterion
- Poem: The waves that stain the land in gold.
- Alvis: The breath of blessing that nurtures life: A Land of Wheat.
House Bassianus' Mysterion
- Poem: The path upon which the angels walk.
- Alvis: You are the path of great winds: The Grand Stream.
House Hamilton's Mysterion
- Poem: What lies beyond the furthest reaches of memory?
- Alvis: The place where all were born and to where all will return: A Blue World.
The Mysterion also appear to be influenced by the poem Some Last Questions by W.S. Merwin as both poems have the same pattern of question followed by answer.
[edit] Theme songs
Opening
- "Cloud Age Symphony" by Shuntaro Okino
Ending
- "Over the Sky" by Hitomi Kuroishi
[edit] 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 probably 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. Hamilcar was the father of Carthaginian general and military mastermind Hannibal. Hannibal is historically noted for his excellent battlefield strategy (drawing parallels to the themes of chess within Last Exile) and his campaigns against the Roman Empire (much like Claus' struggle against the forces of the Guild, a similarly powerful and vast empire).
- This is the second of two GONZO anime in consecutive years in which Kuwatani Natsuko, Morikawa Toshiyuki, and Nagata Ryoko voiced characters. The three voiced characters in Kiddy Grade in 2002. (Coincidently, in Kiddy Grade, the three seiyuu voiced characters on the same side as well, with Natsuko as Tweedledee, Toshiyuki as Cesario and Ryoko as Eclair - in Last Exile, she voiced Winna Lightning, the sonar officer onboard the Silvana.)
- The name "agoon" from the Trial of Agoon comes from the ancient Greek word meaning test or fight: αγών.
- Episodes 7 and 20 are the only episodes whose titles do not refer to chess terms.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
Official Links
Reviews
- Last Exile at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
- AnimeNfo
- Review on THEMAnime
- Interlaced - soundtrack review
