What is so great about Last Exile?
I am 11 episodes into the series and I do not understand what the big fuss is about this series. To describe my feelings towards this series in the simplest way; its boring.
When I first decided to watch this series I sort of forgot that this was a show by Gonzo and when I recalled this fact once more, I started to somewhat understand why I am not liking this anime. I have never been much of a fan of Gonzo productions because they are always very boring and even if they might give you thousands of action scenes throughout they almost always do not know how to portray these scenes in an entertaining way. And they use these dull action scenes to cover up the fact that they do not really have much of a plot behind their episodes.
From a friend I learned that the character designs are by Murata who has a very peculiar look to his designs, but actually make them very beautiful. The character designs are probably the best part of the series, but just as Gonzo loves to do, there is still a lot of CG animation being used very frequently. This CG is also by no means seamless and instead gives the show an uglier look than it could have been. I at least like the opening in all this, just because I actually like the song and it manages to give off the expectation that this series could have been good.
In terms of the characters, I once again wander in the bin of boring. Lavie should be interesting, but every time she shows more than one side to her they just prevent it from further being discussed and she drops that attitude behind to go back to her figurative one dimensional self. An example of this is when she was showing tons of dislike and jealousy towards Al and just wanted to go home, but one episode later all was forgiven and her real home was not even a thought on her mind. Al is adorable so I do not mind too much whatever she does and from what I can tell at the end of episode 11, she is finally going to become more interesting. Claus is just the true definition of boring, he means nothing to me and I can never feel much sympathy for him. The only character I actually really like is Dio, who is by far the most entertaining and funniest aspect of this series. I approve of him at least.
I am going to finish this series because I feel like it is only right this far in and with episode 11 showing some sort of promise towards the plot, the show may become better from now till the end. I still do not see why so many love this series, so to the fans I hope you can explain to me what I am missing out on while watching this.
chii says:
February 7th, 2010 at 3:43 pm
i found Lavie to be an annoying character when she was being a jealous.. *** At least you like Dio though
he is by far one of the best characters in the series ^_^
chii´s last blog ..The Gundam Universe
Poro says:
February 7th, 2010 at 4:53 pm
WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Tower of Druaga was epic! :[ A masterpiece. I don’t know Gonzo that well either but one thing is for sure. Tower of Druaga is epic
karry says:
February 7th, 2010 at 5:59 pm
anime fans LOOOOOOVE overhyping mediocrity. Last Exile, Eureka7, Suzumiya Haruhi, Gurren-Lagann…the list goes on.
digitalboy says:
February 7th, 2010 at 8:07 pm
Don’t finish it. Why would you do that? You obviously don’t like the show, it’s just going to make you like it even less, and more likely waste time you could spend watchign something you actually do like.
I beg you, please drop the show.
radiant says:
February 7th, 2010 at 10:05 pm
I’ve had this series in my backlog for a while now too actually. Was thinking of watching it at some point in time. My friends tell me it’s really good too. You’re the first person to say it’s not, so I’ll approach the series with a bit of caution and lowered expectation when I do watch it.
Also, gonna keep in mind that this is an older series now, so the art, especially the CG, may seem dated.
radiant´s last blog ..Random Photos
tekky99 says:
February 7th, 2010 at 10:06 pm
Yeah, if you’re not liking it 11 episodes in, I’d say drop it.
For myself, I loved the setting as well as the creativity and sheer imagination required to make an anime like it.
tekky99´s last blog ..The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (2009): Episode 2-9
AstroNerdBoy says:
February 7th, 2010 at 10:46 pm
I haven’t watched this in a long time, but I remember being captivated by the beauty of the art/animation. I liked the idea of flying dreadnoughts and planes without wings. I may have to break out my DVD’s again and rewatch the thing for one of my “Back to the Vaults” blog entries.
Janette says:
February 9th, 2010 at 4:03 pm
Honestly, this is a series that you either love immediately, or don’t get into it. For myself, I love the art and the ships.
But out of three people who watched the first few episodes together, I was the only one who enjoyed it.