Boobirt Stylish but barely mediocre overall

Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.

FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

TaryBiggBall It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

Tweekums I bought this knowing little about it, I just liked the look of the artwork and the price. When I started to watch the first disc I knew that I'd made a good purchase. One is immediately thrown into the action as we see the Silvana, a giant aerial battleship engaging a fleet of enemy ships. The next scene introduces the two main characters; young pilot Claus and his Navigator Lavie who are working on their aircraft. The planes in the world of Last Exile aren't like ours, they lack wings but gain lift from a chemical called claudia. Thankfully the series doesn't dwell on the technology the viewer just has to accept that this is how things are in this world.Initially Claus and Lavie fly as couriers, this all changes when they see another vanship crash and agree to complete the dying pilot's mission. This is to deliver a young girl called Alvis to the Silvana. While on board the ship is engaged in battle and they end up staying on board. From then on they get into adventures with the Silvana and her crew as they confront various opponents and find out what makes Alvis so special and why the mysterious Guild is so keen to get their hands on her.There are three main groups in this series; the nations of Anatoray (where our heroes come from) and Disith seem to be in perpetual battle using ships which use technology provided by the Guild. The ships themselves look more like early battleships than aircraft as they lumber through the sky engaging each other with cannons and soldiers armed with muskets.While the series looks great its real strength lies in its large cast of interesting characters, not all of whom are quite what they seem at first and some of whom won't survive till the end. Everybody will have they own favourite characters, after Claus and Lavie my favourite was Lord Dio, a young Guild pilot who befriends our two heroes after being impressed by Claus's flying.These comments are based on watching the series in Japanese with English subtitles.

Douglas The truly interesting thing with Last Exile is how it has stolen from everything imaginable. So much so that it has to be on purpose. Plot points from Robotech, style from everything by Miyazaki san, ideas coming everywhere from Tenchi Muyo to Speed Racer, and characters from all the venerable old classics. (Could Alex be more Captain Harlock? Could Alvis be more Sasami? I defy you to argue this.) I could go on and on and on about the things this stole. Even a fighter scene right out of Return of the Jedi. Unbelievable!But it does it all so well.I couldn't have enjoyed this more. Most of the CGI animation is very seamlessly integrated with the Cell animation in a way that they seem to get better at every year. Even if stolen the story is interesting and draws you in. I truly care about each of the characters and most of them are fairly multi- dimensional (at least as far as Anime standards go.)I highly recommend this. Particularly if you have an extensive Anime background and can look for all the references. On the down side I think there were way too many female characters, which is about standard for this kind of Anime. Also, there are a few CGI scenes that I don't think look good enough for a series of this high quality. Minor complaints.Don't rent the first DVD if your video rental place doesn't have the complete set. You will be extremely frustrated when you realize that you simply MUST watch the whole series right away!

scoopernicus@yahoo.com My girlfriend and I caught this series on 'Tech TV' during a Sunday marathon. We were drawn to the compelling story line, Intelligent characters and fantastic visuals. We were so drawn that we went out and found it on DVD at a good video store so we could watch it again.It does bear a passing resemblance to "Castle in the Clouds", but with a more 'grown-up' sensibility. It's a shame episodes 14 through 26 will not be available to be shown on TV until next year, it's going to be a long wait.Tech TV has previews of the various episodes if you want to take a closer look.Update: Saw the last 13 episodes, and the pace of the series grows more relentless until the tension is almost unbearable for the last four episodes. Excellent story arc, and some very affecting tragedy at the end. Strongly recommended to any interested in a good story, strong characters, and inheritable visuals should check this series out.

Mo Azmi Last Exile is a unique piece of art. The show showcases the events in a (fantastic and very original) world almost torn apart by fully organized battles gone wrong. The animation is top-notch while the dramatic score really moves you in on the action scenes, which, as intense as they can get, really have more than just an ordinary conclusion to them. I simply loved the way characters were introduced and how they all developed over the episodes. In fact they developed well even over the course of one episode. Plus the dialogue isn't just rubbish to rush the plot along, but rather it is well-crafted and thought provoking during several conversations. Overall this anime series really goes to show what you can achieve by putting together wonderful characters and story to match with its great, almost epic, animation (which is the best I've seen in any anime to date). Score: 10/10