You know, I was about to put up this story of how this show may be more childish than the first season and how this was a bummer, but not necessarily a bad thing as long as it was handled well and all. And then this episode aired.
I’ll repeat myself here, but the key here to these shows that try to aim at a younger audience is whether or not the creators believe that kids are idiots. This episode showed that the creators understood that, and it was much better than the opening episode. It packed some gorgeous visuals, and the acting was also surprisingly solid. Even Fam showed that she can be serious when she needs to, which was really needed after the previous episode. This show still uses the fact that she’s an incredible pilot to put her in the spotlights, but for now, it’s believable enough (only just, though).
In any case though, this episode surprisingly made the plot a lot more intriguing when suddenly the princess got kidnapped and called down this gigantic moon thing that was supposed to be another Exile down to earth in order to blow everything up. The relationship between the two sisters was surprisingly genuine and well portrayed. Not to mention the girl suddenly losing her father. This really was the sign that this isn’t necessarily just a lighter version of Last Exile.
Also, the graphics. Before the start of this show, I knew that a lot of people had left Gonzo. The CG team however stayed, and it really shows in this series. Gonzo has always been un-rivalled in terms of CG. Not with combining CG with traditional 2D drawings, but in terms of CG foreground animation they were consistently putting out the best of the best in all sorts of innovative ways. Just look at the first Last Exile, Gankutsuou, Bokura no, Blassreiter and Shangri La. And they really plan to show that they still got it here. While it’s impossible to beat Guilty Crown in terms of sheer animation power this season, this series still looks gorgeous, and I’m actually willing to say that it has the most creative visuals of the entire season. The ship designs are all full of imagination, but also the way they’re used, the dogfights, the camera angles and the huge fleet battles. There’s a lot of stuff to see here to marvel at. On top of that the soundtrack also arrived and did a great job in creating its atmosphere.
Rating: ** (Excellent)]]>
Last Exile – Ginyoku no Fam – 02
It’s good to hear that this second episode builds on (and it sounds like improves on?) the first. I’m looking forward to it streaming (which I guess won’t happen for a few days yet, given that the first episode didn’t come up until 18 October).
Is that a serious Dio among your screencaps?
Yeah nice review, I’m so glad they followed through on upping the ante and demonstrating that when need be this show just like the first series can easily get to the same serious as well as occasionally darker moods. As I’d hoped this won’t necessarily be any lighter than the first, so glad to see this show deliver.
I actually don’t have a problem believing she can pilot that good (and Dio’s likely still the better pilot given Fam’s reaction to Dio’s immulman turn last ep, heh), since she’s already a member of the Sky Pirates I’d imagine she’s grown up with them and has been piloting for most of her young life (which is the only slight issue). She’s actually more qualified than Claus who was a courier prior to the start of the first series and I never had a problem believing his generally superior skills either.
Just like Tatiana did to Claus, when we finally see those vanship pilots in the OP I wouldn’t be surprised if we get some nice contrast and nuance to Fam’s excellent piloting skills versus their combat skills (though I wouldn’t be surprised if Fam can pick it up quicker than Claus since she’s clearly been through several battlefields before scavenging ships). 🙂
dmoo: Oh yeah it is indeed, Dio has a serious moment (so glad to see Dio’s indeed become his fully awesome self again with them know having shown both sides to him), he and the others definitely prove they knew when things were escalating enough to dial back and “get serious.”
Yeah, the 1st episode was ilke “what?” and this was like “whoa!”.
Dunno how it went over in JP but it seems like things would’ve been a lot smoother if they could’ve run the first 2 episodes back-to-back or done a 1 hour premiere episode.
The new Last Exile seem to have lost the ‘chivalry’ factor, which made the first Last Exile even more interesting.
There’s a lot of inconsistencies here if you watched the first series, but I’ll just do my best to see it as a new anime, not as a sequel
This series better explain this time how or why the princess reacts to the mysterias.
@Alex. The whole ‘chivalry’ factor is missing for a good reason. The first season was set in the artificial world Exile which was created as an escape ship for survivors of whatever happened to earth. To maintain order the Guild was created and they allowed the use of technology as they saw fit, most notably the Claudia drives. All battles had to take place under guild rules to avoid disturbing the balance. The conflict happened in Exile1 because the guild became corrupt and forgot it’s mission
In Exile 2 there is no such guild. We are back on earth with Exile having returned to earth (or at least commerce between earth and exile). So now the conflict appears to between those who stayed on earth and the returnees (i think).
@Scruffy: Yep, you’re right. I know remember that it was the case.
Still, that being said, I think the new Last Exile would be even more interesting if they’re still doing chivalric battles. I mean, in just a few years, people can’t possibly forget about chivalry. Then again, it can’t be helped since the antagonists of the new Last Exile seem to be remnants of the guild.
I’m just wondering why the remnants of the guild didn’t react when seeing Dio. I mean, he was next in line to Delphine’s throne.
I loved the First Last Exile, and I think I’ll love this one too, mainly because of the air battles and the ship designs. They’re fantastic, how often would we get to see this in anime? That’s what makes it so special.
Like everyone’s pointed out, this episode upped the ante, and leaves us with more questions and mysteries and I want to know what happens next.
Also Dio! It’s great that they have him, because he’s another factor that makes me feel invested in the anime. I do wonder how Ginyoku no Fam comes across to those who haven’t seen the first series.
On top of that we have a female flying ace MC. That’s fantastic, because most of these type of stories would have a male lead, although her character needs to be developed more.
The pacing in this series, so far, is perfect. So many things happened with no compromise AT ALL.
“I loved the First Last Exile, and I think I’ll love this one too, mainly because of the air battles and the ship designs. They’re fantastic, how often would we get to see this in anime? That’s what makes it so special.”
Man do I so agree with this. The setting/ship designs/air combat/musical identity combination of these two series really stands out and is one of my favorite and most memorable ever.
“On top of that we have a female flying ace MC. That’s fantastic, because most of these type of stories would have a male lead, although her character needs to be developed more.”
Agreed, it’s very cool. Yeah, I hope she gets the development she deserves to continue to elevate this show as ofcourse the characters were one of the things that was executed really well to make the first so memorable. There were some interesting subtle lines and reactions she had particularly in ep 2 that raise some interesting questions about her.
I will give this second episode a try, since you said the silliness goes away. That said, I was infinitely disappointed with the first episode. I couldn’t even watch it all the way through. It was a complete tone shift from the first series, which was much more like a drama. It had this serious dark tone that made it significantly better than this. I’ll give it a try though, because of the ringing endorsements here.
Yes this episode was much darker. And just soooo good 😀 The animation, the music,ahh! Now I have to check out the first series. I just….I just loved this, there are no words.