Last Exile #2: Positional Play (DVD)
APPROX. 100 MINS. - PROD. YEAR: 2003 - MPA RATING: MA13
" I think what the show could really use is some character development, particularly for Claus and Lavie.
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The second disc in the "Last Exile series" contains four episodes, "Positional Play", "Arbiter Attack", "Interesting Claus", and "Takeback". Although the first disc did not do much in terms of defining a central plot, this second volume does a better job in that department.
The previous volume ended on a rather substantial cliff hanger. Claus and Lavie were fighting a robot from the Guild over their passenger, a girl named Alvis. That conflict is resolved within about the first five seconds of the first episode on this disc, which I thought was a little abrupt. Coming to Claus and Lavie´s rescue is none other than the fellow I thought was a copy of Space Pirate Captain Harlock. Although this person is also the captain of a ship, his name is actually Alex Row.
Claus and Lavie were contracted to deliver Alvis to the independent ship, Silvana, but Claus doesn´t trust the look of the crew. At this point, the plot starts to come in focus a little— the goings on of the Silvana are a big piece of the puzzle. Without really making it official, Claus and Lavie join the crew after they try to make sure that Alvis will be safe.
The mysterious Guild starts to take up more screen time as well. For unknown reasons, the Guild seems to be chasing Alvis. A Guild member, named Lord Dio, takes an interest in Claus for his inspired vanship piloting technique. However, any of the real whys and wherefores of the Guild´s motivations remain a secret.
The world of "Last Exile" is definitely a visual treat. It seems to consist of floating chunks of land in a sea of clouds. While there are personal vanships to get around in, there are also massive air ships. Some airships belong to the armies of various nobles. Overall, an Emperor appears to be in charge of the non-Guild humans.
Equally as mysterious is the one airship that does not seem to belong to any particular nation-state, the Silvana. The crew doesn´t have any overt loyalty to any one lord, yet they performed a service for the Emperor. A pushy noble, not knowing who they were, dismissively called the crew of the Silvana mercenaries. However, his scorn turned to fear when he learned who they really were.
How does it all add up? The answer is, it´s too early to tell. Although there was some plot exposition, there are still more mysteries than answers. I think what the show could really use is some character development, particularly for Claus and Lavie.
Video:
The video aspect ratio is anamorphic 1.78:1 (full-screen on 16:9 monitors). The colors and quality is absolutely perfect. I was surprised to see the video aspect ratio, as that ratio is usually reserved for films. When it comes to films, they use a wider aspect ration because the screen is larger, and your eyes can focus on objects that are wider than tall. For TV, the screens are all pretty similar in size with respect to where you sit, so making the anime in a different screen ratio than the what the TV screen is results in empty space on the TV screen. In the end, the results depends on the directing of the feature. For "Last Exile", the aspect ratio is used to good effect, as wide shots are used to show off the spacious vistas of the fantasy world. Still, I can´t help but wonder if this decision was perhaps made to save money (the less screen spaced used, the less animation that has to be drawn).
