The Last Exile - The Complete Series Boxed Set

LIMITED EDITION BOX SET CONTAINS: • Vol. 1: First Move; Vol. 2: Positional Play; Vol. 3: Discovered Attack; Vol. 4: Breakthrough; Vol. 5: Grand Stream; Vol. 6: Queen Delphine; Vol. 7: Sealed Move – IN A COLLECTOR'S BOX! • Limited edition mouse pad (OUTSIDE THE BOX) • Limited edition figurine (OUTSIDE THE BOX)

Set consists of the following titles:

LAST EXILE: VOLUME 1: FIRST MOVE

Japan's top anime creators bring a richly romantic action/adventure fantasy in an imaginary planet where retro-futuristic sky vehicles permeate the skies. Against this lavish background are the lives of young and heroic van ship sky porters – Claus and Lavie – who are forced to take on the mission to deliver a mysterious girl, Alvis, to the battle ship Silvana. Before they know it, they become entangled in an aerial adventure between two countries griped in an eternal war of magnificent air battleships. DVD EXTRAS:  Non-Credit Opening  Original Japanese Opening  Promotion Trailer  Staff Interview (Mahiro Maeda)  Art Gallery  Pioneer Previews
LAST EXILE: POSITIONAL PLAY: VOL. 2 Claus and Lavie deliver Alvis to the airship Silvana's captain, Alex Row. But much to Claus' anger, Alex Row accepts Alvis inhumanely into the Silvana and leaves the duo and their damaged ship behind. Claus and Lavie fly to the Silvana to retrieve Alvis, but the airship is savagely attacked by Guild-controlled, star-shaped vessels. Claus and Lavie are forced to take on the attackers with a borrowed Silvana vanship. The Silvana is severely damaged. Dio Eraclea of the Guild flagship notices Claus' unusual flying talents and vows to have a duel with him. More than ever, Claus and Lavie realize they are wrapped up in the mysterious conspiracies of war controlled by the omnipotent Guild. DVD SPECIAL FEATURES:  Non-Credit Ending  Original Japanese Ending  Commercial Collections  Art Gallery  Geneon Animation Previews
LAST EXILE: DISCOVERED ATTACK: VOL. 3 Claus and Lavie participate in an eight-hour endurance vanship race, and are joined by Dio Eraclea who tries to befriend Claus. Tatiana also participates in the race, but she is actually on a secret mission under Alex Row's direction. In the meantime, Alex row bids for the mysterious "Exile Dorr" at a black market auction, but he is forced to withdraw from the bidding by the Guild. The Exile Door ends up in the hands of Delphine, the supreme leader of the Guild. And it becomes increasingly apparent that Alvis Hamilton is the key to the Exile. DVD SPECIAL FEATURES:  LAST EXILE Exhibition in Tokyo, Art Gallery and Geneon Animation Previews
LAST EXILE: BREAKTHROUGH: VOL. 4 Claus and Tatiana are thrown together to fly a vanship to defend Silvana from a massive attack orchestrated by Anatoray, and Tatiana begins to confide in Claus when the two make an emergency landing. Sophia, who is revealed to be of royal lineage, leaves Silvana, and inherits a leading role in the Anatoray army. And Claus discovers through an old photograph the secret relationship between his vanship, his and Lavie's deceased fathers, Captain Alex Row and the Grand Stream, all of which leads us closer to the meaning of the Exile. DVD SPECIAL FEATURES:  LAST EXILE Exhibition in Tokyo  Art Gallery  GENEON Animation Previews
LAST EXILE: GRAND STREAM: VOLUME 5 Claus and Lavie's fathers died attempting to cross the Grand Stream to deliver a message from Anatoray to Disith. Empress Sophia obtains a copy of the original message and discovers it suggested the two empires join forces to defeat the Guild and obtain peace in the skies! However, to defeat the Guild, one must take possession of the Exile, so Empress Sophia plans to command the Silvana to cross the turbulent Grand Stream to locate the Exile. Can they accomplish this dangerous feat within the critical six days? DVD SPECIAL FEATURES:  Textless Opening Version  Art Gallery  Geneon Animation Previews
LAST EXILE: QUEEN DELPHINE: VOL. 6 Claus and Dio return to the Silvana from their vanship expedition to search for the Exile, only to find that the Silvana has been hijacked by the Guild. Delphine takes Alvis, Claus and Alex Row hostage and transports them to the Guild ship. Delphine attempts to lure Alex to provide all the mysterions open Exile gateway. Dio is declared the official successor of his sister Delphine after he is forced to partake of a series of rite of passage ceremonies. DVD SPECIAL FEATURES:

 Art Gallery and Geneon Animation Previews
LAST EXILE: SEALED MOVE: VOL. 7 With Luciola's help, Claus, Alvis and Dio escape the Guild ship while Delphine continues to hold Alex Row hostage and tortures him. Anatoray and Disith continue to wage an all-out war against the Guild and many sacrifice their lives attempting to prevent Delphine from gaining complete control of the Exile. Under Sophia's orders, Claus, Lavie and Alvis fly through the Grand Stream toward the Exile to complete their final mission in this heart-pounding conclusion! DVD SPECIAL FEATURES:  Geneon Previews

Simply Wonderful!

Are you ready to embark on a breathtaking journey? I sure was and "Last Exile" delivered on its promise and then some! I'm always in the market for something good and creative. Personally I am not so concerned if it has similar story elements, such as a group of friends overcoming great odds or saving the world, as long as the world they are put in is very creative and seeing how they interact in that world... it's just a lot of fun for me to enjoy. One of the most amazing creative forces of the human psyche is our ability to create worlds, worlds that are sometimes anything like our own. I want something new to explore and products like "Last Exile" or games like Mass Effect provide that for me in a huge way! That being said the art and elements are beautiful to behold in this series.

Meet Claus and Lavie, two young Vanship pilots that are about to embark on the grandest journey of their lives. They've been good friends since they were just kids and they were taught to fly Vanships from their parents. All they've ever wanted to do was fly the skies. To make money they would be couriers for special messages and as they got better they would take messages with a higher danger rating for a better rate of pay. One day a seven star danger rating suddenly falls in their hands in the guise of a little girl named Alvis. Unbeknownst to them their destiny was so much more than they ever believed and their cargo so much more precious! This is their journey of how they wound up on the Sylvana with her quiet captain Alex and would then be caught in the middle of a fight for freedom against The Guild and their leader Delphine. As you can see this is a pretty in depth tale with a great deal of character development. I think it's a testament of the writers to expertly craft in this much character development amidst such an engrossing story line.

Once you get pulled into the world of "Last Exile" you don't want to stop watching, nor do you ever really want to leave. You feel like you're on the journey with each and every character, involved to the bitter end, which is tragic for some. I was especially disappointed with Dio's tragedy. He was one of my favorite characters, he was so eccentric and somewhat out of place that he just belonged. I did like all the other characters in this though, they all just worked so well that you actually wanted to join in and be a part of the Sylvana's crew as well. Their journey focuses on a single goal to find a very special ship called Exile. This ship will apparently allow them either salvation... or if The Guild gets a hold of it, it will only enable them to tighten their grip even more! I guess the one part I would've liked the show to delve into more was about Exile's origins and the origins of the land they're in. Judging by the ending, there's a lot more to the story than what we only see. Which just leads me to more questions about how The Guild came to have such great power?

I have this great theory about how the people got in this very strange world. If you notice all the writing is using Ancient Greek characters. It might not all be the correct words, but it does inspire me to try and figure out what happened to these people. I think in ancient times they ended up somehow getting out to this different part of the universe and their entire culture developed independently. This would explain why the language doesn't appear to evolve much beyond where it was long ago. It also explains the development of all this technology as well. Well it's just a theory, but I just might be right!

"Last Exile" is a wonderful fantasy story mixed in with definite science fiction themes. For the most part it stays away from being a total science fiction story. It's based around flying air ships that are more akin to those that float in the water than what you would see for space ships. It's not a wholly new concept; I mean Gulliver's Travels had a sort of similar concept. Some of the armies even use British fighting tactics where they stand in a line on the deck of the ship and just fire at the enemies! When that line falls, the next steps up. "Last Exile" has a TON of influences from all over the spectrum. If anything I've mentioned thus far seems very intriguing then I would say don't hesitate to try this out! This particular edition came with a small figurine of Alvis and a mouse pad, but the best part was the booklets in the DVD cases. There are seven DVD's and each came with a fold open detailed schematic of the different ships. Unfortunately this doesn't cover ALL the ship designs we find in "Last Exile" which was a little disappointing, but I wasn't expecting to get any of these at all! So it was quite a pleasant surprise. What do you say? Ready to take a ride with Claus and Lavie on their Vanship? July 18, 2008

Nice for teens and young adults

I know I am in the minority but I was not impressed by this series. My main beef is that all of the crucial characters are under 19 years of age with the exception of Capitain Rowe who was only 28, so you have to suffer through alot of teen and young adult angst and shallowness which was quite annoying. There just seemed a lack of depth that you tend to get with older more experienced characters. I know this is the Japanese obsession with youth but after awhile you want to slap them upside their heads. The animation is pretty good. They were especially adept at combining the CGI and traditional animation techniques. The general plot of "world in turmoil, world saved by 'special' child" is typical anime. It is entertaining however I would not recommend spending $150 on it. It is nothing new. Rent instead. May 9, 2008

Quick overview

A story of growth and adventure. Two friends are also flying buddies in a world where flight is the main form of transport. They take on a difficult mission that lands them into the thick of a great war. As they struggle to stay alive, they meet new friends and learn how to cope with their own choices. February 12, 2008

Graphically brilliant....buuut...

Last Exile is a beautiful series, many of its bulky wingless flying machines, some inspired by 50's aircraft, including the silver monster flown by the main characters. But before the first floating battleship rumbles onto the screen, you will find yourself doubting their depth. In a steampunk world pleasantly reminiscent of Skies of Arcadia, they seem remarkably similar to, not only Vyse and Aika, but almost every animé combo out there. Klaus is the "shy sensitive boy with the tough streak and a see-it-through-attitude", where as Lavie is the opposite, and AL is the generic "little girl with probable superpowers who has to be protected but who will win the day".
And, unfortunately, even with the amazing budget and the beautifully ugly flying machines, it is in the generic characters (Though one or two stand out), underdeveloped plot, and lack of anything to help you understand either, where Exile falls down. Few characters have any back-story, the musketeers never really have any fathomable purpose, even after the shackles of the corrupt guild are removed. The skulduggery surrounding the big race is unexplained and seemingly pointless.

I would love to have given this series raves, but I just can't. Even though it is beautiful. And it has its moments. And the designs are faultless. And even though it is six DVDs long. They didn't manage to make what could have been a great series.
February 1, 2008

Great Anime!

Ok... first of all, the muh-roon that rated this dvd series with only "1 star" must be high on crack... I recently bought the "Range Murata Complete Set" and I gotta say, this is a BEAUTIFUL anime series. The artwork on each dvd case are equally beautiful.

Although I wouldn't go as far as call it a "perfect" anime, it's definitely a beautifully done show. It maintained its quality and consistency throughout the series. I'm a character animator, so I'm especially sensitive to spotting inconsistencies in an animated show. There are times when you can detect the cg elements, but overall everything feels right.

There are some especially neat touches that make it a great anime... One being that their written language uses Greek alphabets and Roman numerals. The others are small details that really sell the characters such as having to boil their drinking water, cranking the engines to start their vehicles, keeping an eye on fuel levels while operating their vehicles, having limited resources during missions, etc.

Obviously, anime isn't for everyone just like many movies/shows; Some people like "Heroes" while others prefer soap operas... If you hate a thing, IT JUST AIN'T FOR YOU.

I personally recommend this to animation fans. If you never watched anime before or aren't particularly into them, don't bother. January 19, 2008

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