Last Exile
Last Exile is an anime series produced in 2003 and created by Gonzo Digimation, the same studio responsible for works such as Blue Submarine No. 6, Full Metal Panic! and Hellsing.
The story revolves around Claus Valca and Lavie Head, a young courier pilot and his navigator, and their adventures in the floating world of Prestor. In this romantic sky world, two countries, Anatoray and Disith, are engaged in a war under the constant supervision of the mysterious Guild. Claus and Lavie, piloting their vanship (a plane-like machine) find themselves involved in a plot surrounding a mysterious little girl named Alvis Hamilton, whom they must deliver as "cargo" to the much-feared neutral battleship Silvana.
The animation features a combination of 2-D and 3-D CGI sequences and several key staff members (like the character designer Range Murata and Gonzo veteran Mahiro Maeda) also worked on the production of Blue Submarine No. 6.
Major Characters
Template:Spoiler Claus Valca: a 15 year-old vanship pilot working for the Norkia Vanship Organization. His navi (navigator) is Lavie Head with whom he also shares a deep friendship with since childhood. Claus is no stranger to the vanship courier lifestyle, having been born into it and raised for the lifestyle by his late father Hamilcar (much like navi George Head and Lavie). Their fathers died while attempting to cross the "Grand Stream" on a mission that would have brought peace to Prestor. After this and his mother's death, Claus follows in his father's steps throughout his childhood and early adolescence and becomes a top-notch pilot. He is very focused on his job and makes sure the mission is finished each time. Claus is protective of both Lavie and their "cargo" Alvis Hamilton. With their vanship damaged, he is in a sense forced to stay on the Silvana.
Lavie Head: also 15 years old and is Claus' navi and vanship mechanic. The moody, outspoken redhead is proud of her lineage as seen in her protectiveness of her vanship which is thought to have belonged to their fathers. Unlike Claus, she is relatively reluctant to stay on the Silvana and favors the freedom of the vanship lifestyle. She abhors the use of vanships for military purposes, and deplores Claus's interest in becoming a combat pilot. Along with her friendly nature, she can hold grudges with others. Her feelings for Claus are obviously conflicted. She treats Claus mostly like a dear friend and sibling, sometimes acts the part of nagging but caring wife, insofar as she cooks for him and rustles him out of bed. She seems to have repressed romantic feelings for Claus, however, judging by the somewhat angry jealously she feels when Tatiana Wisla starts showing an interest in Claus.
Alvis Hamilton: "Al" is a peculiar 11-year old child and "the cargo." She is targeted by the Guild and it becomes apparent that she is the "key to Exile." Her nurse, Gita, and the pilot who was commissioned to transport her, Ralph Wednesday, were killed as a result of the Guild's pursuit. Claus and Lavie take up the mission and successfully complete it. Al does not know of her importance, but learns of it while under the care of the Silvana.
Alex Rowe: About 28 years old and is the enigmatic captain of the infamous battleship Silvana. He is given the responsibility of protecting Alvis from the Guild. He has an outwardly cold facade that seems unemotional, but some of his past is revealed by the middle of the series. In general, his past is marked by tragedy and is also one that intersects with both Claus and Lavie. He is a graduate of the Anatoray Officer's Academy like several characters in the series, but he is now independent of both Anatoray and Disith because of events not directly approached in the series. Due to this and the Silvana not being in the service of either nation, his ship's actions are directly his orders. He is also a master strategist in many contexts outside of warfare.
Sophia Forrester: About 19 years old, she is the Silvana's first officer, holding the title Vice-Captain. Another graduate of the Anatoray Officer's Academy, she is one of the few people Alex trusts and is often seen in him leaving command of the ship to her when he is out of the ship to pursue his agenda. It becomes apparent that she has special feelings for Alex and sometimes reveals too much, much to Rowe's chagrin in his sometimes snarky comments to her. Sophia is of royal heritage and the daughter of the Anatoray emperor. At times in the series, she feels that she is unloved, both by Rowe's visible actions to her and her father's response to her when she returns to the capital city. She commands the deep respect of the whole Silvana crew.
Tatiana Wisla: Tatiana is the only child of the proud and noble Wisla house of Anatoray. At the age of about 15 or 16, Tatiana left home permanently to become a member of the newly-formed Anatoray Military Vanship Corps, a new military division dedicated to using vanships as weapons as opposed to just couriers and transports. She excelled in both piloting and dogfighting, quickly becoming one of the best vanship pilots in the sky, possibly second only to Alex Rowe. She sends all the extra money she makes as an ace pilot back to her family so that her mother can care for her ailing father. Before too long, she found herself on the Silvanna as Rowe's handpicked wing commander for his small vanship fighter fleet. She pilots a twin-engine vanship fighter which she painted red to distinguish herself from the other pilots as well as all other vanships in the sky. With her trusted friend, confidant, and navi, Alister, she quickly becomes one of the most dreaded forces in the sky next to the Silvanna herself, for which the techs onboard the Silvanna start calling her the "princess". Her cold demeanor manages to alienate even her close friend Alister, who elects to fly with Claus Valca as his Navi for a time, as a rebuke to Tatiana (and because Lavie does not want to fly any more combat missions). She is second-best to no one in her own mind, but this stone-cold lifestyle quickly comes crashing down around her when she meets Claus, who turns out to possibly be a better pilot than she. From then on, her feelings toward Claus goes on a roller coaster, making her feel anger, disgust, awe, respect, fear, and even attraction to the young vanship pilot. Her frosty aloofness is clearly a self-defensive facade; She suffers a mental breakdown of sorts after getting shot down over the desert, but recovers, and from that time she begins to show a greater depth of feeling, especially towards Claus.
Alister Agrew: "Alis" is Tatiana's trusted confidant, best friend, and expert navi. By nature, she is a very quiet, reserved, and otherwise unflappable, reacting very little to even the strangest of circumstances. Her only reactions are shown in the way she carries herself, and the quickest way to earn her loyalty is to not dismiss her and act like she is not around. By her behavior, it is clear that she is a consumate professional, just like Tatiana, which professes to why they work so well together. However, she is far more than that, but will do nothing to prove it outright. She has displayed unfathomable respect for Tatiana, a strange attraction to Claus, and even motherly behavior towards Al.
Dio Eraclea: (16years old/male) The son of the most powerful person in the Guild. People see him as a rare find that will someday take over the Guild. He is fearless, and is able to drag others to match his pace. He find extraordinary talent in Claus's vanship piloting, and from when he wished to go against Claus in the Horizon Cave Eight vanship race, he starts to have strong interactions with the main characters. Brother of Maestro Delphine, the most powerful Guild member. He is very playful, and treats many things like they were games. His first appearance in the series is marked by a chess-match with close-friend Lucciola and with the Guild's power and surveillance, watches the skies of a skirmish between Guild ships searching for Alvis and the Silvana. His weird nature can be seen in his awe of Claus' skills and gives him the nickname "Immelman" (referring to the World War I German ace, Max Immelmann). His kooky nature is mostly due to the Guild lifestyle and fear of sister Delphine.
Mullin Shetland: A 19-year-old rifleman on the battleship Claimh Solais, which is the flagship of the Anatoray fleet. He has fought in 19 battles and needs only two more survivors medals (received from surviving a battle) to stop being a rifleman. 1/3 of the way through the series he joins the Silvanna and becomes a mechanic servicing the vanships. He has a brief crush on vanship Captain Tatiana Wisla but soon forgets about it realizing the futility of it as he moves on to other things. Around the end he leaves the Silvanna to train again as a rifleman in a secret joint operation to take back their battleship's Claudia engines and free the world of the Guild. At this time he meets Dunya from the Disith fleet also involved in the operation, he and Dunya fall in love with each other, climaxing in Mullin asking Dunya to go on the same ship together. Dunya accepts and the operation to take back the ship's Claudia unit. The operation ends with Mullin taking the unit back, but being gravely wounded in the process. In the final scene he appears to have married Dunya and had a son, he lives on a farm with the rest of the Silvana's crew.
Episode List
There are twenty-six (26) episodes of Last Exile in all. There is a common pattern behind most of the titles. Most of the titles in the series refer to certain Chess moves, which often represent the actions taken by the characters in the episodes.
- First Move
- Luft Vanship
- Transpose
- Zugzwang
- Positional Play
- Arbiter Attack
- Interesting Claus
- Takeback
- Calculate Alex
- Swindle
- Develop
- Discovered Attack
- Isolated Pawn
- Etude Lavie
- Fairy Chess
- Breakthrough
- Making Material
- Promotion Sophia
- Silican Defense
- Grand Stream
- Rook Dio
- Queen Delphine
- Castling Luciola
- Sealed Move
- Quiet Move
- Resign