Last Exile 2 – Positional Play (Anime TV)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: B-     Extras: C-     Episodes: C+

 

 

One thing that has been true of Japanese Animé marketing is the nice packaging they have used since the 12” LaserDisc days.  This tradition has carried over to DVD, so when we got the case for Last Exile 2, it had nice artwork and even fancy silver-ink print.  The problem is, the still art is often nice in Animé, but getting it to move is another story.  Here, we get the overly soft white look that I have not been a fan of.

 

If that were not enough, most of the art is on the Disney cherub side and that hurts the show’s attempt to cross outer space battles with a touch of Japanese war tradition and the two World Wars.  The use of digital animation makes matters worse, not being so good itself, not sharing the soft white look, and not melding very well with the hand drawn work.  Then there is the storyline.

 

A couple of kids fly to the warship Silvana, which almost shoots them out of the air and to their deaths.  When they survive to make it, they are met with hostility, then suspicious cordialness.  This second set of episodes tries to establish something with intrigue, but it never gels.  The hero Alex Row is not the center of the story he should be, and the constant awkwardness becomes repetitive and eventually boring.  Director Kouichi Chigira just cannot make this work, though the logic of Animé might allow fans to give this many bys.  One of these days, I look forward to hearing what that is.

 

The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image is purposely plagued by the soft white look, which is a pretension for fans only.  Color quality varies from the original source, so the transfer is actually better than the result would let you see.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo has Pro Logic type surrounds in both the Japanese and English versions.  Not only do the Japanese tracks once again offer better fidelity, but the voice of the young girl in the English version is obnoxious and shrill beyond belief, making you not care what evil forces are out to get her, because the whining is too painful and overacted.  Extras include alternate end credits without text and in Japanese, 25 art frames of the shows, 5 ads for Last Exile CDs and DVDs, and four previews for other Geneon Anime DVD titles.

 

Perhaps part of the problem is that the show takes on too much Americana for its own good and does not know what it is or what to do with it.  We have had far too many post-Raiders of the Lost Ark American TV and feature films that had this problem.  However, more than just any cultural barrier, Last Exile takes the entire look and tries to hide its difficulties behind it.  This is meant for ages above 13, but treats history like the audience is 3.  You have to have at least some context, but for fans, just being Animé seems to be sufficient.  For the rest of us, it is better not to go there so there is nothing to “exile” from.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo