is a Japanese animated television series created by Gonzo. Directed by Koichi Chigira, with character designs by Range Murata and production design by Mahiro Maeda, the series first premiered on TV Tokyo on April 7, 2003 and ran for twenty-six episodes until its conclusion on September 29, 2003.

The series was licensed for English language broadcast and distribution in North America by Geneon Entertainment. Geneon premiered their English dubbed version of the series in TechTV's Anime Unleashed programming block in March 2004. The series ran until December 2004, when it ended with a full season marathon on Christmas Day. Geneon also aired the series on G4TechTV Canada, starting on July 22, 2007. The series is also licensed for English releases in the United Kingdom by ADV Films and in Australia by Madman Entertainment.

Plot

The story revolves around Claus Valca and Lavie Head, a young courier pilot and his navigator, and their adventures in the floating world of Prester. In this romantic sky world based on stylized Victorian fashion and society, two countries, Anatoray and Disith are engaged in a long and bloody war under the supervision of the mysterious Guild. Claus and Lavie, piloting their vanship (a small, stub-winged aircraft) 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 Mysteria

The Mysteria (singular Mysterion) are the key to opening Exile. They are a set of four questions and responses which, when spoken aloud near Exile, will cause it to transform into its true form. Each one of these questions was entrusted to one of four noble Guild houses. The houses of Dagobert, Hamilton, and Bassanius had been purged by House Eraclea. Only special individuals of these houses—such as Alvis Hamilton—can speak the answers to the Mysteria. The power generated by these individuals while they are in their Mysterion trance causes them to shine like spotlights and has remarkable effects on their surroundings—small flames will flare into bonfires, complex machinery (particularly Claudia engines) will overload, and all visible atmosphere will begin to swirl around the speaker like a low-powered hurricane.

Grand Stream

The Grand Stream is a fictional air current, continually rushing 120-knot(140 mph) storm that circles the center of the hour-glass shaped planet of Prester. The torrential storm always rages in the high altitudes of the skies of both Anatoray and Disith and is thought all but impassible – even giant capital ships must follow paths of relatively calm air current. If even a skilled pilot attempts to go into the torrents he has a great risk of getting lost, crashing, or being destroyed by the large hulking form of the Exile. Throughout the series, most believe attempting the crossing in a Vanship to be tantamount to suicide.

Prester

Prester is the world that serves as the principal setting of the series. The world of Prester (Prestale in the original Japanese) is divided up into two lands - Anatoray and Disith - and the only way of reaching one from the other is to cross the Grand Stream. Disith is all but completely undescribed within the series – all that is truly known of it is that due to a rapidly falling temperature akin to an ice age, its people are attempting to evacuate to Anatoray. It is Anatoray that serves as the primary setting of Last Exile. It is a monarchy, and its citizens have few complaints of its leadership. It is an arid, mountainous land well into its Industrial Revolution – steel and steam engines are common. Though it is plagued by drought, it is thus able to survive due to relatively well-developed water purification technology – though most settle for potable but obviously dirty groundwater. However, First Water (the purest available in Anatoray, what modern society would call common filtered drinking water) is still not beyond the means of most - they simply treat it as an extravagant commodity. Also, due to the presence of an ore known as Claudia, it is currently experiencing a Golden Age of Aviation in the form of heavier-than-air craft known as Vanships. As Anatoray's mountainous terrain is too dynamic for rail transport, these have become quite prevalent. Gas-lit beacons dot the landscape, and aerial refueling stations extend the range of Vanships across the land.

As the series starts, it is difficult to understand how the two lands of Anatoray and Disith can only be traveled between by flying high into the sky, entering the Grand Stream, and flying through a bottle-like hurricane out to the other side. In the last episode, when the great vessel Exile is finally found and used to dissipate the Grand Stream, we see that the planet itself is actually two smaller planets joined together into an hourglass shape, with each world facing the other. Once the skies are clear, anyone standing on the surface of either land can look up and faintly see the landscape of the other.

This is what the phrase written on the book at the beginning of every episode means:

λαστ εξιλε ιν τηε βοττλε
"last exile in the bottle"

The phrase is written in Greek letters, like all other text in the series, and refers to the fact that Prester is a world shaped like a bottle, or an hourglass. It has a narrow portion in the very middle, which is filled with the Grand Stream until the last episode, and it widens out at either end, and these ends contain the miniature planets that come to be called Anatoray and Disith.

The only time Prester is truly shown in this form is on the last episode when the cast looks out from the deck of Exile and sees Prester from outer space. Up until that point, the writers and art directors of the series had been playfully toying with revealing that fact by spreading the hourglass shape all over the series on various maps, icons, artwork, and royal emblems.

In the series, during the 11th episode, the character Alister uses a sextant to plot her position according to the stars. This is when she utters the phrase, "The stars have become unreliable." She is referring to the slow, spinning motion that the enormous hourglass-shaped world of Prester is making in the heavens, giving the stars an erratic pattern across the sky when viewed from Anatoray.

Vanship

A vanship is a type of flying machine from the animated series Last Exile. It is often referred to as a "flying boat" in that it does not fly by means of aerodynamics like planes do, but rather by floating on the air and propelling itself through the use of a substance known as Claudia. Claudia is a fluorescent blue ore mined on the floating world of Prester. It is processed into liquid Claudia fuel by dissolving small amounts of it in water – the more that is dissolved, the more potent the fuel. When this fuel is "burned" in a properly designed steam engine, it generates thrust, making it a steampunk reactionless drive.

Claudia is also the primary currency of Prester. A frugal person will spend less than 80 Claudia on room and board in a week. It is also potent—in its refined state, several billion Claudia is only a fist-sized stone.

Vanships in general prior to the events of Last Exile were couriers, traveling long distances to deliver cargoes (usually messages). Some Vanships thus include tools for towing solid objects. Any Vanship intended to dock with a capital ship has a set of cables to act as anchors. All couriers receive their jobs from their local "Vanship union", which assigns each a difficulty rating: one or two stars for most jobs, three for transport into a battle zone, etc. The transport of Alvis Hamiliton to the Silvana was set at seven stars due to the inevitable interference of the Guild, and the peace message intended for Disith had an unprecedented ten star rating, because it was considered impossible—it required a courier to cross the Grand Stream for the first time in Anatoray's history.

When not earning their keep as couriers, Vanship pilots often keep their skills sharp by racing. Many of these are rallies, taking place in towns, underground waterways and canyons. Racing Vanships are small and narrow with a single, high-powered thruster. Like any Vanship intended to achieve high speeds, they have stub wings, far too small themselves to provide lift. They simply act as mounts for ailerons to provide better steering, as pivoting the thruster would put undue stress on the assembly at high speeds. Racing Vanships are permitted to utilize "boosters" (akin to a supercharger in a race car).

Passenger or cargo Vanships are the largest that can be built by any save the Guild, and are approximately the size of a bus. As these are intended for efficiency instead of speed they have multiple thrusters and no ailerons, as sufficient control is achieved merely by pivoting their thrusters. The Silvana's transport Vanships have thrusters that fold onto the side for easier stowage.

Over the course of Last Exile, Vanships are adapted for combat. The process resembles the evolving roles that aircraft held during WW1; originally developed for scouting and surveillance, but eventually equipped with bombs and machine guns to become potent fightercraft.

The Vanship fighters of Anatoray have overpowered dual thrusters for acceleration and maneuvering. They are the only Vanships equipped with onboard weapons: a pair of 600 rpm machine guns with 200-round ammunition boxes, underside racks for carrying bombs, drop-pods, and external tanks to compensate for the lower fuel efficiency of the overpowered thrusters.

Claus and Lavie's Vanship is different from all the others in the series; light and fast with exceptional acceleration like a racer, but also equipped with a unique hardened, ribbed hull. At the beginning of the series, Claus and Lavie lack the funds to fit their Vanship with a true racing engine. Instead, they have lightened it by drilling holes in its frame. Though this grants a great amount of maneuverability, it sacrifices so much mass that their top speed is lowered, meaning they cannot outrun more powerful models in the straightaways. Lavie thus acquires a booster for their Vanship as part of their preparation for the Norkia Cup. Its initial purpose, however, makes it truly unique. It was specifically designed by their parents for what many would consider a fool's errand – an attempt to withstand the torrential winds of the Grand Stream and travel from Anatoray to Disith. Even though Disith makes the crossing regularly in huge capital ships, it is not uncommon for them to be destroyed in the attempt despite their size and power. Most believe that crossing the Stream (from Anatoray to Disith) in a Vanship to be impossible - but Claus and Lavie achieve this in the final episode, making their Vanship the only one to do so.

All vanships in the series were rendered as 3D images, a hallmark of Japanese animation studio Gonzo, makers of such series as Vandread and Blue Submarine No. 6.

Exile (ship)

Exile is a fictional massive interstellar transport ship that originated on Earth and brought people to the world of Prester. Revealed in the middle of the Last Exile series, it was seen as a mysterious object throughout the early part of the series. Activated by a poem, known as The Mysterion it has no allegiances to any of the three nations: Anatoray, Disith, and The Guild. The actual ship features no defense from attack, using a Biogenic Circulating Claudia reactor for power, but the protective cocoon that covers it is perhaps the most deadly to be found on Prester. The defense consists of a near-impenetrable cocoon, which contains massive metallic tentacles, which are strong enough to breach the armor of any ship in the world of Prester. It is also extremely aggressive, attacking anything that comes within its perception, regardless of who owns or pilots the ship. The defense will only cease from attacking if it senses a person with the activation gene on board of a craft.

Silvana (ship)

The Silvana (Silverna in Japanese) is a fictional airborne capital ship from the anime series Last Exile. Its captain is Alex Row, a former Vanship courier, who is permitted an amazing degree of liberty in its use. The vessel's Claudia unit was acquired from a renegade Guild member opposed to the rule of Maestro Delphine Eraclea. It is the only capital ship on Prester not under the control of the Guild, and thus the only one that can effectively oppose it.

It is known to many in the Anatoray military as the "Kill-Em-All Silvana", and an object of superstition and rumor – many say that no one ever sees it and lives to tell of it. It has an impressive degree of firepower, enough to throw an entire fleet into disarray. It is well-armored, enough to withstand the metal shearing winds of the Grand Stream. It is the first ship to carry fighter Vanships.

This ship played a vital role throughout the series. It prevented the destruction of the Mad-Thane fleet during the battle of Minagese, attacking the Disith ships that were attempting to prevent its retreat. This also signaled the rise of Vanship warfare as Claus and Lavie's actions(although meant to help out) ultimately inspired Duke Mad-Thane to use Vanships in combat. While the Guild continued its attempts to capture Alvis Hamilton, she was kept safely aboard while the Mysteria were collected, and was one of two ships that embarked upon the mission to capture Exile (Last Exile). After Alex Row's capture, the ship was commanded by Sophia Forrester in the final battle.

Characters

• , a fifteen-year-old vanship pilot who finds himself at the center of the Exile mystery.
• , Claus Valca's navigator and mechanic.
• , daughter of the Hamilton family, and key to the mystery of Exile.
• , the enigmatic captain of the infamous battleship Silvana of Genocide.
• , the Silvana's first officer, and future Empress of Anatoray.
• , the only child of "the proud and noble" Wisla house of Anatoray, and the Silvana's best vanship pilot.
• , Tatiana Wisla's trusted confidant, best friend, and expert navigator.
• , the younger brother of the most powerful Guild member, Maestro Delphine Eraclea.
• , a member of the Guild and personal bodyguard to Dio Eraclea.
• , the nineteen-year-old rifleman and mechanic aboard the Silvana.
• , a soldier from Disith who fights with Anatory against the Guild.
• , the leader of the Guild, and older sister to Dio Eraclea.
• , the Captain of the Urbanus, and friend to Alex and Sophia.

Production

Reception

Media

Anime

The twenty-six episode Last Exile series was created by Gonzo in celebration of the company's 10th anniversary. The series is directed by Koichi Chigira and features character designs by Range Murata. It premiered in Japan on TV Tokyo on April 7, 2003, with the final episode broadcast September 29, 2003.

The series was licensed for English language broadcast and distribution in North America by Geneon Entertainment (then Pioneer Entertainment). Geneon premiered their English dubbed version of the series in TechTV's Anime Unleashed programming block on March 8, 2004. The first thirteen episodes aired nightly until March 13, 2004. The remaining thirteen episodes premiered on December 4, 2004, with new episodes airing each weeknight until the series concluded on December 22, 2004. Last Exile also aired on G4TechTV Canada, starting on July 22, 2007.

ADV Films owns the license for the series' English release in the United Kingdom while distribution rights in Australia and New Zealand are owned by Madman Entertainment. Last Exile is licensed for regional language release and broadcast in France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Russia, Poland, Portugal, and the Philippines.

Soundtracks

Two CD soundtracks for Last Exile were produced by Dolce Triade and released by Victor Entertainment. The first, , was released in Japan on June 21, 2003. It contains 19 tracks, including the series opening and ending themes, and is 58 minutes in length. , released on September 3, 2003, spans 67 minutes and features 20 tracks, including a different version of the series ending.

Geneon Entertainment licensed both CD soundtracks for release in North America. OST 1 was released on February 14, 2004, and OST 2 was released on April 13, 2004. Geneon included translated liner notes with both CD released. Due to Geneon now being out of business, both CD soundtracks are out of print in North America.

Live action series

On February 11, 2005, a report on Anime News Network mentioned a possible live action Last Exile film. The report was based on a blog post by Patrick Macias, an author of several books on Japanese pop culture and anime and the writer for Animerica, which noted that while he was attending the Tokyo International Anime Fair, an employee of Gonzo suggested that an unnamed New Line Cinema producer was interested in doing a live-action adaptation of the series. Since then, no other mentions of a possible live-action movie have occurred.

References

External links

• Official JVC Music Last Exile website
• Official Geneon Last Exile website
• Official ADV UK Last Exile list of releases
• Official Madman Entertainment Last Exile website