Last Exile: Fam the Silver Wing – Episode 01 + 02

Posted by in Blog, Fall 2011 | | 3 comments

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**WARNING** A large chunk of this first blog may be confusing to you if you have never watched the first Last Exile series from 2003. As both of these shows are from the same series I make several comparisons, however since Fam the Silver Wing is basically a stand alone show in the same universe, any blog after this will contain minimal references to the original series so those who have never seen it can still read and enjoy my opinion (or hate it, whichever they prefer.) **WARNING OVER**

So here we are at another lovely sequel. What makes this sequel special? Well for starters, it’s basically an entirely different show. You have your sequels this season like Shana, which starts off directly where the last season left off; you have prequels like Fate/Zero that take place several years before the first series, though contain many of the same characters; and then you have Last Exile, which takes place who knows when and consists of an entirely different cast from the original series.

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I always liked how in Last Exile you could fly exposed like that and look like your soaring at light speed!

I say who knows when because I cannot actually find a stated answer as to when the series actually takes place; instead I have to go by the references inside the show to find an indication when exactly the show is. Having Dio as a main character is helpful in this respect. Since we were given quite a bit of information on his childhood and early-adolescence in the first series, signs point to Fam being a sequel, as Dio never had enough time in his childhood to go about flying with sky-pirates. The only thing that bugs me is just how forgotten the original series seems to be. Sure Dio is there, but his character so far has yet to make any references to his past.

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ASCENDING!!!

This is actually a very good thing from a lot of standpoints though. As much as I would have enjoyed a proper sequel, or at least a lot of references to the original that I could quietly giggle to myself about, when you’re dealing with an anime series that hasn’t been in the limelight for 8-9 years you have to assume there will be a lot of people who have never seen the original, so you have to cater to the newbies.  It means that there will be no badass fly-in appearances by Alex Rowe (not that it COULD happen anyways, but a fan can dream), or any cameos by Claus and Lavie, at least until much later on.

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I applaud Gonzo for not taking the obvious fan service route and have the princess's very white and soaking wet dressing gown, see-through.

Okay, so here we are with new characters, a new story, and a setting so refreshed and renewed since its last outing that it’s completely different. So what’s it about? Well, like the last series, it’s focusing on one particular pair of Vas-ship pilots, Fam and Giselle, who this time are part of a gang of sky-pirates instead of message couriers. They and their ragtag band of merry men get dragged into a conflict between two warring countries, and eventually join one of them and become friends with two princesses Milia and Liliana.

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WHY DOESN'T ANYONE THINK OF THE CHIL---oh you are....well then.

Thus far, it seems to be your standard “hero come to save the day” storyline, though with a largely female cast for some reason, with Fam starting off as a humble (but highly skilled) pilot who then somehow will become a crucial element to save the world. The two princesses also have had a decent amount of screen time as well, making it seem like they will become just as important.

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Sad Fam is sad. (This is a really nice shot btw)

The thing that’s gnawing at me right now is the wonderful ending of episode two, and the experience of Exile. I say the word wonderful, though I’m not entirely sure that I’m happy with it. In the original, Exile was just one very large and very powerful McGuffin that was constantly sought after, but never bothered to make an appearance until near the end, and here it shows up in episode two with virtually no warring. It also makes me half expect to find out that a large chunk of the original series has been retconed out of existence.

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All this is missing is a HUD and it could be a screenshot out of a cheap 90's Sci-Fi flight sim for the PC.

In the original, the key to finding Exile was Alvis, as she was the “Guardian of the Mysteria” and could lead the way to Exile when certain phrases were said in her presence. In Fam, the elder princess Liliana, seems to have the same ability to call Exile, though we have yet to be given an explanation why. The Opening (though it’s been shown at the end thus far) of the show seems to hint that Liliana is just Alvis grown up, which is possible, though they would need to explain her sudden adoption of an entire family and royal kingdom if it is truly the case.

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Exile?!?! WTF you doing here!

All in all, really I say you should watch it yourself and make your own opinion. Hell, post it in the comments below, I want to know. Have you watched the original series, and if so what are your thoughts? Never seen the original series but are interested in this one? Drop a comment. Till then, stay frosty.

Commenting Rules:

 -- Rule #1: Don't be a dick.
 -- Rule #2: No spoilers.
 -- Rule #3: No linking to illegal streaming sites.
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  • Dylan Spencer

    From what I’ve found, Fam takes place on Earth, some time after the original series, which was set on the hourglass world Prestor/Prester. This would seem to explain why Anatoray and Disith are never mentioned, as they are, presumably, light years away.

    However, I was always under the impression that the Mysteria and Alvis’s answers to them were hinting that the Exile ships were colony ships capable of transporting humanity across the stars, and then giving them the option of returning to Earth. I assumed that the ending of the original Last Exile was showing an abandoned Earth that Claus, Lavie, and the gang had landed on and resettled, given the field of wheat that stretched seemingly endlessly. The idea that Fam takes place on Earth seems to contradict that. So, either that wasn’t Earth, or we hit our first retcon immediately.

    But if that were a retcon, how do we explain Dio? He actually does make a couple references to his old life. For one, he makes an Immelmann turn while exclaiming such, a habit he developed after interacting with Claus. He also references Sophia when he boards the Turan flagship and takes the helm.

    It’s known that there was a piece of official artwork put out showing a figure in a guild uniform showing up at the farm where Claus and his group had settled; it’s widely presumed that this was Dio, surviving his tumble out of the Grand Stream and arriving on whatever planet that was by way of using the Exile as a ferry. It seems strange that he would appear, but we have no mention of where Claus, Lavie, Dunya, Mullen, or any of the other New World crew would are. Dio also makes a reference when he sees an Exile ship that looks identical to the one Claus rode aboard descend on Earth, and he says something along the lines of, “So, you’ve finally returned.”

    Even stranger, we actually do have a hint for the old world crew. Not only is Dio on Earth, but we know for a fact from casting that Alister and Tatiana are returning as characters. So, did Exile return the crew to Earth, and the ending we saw in the original series was retconned? That’s seeming likely, and I don’t like that one bit. I thought Last Exile’s original ending was beautiful, and I don’t like people messing with stuff.

    But whatever, that’s all speculation about how the shows tie together. I hate that they haven’t addressed it, but I imagine we’ll get some answers, as they’re already hinting at it. My thoughts about Fam are… mixed, at best.

    By itself, Fam doesn’t make any effing sense. They don’t explain anything about anything. They throw around terms like “vanship” and “claudia,” but without seeing the original, you’ll never have any idea what those words even mean. On top of that, for returning fans, they’ve introduced new vanship designs, most notably being Fam’s herself, without explaining why there’s suddenly nonstandard vanships. If this is Earth, I suppose it makes sense, because we’re on a different world, so hey, why not? But they never tell us where we are.

    The political maneuvering of the two countries at war on this planet also don’t make sense. We’re given no motivation for the invading army, or any inclination of why they look a lot like Guild folks. We’re given no reason to care about the invasion, because we know nothing about Turan. We don’t have any information regarding Fam, her pirates, how they work, their ultimate goals, or their reasons for helping the princesses. We’re just dumped into the middle of this conflict, and expected to give a shit right away.

    The same kind of thing happened with the original Last Exile, except that the original was anchored by Claus and Lavie. We get to know those two through their day-to-day before the plot kicks in and we start meeting the different characters and get to understand the conflict through those characters’ eyes.

    Yet, despite all of that, I find myself wanting more. I find myself wishing I was watching the show in English. I find myself wishing to know more about the series. Part of that is the animation, which is top-notch. I mean, you, Arkada, point out that the CG looks terrible in that still-shot, but when I was watching it in motion, I thought it looked fine.

    I’m getting some weird sense of enjoyment out of watching Fam, and I want to watch more, I just can’t put my finger on why. For all of the holes and problems I have with the story so far, I guess I just want this to succeed too much. I’m still interested in seeing how it goes, but I really wish they would explain something for once.

    As a side note, Fam’s opening has NOTHING on Cloud Age Symphony, and the opening animation that went with it!

  • Blueocarina

    I have seen up to episode 12 so far and I like the new series, not more than the original, but I still like it. I dont like how they borrow too much episodic influence from the original. Also, my bif problem when I first started watching it is the whole “grand lake” thing. In the original, there was only technology, not magic, or whatever you want to call it. Even the Claudia was a mineral that was collected melted down and run through units by compressing it which in turn created lift. In here I think that its the same but I feel like later on throughout the series, that they will try to link it to magic or something like that. Also, another con to the show is the “fan service” as they call it. The original Last Exile series was professional and woudl never use such low standards in its production. Also the character of Fam is a character with no honor or respectability. In the original series Claus and Lavie were kids but they had a nobility and honor about them. Fam has none of that. Its funny too because once the story gets going I find myself liking Fam less and less. Its not that I hate her or anything like that, she’s just not important to me. Also the original spirit and seriousness of the original series is not present here and the Silvius I am hoping is not the Silvana rebuilt. I hope that they left the Silvana alone. I believe that it would have been Sophia’s wishes. It was even Alex’s wishes. “leave the Silvana alone.” I believe that Sophia would have honored Alex’s ship and not altered it. But I dont think that it is the original writers here so its sad if the Silvius is the Silvana after all. I am just hoping that it isnt and that the Silvius was built in honor of the Silvana.

    Also as the previous reviewer said about Cloud Age Symphony… I didnt like the opening song to “Fam the Silver Wing” at all. What Cloud Age Symphony did was it immersed you in the world of Last Exile, it swept you away to a dream of a world. The opening to Fam the Silver Wing is too much like a typical Anime opening. I dont want to see blood running out of a woman’s hand in an opening to a series that has the title of Last Exile. And the last con is the cg engine they used to render the ships. The ships stick right out, well, right out if compared to the original or if you havent seen any of the original series. They should have used the same engine that they did in the original…

    Anyways, besides all of the things they did wrong, I am really enjoying the new series. I am very happy that they kept the Urbanis the same too. It was good to see Vincent and the Urbanis again. I also really like how they are using pieces from the original Last Exile series. And to be exact listen to the first episode. There is a song that is played by Shuntaro Okino called “head in the clouds.” It is actually a song that was never played in the original series but was on the second soundtrack. I also really loved it when they played my favorite piece of music from the original series called “beautiful fields.” Anyways, tis not a bad series, its actually a good series, it just made a bunch of mistakes that werent true to the spirit of the original.

  • Theblueocarina

    I actually just finished the series after catching it all on http://www.funimation.com I thought they ended it perfectly. Though I still consider the original series to be the one to watch when I tell people about Last Exile, as it has become somewhat of a modern Anime classic for me. Not as much happened per say in the first one but what did happen, but from episode one all of it was believable. What kind of turned me off to this series was how when it first started off followed in the spirit of the original in no way. Even most of the story archs throughout “Fam the silver wing” were all borrowed or copied from the original, just with new characters and new locations. I literally was like: ‘Hey, I remember when that happened in_____.” So its like when it first started off there was too much filler. The first series built through out the entire series like a game of chess. Luckily for me, about half way through the series it began to build and came to a very satisfying end. At first I was bummed when I first saw the Silvius because I thought that they had paved over the Silverna. Thankfully they didnt. Anyways, ti was a good series, I really liked how it concluded. Also the fact that they put a little more depth into the main villain. He was very believable and I wound up liking him. So by the end of the series I really liked it. Kudos to you Gonzo.