Last Exile, ep. 01-04

[oyceter]

Things that made me like Last Exile immediately:

• 19th-century-esque Europe with steampunk elements and airships and smaller, speedier vanships!


• Couriers!


• Aerial battles that seem to make sense to me and remind me a great deal of Scott Westerfeld's Succession duology!


• Female fighter pilot!


• Female ship commander person!


• The prettiness of the animation


• Did I mention female fighter pilot and female ship commander person?

Claus and Lavie are set up as the main characters at this point; the two are couriers flying a smaller vanship. Claus pilots, Lavie directs. Lavie seems to be more practical, while Claus is pictured as dreamier but also more willing to do what he thinks is right. I really like Lavie so far.

There are weird alien ships, some sort of war going on among three different countries (?), some sort of a guild, some sort of rules to warfare, and a mysterious ship called the Silvana. It's funny -- I was completely entranced by what I saw, but it's quite obvious that I still have no idea what actually happened!

I think my favorite moment so far is a young girl discovering a goat plushie that bleats; I love the way the episode focused on that small moment and how it was woven through the episode, I love the simplicity of the animation without it being cheap, and I loved the way that moment made Al finally seem real to me and not just a goal.