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「Over step」
Psychopathic, eyepatch-wearing commanders aside, I’m still wondering how seriously we should take the threat of an empire that has eight ships stolen by a little girl so easily that the thefts didn’t even make it onto the screen…
I tend to find the scenes inside the bowels of the Ades Federation the most interesting ones, at least so far, so it was rather stark to see most of the moral ambiguity of the first five episodes swept away in one midnight massacre. I hope Fam and Millia never find out that their 8 (and counting) ship thefts and flyer for the Turan Government in exile led to the execution of a roomful of nobles, as I assume they’d take that pretty hard. It’s hard to imagine Luscinia didn’t know that his charges that the nobles had given their ships to the Turan willingly were false, so he obviously trumped them up as an excuse to eliminate what he saw as undesirables. The allusions to Nazism are growing every week as far as the Ades are concerned, though it’s to be assumed the little empress Sara knows nothing of such atrocities (she cavorts this week with lovable scamp Sorush, as played by Nakamura Yuuichi, a sure sign he’ll become important later). It remains to be seen what the political subtleties of the Ades power structure are – is Luscinia acting with the full blessing and consent of the highest authorities, or is the “former bodyguard” something of a rogue (there are indications the nobility despises him, anyway)? There are implications of Guild connections here, but it’s too early to say for sure.
There continues to be a stark dichotomy between the bloody geopolitics playing out across the Earth and the scenes involving Fam. Said scenes were very odd indeed this week, as The Silvius has made port and Fam – still in search of the other 7 ships she’s promised Tatiana – seeks out the faux noblewoman Baroness Roshanak (Sakamoto Maaya, still incapable of being ordinary, ever). What an odd duck she is – a sultry sybarite who bought her title with ill-gotten gain and surrounds herself with a harem of shota and similarly slutty-looking women, many of whom appear to be smoking opium. My money says she knew all along that the disguised Millia wasn’t a reverse trap, and made a bet with Fam not because she wanted to add Millia as another boy-bauble on her boy-bracelet, but because she has an inclination to insinuate herself into the coming conflict with the Ades somehow. Her motives remain unclear (financial gain is a safe enough bet), but her words say quite clearly that she knew who Millia was, so rest assured of two things – she’ll be back, and she has some sort of plan to profit from all this.
As for the race itself, it pitted Fam and Gisey against a bunch of stage props and former Grand Race bridesmaid Yacheval Anand. The stakes are high – lose, and Millia joins Roshanak’s harem, win and she gets the “Baroness’” battleship – and it was remarkably free of surprises, but a good chance for Gonzo to show that they can still do CGI as well as any studio out there making TV anime. Did you ever really think Fam wasn’t going to win, honestly? And she even pulled out one of Claus’ old tricks to help her do it – or rather, you could just as easily say Gisey pulled out one of Lavie’s old tricks. The best part of the sequence was probably Fam’s reaction when she found out that the bishie mechanics all bet on Yacheval. All I know is, it’s a good thing The Baroness didn’t get a look at Teddy in his sailor suit.
Also worth noting is the brief mention of Anatoray in the conversation between Tatiana and Dio, and the disappearance of Fam’s 8 stolen ships. It doesn’t take too much imagination to see where that train might be headed, since the Anatoray connections onboard The Silvius are obvious and if there is indeed a Guild connection with Luscinia, that could be the underpinnings of the coming conflict The Baroness referred to. yes, war is inevitable and it looks as if it might be a mixture of old hostilities with a newer “natives vs. immigrants” milieu, which by happy chance would be yet another Nazi parallel. I suspect we’re going to get out first look at Alvis (as voiced by KanaHana) very soon, with Luscinia after her as a potential Exile key.
Preview
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That connection that Luscinia has with the Guild member almost certainly means he know about the returnees from Prester. I think he’s the only one in Ades that knows about it, though, because his accusations against the nobility, at least the ones about aiding the pirates and Turan, were lies done on purpose, probably to rile up the populace in his favor.
Technically Alauda isn’t even Guild… His official profile on the main website lists him as the head of Ades’ Ministry of Intelligence. This means that either the Guild eventually fully integrated with the native population somehow, of whatever they’re doing right now is just a front for their real plans.
I’m amazed at Fam’s unfeathered endurance in light of the obstacles around her
and her ability to take things in stride and her amazing ability to trust.
Which brings a question – was that girl trying to stir conflict between Gisey and Fam
(when Gisey was select the next prey)? Did Gisey resolve it by her statement “a navigator
goes where the pilot goes”? Is Gisey’s loyalty without question? I believe so, as she
is portrayed as very smart, and Fam acknowledges that fact and Gisey know that
Fam thinks highly of her.
So, Fam won the race. It was a fun watch, simple but not insulting to the viewer.
This is an interesting series – we have a nut who’ll kill anyone who looks at him cross eyed,
and Fam who just breezes through challenges by being cute + clever. I can’t imagine that
tactic will work if they meet – he won’t even give her a chance to be cute. Or, does Fam hold
some power that we haven’t been told about yet? Does she have a side of her able to challenge him?
Or will everything be done through that young princess somehow… Indirectly?
But I’m glad that the ships’ capture didn’t turn out to be 1 per episode. While Fam is part
of the title, it seems her (cute) role is to be an enabler (for lack of a better word).
Honestly, I don’t see her directly entering any conflict – maybe as a go between between the
two young princesses later in the series; but doing piratey things like steal ships, supplies,
win races for bets, sweet talk in and out of trouble in the meantime.
IMHO, one of the better series this season.
Alister was giving advise based on her own experiences with Tatiana. If you haven’t watched the previous Last Exile, then it’s like this: Alister was Tatiana’s navigator. At one point in the original series they had a falling out, specifically because Tatiana was terribly bull-headed and stuck up. It caused Alister to question her OWN role in her partnership with Tatiana, and I think Alister is seeing the same happen with Gisey, since Fam is paying attention more and more to Milia than her.
That’s a good point (I haven’t watched the original). You could see
something of that in some of the looks Gisey had in this episode.
Myssa, it’s already established that Gisei is Alister version 2.0 XD
To be fair to Gisey, Fam isn’t an ice queen like Tatiana was in Last Exile, so if a misunderstanding between Fam and Gisey happen, it’ll easily be smoothed over by Fam’s personality.
I can’t quite agree on the not insulting to the viewer.
Compared with the race episodes in the first series (which involves a complicated plan to get a mysteria by having Tatiana entering the race as a cover and attacking horizon cave’s electricity system. And all that fall out thing between Tatiana and Alister happening in the due process), this betting to win the ship plot (including disguising Millia as a boy) thing is definitely an insult on viewer’s intelligence.
Then again, I suppose it is less insulting than your average anime now days.
P.S. what the heck was the hanger crew down there for this time around. Last time they used the race as an opportunity to show how effectively they work together and the group dynamics within them.
The race on the first one was much better. I agree with everything you wrote.
“…this betting to win the ship plot (including disguising Millia as a boy) thing is definitely an insult on viewer’s intelligence.”
Not true. Fam needed a bait for Roshanak to bite. My guess is that she heard her collecting cute boys and made Millia involuntary take the role ( or she just want to dress her up as a cute guy XD ).
It should be more insulting to Roshanak than to us. Still, she never let on that she knew Millia’s a Turan princess and played along.
The question is: is it for vengeance? Is it for profit? What is her motive?
Yeah, really curious as to the noble lady’s motive IF there was a deeper meaning to it than just being impressed by Millia’s pride. It’s hard to tell.
Totally agrees with everything: except…
“Which brings a question – was that girl trying to stir conflict between Gisey and Fam
(when Gisey was select the next prey)? ”
No. Alister was Tatiana’s Navi so she’s speaking out of experience like some old master/mentor/sempai. If Lavie were there, she’d basically say the same thing.
https://randomc.net/image/Last%20Exile%20Ginyoku%20no%20Fam/Last%20Exile%20Ginyoku%20no%20Fam%20-%2006%20-%20Large%2016.jpg Basic instinct or no?
I say it’s a trap for Millia: If she didn’t look, then she’s a girl. That’s how I think Roshanak suspected/knew Millia’s no bishounen.
Or in more simply words: Fanservice because fanservice. I like your complex idea anyway.
I hope I’m not the only one who thought the flashbacks Fam had during the end of the race were wholly unneeded. It felt like complete filler to me. I mean… flashbacks of previous episodes and we’re only on episode 6…
Agreed, complete filler. I mean we’ve only had 5 episodes. There’s nothing to flashback onto when it just happened.
It’s for dramatic effect XD. If you put your yuri-goggles on, its even way more dramatic.
Yep. The only out of place scene in there. But really… Betting your friend on the line was something really.
I have a WMG: What if Luscinia is pulling a Wife Husbandry on little Augusta? Seems he’s so obsessed with Augusta’s Mom, and had them nobles chopped like pigs just for “her” goals.
This episode was better than the last one, though I find the race a bit lacking. I find the race in the first series quite better…
Still, there are many hints of things to come, and characters who make have a stake on the conflict later on…
I believe though that the next episode would be a good one…
Ya!! Alvis/HanaKana!
I find it interesting that Hanazawa Kana is taking part in “Fam”, seeing as she was in the original LE, voicing Holly Mad-Thane, friend of Alvis. Actually, I believe it was her first roles as a seiyu.
Fam didn’t do it alone. She and Giselle had the support of the Silvius and its crew. For that matter, they weren’t really stealing ships from Luscinia’s forces. They were impersonating federal personnel and hoodwinking a bunch of ignorant nobles into giving up their ships for the cause. That’s why all of the ships they’ve captured are of the older, outdated Ades design, unlike those fancy-pants gigantic battleship things we saw attacking Iglasia. Those people mean business.
Rather than outdated design, it could also be ships from territories they have conquered or allied with, who were once independent states themselves.
I’m going by the information I got from Animax’s Last Exile site.
“The Federation’s Old Model Battleship: As the Federation’s generation of battleships progress over to the next, many of the older ships are now sold to the lords and provincial nobles.”
The Notos ships seen at the beginning of Episode 3 were very similar in design to the ones Fam captured. Best as I can tell, the Ades Federation sold them off as surplus to the nobles once they kitted out their fleets with those huge swarms of gigantic, half-kilometer long, heavily armed and armored battleships. They must be engaging in some serious strip-mining to build all those things. No wonder why their country looks like such a depressing, Mordor-esque shithole.
Sorry Al, can’t tell if this is the one Fam stole. I wasn’t paying attention when Gisen was posting all those pics. It looks more like the new ones.
https://randomc.net/image/Last%20Exile%20Ginyoku%20no%20Fam/Last%20Exile%20Ginyoku%20no%20Fam%20-%2006%20-%20Large%2005.jpg
I did a comparison pic that illustrates the difference between the old and new ship classes. Some of them share some features in common, like the whole paddle-track propulsion thing.
Another excellent technological observation. I’ve not had the time to reach further than 15 minutes into this episode due to other things, but its starting to look promising that we’ll be past the breakwaters and into the main plot.
Nice, we get to see Maaya Sakamoto come out and play and anticipate a great performance by HanaKana as fan fave Alvis.
It’s nothing compared to seeing Milia crossdress. I didn’t even know I wanted that until I saw it. So I don’t blame the baroness at all.
A very good episode. Really loving Millia more and more. Though last week was just weird…
In any case. It was funny when Fam learned about who she’s going up against in the race. She really got shook up with Millia on the line. And while Luscinia’s nature is still mysterious as ever. I hope he’s not just using Augusta. That’d be a damn shame for being linear.
All things aside. Seriously, Millia in a boy’s outfit? What’s wrong with me?
I feel weird….
I guess I really have a thing for STRAIGHT traps. Looking at it I did enjoy Ouran and Hana-kimi.
Yeah I can’t really take the enemy seriously when the main characters don’t. Apparently it’s so easy to steal their ships, it’s perfectly reasonable to assume that a couple of children can do it… fifteen times.
Remember the Guild? How ominous and cryptic they were? Yeah, they wouldn’t really fit in this universe.
Maybe all the smart, serious, competent people just left Earth and ended up on Prester, that’s possible.
Yeah I can’t really take the enemy seriously when the main characters don’t. Apparently it’s so easy to steal their ships, it’s perfectly reasonable to assume that a couple of children can do it… fifteen times.
They had tons of help on that one. And although they spearhead every stealing operation they had training before those two became Sky Pirates, as Gisey claimed when she said she wan’t able to take down a engine, even on training.
Remember the Guild? How ominous and cryptic they were? Yeah, they wouldn’t really fit in this universe.
They can… But Fam and co. will be having Plot Armor.
Maybe all the smart, serious, competent people just left Earth and ended up on Prester, that’s possible.
>implying that even stupid, happy-go-lucky people can “invent a Vespa” and “fly like a pro”, “rule a country” or plan an invasion or a massacre.
Like I said, what people are missing here is that these kids aren’t stealing ships from the Federation. They’re impersonating Federation personnel in order to steal ships from the idiot nobles who swore fealty to the Empress. The very same nobles that Luscinia just had carved up like Christmas turkeys for letting their ships fall right into Anatoray and Turan’s hands.
Only commenting on this line:
Maybe most of the smart, serious, competent people were sent to Presters.
I mean, the whole reason for presters was to try making a colony elsewhere right, I’d imagine that if they had to choose, they would send people who were better at adapting, thinking or were more skilled in some way. So it could be true.
hmmm…… i wonder who can we find in anatoray…. and where’s disith?
Those two would likely be neighbors. But I want Disith to be a snowy country and Anatoray like Australia.
Haha, I like the comparison to Aus. Next thing you know, we’ll see kangaroos and koalas in LE, and vanships flying across Bolte Bridge/Harbour Bridge/insert significant landmark from respective city.
Last I remember, Disith as a nation is more or less gone. Their refugee rockets had multiple malfunctions in their bid to escape to Anatoray and I believe the only Disith people left were those who survive the rockets failure in the launch pads, their nose-first impact onto Anatoray, or Disith forces who, along with Anatoray military, survived the last battle.
If anything, Disith was absorbed into Anatoray with Sophia as head of state, Duke Mad-thane as its military commander or Prime Minister, and the Disith commander as the Disith representative or working in a capacity opposite of Duke Mad-thane.
I’m wondering where Anatoray is. Do they have their own plot of land somewhere?
Most likely. If Exile is large enough, it probably was enough to contain a few of the Anatoray battleships as well.
So I just realized Orang is voiced by Fukuyama Jun. He is certainly un-hammy, an anti-ham even,in Fam, quite opposite from what I’m used to seeing.
The last scene’s doubly funny,cause I’d bet they’ve got no idea what she’s talking about.
Always suspected the Anatoray thing. For starters, you can see Anatoray’s insignia in the deck of the Sylvius. Probably is an intel ship from the Alliance. (Anatoray-Dyusys-Guild)
Hmm … last couple eps were mildly decent, this one on the other hand returns to mediocrity.
I’m just watching this hoping that Gonzo troll us for half a season before changing everything for the second half, hopefully bringing back Claus + Lavie + Al and relegating the 3 sky-girls refugees to side characters (changing OP + ED as well, obviously).
I have to admit, that next episode preview has some tantalizing bits of action in it. Damn it, I want to see the Silvius shoot something!
You and me both brotha’. You and me both. I drool at the very thought of this. I really do. It better be a very damn fine scene, else I’ll cry foul at the supposed name of this ‘Reaper’ ship.
Minimum 1 ship sunk, multiple damaged. If not more.
They don’t need to being Claus and the gang. In my opinion that is a cheap move to make things interesting.
Lol. You wish for the impossible. The title is “Last Exile : Ginyoku no ‘Fam'”
Fam the Silver Wing = Fam’s show.
What? Why are you looking like that? UMADBRO?
Unless it’s stated somewhere that it’s actually “Claus the Silver Wing”, I’d concede.
Giselle in Anatoray’s uniform was great. Okay it wasn’t anything special but shoot me, I’ve wanted to see her in it after they got on Sylvius.
I dunno, I kinda liked her in Ades uniform. So much better with the curv- *ahem*
XD Now I know: I am not alone…
Fam wasn’t bad looking, but Giselle was rocking that Ades uniform so hard.
Ah Giselle did look awesome in Ades uniform too, it’s just that we haven’t got to see her in Anatoray’s before this episode.
I bet she was wearing black under-
….
ehem, Mature, mature underwear…. No, I wasn’t thinking how sexy they were in the OP… Nope… They’re children, guys.
XD
At last we cross paths Guardian Enzo since I finally caught up.
よろしくお願いします.
Anyway, I’m predicting a good development in the future. What do you think Enzo-san?
So I’m guessing they took the stolen ships back to Exile.
Is it too much to say that I hope Fam gets shot in the face somewhere in this anime. She annoys the crap out of me. I find myself fast forwarding whenever she pops on the screen she just completely ruins the show for me. I weep for the last exile series.