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
