Last Exile (OST 1)




Last Exile

Last Exile (ラストエグザイル Rasuto Eguzairu) 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 wingless 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".

Historical References In the Anime

Last Exile draws its main themes from the steam punk genre inspired by the blending of 17-19th century European and Imperial territories with some modern technological advances. The importance of clean water during 17-19th century plays a huge role in the characterization of Claus and Lavie. Their characters and possibly the characters of Alex Row and Claus' mom are inspired by the famous 1866 cartoon Death's Dispensary that highlighted the dangers of the disease Cholera in the poorly engineered and polluted 19th century London water system. The cartoon can be found here and upon further inspection the inspiration becomes very apparent.