Last Exile: Fam, The Silver Wing Volume 2

“Good tailwinds to you all!”

So now we know: Luscinia Hafez, onetime faithful bodyguard to the peace-loving Augusta, and now Premier of the Ades Federation, is hellbent on achieving his goal and, with Princess Liliana of Turan at his side, he will stop at nothing, ruthlessly sending thousands upon thousands to their deaths.

Sara, the Augusta’s successor, is still a child. But she is old enough to see that Luscinia, her protector, is out of control – and must be stopped. Princess Millia (Liliana’s younger sister) supported by her young Sky Pirate friends Fam and Giselle is ready to join with the other nations to defeat Luscinia. Fam’s dream is still to create another Grand Race to bring the warring factions together to compete in peace. But Luscinia has discovered the resting place of the Grand Exile, the last of the vast sky ships originally created to take the human race out into space when resources ran low on earth. Alvis Hamilton is one of the Keys who can unlock and awaken an Exile – but it seems that Liliana (known as ‘the witch’ by the Glacies priestesses) may have similar powers – as does the Augusta Sara. Can Luscinia be stopped from awakening the Grand Exile (which lies beneath the snow and ice of Glacies) and wreaking destruction?

Last Exile: Fam the Silver Wing pulls out all the stops in its final episodes, much as the original Last Exile series does, to deliver a truly epic aerial battle between the opposing forces. As with the first series, the creative team just about manage to pull it off. The ever-present danger is that with so many forces and protagonists, the viewer will get confused and lose sympathy for the main characters as their story is diluted and fragmented. Fortunately, the writers spent enough time in the earlier episodes establishing Fam, Millia, and Giselle, so that we are invested enough in seeing what becomes of them to cope with the complications of the various fleets, uniforms, treacheries and betrayals that surround them. To the writers’ and actresses’ credits, all three girls are seen to grow up; Millia is no longer the petulant princess, but capable of commanding the Sylvius in the final battle. And it falls to Fam and Giselle to try – against all odds – to rescue the Augusta.

There are already several survivors from the crew of Alex Row’s Sylvana playing a significant part in the struggle, most notably Tatiana and Alister; also Dio who is trying to protect Alvis, one of the Keys to the Exiles. But more appear – to the delight of anyone who loves the first series – and not just in the recap episode 15.5.

It’s such a pleasure to have a series in which so many of the main protagonists are female but not portrayed in a moe or fan service-influenced way. Fam and Giselle make a likable pair of heroines. Fam’s upfront, honest manner and her dream of holding another Grand Race to unite the nations – while at the same time hoping to find out who her birth parents are – make her a believable, sympathetic heroine. (Although that mischievous grin of hers is more than a little reminiscent of that shounen hero of heroes: Naruto…)

Plot-wise, it’s probably best to just sit back and go with the flow; there are some holes which are lightly papered over, but the vast scale of the sky battles and the life-or-death struggle that Fam and Giselle find themselves in will make you turn a blind eye to such concerns. Above all, it’s an adventure on a vast scale (with a few respectful nods to Star Wars along the way) and its heart is in the right place; it makes the viewer care about the fates of the characters, sweeping you up into the skies. That said, another episode wouldn’t have gone amiss; the series comes up rather short at only twenty-one episodes (and Last Exile could also have done with an extra episode, as there just was not enough airtime to round everything off satisfactorily.)

And then there’s Glacies. Hats off to the voice actors who speak Russian (it’s subtitled in both versions) as the leaders and the Priestesses of the Winged Goddess from Glacies (a kind of kamikaze female Vanship corps). Especially worthy of mention here are Yukana and Tatiana Balazs who voice Dyan, the young priestess who comes to the rescue of Fam, Giselle, and Millia when they crash near her snow-bound home. 

Although, as in the first Last Exile, Range Murata’s adult character designs are striking (especially the ingenious costumes for the different contending armies, with kilts, turbans, fez, etc. ) his designs for teenaged central protagonists Fam and Giselle are slightly on the chibi side, which can be distracting at times; their heads are rather large and out of proportion to the rest of their bodies. This never seemed to be so much of a problem in Last Exile with Claus and Lavie, but hey…

Hitomi Kuroishi’s soulful songs are used very effectively here to enhance moments of emotional significance as endings and inserts, including: “Starboard (Silky Wind version)”; “Over The Sky (Angel Feather version); “Kaze no Kyōkaise”;  “Grand Exile” and “Sorrows of Life”. Shuntaro Okino’s opening theme for the original series makes an appearance, as well as “Head in the Clouds” which is used as an insert song. Other ‘Hitomi’ insert songs are: “A Rose in the Wind”; “Everything I wish”; “I’ve Got Friends”; “Lost Friend” and “Wings of Honor”. In fact, I much prefer her songs to her Pirates of the Caribbean-ish, 12/8  underscoring of the battle scenes which is overused and begins to sound rather trite after repeated hearings. She also composed the music for the Code Geass and Hakkenden series.

Extras include commentaries for Episode 17 and Episode 21, Spinoff Anime CM Series “Friday Night” #08-13, Promotional Videos, Anime Expo 2011 Part 2, Textless Opening Songs “Buddy” and “Cloud Age Symphony”, Textless Closing Songs: “Starboard” “Starboard (Silky Wind Version)” “Innocent Eyes” and “Sorrows of Life”, U.S. Trailer and Trailers.

Last Exile: Fam the Silver Wing does not disappoint in these final episodes; it delivers a thrilling conclusion, which, with its vast skyscapes and large-scale battles, is impressively animated. Will there be more? There are strong hints that the saga of the Exiles will continue.