The Fredösphere

The cover art hooked me.  At the library, on the DVD shelf, I saw this wonderfully detailed drawing of a man wearing a stunningly tasteful charcoal gray uniform.  Could an entire anime series be drawn this good consistently?  As it turns out:  no, it can't -- but meanwhile, I had checked out the first twelve episodes of Last Exile, a steampunk sci-fi story from gloriously weird and alien Japan.

I don't think western productions can achieve this level of inventiveness.  This is a story of warships, using 19th century technology (speaking tubes, Morse code signals via flashing lights, muskets) and formality (the captain of a battleship sits at a tall desk like a judge and bangs a gavel after issuing each order).  There is one difference:  thanks to a mysterious anti-gravity material called Claudia, the warships fly through the air.

Opposing fleets must get permission from the mysterious and all-powerful "Guild" before initiating hostilities.  Only one ship, the Silvana, is free of the Guild's control -- how?  Its captain is Alex Row, who spends a lot of his time pouting -- what for?  The Silvana's crew kidnaps a little girl named Al -- why?

The relationships seem very alien, very Japanese.  A two-seater fighter plane is flown by the teenagers Claus and Lavie.  Maybe I missed something, but very late in the game it was revealed that they are brother and sister -- I spent a lot of time wondering why they were so close, yet romantically not involved.  (Apparently some are still wondering.)  Another flying duo are women with a strong lesbian vibe, but that's never made explicit -- why?  Then there's a member of the Guild, Lord Dio, who is so effeminate, I assumed he was a woman for several episodes.  He gloms onto Claus and generally makes a pest of himself, yet because of his status, he must be tolerated.  Lord Dio is a thoroughly repulsive character -- what is the Japanese attitude here?  Lavie shouts her way through life -- did they really intend her to be so obnoxious?  Finally, Alex Row's "vice-captain" (an inelegant term) is a young, wholesome woman who makes granny glasses seem chic.  She's obviously in love with Alex, but all he can do is sigh and whine -- what's his problem?  How can military discipline work with so many sparks flying?  How can Alex command effectively without a stoic attitude?  This unreality is a failure of taste; I see it related somehow to Japan's national weakness for all things cute.

Last Exile is part of a trend toward hybridization of animation styles.  Human figures are hand-drawn; complex objects which need to rotate frequently (such as the flying ships) are computer models; some special effects, such as smoke, appear to be live action.  Sometimes these disparate inputs are blended impressively, other times they clash.  One sequence of hand drawn animation involving a race of giant chickens was downright embarrassing.  I imagine it's a case of big talents working against a tight TV production deadline.

Only the first 12 episodes are currently available from my library, and #12 ends with a cliff hanger.  Some reviewers complain the plot is hard to follow, but anyone familiar with sci-fi conventions should be comfortable.  For example, if you've read Frank Herbert's Dune you know all about power-hungry guilds already.  I'm perfectly willing to forgive this show its flaws, and I'm still jazzed about the uniforms of the Silvana.