I love this show.
Details, Details, Details
Last Exile: Fam uses the minor details to make you really get to know the characters. For example, observe Fam’s reaction to meeting Dian:
Airhead that she is, Fam doesn’t even realize that they’re in Glacies.
And being her usual self, she guessing that the Glacians might cook and eat them. And of course, she’s excited about getting eaten! Ah, Fam.
I particularly liked the scene where Dian sacrificed the lamb.
It’s… a pretty random scene, to say the least. But it helped us get to know the characters. Let’s look at each of their reactions.
Dian has this grin on her face as she holds the lamb’s heart up and lets its blood drip into her wineglass. I can’t say I would have the same expression in this situation, but I can understand where she’s coming from. This is a ritual for her, and repeating it is comforting.
Millia, as a princess, has been educated on the customs of Glacies. She’s heard of this practice, and isn’t surprised. Inside she’s squirming a bit, but she knows it would be rude not to watch and tries to mask her expression.
Fam’s expression is halfway between “Gross!” and “Oooh! So cool! Let me try!”. It’s leaning towards the latter though.
Giselle’s expression says, “Why are we doing this? This is inefficient. Let’s eat already.”
I really appreciate how this show can take short scenes like this one and squeeze so much out of them. We learned much about the characters without any words.
For another Giselle example, recall how Dian was flying the vanship and almost crashed into the lake. When they climb up again, Millia is relieved to see them safe. On the other hand, Giselle simply says, “That’s a waste of fuel.” Ah, Giselle.
It’s all in the details!
Further Thoughts
- Sorry, Giselle. Sorry, Millia. I am totally shipping this.
- She’s making a list. Checking it twice. Gonna get all those parts tonight.
- Dio is such a badass.
- I love Fam’s one-sided declarations.
It’s odd to see how the few shots of testosterone in this show are coming from Dio, of all characters. I would have never imagined that in the first Exile. On a related note: I’d rather see Dio x Dian!
Dian looks really like Dio in that closeup. Ironically, it’s Dio who wears the eyeshadows. I wonder if there’s any significance to it, or she just happens to look resemble a Guilder like Tatiana and Gale.
On the other hand, I’ve been waiting for the FamxDian moments for a long, long time–ever since the end of ep 8. Thank you Gonzo.
Haha they do have the same hair color at least. I wonder if there was some convergence between Glacies and the Guild in the past.
Yes, thank you Gonzo! Fam x Dian!
I think you’re right. The uniform Dian is wearing looks like a variation of Guild clothing (same color scheme at least). The pilots are referred to as priestess and are very well respected and held in awe, and they protect the nation with relatively high technology (rockets, wireless comms, LCD screens). I believe Dian and her fellow pilots are of the Guild House that developed in Glacies.
After this episode, every time I see Glacies pilots, I start thinking “Valkyries”. 😀
I don’t think that any of the Rocket Ship/Interceptor pilots are Guild at all, or even Guild-descended like Milia. Why? There’s a distinct lact of pointy ears going around among Dian and her peers.
I’ll defer to Myssa on whether they’re biologically related or not, but they do seem to perform a similar social role as the caretakers of advanced technology. Although Glacies seems to have been much more responsible than the Guild.
While I can’t add much to your praise of this episode I have been wondering lately if there is a special reason that this type of Sci-Fi and Yuri go so well together.
From your carnival post I understand that you are a big fan of Simoun. So far I couldn’t really watch this show but I heard a lot about it and watched a few scenes. It’s very high on my watchlist. There are lots of similarities, no? A virtually all-female cast, yuri, flying, politics and a haunting soundtrack. What’s your opinion on these similarities? How does Fam fare compared to Simoun?
That’s a really good question, I hadn’t even thought of how similar they are! I think the two biggest differences are, first, that Simoun has about five times as many characters, and they have much more depth to them. Also Simoun is much darker. In Last Exile you can feel pretty confident that everything will turn out all right in the end, in Simoun you know that everything is going to continue to fall to pieces.
I greatly prefer Simoun, although Last Exile is great too.