Last Exile
17th March 2004, 09:57 PM
Kimia Na Gozomu Eien translates to 'The eternity that you wish for'
Over the last 10 years, romance has finally become something that animators are doing. Mostly it's associated with a lot of fanservice though. The ebtter ones like Love Hina, Ai Yori Aoshi, Please Teacher and so forth all come with fanservice and certain amounts of insanity. But no series really tried to do it in a realistic sense. What was it really like?
Until now. J. C. Staff, one of the more prominent anime studioes of late (Azumanga Daioh, Shingetsutan Tsukihime) have taken a big plunge. Some anime series that aim to be realistic can ultimately fail (personally I think Planetes is a joke, nice one Sunrise!). But the creators of Kimi Ga Nozomu Eien really did their homework. I wonder how long they actually worked on creating the plot, storyline and characters, because frankly, this anime deserves top billing in those three categories!
Obviously unless you watch fansubbed material you've probably never heard of this anime at all, so I'll give you an idea of how it goes. It revolves around the lives of three high school friends. Takayuki, the one male fo the three, is pretty much ambitious-less. He's int he final yearb tu isn't taking his exams seriously at all. Then one day, he's set up with Haruka, also in her final year. It turns out that Haruka has liked Takayuki since the start of high school but never ahd the nerve to admit her feelings. Stunned at first, Takayuki cautiously returns Haruka's feelings. Things go slow at first for them but they then get pretty intimate in a short period of time, and it's actually really nice to see them in action. Also ncie to see in action is her mischevous and lviely sister Akane, who loves seeing the two of them together.
The catalyst for this relationship is Mitsuki, Haruka's best friend. She's the school's best swimmer and very lively in general. She's wanted Haruka to finally admit her feelings and set them up to fix the situation once and for all. Only problem is, she's liked Takayuki for quite a while as well, and she cant' admit her feelings anymore.
Just when things are looking peachy for everyone, tragedy strikes. Haruka is involved in a serious car accident and is sent into an indefinite coma. Takayuki is destroyed by the incident and goes into a downward spiral, quitting his exams and cutting himself loose. Mitsuki doesn't cope much better. She doesn't have the mental strength to swim at the top elvel anymore, she she regretfulyl gives it up in order to take an office job to care for Takayuki and bring him back from the edge. Soon after, she confesses her love to him, and they get involved, although this revelation is revealed as a flashback-type thing in EPsidoes 4 and 5.
We then jump three years into the future (This ahppens in Episode 3). Takayuki and Mitsuki are a very intimate couple and want to start living together. Takayuki earns his keep by part-time waiting. Jsut when things are on the up, they get a call from Akane. Haruka has finally awakened from ehr coma. She wants to see Takayuki right away. Only thing is, she has no idea three eyars have passed, and she still things she and Takayuki are a couple.
It's the ultimate moral dilemna. Takayuki is the only one who can help Haruka regain her memory, and it's clear that he still has feeligns for her. But then he's deeply in love with Mitsuki, who gave up so much to be with him. It takes its toll on all four main characters, as their lives begin to spiral out of control. Takayuki tries to please both but ends up making it worse. Mitsuki gradually sees her lvoe and care go unnoticed and is ultiamtely neglected. Akane unfairly labels Mitsuki as a traitor and thinks Takayuki is a coward. And Haruka is eventually going to find out she lost three years of her life.
It's a series filled with so much pain that it really hurts one to watch this, but ultimately, somehow things work out (and I won't say anything more on that because I'd ahte to spoil this for everyone). It pulls no punches whatsoever, and it's about time we had a romance series like this. It is a very frank look at life, the beuaty and tragedies it entails, the idea of love and how it can be the thing that makes you feel alive yet the thing that tears you apart. The soundtrack is piano-based and works on the emotions a lot. The animation quality is pretty high. All the characters are shown in great detail, juicing the emotion for all it's worth. And I have to say, this is the first time I'm actually seen love scenes in an anime where the female didn't look like she was in pain. In fact, they're quite nice to watch. They're shown in enough detail to please guys yet in a tender, gentle way that will suit girls. And don't worry, while this series is full on and has some reasonably graphic love scenes, this will only be an M rated anime, so you will get to see it when it's released!
Personally, I can't recall being emotionally moved so much by an anime. I was completely teary during the last 5 episodes because they were so full on in their reality. And that's the mega-plus for this anime. It is very realsitic. You will look at the situations these characters face and realise the way they act and so forth is probably how we would too. It's so ahrd to say something is right or wrong here, and that makes this anime even better. You can't play judge that much at all. And while each character makes some horiffic mistakes, you hate them a bit but sympathise with them even more. After all, they're only human and so are we.
Basically, this is definitely a 10/10 series. I rarely give this rating because the idea of a perfect anime rarely crosses my mind. The diea of eprfection almost seems wrong. Yet for me, I can't flaw it. I honestly can't. So I've found something to share the mantle with Last Exile. And J.C. Staff have shown they really can shake it with the big guns of anime, and that they now are one themselves. This anime should be compulsory viewings in high schools. because you will learn so much from it. I know it's not going to be for everyone, but do try it. It's one of those animes that deserves the labels of brave, original, epic and staple.
Okay, I'll be quiet now. I'll wait for Mike to tell me to get stuffed again and hopefully Azura and Darkyouth will have something to say on this.
PS. I f you look it up online and can't tell the two girls apart, Haruka si the peach-haired one and Mitsuki si the blue ahired one.
Over the last 10 years, romance has finally become something that animators are doing. Mostly it's associated with a lot of fanservice though. The ebtter ones like Love Hina, Ai Yori Aoshi, Please Teacher and so forth all come with fanservice and certain amounts of insanity. But no series really tried to do it in a realistic sense. What was it really like?
Until now. J. C. Staff, one of the more prominent anime studioes of late (Azumanga Daioh, Shingetsutan Tsukihime) have taken a big plunge. Some anime series that aim to be realistic can ultimately fail (personally I think Planetes is a joke, nice one Sunrise!). But the creators of Kimi Ga Nozomu Eien really did their homework. I wonder how long they actually worked on creating the plot, storyline and characters, because frankly, this anime deserves top billing in those three categories!
Obviously unless you watch fansubbed material you've probably never heard of this anime at all, so I'll give you an idea of how it goes. It revolves around the lives of three high school friends. Takayuki, the one male fo the three, is pretty much ambitious-less. He's int he final yearb tu isn't taking his exams seriously at all. Then one day, he's set up with Haruka, also in her final year. It turns out that Haruka has liked Takayuki since the start of high school but never ahd the nerve to admit her feelings. Stunned at first, Takayuki cautiously returns Haruka's feelings. Things go slow at first for them but they then get pretty intimate in a short period of time, and it's actually really nice to see them in action. Also ncie to see in action is her mischevous and lviely sister Akane, who loves seeing the two of them together.
The catalyst for this relationship is Mitsuki, Haruka's best friend. She's the school's best swimmer and very lively in general. She's wanted Haruka to finally admit her feelings and set them up to fix the situation once and for all. Only problem is, she's liked Takayuki for quite a while as well, and she cant' admit her feelings anymore.
Just when things are looking peachy for everyone, tragedy strikes. Haruka is involved in a serious car accident and is sent into an indefinite coma. Takayuki is destroyed by the incident and goes into a downward spiral, quitting his exams and cutting himself loose. Mitsuki doesn't cope much better. She doesn't have the mental strength to swim at the top elvel anymore, she she regretfulyl gives it up in order to take an office job to care for Takayuki and bring him back from the edge. Soon after, she confesses her love to him, and they get involved, although this revelation is revealed as a flashback-type thing in EPsidoes 4 and 5.
We then jump three years into the future (This ahppens in Episode 3). Takayuki and Mitsuki are a very intimate couple and want to start living together. Takayuki earns his keep by part-time waiting. Jsut when things are on the up, they get a call from Akane. Haruka has finally awakened from ehr coma. She wants to see Takayuki right away. Only thing is, she has no idea three eyars have passed, and she still things she and Takayuki are a couple.
It's the ultimate moral dilemna. Takayuki is the only one who can help Haruka regain her memory, and it's clear that he still has feeligns for her. But then he's deeply in love with Mitsuki, who gave up so much to be with him. It takes its toll on all four main characters, as their lives begin to spiral out of control. Takayuki tries to please both but ends up making it worse. Mitsuki gradually sees her lvoe and care go unnoticed and is ultiamtely neglected. Akane unfairly labels Mitsuki as a traitor and thinks Takayuki is a coward. And Haruka is eventually going to find out she lost three years of her life.
It's a series filled with so much pain that it really hurts one to watch this, but ultimately, somehow things work out (and I won't say anything more on that because I'd ahte to spoil this for everyone). It pulls no punches whatsoever, and it's about time we had a romance series like this. It is a very frank look at life, the beuaty and tragedies it entails, the idea of love and how it can be the thing that makes you feel alive yet the thing that tears you apart. The soundtrack is piano-based and works on the emotions a lot. The animation quality is pretty high. All the characters are shown in great detail, juicing the emotion for all it's worth. And I have to say, this is the first time I'm actually seen love scenes in an anime where the female didn't look like she was in pain. In fact, they're quite nice to watch. They're shown in enough detail to please guys yet in a tender, gentle way that will suit girls. And don't worry, while this series is full on and has some reasonably graphic love scenes, this will only be an M rated anime, so you will get to see it when it's released!
Personally, I can't recall being emotionally moved so much by an anime. I was completely teary during the last 5 episodes because they were so full on in their reality. And that's the mega-plus for this anime. It is very realsitic. You will look at the situations these characters face and realise the way they act and so forth is probably how we would too. It's so ahrd to say something is right or wrong here, and that makes this anime even better. You can't play judge that much at all. And while each character makes some horiffic mistakes, you hate them a bit but sympathise with them even more. After all, they're only human and so are we.
Basically, this is definitely a 10/10 series. I rarely give this rating because the idea of a perfect anime rarely crosses my mind. The diea of eprfection almost seems wrong. Yet for me, I can't flaw it. I honestly can't. So I've found something to share the mantle with Last Exile. And J.C. Staff have shown they really can shake it with the big guns of anime, and that they now are one themselves. This anime should be compulsory viewings in high schools. because you will learn so much from it. I know it's not going to be for everyone, but do try it. It's one of those animes that deserves the labels of brave, original, epic and staple.
Okay, I'll be quiet now. I'll wait for Mike to tell me to get stuffed again and hopefully Azura and Darkyouth will have something to say on this.
PS. I f you look it up online and can't tell the two girls apart, Haruka si the peach-haired one and Mitsuki si the blue ahired one.