Last Exile eps 5-8

[meganbmoore]

I have to say that Alex's crew isn't doing a lot to endear themselves to me at this point.  They make their presence felt by treating Al like a sack of potatoes and not even noticing it until Alex points out she's a little kid.  They follow it up by bullying Claus and Lavie (outnumbering them about 10 to 1) just because they can, and then by deciding it's fun for the biggest one of them to beat the crud out of a kid half his size.  They try to make up for it by being sweet to Al later, but as it was about 10 minutes after the Claus beating, it didn't help.  They got very, very grudging approval by definding Lavie in a bar fight, but (A) I'm not sure she needed it, and (B) I'm sure they'll ruin that move shortly.  The bald guy doesn't seem as bad as the rest, but mostly, I kinda wish they'd all drown or something.  (I'd be pretty understanding and forgiving if they'd just given Claus and Lavie a hard time, given the circumstances, but no, their behavior was very much bullies picking on those they consider weaker, and they took far too much pleasure in the beating of a kid who obviously didn't stand a chance for me to give them any leeway.  They have a ways to go to get off my poo-poo list.)

On the flipside, Tatiana and Sophia are endearing themselves to me pretty well.  Tatiana for putting a stop to the Claus-beating and putting him in a position of grudging respect(and thus, no more beating) and for being able to back up being a cold, uppity priss.  Sophia for being the only person to besides Claus and Lavie  to notice Al is a kid and treat her as such, and for being nice to everyone.  I also suspect she goes a long way to making Alex suitable for human company.  Alex endears himself by deciding to be a human shield for Al, and by deciding to let Claus and Lavie stay when they won't take no for an answer.    Plus, he's good at the dramatic posing and cape blowing, and the unhealthy levels of extreme angst are starting to show through.  Sophia and Alex also have a very cute moment where she asks him is she can try out a special maneuver in combat and he gives her permission.  I swear, it was the equivalent of giving her a dozen roses and a diamond necklace.  Maybe better.

Mullin also reappears, making me happy.  Apparently, his character design is so generic that it keeps Lavie from noticing that he's the guy who kept her and Claus from getting shot not too long ago.  He makes me despair a bit by wanting to join a ship of pretension cowards, but makes up for it later by telling off the captain of said ship.

Claus confirms my opinion of him as the TSTL one by deciding to chase Alex's ship after Alex takes Al, and then by flying him and Lavie into gunfire when Alex tells him to beat it.  He's just lucky he didn't get them killed.  I'm trying very hard to find Claus interesting, but, while likable enough, there's really nothing to set him apart from being a likable, generic example of the character type, not even his gutsy-ness.  At least Lavie has her fair share of spunk, a good deal of common sense(someone has to make up for Claus's lack) and understandable, if aggressive, reactions to people and things, beyond the normal good-guy, heroic reactions.

There's also talk about something called Exiles, and near-albino looking villains who like to toy with the heroes (Claus and Lavi are currently alive only because you can't kill the hero in episode 7...) and treat life like a game of chess.

It's very well done and h as great music, I just wish Claus were more interesting.  (Lavie is actually also a fairly generic example of the spunky heroine character type, she just also has enough common sense and spirit to go with it to make her more interesting.)

Comments

[meemaimoh.livejournal.com]

Hi. :) I noticed you on an addme community - I don't remember which. I'm convinced we have plenty in common and so have added you. Just thought I'd let you know. :P

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

That's fine. Probably fantasyaddme or animeaddme(I've never actually posted to either, just lurked.)

[shadawyn.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Claus and Lavie seem more like vehicles for introducing the story, rather than the people the story is about. I guess they wanted the teenagers for viewers to associate with in context of the rest of the series? Or that the series went through evolution (something I'm starting to realize in some of my novels is that the character you start with, might not actually be the person the story is about).

Not sure. I'm going to have to rewatch it now, when I have time...

[wasabi-girl1.livejournal.com]

I actually LOVED Lavie in the first few episodes. I think if it wasn't for her, I wouldn't have enjoyed the show as much as I did. Claus is pretty standard for an anime male (my brother kept calling him Van, haha!) and Alex is the typical angst boy, so it was actually mostly the female characters that kept me going. And really, Al is too adorable! :)

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Right now, the female characters in general are more interestingt han the male characters, which I approve of. But then, I typically like female characters more than others do, and typically can't understand the hatred directed at them.