In America, animation is pretty much limited to children's fare.  Yes, there have been a some notable exceptions over the years; but they are few and far between.  In general, if it is animated in the States, it is for juvenile consumption and probably has talking animals in it.  (Now there is nothing wrong with that, I like a lot of the domestic animation production, but it is very limited in scope.)

That's part of the reason I like anime so much.  It is so varied.  There are shows and movies in just about every genre and style.  From sports shows to mysteries, comedies to westerns, there is an anime for just about every taste.

Which brings me to Last Exile.  This is a show that doesn't fit into a single mold.  It is part coming of age story, part mystery, part road show, and part war drama.  There is a lot of action, but it is not at the expense of character development.  The world that is created in this show is both unique and interesting.  Filled with steam powered machine guns and giant flying battleships that never land, Last Exile takes place on a world quite like ours, yet vastly different.  A world where electricity was never discovered, but the industrial revolution still took place.

This third volume of Last Exile continues in the excellent tradition that the previous two volume set.  It includes the following episodes:

Episode 9 - Calculate Alex:  There is an auction to be held where the "Exile" is to be sold.  Alex plans to be there.  The auction is using the 'Horizon Cave 8-hour Endurance Race' as a cover, so the Captain lets Klaus and Lavi enter the famous sporting event.  However, He is not the only one interested in the Exile, the guild is quite eager to obtain it too.  At the race, Dio, a member of the guild, has also entered, specifically so he can beat Klaus.

Episode 10 – Swindle:  The auction for the Exile ends, and so does the Horizon Cave 8.  Alex doesn't have an easy time winning the bidding on the Exile.  The guild is bidding against him, and they don't play fair.  But then again, neither does Alex.

Episode 11 – Develop:  The Emperor is suspicious of Alex, and sends another fleet Captain to obtain the cargo and the clues to Exile that are in Alex's possession.  Alex was expecting this, and refuses to comply with the order.

Episode 12 – Discovered Attack:  The Silvana is attacked by their own fleet when Alex disobeys an order from the Emperor.  Vastly outnumbered, Alex comes up with a plan to even the odds, but his adversary, an old friend, deduces Alex's plans and sets up an ambush.

This fascinating series continues to impress me.  The plot moves at a nice rate, with a good amount of action, but not to the detriment of the story.  In this series of episodes, more is learned about Alvis; who she is and why she is important, and Klaus and Lavi's relationship evolves.  But, for every question that is answered, another one pops up.

The animation is of theatrical release quality, with a lot of depth and detail.  The animators didn't just use two dimensions for their characters to move in.  The vanships move in all three, flying in and out of clouds and around large ships.  This gives the show a deepness that most other animated fair doesn't have.

There are many eye-popping scenes in each episode too.  This show has computer animation seamlessly blended with traditional animation.  The backgrounds in this program move and breath rather than being static like most animation.  The clouds move and change shape, water flows, and wind blows through the grass and trees, all in the background.

In addition to the top-notch animation, the designs of the ships, weapons, and machinery wonderful.  Everything looks very plausible and realistic.  It is a glimpse of what might have been, had electricity not been harnessed.  A lot of time and thought went into the look of this show, and the effort was worth it.
 

The choices for audio on this disc are either the original Japanese or an English dub, both in digital stereo.  There are optional English subtitles.  I was very pleased with both audio tracks.  They were very clear with no hints of distortion or hiss.  Good use was made of the front soundstage, with the sounds of flying ships by panning across the speakers to match their streaking across the screen.  The English dub was very good too.  They went to a lot of trouble to match up the lip movement, and hired competent voice actors. An excellent sounding disc.

Video:

The video quality was very, very good.  The anamorphic widescreen picture was clear with very good definition.  There were only the faintest digital artifacts present, a few instances of aliasing, and some slight posterization in some of the sky scenes.  The colors were bright and the transfer excellent.  Some of the interior scenes were a tad on the dark side, but only slightly.  This is a very nice looking show, and the DVD does it justice.

The Extras:

This third volume is a little light on the extras.  There is an art gallery with 25 model sheets and a 6-minute trailer reel.  I really dislike it when the trailers are all run together with out an index, especially since it would be so easy to have a menu for them.  This time there are trailers to Heat Guy J, Fighting Spirit, Captain Herlock, and Gad Guard.

There is also a neat insert included with the DVD. A 'limited edition' Vanship paper model. If you cut out the pieces and glue it together, you should have a nice looking Vanship. The only problem is that you would need the patience of a saint to compleat it. There are many parts to cut out, fold and glue, and they are all very small. The picture of the compleated model looks very nice, but I'd be willing to bet that most people will not be able to achieve anything resembling that.

Final Thoughts:

This is a great show in many ways.  The acting is very good in both the Japanese and English dubs (one of the best dubs that I've heard.)  The plot and characters are enticing, and you won't find a better-looking show anytime soon.  The show keeps going strong, building off the foundation of the first two DVDs.  A Highly Recommended series.