Yesterday, I watched the final episode of the anime series Last Exile and must confess that I was a little disappointed by the ending. Yes, many plot points were brought to a close and the two main characters were given a happy life, but for me there were too many unanswered questions. For example, I did not understand how the Guild came into existence and why they behaved the way that they did. Were the people in the story descendants of colonizers from Earth? What happened to Dio? Plus I wished that there was more time devoted to the character of Maestro Delphine, because she is without a doubt the most interesting character that I have seen in anime in a long time. She was cruel and enjoyed being that way.
I suppose that I can find answers to some of these questions by scanning various anime news sites and message boards, but that will take some time and part of me would just prefer to move onto a new series.
Warren Ellis continues to impress me with his writing of the Marvel comic book Thunderbolts. Since its inception the book has prided itself on the use of former villains seeking redemption, but Warren has tinkered with that concept slightly by adding members to the cast who are not so altruistic. I find each issue to be exciting and far from predictable. Plus Mike Deodato is doing some of his best pencil work ever.
Having just finished watching the twelfth episode of the twenty six episode anime series Last Exile, I have to admit that I am somewhat confused, but at the same time very excited by what might happen next. Claus and Lavie seem to be caught up in something far larger than themselves and that makes for some exciting storytelling as far as I am concerned. It also has a classic ring to it. I might go so far as to call Claus and Lavie the Rosencrantz and Guildenstern of the story. They seem somewhat important to the story, but in the end they are just characters on the fringe of the action. Perhaps that is a stretch, but I could see and have read that the focus of the series does shift away from them.
To keep things simple and to keep my attention focused, I decided to watch all seven discs of the series without interruption. Usually I like to stagger an anime episode with a foreign or independent film in my Netflix queue. In the past when I tried that approach it felt as though I were cheating myself when I limited myself to just one genre. Now I no longer feel that way, plus I can devote all of my attention to the story without any distractions.
Keeping focused seems to be my problem of late and that probably explains the bad dreams where I am either lost in a dorm or unprepared for final exams. My mind seems to be all over the place, be it work, planning for the wedding, trying to organize a trip or relaxing by reading comic books and watching anime. Simplification or narrowing my field of interest is probably what is best for me now so that I can feel like I am accomplishing something. Otherwise nothing gets completed and I feel frustrated. Quite often there are times, when I wish that I could press the pause button on my life. I need to take a break and examine what is best for me, before I lose control.
Wednesday for me is the one day of the week that I try to set aside for complete relaxation. I seldom drive anywhere and try to keep my household chores to a minimum. Today is meant to be a day where I indulge in some of my favorite pastimes such as reading and watching movies. Hopefully I can also squeeze in a healthy amount of sleep.
To start of my relaxing day, I watched the first four episodes of what for me is a new anime series. This time I chose to watch Last Exile and so far I am very impressed by what I have seen. Stylistically speaking, the animation is very different from the last series I completed. Where Fooly Cooly had some mecha elements mixed in with humor and fan service, Last Exile is much more in the realm of steampunk. The characters live in a Victorian era world with fascinating flying machines and technology relying heavily on flasks and tubes. In an interview, the production designer said that he had the world of Germany between the two world wars in mind when creating the look, but to me the clothing and architecture of the world are much more nineteenth century than early twentieth century.
Something else about the series caught me by surprise. Now that I have more than a handful of anime series under my viewing belt, I am starting to recognize some of the voice actors. I could not place her, but I knew that the woman who did the voice of Lavie was familiar to me. Then when I did a quick search online, I had my answer. Kari Wahlgren had done a voice in Fooly Cooly, Wolf's Rain and Witch Hunter Robin, all three of which I have seen and enjoyed. I also recognized the lead male character's voice and found out that that actor had also been in Wolf's Rain. As silly as it sounds, I think that being a voice actor has to be a fun job. Maybe I not aware of some hidden downsides to the job, but spending time in a booth watching great animation sounds like a good time to me.
Yesterday, an issue of the Marvel comic book Thor from the year 1970 was delivered. This is the only issue of Thor that I own that was created by the classic team of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. I have yet to finish reading the book, but the style is not something that is seen in modern comic books anymore. Stan and Jack made have caused a revolution in their day, but somewhere through the decades that magic has been lost. Maybe I am being overly sentimental, but I don't think so, because I did not grow up reading these books. I came into the hobby after Stan had stopped writing and Jack had fled to DC. Neither of the two men were what drew into the world of illustrated adventure. Now decades later I get a chance to see what inspired so many modern creators to get into the field.