The Big Smoke

Holy shit.

I don' even know where to start on this one. This mini-series is Anime at it's best, and it's even a bit better. I'd reckon there isn't anyone who wouldn't like this one, because there's something for everyone. And it's all mixed in so casually, and skillfully, it really let's you get into the story. I haven't been so excited watching a TV show since I was a little kid.

I think what speaks for this story the most is the characters. God, there must be a good thirty some characters in this, and they're all strong. You get to know them all, and like them. They're incredibly believable for such a far-out steampunk, and their motivation makes the (sometimes overly) complex story all the more natural and entertaining. In the middle of the bizarre, anime universe they've created, you can still suspend your imagination, precisely because the characters are so convincing.

And the story itself? It's fucking fantastic, and the whole series is dedicated to it. There's no filler, which tends to always suck in Anime. There's a very clear beginning, middle and end to Last Exile. Every episode has to be watched in order, because the whole thing builds up to an amazing finale that lives up to the rest of the series. There are a lot of great mini-series and movies out there, but it's pretty rare to see a great ending like this. It's god damned satisfying.

The only real problem with the storyline, though, is that it's so detailed, it's kind of hard to write a spoiler-free outline that actually makes sense. I'll give it a shot though:

There's a massive war between two poverty-stricken kingdoms which lie on opposite sides of a massive, steam-filled, windy chasm that can only be crossed in large, sturdy airships. The two nations know nothing about each other, due to the physical divide, and are only fighting to steal each other's clean water and farmland, which are always in short supply. Both sides are really classy and gentlemanly about the war, though. Possibly because the whole thing is being mediated by a technologically advanced and mysterious Guild, which, unknown to either nation, manipulates the war to its own advantage.

The story follows Lavie and Claus (pictured), two poor, lowly orphans *cough* who work as couriers in a wicked little plane-thing (pictured). Their fathers, also couriers, died ten years beforehand while trying to deliver a peace treaty. It's their (impossible) dream to one day complete their fathers' mission, and help end the war.

After being given a mission to transport a little girl (pictured) to a large warship, the Silvana (pictured), they decide to stay aboard under the pretext of helping to protect the girl. In reality, Claus becomes caught up in the drama of the war and wants to fight, something which Lavie detests. The series follows the warship, and how the long and increasingly pointless war effects the crew, from the mechanics on the lower decks to the bridge.

One last word: The visuals are absolutely incredible, as is the music. With most anime series', you come to expect cheap ass animation, and lots of repeated footage. Not here. There some serious high-quality stuff here, including plenty of expensive-looking and artfully handled CGI, which blends comfortably with the beautiful hand-drawn stuff. That mixed with great acting (in the Japanese, of course) and a great soundtrack means atmosphere ahoy.

If I was going to recommend an Anime series to anyone, it would be this. It's an epic fucking masterpiece. Five Fucking Stars:

/ five

I had a really good Valentine's Day, so as a tribute to a day that I used to think was crap, I'm going to quickly recommend the three best Romance Films I've seen this year.

3) Twilight Samurai AKA Tasogare Seibei AKA Samurai in Love AKA Iguchi, the Littlest Samurai 

Holy shit, this was an awesome film. There's be a fuckload of good Samurai movies, but this one still manages to stand out, and it's definitely a whole different take on the genre. But the best part of all is that this movie so beautifully builds up to it's climax, which is probably my favourite single scene in movie history.

Those of you who know Hiroyuki Sanada know he's a fucking awesome actor, but he rocks the house in this one. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say this is the greatest Sanada performance save Kamui No Ken, and a Samurai movie that can rank with Kurosawa.

Erm, basically, this is about Iguchi, the luckless samurai who can never catch a break. And then he falls in love.

Jesus Christ this is beautiful. I'd never heard of it, but after seeing that I poked around the internet and the reviews are all across the board. I think it's worth giving a chance, don't you?

(thanks to Japanator for that one)

Now that the new season of American Idol has come out, I’ve sadly had to delete all my fucking RSS feeds because not a single blogger on the web can refrain from giving me the fucking play-by-play.

Hey, man, I liked American idol as well, about two, three years ago. But it’s the same fucking thing for six years. Even if I do still catch it once in a while, do I really need to hear your detailed description of someone singing like a fool? Sorry, but the written word just doesn’t capture that.

So, as a tribute to TV that isn’t a million years old, a drinking game for the Wuthering Heights of Modern Japan:

"BERUDANDI!!!" = One Shot