Amongst anime companies, I'm reluctant to play favorites, but Gonzo is an exception to the rule. Responsible for titles like Vandread, Hellsing, Full Metal Panic, and Yukikaze, Gonzo has secured a place as one of my preferred productions houses. When I was offered the opportunity to review a DVD version of Last Exile, one of Gonzo's newer releases, I immediately leapt upon it as though a thirsty man offered a carton of milk. Little did I know, some of it had gone sour.

Visually, Last Exile shares some design elements with Yukikaze but, where as Yukikaze's character designs were intentionally somber, as though conveying the depression of the character's world, Last Exile's designs are reflective of the characters in general as opposed to the world itself. Take Alex Lowe, captain of the battleship Silvana, for example. Alex's overall design represents the depression that is an integral part of the character's personality: indeed, the man is driven by a great pain suffered in his past; Lavie and Claus have a more earnest appearance to them, befitting their youthful optimism.

The aerial combat sequences were limited in "Queen Delphine", simply because of the setting. By this time in the series, the Silvana and her battle group had entered the Grandstream, limiting their maneuverability. The majority of the sequences are seen onboard battleships, including the combat with the Guild. This is just a little bit of a disappointment in an anime whose focus is on flying and exploration - though, when placed in perspective of the plot, it makes sense. Granted, this makes for some of the more intense, yet short lived, interior combat scenes within the anime.

Queen Delphine treats the viewers to some of the most lavish animated combat I've seen since Appleseed: The Motion Picture. The sequence in which Lucciola engages Delphine's personal guard is exceedingly well done, both in visual appeal and stylistic elements. Set within the Queen's massive, yet Spartan audience chamber, the entire sequence has the air of a ballet; the motions of the pair of characters seem choreographed with the classical score, underscoring their subtleties. Each movement has a smooth, dance-like quality, seldom seen in the more frenzied, action packed combat scenes of most anime. In fact, it is the simple beauty of the scene that makes its climax all the more poignant.

This can be immediately contrasted with the stark, brutal combat waged aboard the battleships against the Guild. The sequences of these battles possess none of the beauty of the hand to hand combat of Lucciola, rather, they seem possessed of a grisly, desperate nature totally in tune with the movement of the plot. A notable exception is Alex's desperate, yet short-lived charge against Delphine. The captain of the Silvana proves that he's more than just a taciturn face.

In terms of Audio, the soundtrack is presented in clear, crisp Dolby sound. The score it does not suffer from some of the muting found in other DVD releases when switching audio tracks: the music is consistent whether you listen to the English version or you partake in the symphony of sound that is the Japanese version. It begs noting that this is the first Gonzo dub that I've found the voices to be significantly inferior in inflection and emotional expression.

Delphine herself, while maintaining a sense of prideful arrogance when speaking to others, is depicted with a sort of dispassionate, arrogant intonation in the English. Her English voice actor is almost a complete paradigm shift from the masterful portrayal within the Japanese: rather than appear as a woman in complete control of her empire and those around her, the English voice emphasizes her arrogance to a point where her intonation seems to project a lack of emotion - merely dispassion, almost boredom, with those about her. Dio is another whose voice has been mangled: the Japanese voicing projected Dio's voice as childish, almost immature: it fit his personality as someone who'd never grown up. The English version forces his voice into effeminate tones in an attempt the match the Japanese: Dio comes off sounding like a eunuch at best.

Special features, not limited to previews, are simply an art gallery of production sketches. While interesting, it's not up to the caliber of other releases of Gonzo series, most notably Yukikaze, though that's not the reason anyone should purchase the DVD. In summary, Queen Delphine ups the ante, pressing the series to a higher climax as the surviving ships within the Silvana's group press forwards and the Guild gets ever closer to unlocking Exile. A word of warning to anime watchers: steer clear of the English track or this DVD will find itself Exiled to a forgotton corner of your collection.

Distributor: Geneon
Creator: GONZO Digimation
Released: 2003

Video Quality: A
Audio Quality: C-
Presentation: B
Content: A
Overall: B+