Last Exile

Last Exile

is a Japanese animated television series created by Gonzo. It featured a production team led by director Koichi Chigira, character designer Range Murata, and production designer Mahiro Maeda. The three had previously worked together in Blue Submarine No. 6, one of the first CG anime series...

 is an animated

Anime

is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

 television series

Television program

A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...

 created by Gonzo in celebration of the company's 10th anniversary. The steampunk

Steampunk

Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction, fantasy, alternate history, and speculative fiction that came into prominence during the 1980s and early 1990s. Steampunk involves a setting where steam power is still widely used—usually Victorian era Britain or "Wild West"-era United...

 fantasy

Fantasy

Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...

 series was directed by Koichi Chigira

Koichi Chigira

is an anime director who has directed several anime series, usually working with GONZO studio.-List of works:*Full Metal Panic*Gate Keepers*Last Exile*The Tower of Druaga: the Aegis of Uruk*Brave Story...

, and character designs were created by Range Murata

Range Murata

is a Japanese artist and designer, known for his unique style combining Art Deco and Japanese anime elements. He is best known for his conceptual design work on anime series Last Exile and Blue Submarine No. 6....

. The story is set on a fictional world divided in eternal conflict between the nations of Anatoray and Disith, and sky courier

Courier

A courier is a person or a company who delivers messages, packages, and mail. Couriers are distinguished from ordinary mail services by features such as speed, security, tracking, signature, specialization and individualization of express services, and swift delivery times, which are optional for...

s Claus Valca and Lavie Head must deliver a girl who holds the key to uniting the two factions. Last Exile aired in Japan on TV Tokyo

TV Tokyo

is a television station headquartered in Toranomon, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Also known as , a blend of "terebi" and "Tokyo", it is the key station of TX Network. It is one of the major Tokyo television stations, particularly specializing in anime...

 from April 7, 2003 to September 29, 2003.

The series was previously licensed for English language broadcast and distribution in North America by Geneon Entertainment (then Pioneer Entertainment) in June 2003. Currently, the series North America license is now owned by Funimation Entertainment. Geneon premiered its dubbed

Dubbing (filmmaking)

Dubbing is the post-production process of recording and replacing voices on a motion picture or television soundtrack subsequent to the original shooting. The term most commonly refers to the substitution of the voices of the actors shown on the screen by those of different performers, who may be...

 version of the series in TechTV

TechTV

TechTV was a 24-hour cable and satellite channel based in San Francisco featuring news and shows about computers, technology, and the Internet. In 2004, it merged with the G4 gaming channel which ultimately dissolved TechTV programming...

's Anime Unleashed

Anime Unleashed

Anime Unleashed was an anime block that was broadcast on the American cable TV network, G4. The block was placed on the original TechTV in early 2003 and moved to G4techTV after the two networks merged...

 programming block on March 8, 2004. The first 13 episodes aired nightly until March 14, 2004. The remaining 13 episodes premiered on December 6, 2004, with new episodes airing each weeknight until the series concluded on December 22, 2004.

ADV Films previously owned the license for the series' English release in the United Kingdom before the company's demise, and distribution rights in Australia and New Zealand are owned by Madman Entertainment

Madman Entertainment

Madman Entertainment is an Australian company that distributes international films as well as Japanese anime and manga in Australia and New Zealand. The company is owned by Funtastic Limited and is one of the major entertainment companies in Australia. It employs 130 people and has an annual...

. Last Exile was licensed for regional language release in France, Germany, and Sweden. On December 26, 2008, American production house Funimation Entertainment

Funimation Entertainment

Funimation is an American entertainment company. Originally founded in 1994 by Gen Fukunaga, the company became a subsidiary of Navarre Corporation on May 11, 2005...

 announced it was taking over production and distribution of the show from Geneon. Last Exile has also been hosted at the streaming media website Crunchyroll

Crunchyroll

Crunchyroll is an American website and international online community focused on streaming East Asian media including anime, manga, drama, music, electronic entertainment, and auto racing content...

.

Two pieces of theme music were used for the series. "Cloud Age Symphony", performed by Shuntaro Okino, was used as the opening theme for all 26 episodes, and Hitomi Kuroishi

Hitomi Kuroishi

is a Japanese female singer-songwriter and composer, born in Kanazawa, Ishikawa. She is credited simply as Hitomi for her vocals, not to be confused with J-pop singer Hitomi....

's "Over The Sky" was used as the ending theme.

A sequel, Last Exile: -Fam, The Silver Wing-, began a simulcast broadcast in both Japan and Asia on the same day on October 15, 2011 by TV Tokyo

TV Tokyo

is a television station headquartered in Toranomon, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Also known as , a blend of "terebi" and "Tokyo", it is the key station of TX Network. It is one of the major Tokyo television stations, particularly specializing in anime...

 and Animax Asia respectively with the Animax airing broadcasted with English subtitles and other local languages subtitles in each market area of Asia. Taking place two years after the events of Last Exile, the new series is set in another world where there is a war with the powerful Ades Federation conquering the Kingdom of Turan. The titular protagonist Fam Fan Fan and her friend Giselle Collette are Sky Pirates who get involved in the war when they rescue Princess Millia of the Turan Kingdom.

Two theme songs were used for Last Exile: -Fam, The Silver Wing-. The opening theme song is "Buddy" by Maaya Sakamoto

Maaya Sakamoto

is a Japanese singer-songwriter, actress, and voice actress. She made her debut as a voice actress in 1992 as the voice of Chifuru in the anime series Little Twins, but is more well known for her role as Hitomi Kanzaki in the hit anime series The Vision of Escaflowne...

 while the ending theme song is "Starboard" by Hitomi Kuroishi.

Episode list

Last Exiles episode titles were originally given in English, as displayed at the beginning of each episode, and use terms from chess.

Last Exile (2003)

>

Episode #	Title	Director	Screenwriter	Original airdate	English airdate

Last Exile: Fam, the Silver Wing (2011)

A special episode featuring an extended preview of the main series was aired on October 7, 2011, one week prior to the sequel anime's airing. It was broken into four parts: File: 001 -New Story-, File: 002 -Characters-, File: 003 -Production Staff-, and a special message from each of the three main characters to the viewers. The special ends with a TV size preview of the opening theme "Buddy" sung by Maaya Sakamoto

Maaya Sakamoto

is a Japanese singer-songwriter, actress, and voice actress. She made her debut as a voice actress in 1992 as the voice of Chifuru in the anime series Little Twins, but is more well known for her role as Hitomi Kanzaki in the hit anime series The Vision of Escaflowne...

. >

Episode #	Title	Director	Screenwriter	Original airdate	English airdate

Japanese releases

Japanese distributor Victor Entertainment

Victor Entertainment

is a subsidiary of Japan Victor Company that produces and distributes music, movies and other entertainment products such as anime and television shows in Japan. It was formerly known as...

 released a total of 13 DVD compilations of Last Exile between July 23, 2003, and July 21, 2004. Limited version releases were also available for the first and eighth volumes that included an art poster

Poster

A poster is any piece of printed paper designed to be attached to a wall or vertical surface. Typically posters include both textual and graphic elements, although a poster may be either wholly graphical or wholly text. Posters are designed to be both eye-catching and informative. Posters may be...

 and an action figure

Action figure

An action figure is a posable character figurine, made of plastic or other materials, and often based upon characters from a film, comic book, video game, or television program. These action figures are usually marketed towards boys and male collectors...

 each. A complete seven-disc boxed set was released on November 21, 2004. The deluxe edition of this set included a model of Tatiana's and Alister's red vanship, a short fiction on the Battle of Otranto,In episode 11, Vincent Alzey reveals that he and Alex Row once served together in the Anatoray military during the Battle of Otranto. unpublished articles on the series, and illustrations by character designer Range Murata

Range Murata

is a Japanese artist and designer, known for his unique style combining Art Deco and Japanese anime elements. He is best known for his conceptual design work on anime series Last Exile and Blue Submarine No. 6....

. A reprint of the 2004 DVD boxed set is released by Victor Entertainment along with a remastered Blu-ray

Blu-ray Disc

Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...

 boxed set. Both boxes are recreated especially for the updated release, which also comes with a reprint of the artbook "Last Exile Chronicles" originally in a 2007 limited edition release.

Victor Entertainment DVD releases
Volume	Released	Discs	Episodes		Volume	Released	Discs	Episodes
1	July 23, 2003	1	2		8	February 21, 2004	1	2
2	August 21, 2003	1	2		9	March 24, 2004	1	2
3	September 21, 2003	1	2		10	April 21, 2004	1	2
4	October 22, 2003	1	2		11	May 21, 2004	1	2
5	November 21, 2003	1	2		12	June 23, 2004	1	2
6	December 17, 2003	1	2		13	July 21, 2004	1	2
7	January 21, 2004	1	2
Box	July 23, 2003In addition to bonus materials, the limited edition first and eighth volume releases also included storage boxes for volumes 1–7 and 8–13, respectively.				Box	February 21, 2004

North American releases

Last Exile received a respectable amount of attention in the United States. Pioneer Entertainment (later Geneon Entertainment) licensed the series in June 2003, two months after the first episode aired in Japan, and released the first compilation DVD volume on November 18, 2003. After Geneon ceased distribution of its licensed titles in 2007, the series was licensed to Funimation Entertainment

Funimation Entertainment

Funimation is an American entertainment company. Originally founded in 1994 by Gen Fukunaga, the company became a subsidiary of Navarre Corporation on May 11, 2005...

, and a four-disc boxed set was released on May 5, 2009.

Geneon Entertainment DVD releases
Volume	Released	Discs	Episodes
1	November 18, 2003	1	4
2	February 3, 2004	1	4
3	April 6, 2004	1	4
4	June 8, 2004	1	4
5	August 10, 2004	1	4
6	October 12, 2004	1	3
7	December 14, 2004	1	3
Box set	October 4, 2005	7	26

Other releases

Madman Entertainment

Madman Entertainment

Madman Entertainment is an Australian company that distributes international films as well as Japanese anime and manga in Australia and New Zealand. The company is owned by Funtastic Limited and is one of the major entertainment companies in Australia. It employs 130 people and has an annual...

, Last Exiles licensor and distributor in Australia and New Zealand, released a seven-disc compilation set on February 15, 2006. The series was also previously licensed by ADV Films for distribution in the United Kingdom before the company's demise.