LAST EXILE. It makes no sense. It rocks! It is so odd to American sensibilities: hyper- sexualized children in the role of the heroes even though nothing more sexual than a kiss ever really happens. CHECK! Odd lesbian allusions. CHECK! Weird alien androgynous homoeroticism. CHECK! NO real explanation of about 60% of the back story. CHECK! Not really, but kind of insestuous pangs between the 2 main characters. CHECK! A tortured brooding but brilliant captian spurred on by moral righteousness. CHECK! A secret Crown Princess/Empress in love with said brooding Captain. CHECK! And about a hundred other CHECKS to boot! The strange joys of typical Japanese TV anime are all available on Netflix streaming! I do not have cable or satellite, so for my viewing pleasure I either Hulu, Netflix or read. I’ve been reading a lot, but I was in the mood for something that probably wouldn’t excite my wife, aka, anime! Found “Last Exile” available for immediate stream and went online to get a few opinions. It checked out and I hit play. Immediately sucked into this world. In typical japanese style they don’t bother to tell you about what is happening. Why are these 2 nations at war? Why are they all being controlled by some alien race that lives in the sky in hyper-advanced technology? Why are there people of that alien race sprinkled throughout the story, but who have obviously left their own people? You figure out semi-quickly that it has something to do with “The Grand Stream”, “Exile”, water and haunted pasts…

The 2 main characters, Claus Valca, a 15 year old who, using the vanship (a small flying ship) left behind by his father, made his home in the sky along with his childhood friend Lavie Head, who is also 15. Then there are another set of 15 year old girls who fly Van Ships for Captain Alex Rous (the tortured guy), and are hardcore fighter pilots, Tatiana and Allister. Then there is an 11 year old upon whom the entire story hinges, Alvis.Alvis is the key to The Mysteria - apparently 4 questions that unlock the true nature of Exile which resides in the heart of the Grand Stream.

Throw in 2 14 year old aliens from the over-ruling Guild, Dio and his semi-gayish sidekick Lucciola. Dio is the younger brother of the sadistic and criminally bored Maestro Delphine Eraclea. She rules the skies in her silly-cool guild ship powered by awesomeness and cool industrial design apparently. These 2 roam around freely on the Silvana while it takes on rogue missions eventually joining the flight crew and fighting against their own people. All these Van Ships and battle ships insists on returning The Fangs, some odd mountain top obstacle course that everyone keeps flying into that looks just how you would expect from it’s name. Then there are very cool Van Ship races, obscure refueling stations, sentient ships, crash landing, teenage angst, kisses, cluelessness and all manner of childish and silly yet cool things that don’t really make sense like the rose petal rain shower that signals war? but are amazingly fun to watch even if they are never explained.

But I was thinking less of plot as I watched this series and more of it’s oddness. Why are the 15 year olds the heroes? There are “grown-ups” aka 20 somethings for the most part that reside in the main positions of power, but there are also old dudes with big mustaches and beards and funny clothes who seem to control the big picture issues like war. Yet it is the 15 year olds, who have the faces of 7 year olds but the bodies of 20 years olds (at least the girls), who are doing all the heavy lifting here. They save the day and make the tough decisions, they are the moral compasses and their experience becomes ours and eventually everyone else’s. They live on their own. They fight life and death battles with astonishing regularity. They are the center of this. I suspect it’s because this is aimed at that market in Japan, but there is such a sexual undertone here (like in most 15 year olds if I remember correctly). It is just strange because in the states we never talk about 15 year olds as sexual beings with out being called perverts even though they really are. But in Japan they all seem to draw and write about it, but never talk about it and then they fetishize it, and make it all schoolgirl crazy…

So whatever, it is amazingly enjoyable if wonderfully odd. you needn’t sully your head with sexualized thoughts to enjoy it, nor do you really need to understand what is really happening to enjoy it. This review is as discombobulated as the series was. I’d love to say that it was intentional, but it’s just scattered like my head…