Last Exile: Fam, Ep. 4 (Thoughts)

After skipping my thoughts on episode 3, I’m back again after finishing up episode 4–now feeling a bit more rejuvenated about both episodic blogging and this anime in general. Episode 3 made a lot of progress in terms of information, clearing up quite a lot of the confusions set from the first two episodes.  Episode 4 takes the story up several notches, as well as returns a couple of familiar faces.

I think this anime is a good one for me to test whether or not episodic blogging is for me, since it has already proven to serve up a mix of ups and downs.  This particular episode was a great climb up for me in terms of direction and character development, though the latter is more of a promise of things to come.

The driving force behind episode 4, “Dubious Move,” is the capture of the Death Reaper ship, Sylvius.  Not much is known about her–only that wherever she goes, death follows.  In an attempt to cheer up Millia, as well as provide a ship worthy of fighting for their cause, Fam and Gisey plan out the capture of the Sylvius, going off of a blurry picture provided by Dio.  This is a dubious move, indeed, given that the only plans they have are imagined blueprints drawn up with Dio’s “hints,” Gisey’s expertise, and a lot of guessing.  I found it interesting how easily they were able to locate the Sylvius, especially after all their discussion about whether or not it really exists; the episode made it seem like the attempted capture took place only one night after their declaration.

One of my favorite aspects about “Dubious Move” isn’t just the introduction of characters from the first Last Exile, but the butting of heads between them and the main cast of Fam.  Up until now, Fam and Gisey have had only the loss of Lilia to prove just how truly powerless they are–here, once again, they are reminded of the fact that there are many other people out there who are equally and even more skilled than they.  Fam Fan Fan may be our protagonist, but she, as well as Gisey, suffer as flat characters.  The encounter with the Sylvius and her captain, Tatiana, is exactly what they need.  It was strangely satisfying seeing Tatiana completely out-fly Fam; I also couldn’t help laughing when Fam and Gisey were trapped in the water-holding container when the Sylvius dove into Grand Lake.

The proposition Tatiana makes to Fam is intriguing, and promises to take up the plot for several episodes, at the least: take one Ades Federation ship for every year of your current age.  The capture of 15 ships is no mean feat for the young leads, but if they are able to pull it off, they’ll hopefully have a fleet at their disposal, and the Sylvius as an ally.

Favorite moments:
The return of Alister (“Alice”)
Although her role doesn’t seem as prominent as Tatiana’s, she is the perfect counterpart to the captain.  I love her quiet strength and witty teasing.  Maybe this is why I like Gisey, despite her flatness; she reminds me of an immature Alice.

Background music
I remembered to wear my headphones this time around, and I am sooooo glad that I did.  The background music for this particular episode was spectacular, especially during the attempt at capturing the Sylvius, and at the very end when Fam and Tatiana face off.  I really look forward to the OST whenever it comes out.

The meal
I’m not sure what meal of the day they were having, whether it was breakfast or dinner, but it looked delicious: potato pancakes, some sort of stew, soup, a rice omelet look-a-like, salad, quiche, and cured meat.  The moment where Teddy hides his face so Millia can bite at her pancakes is too adorable.