Over the Sky | Image Gallery | Artbooks | Last Exile Aerial Log | 051
STAFF TABLE TALK
Chigira Kouichi (Director, Series Composition)
Murata Range (Original Character Design)
Suzuki Takaaki (Military History Advisor)
Interviewer: Komaki Masanobu (Studio Komaki)
Such a huge amount of information was put into the making of “Last Exile” that, I believe, It is possible to say lots of viewers suffered from indigestion. Here, we are going to discuss with our three guests the work behind the scenes that led to the creation of the main story, its incredibly detailed chara design, as well as to clarify some general aspects of the plot.
IN: First of all, please tell us about the original plan for this story.
Chigira: At first Mr. Murahama outlined a rough draft for the story (note 1). It was about the pure love of a bad guy who was fighting on a battleship. As already stated in other interviews, from there I began to develop the story with Alex as the hero and I had progressed to a good extent when our producer, Mr. Birukawa [Hiroyuki], questioned me on “what I really wanted to accomplish with this work”. To tell the truth, considering the age of the viewers I wanted to reach, I had already some ideas on my mind: I wanted to not only show the “world of men” but also to give an overview of the characters’ everyday life.
IN: Well, besides being the amazing flying kids, I think that Claus and Lavie have also the purpose to show us the everyday life of this unique civilization that replaced the sea with the sky.
Suzuki: The original story concept placed the setting for the fights among battleships in the outer space. In fact, before this project I had developed the setting for Vandread, so I thought I could reuse some of that material. However Murata pointed out that it was impossible to have musketeers exchanging fire in outer space, so he suggested the sky was a better place for the setting.
Chigira: Therefore the whole picture changed and it was a good thing as this also provided the right setting for those kids and their lives. Indeed we liked the image of a small silver vanship flying in the blue sky and through the white clouds.
Going from “cold outer space” to a “sky with blowing winds”
IN: So at first you thought, among other possibilities, to have outer space filled with air
Chigira: But as I told you, Mr. Murata said that “to develop that story concept, the sky is definitely better as a setting”
IN: However, scenes that are easy to draw in outer space are more difficult to draw if there is air. For instance the hair and the hem of the clothes have to move according to the winds, the wires hum with whistling sounds and animating all that is more complicated.
Chigira: For that reason the realistic chara design created by Mr. Murata highly contributed to make that universe alive. To say, that choice in the chara design and its distinctive feature eventually contributed to the visuals of the world of Last Exile. Indeed, for an illustrator that was a hard task, but looking at the high quality of his work to the point that you can really “feel” that world, it makes him really proud of what he has created.
IN: The choice to make Claus and Lavie young kids made this world more enjoyable for the intended audience, yet at the same time it was possible to show a more adult world, which was the original purpose. Even watching this show without any deep knowledge, it is easy to see that it is based on the society and the science before and after the First World War, as you put right from the beginning airships floating like balloons as to declare “this is a world dominated by swirling winds”, then with a sudden change we are taken back to the ground to see the enthusiasm of Claus and Lavie for a minor race, so all in all it was a nice way to introduce the viewers to this world.
Chigira: I wanted to properly show how the people lived in this world, be it the world shown from Alex’ an the Silvana’s point of view, or the everyday’s life of Claus and Lavie. As well as the kind of world in which Claus and Lavie desire to live in. I think that the first and the second episode as a whole did a good job at showing this. Showing from the very start a mysterious world, yet not the best world to live in...
IN: On the contrary, since the preview gave a quick overview of the whole world, as soon as it ended lots of questions rose as big as mountains. Looking back at the model sheets, there is so much material that “could not fit in”. I don’t mind it since I eventually came to understand the story, but I feel like some specific details were omitted because of lack of space. For instance, it is not possible to understand the “LAST” thing [of the title] either after two episodes or after five, so I’d like to provide some additional explanation to those people who read this book.
