Growth not unlike a fungal infection

So in the Anime club, we’ve been watching a series called “Last Exile“. I don’t know quite how to characterize it except to say that it’s very… Germanic. Many the characters are little blond-haired, blue eyed folks; the main character’s name is Claus; and–this may sound like an odd association–but a lot of the colors are beiges or military-bland greens and blues and greys. One of WO’s roommates described it as Napoleonic, which may also be accurate due to the steam-based tech.

For the first couple weeks (7 or so episodes), I couldn’t stand the show. It seemed pretty focused on just two kids on their vanship (flying boat) running messages and dreaming of a trip through the Grand Stream (which killed their fathers). If there was a sufficient amount of world/context-building, I must have slept through it, because I was confused as hell. I can appreciate a meandering plot as well as anyone, but not on a Friday night when I’m as tired as I tend to be on those nights.

But we just finished watching episode 18, and I’ll admit that my opinion has about done a 180 over the past couple of weeks. The world presented in the show has become much more complex, and enough characters and action have been introduced that I can ignore the annoying bleat of Lavie’s voice and emotional issues and still be pleasantly surprised at the timing of the once-per-episode bleat of Al’s goat. Or cow. Or whatever that is.

The balance between the people issues, the world issues (the war, politics), and the battle scenes has hit a level that I can enjoy immensely. That, and the fact that the opening theme song has my heart.

Unfortunately, I still don’t really like the other series the club shows 3-4 episodes of per week–“Martian Successor Nadesico“, which I simply call “Nabisco”. Yeah, like the brand name of crackers. The start of “Nabisco” is definitely the start of my naptime on WO’s shoulder.

“Ground Defense Force Mao-chan“, though… *sigh* That one I’ll just leave alone. It’s a special, special show.