I recently finished watching Last Exile, and honestly I didn't quite understand why it's given such high ratings.. On AnimeNfo I think it's ranked #7 or so of the top 200 anime series.

A lot of the reviews said the animation was great.. but I didn't think it that spectacular.. there were so many places where the 3-D objects seemed like they were slapped onto 2-D images (like painfully obviously), or where the voice acting and the animation didn't work that well with each other. Like there were moments when the character was laughing (it looks like it should be 'hahahahaha') and there was no real laugh (you hear 'he.. he...'). And the voice acting in general seemed quite dull.
Hm. there were aspects of the plot that were unresolved or just ignored.. and except for maybe Deeo (the Guild guy that looks/sounds like a girl.. i thought he was a girl), I really did not feel like any of the characters were developed very well. Plus character design was unimpressive.. I mean, normal civilians aside, couldn't they have been more creative with the Guild people..? (esp that queen lady, whatever her name was)

So, I'm still trying to understand why all these people like this series.

But I mean.. I guess it could just be me..?

[edit]
ah, i forgot to talk about the good aspects! mm yea even though the 2-D/3-D thing annoyed me, the animation had a soft ethereal feel to it that I liked. I wish it weren't so gloomy through the entire thing. And... even though I didn't really like the music much, it seemed to fit the series well. Character design I didn't really like, but the world itself was pretty interesting ^^ And the plot was also more original it seems - even though there were loose spots, I think it was pretty much the story that kept me watching till the end.

I honestly have zero complaints with Last Exile, it is one of the best animes I've seen in recent years. Range Murata's designs are refreshingly unique and visually stunning. The animation, layouts, coloring are all exceptional. The story was well concieved and the episodes were well paced, leaving me hooked and needing to see the next episode asap. I loved the soundtrack to the series aswell, it's one of the few anime soundtracks I can listen to on a regular basis.

As for your complaint about the animation (the laughing part), that probably has nothing to do with the animation being bad. Anime is done differently than western cartoons when it comes to recording voices. In the US, voices are recorded first and then animators make the animation match the dialogue (lipsyncing), while in Japan, they do the opposite, the animators first animate the scene, then the voice actors come in and record the dialogue. It could have been a difference of opinion between animator and voice actor where the both had different interpretations of how the character should have laughed in the scene.

I must say, I agree with AnimeNfo's ranking for the show, it's definately on my top ten list maybe even my top five list.

All the parts you just said, most of the people think the exact opposite. I guess it just wasn't for you.

Well, I was always a fan of Gonzo, and Last Exile was pretty good- the 3DCG was excellent compared to their earlier efforts. I think the plot was a little convulted, but the series certainly reeks of the omniscient 'coolness factor'. Its not on my top list though- mainly because I like comedy and Exile's is fairly tame.

I've tried to watch this anime, but never got into it. It seems so boring to me. *shrug*

Last exile is one of my favorite series. I think it is beautiful! I won't pretend I didn't notice some of the same problems that you mentioned, but it didn't really bother me. The art, music, characters - it was all pretty appealing. It may not help, but there was this one music video on AnimeMusicVideos.com. It was called Images and was done to a coldplay song. I saw that video and fell in love with the series before I was very familiar with it. It showcases the more beautiful parts of the series. I recomend downloading it!

I also loke Last Exile, I really love the art and the whole world imaginated by the creators :)
I think if you don't like the world, you cannot like this anime. But I agree that sometimes the CG are not perfect.
In anime, I almost never complained about seiyuu even bad anime got descent seiyuu.

I also really liked Last Exile. I love Murata's character designs, the originality of the story, and the overall atmosphere of it. I do admit that the beginning was a bit confusing for me, but once the plot revealed itself, I really enjoyed it.

I've watched about the first 10 eps and I could never get into the series. I do love the opening theme though. Great Song but I never liked the series myself.

I have not finish it yet ,but I like the style of this anime.It's seemed like BLUE 7.

I wathed it on G4 and liked it very much, not a master pice but it's realy good.

*cries after reading so many posts that say Last Exile isn't a masterpiece*

I fell in love with Last Exile when I first saw it on G4. I love the graphics and the music fits so well.
Dio is my favorite, he makes me swoon.
Stange, I know.

LAST EXILE. I don't understand how you people could possibly find fault with it!? The only, and I mean THE ONLY, aspect I could mildly criticize is the intermission title screens with the ethereal '...Lasto Egzille...' x2 (It gets frustrating when you're really into the anime and have to wait for this long intermission screen pause).. And I don't think that's even justified since I watched the series via fansub. I honestly don't believe any one of you that propose Last Exile put a foot wrong and was simple-minded for lack of a plot and character depth. *Right now I'm shaking my head* It was well-original and had some really appealing characters that were easy to identify with. The character designs were simple, warm and befitting of the anime. And the vanship dogfights were really persuasive as you could 'feel' the sheer flow of Claus' innate sense for the sky.

WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD.

Last Exile was a great anime for me but there was a few things I was very disappointed about it. It was concerning Dio's death. I thought it was a bit sudden and awkward how he died. I nearly went, "What the hell?" I really thought they shouldn't let him die, he was such a great character and left a huge impression on me. I was hoping he would be alive and lived with everybody in the end. But I guess since he was partially portrayed as from the bad side and his sister died, he had to die too. That was one of the things Last Exile made me feel disappointed.

Other than that, I thought the animation was the great as well as the character designs. I was madly listening to the ending of Last Exile for weeks. Actually, it was after hearing the ending so much that I pursued the anime. And I'm glad I watched the anime.