The original Last Exile series holds a very special place in my heart.  I can remember anxiously waiting to find out if Dio was okay or what mad scheme Maetro Delphine had cooked up or whether or not Alvis was all right.  Its one of the very few animes I prefer dubbed and one of the first I bought the complete set for.  Last Exile: Fam of the Silver Wing is in many ways a pale shadow to that show.

Its odd because I like Fam and Gisey moreso than Claus and Lavie in the first series, but its really the rest of the show that falls apart.  Whereas Maestro Delphine and the Guild were unquestionably the 'bad guys', with a horrific plan and with few redeeming aspects--Luscinia and to an extent Liliana are so humanized by their backstories and present circumstances that they never provided much of an urgency to me.  Liliana in particular as she seems to go a complete 180 at one point, but just before her last appearance she suddenly says 'Oh you don't understand! Its for the greater good!'

And therein lay the problem.  Luscinia's plan was basically a plan of 'to get peace at any cost' and 'the ends justify the means'.  He clearly did not like upsetting the Augusta Sara, he genuinely acted like he wanted there to be another way for the late Augusta (Sara's mother)'s dream of world peace to come to fruition.  There wasn't so he'd be damned if he didn't make it happen.  Those around him were similarly conflicted:

-- Orang because he believes in the ideals of the Ades Federation and the Augusta's will
-- Sorush because he doesn't believe and thus is just killing time
-- Vasant who encouraged her people to join the Augusta's cause and watched as their were slaughtered wholesale by Luscinia's schemes
-- General Sadri, who's old enough to retire but is committed to helping Luscinia as a way to atone for his past sins

These were not bad people.  These were people who made questionable decisions based on which side of the fight you fell on.  Unlike the Guild and Delphine these people weren't butchering people wholesale for the fun of it--they fought, sacrificed and killed in the name of the Augusta because they believed in a better future.

So it was hard to root for their downfall.  Which made it hard to root for our heroes (ostensibly) to succeed.  The writers did too good of a job providing evidence that neither side was entirely correct, but less of a good job making you feel they could come to a satisfying middle ground.

The show also has a much bigger preoccupation with death.  Wherein the original series the deaths that do occur--Alex Row, the Delphine's, Luciola's--have great poignancy and emotional impact the deaths here felt hollow.  By the end of the show 3 major characters die (not including the ones that happen before the show begins such as Sara's mother), several minor important characters die, and at least two entire races are practically wiped out of existence.

Another problem lay in that the show relied too heavily that viewers did at least one of two things: 1) saw the original show and/or 2) read the 'bridge' manga (Last Exile: Travelers from the Hourglass).  Ideally the viewer should have done both as there's almost NOTHING said of what happens to the original cast between the end of the first series and this one.

Dio pops up pretty quickly, as do Titania, Alister and Cecily.  Vincent and Alvis make appearances halfway through, Sophia is mentioned (a lot) and various recognizable members from the Silvana crew make appearances.  Claus and Lavie are more or less kept out of sight until the end of the series.  But other than disparaging remarks from Luscinia about the 'returning refugees' and cryptic remarks about the United Kingdom of Anatoray-Disith, very little is said about how they've gotten on in the two or so years since they arrived.

All of that is chronicled in the manga Last Exile: Travelers from the Hourglass, which is in a monthly magazine and seemingly hasn't caught up to this anime yet (so spoiler alert for what happens to Claus in the manga!).

If and when this is localized I forsee some issues there for the company as they try to draw in new fans and please the old fans.

All in all however this wasn't a terrible show.  Taken on its own its enjoyable and Fam really is a wonderful character.  She's a dreamer, but doesn't let that get in the way of helping her friends.  Her dream of a Grand Race again--where everyone can smile and be happy--is her driving force in life, but over the course of the show she comes to understand that idealism alone is not the answer.