Anime: Koukyoushihen: Eureka Seven

Eureka. Eureka is a word that slightly hurts my head now, after all the attempts to burn in it my brain, so much of it, gah. At the same time, a week, more or less, and I've seen a show more. A good sign, Eureka captivates, animes have been losing this effect on me, but this one still does it, so there's something here. This is my attempt to understand what that might be.

Art & Animation

Eureka sports quality animation and artstyle, but little above that. The characters all fit within well predefined designs, world looks interesting, but nothing truly extraordinary, mountains, cliffs, buildings, none of them of particular originality. At the same time animation is good, designs are, if nothing else, solid, and the show is pleasant to look at. A solid effort.
8/10

Sound

Voice work is, well, solid, I guess. Since a great part of the cast are teenagers and even children, there's unavoidable cheese in the voices. However, this has more to do with the characters themselves, rather than their portrayal. Huge props to the show for frequently blasting some techno, very cool! Also, all them references were really confusing, but somehow... funky! Music gets 9, voices 8, total will still be rounded to 8/10.

Story & Characters

Eureka is a romance, with some war around it. The story behind it is actually fairly complicated, and to a point, it does an interesting job of presenting an intrigue, a mystery, that must be solved, that is not a complete asspull, if you accept the premises of the show. But! It does step over the limit of "arbitrary rules". Even more than once, I'm sad to report. Too much of arbitrary ideas can destroy that oh-so-necessary plausibility. Eureka lost this for me at a point. I'm also sad to report that, as the show goes on, more and more random plot holes began to show themselves. Perhaps they can be filled in by thinking a lot about why things would happen the way they did, but to me so far they just look like your run of the mill "holes", just surrounded with a fairly complicated plot, that makes one think that they're not actually holes, but they make sense. I'm not at all sure this is the case.

Still, all is not lost. The appeal of Eureka lies with its characters. While not a particularly original bunch, the characters all seem to have certain depth, they're mostly lovable and interesting (some more than the others. a lot more), and their interactions most of the time presented the more interesting problems of the show. That is to say that characters became the meat of the show, not some abstract plots. The cast had a few very hateable numbers, too, but I must say that it is in these troublesome and most annoying interactions that the most material of thought Eureka has to offer can be found. Sometimes the experience was downright unpleasant, but it left a thought behind it. That is good.

Along with the general messiness of the plot as the time goes on, the characters become a bit messy, too. Some do better and remain fairly whole, but others seem to lose their integrity and change pretty suddenly. Accompanying this crime is the more serious offense (in my book) of way-too-many-serious-monologues. In particular, the central character suffers from this anime stigma the most. The most trivial things and feelings, oh so important teenage feelings accompanied with the biggest words a man can utter. ugh, there was a lot of meaningless banter that did little more than deflate the meaning of the used words to vague descriptors of "I love her". A big fat meh.

7/10 for the story, an attempt at something more complex than your usual stuff, but the execution falls apart, details are not there, and, well, characters are interesting enough to sustain the 7 here.
9/10 for characters. not without faults, they were an interesting and lovable bunch, with backstories and, in some cases, even slight psychological depth. good stuff.

Value & Enjoyment

it's a well known anime, and I can see why. it's well made, high production values, lovable cast, a plot that attempts to be serious. it doesn't amount to anything more than a worthwhile emotional, hmm, not fix, but filler. are these the same thing?
anyway, I definitely enjoyed the show, even though it doesn't really hold up that well to critical scrutiny. 8/10 in both sections, since I both enjoyed it and think that others would enjoy this as well.

Critic's Log: Earthdate: March 3, 2013. Review #37: Eureka Seven

I originally was going to post this sometime in February, but I had a hard time doing such a thing. I share a computer with my brother and I usually get kicked off the computer by my brother, that kinda sucks after knowing that he's usually on all damn day. At least I can watch some animes or play video games like Final Fantasy, The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario Bros, and even a little Tetris to pass the time while waiting for my brother to get off. Even though I'm obviously an Otaku, I'm also a gamer. I'm not super-obsessed with video games or anime though.

Well, now that I've said all that... WHY DID I FEEL THE NEED TO MENTION ALL THIS!? You know, if I was much younger... I think I would have mentioned stuff like this in whatever situtation, like this review that I should start right now instead of rambling on about something. Before I finally start this review, I must say that Sometimes I grow so tired, but I know I've got one thing I got to do...Ramble On, And now's the time, the time is now, to sing my song. I'm goin' 'round the world, I got to find my girl, on my way. I've been this way ten years to the day, Ramble On, Gotta find the queen of all my dreams.

Oh Yeah, I just quoted Led Zeppelin's song "Ramble On".

After rambling on all that and making this intro quite possibly pointless in the first place, I GOT A REVIEW DAMN IT! Here's Eureka Seven!



Renton Thurston is a 14-year-old boy who lives with his mechanic grandfather in a backwater town. Every day he aspires of being with the mercenary "Light Finding Operation (LFO)" aircraft pilot group "Gekkostate" and riding "Trapar" particle waves-- a sport called "reffing"with their charismatic leader Holland, especially when faced with his father's acclaimed past or his grandfather's wish to protect him. When a young girl named Eureka who pilots the original LFO, the "Nirvash", asks his grandfather for a tune-up and some repairs, she unawarely brings the attention of the military to the garage; as a result, the garage is decimated and Renton is forced to deliver a new type of interface, the "Amita Drive" to the Nirvash. After a heated fight in which the Nirvash destroys the military LFOs by unleashing an incredible amount of power, Renton is invited into Gekkostate. However, he quickly realizes that they are actually a traveling group of mercenaries and it is a very bitter reality.

To be technical, this is a Studio Bones production and knowing this is Studio Bones, stating the obvious can not be avoided. The animation looks gorgeous in this show although to be honest, The animation is a bit more colorful than some of their other shows, and the style of the show is pretty bright too. The animation is great in Eureka Seven and the style really fits the show with all the hip clothing designs for characters (with the exception of Holland when he's inside the Gekko). The character designs are mostly great but not exactly perfect but I'll give them a pass for this one. The animation isn't really too perfect here, but it's mostly great.

The music by Naoki Sato is an interesting bit to talk about. There is a blend of some genres and the most notable genre they chose was Techno, which is actually fitting considering the settings and everything and the techno is fine for the show. There are times when the techno music is playing during some dramatic moments and I personally thought it never fitted for some of those particular moments. The one techno song that gets a pass for this is the theme that plays while Anemone is piloting TheEND. It's a pretty cool song when it all comes down to the techno stuff. The music is pretty good for the most part. Each opening and closing song however are pretty memorable once you've seen the show to it's entirety. If the techno wasn't used during dramatic moments, I would have liked the music much more with the show.

When it comes to voice acting, The Japanese cast is excellent to say the least. Yuko Sanpei is great as Renton (except for that high-pitched whining and yelling that is), Kaori Nazuka is terrific as Eureka. Keiji Fujiwara is also great as Holland, Michiko Neya is great as Talho. As far as extras, there's Mamoru Miyano as Moondoggie, Kouji Tsujitani as Dewey, Ami Koshimizu as Anemone, and Rikiya Koyama as Norb. On the English Dub's side, Johnny Yong Bosch was kind of an interesting choice and (if not) kind of controversial choice as well as the main lead Renton. Some have said that Mr. Bosch sounds a little too old for the role. I actually sort of agree there. Some actually didn't mind his voice in the dub. At this point, all I can say is that this all leads to personal preference. I can say that Johnny Yong Bosch was actually pretty good in Eureka Seven. Stephanie Sheh is just as terrific as Kaori Nazuka when it comes to Eureka. Kate Higgins is also great as Talho. Patrick Seitz is great as Charles, and Melissa Fahn is pretty damn good as Ray. Yes, there's a reference to Ray Charles in this anime, so hit the road Jack and don't you come back no more. There are some well-known and some lesser known voice actors that play minor roles in this show and there's so many that I could count and I don't feel like listing them all. If there is on voice actor that's not really too active these days is Kim Strauss who voices Dewey. He was very good in this show but he does overact a couple times but he's mostly very good as Dewey. If there are knockout performances in the dub, it would be Kari Wahlgren as Anemone and she plays the role spot-on. She really is a good voice actress. Another knockout performance in the dub is Holland, voiced by Crispin Freeman. Mr. Freeman really nailed the role just right and I do believe this is (if not) one of his best roles. I know Alucard is unanimously is the most well-known character he has voiced, but outside of Hellsing, this was one great performance from start to finish. His voice is really cool and he was perfect for playing the cool guy in this anime. Tony Oliver did pretty good on handling the dub as the ADR director.

When it comes to characters, This factor does not disappoint. Some people may argue that Renton whines quite a number of times but hey, This is a coming-of-age like story so give it a rest. Eureka may seem a bit mysterious, but just you wait when you find out more about her. Holland is also interesting as well as Talho. Some of the minor characters are great with some development and humor. The characters are mostly well-written. If there's a minor nitpick about the factor of characters, I do have a slight nitpick on the character Dewey Novak. I like how there was a lot of mystery to the character and I liked how he kept mentioning about something like "The Sacrificial King" which I will admit was fitting in the long run but I felt somethings were a bit rushed near the end, but these characters were great in the long run. If there is a bit of a common nitpick regarding the characters, I keep hearing that Maurice, Maeter, and Linck were really annoying in this show. Allow me to put out my defense, THEY ARE KIDS FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, if you were somewhere where a group of kids are around, chances are...They might be somewhat annoying. Hell, Some of us were probably a little irritating for others when we are younger, what makes them any different? Like I said, the characters are great. They are also mostly well thought out. Enough said on that matter.

If there are some problems with Eureka Seven, it would have to be that some people perceive this series slightly unoriginal, and the anime that tends to be brought up alongside this show would be Neon Genesis Evangelion. I can see why there's a couple of possible homages to that anime. Is that such a big problem with Eureka Seven? No! Not at all. The big problem is that it has some plot holes and some things unexplained. For example, There was a subplot dealing with something called "Desperation Disease" and it was never explained fully on what it's really about. There are other things that were brought up but never fully explained and that's a bit of a big issue I have with the show and might turn out to be a big issue for some others as well. Also, the pacing is very slow around the first 10 episodes or so and then the pace speeds up a little but not too much, If you are patient enough to stick around, the second half does pick up fast. So pacing is a little on and off in this show, just go with it. What does work for Eureka Seven is the premise at times and the themes in the show and the primary theme in the show (if you haven't guessed it yet) is Love. There are some little subplots that deal with this central theme. As the plot progresses, the themes work out greatly for this show and that is the strongest suit in Eureka Seven. There are a quite a number of people that love this series and they like it despite it flaws. I actually am glad I spent the time watching this anime after procrastinating so long after finding interest in it years ago and didn't bother to watch it till now. This anime isn't perfect and I wasn't expecting it to be perfect either. I liked the style, the animation, and more importantly... The characters. Those three factors alone made me like Eureka Seven despite its flaws. Dai Sato at least made an honest effort in the writing process for this anime. When it comes to directing. So far this is Tomoki Kyoda's only main directing role since then. I'll say it once again. What works in this show mostly overshadows some flaws although those flaws didn't get fixed in the long run. Now that I've said everything. Now I have to mention all the supplemental material, which I really don't feel like doing that. But I guess I have to. Alright, here goes!

Eureka Seven was available by Bandai Entertainment but since they went under, Eureka Seven is sadly out of print. Until the show gets rescued, used copies are your only way of seeing this anime. If it's still on Toonami through Adult Swim on Saturdays, check your local listings to tune in to it. The film "good night, sleep tight, young lovers" was also available by Bandai Entertainment and chances are, that movie is out of print too. The sequel Eureka Seven: Astral Ocean is already licensed by Funimation but has not had a DVD/Blu-ray release yet. At the time I am doing this review, The sequel series can be seen Subtitled in a couple sites. The Manga by Jinsei Kataoka and Kazuma Kondou was available by Bandai and it is out of print. Another manga called "Gravity Boys and Lifting Girls" was available by Bandai and it is also out of print. A third manga called "Psalm of Planets Eureka Seven: New Order" was recently made and it is yet to be released stateside. The Eureka Seven Light Novel series was available by Bandai and it is out of print. The Eureka Seven Video games for the PlayStation 2 called Vol.1 "New Wave" and Vol.2 "New Vision" made it stateside back in 2006 and 2007 and these games were prequels to the TV show. A PlayStation Portable game called "Psalm of Planets Eureka Seven" never made it stateside during its release. Also, if you watch Eureka Seven on DVD, give the voice actor interview extras a try. It's a pretty nifty extra.

With all that said, Eureka Seven is quite unique for blending elements such as Action, Adventure, Mecha,War Drama, and Romance while being classified as a Shonen anime. It may have a slow pace on its first half but it does pick up after that. Eureka Seven manages to have great animation production, a fitting style, and great characters. It does have plot holes and the music could've been more effective if it was placed right. Even with it flaws, This anime is definitely worth seeing

I give Eureka Seven a 8.5 out of 10, it is VERY GOOD!

Feel free to comment below and don't beg for things, do it yourself!

I could say Eureka Seven is both a surprisingly good show but at the same time a bit disappointing. This happens simply because so much hype was built around it, many comparing to Evangelion, Rahxephon, Zegapain, etc, as the new classic mecha-show, but mostly because it is a Bones shows and almost everything they release, even very stupid shows, are extremely hyped.

Eureka Seven is a great show though, it's only not all that masterpiece that fans claim. The plot is heavy, full of conflicts, discussions, a nice character development and great production values. But in all departments, especially pace, the show is harmed by many small issues.

Art & Animation
Eureka Seven screams to be a Bones show even in the promotion art. It's somehow deformed style, multiple colors, noisy characters, etc are very similar to those found in Full Metal Alchemist and in the later Xam'd. But hey, both those shows are superb in this department! The same applies to Eureka Seven. Art is sharp and consistent, animation is top notch and you'll have some awesome combats. Non-combat scenes are also great and you'll never feel bored when expecting movement and quality here. The only problem I would point is the beforementioned dubious art style that Bones uses, it made me remember of One Piece sometimes, but overall you won't have a problem once you watch two or more episodes.

Sound
Big giant robots surfing is certainly weird and the sound direction follows this idea. While voice-acting is a bit noisy, with some yelling characters as you usually find in Bones's shows, it has a bigger degree of maturity than what you'd expect. The OST, however, is not exactly what you think you'll hear when watching a mecha-show, but exactly what to expect from a skate-board show. The more techno music with frantic pace is more similar to Air Gear than Evangelion, Gundam, or mecha shows. This choice fits Eureka Seven for most parts, but there's a lack of good background music to create a better addicting value and enhance the dramatic parts of the show, which are plenty.

Story
Bizarre character, surfing robots, and monster designs aside, Eureka Seven is very story-heavy. The tale starts when Renton helps a young girl named Eureka by repairing her mecha and soon after being throw in a military pursuit to save her. The initial concept is typical, but the show grows strong when Renton joins Holland in order to protect Eureka and is slowly presented to the secrets she holds and some bigger events involving bizarre entities and the fate of the world.

1. Simple start but good execution
   While this short resume is the same to almost 90% of the shounen shows, the way it's developed is very deep, with lots of emphasis in relationship, self-questioning, and other more mature problems that are suddenly imposed to Renton. This is where the show is similar to Evangelion and has its biggest strength.
   
   It could all end in 3 episodes or so
   However, as the show goes through its mid part the pace becomes terrible. You start to realize that Renton never really developed and struggle with every single choice he makes, the same happen to Eureka for a while, but Renton's problems become so overbundant and present in every minute of the show that after almost ten episodes of the same thing you'll probably start to hate him and wish the series to end, but you'll see that more than another 10 episodes are left! Sadly, this goes on almost to near the end, when he finally surpass his stupid problems and find an obvious answer that not even an 8-year old boy would take so long to find. The very end is better and brings a nice closure for the show, but the 15 to 20 episodes before it can probably worn out anyone to truly appreciate how things end. In fact, if Renton understood his feelings in about 3 episodes, we could have all the rest of the plot to develope better things.
   

Character
Initially, Eureka Seven has a superb cast. Characters are vivid, a bit noisy perhaps, but they have believable problems, take expected measures to solve them, and usually interact in a more realistic way even when you take in account that the setting is a fantasy one. Renton appears to grow, Eureka faces many problems and is molded after such events, etc. Everything would be top quality if the problem mentioned in the story didn't affect character development so much. It takes more than ten episodes for Renton to overcome an obvious and stupid issue, the whole plot suffers with this and he cast goes down together. It's not that the quality of the rest of the cast is directly affected, but they have less screen time when the show tries and tries to make you hate Renton and Eureka, so they become less important by the end than what you'd expect. Sad, but this proves how a single sequence of bad episodes can truly harm a show. If Eureka Seven had 25 episodes we could have one of the best shounens in this department.

Value
Big robots surfing... I can't see how crazier things could get. But Japan usually surprise us with more and more bizarre stuff. Xam'd is perhaps even more bizarre, but Eureka tries to be a mecha anime with a heavy cast, something that does not match such weird approaches most of the time. While the show is clearly different from your typical mecha-fare, mixing bits of comedy and combats with psychological problems and inner problems of the cast, this "difference" is not exactly good enough to make a stand. At least it manages to mix genres in a successful way unlike most other shows released after 2004.

Enjoyment
I would praise Eureka Seven highly, but I can't because it was a show that I simply failed to watch it in a single run because it bored me a lot when Renton took the spotlight and started questioning my intelligence with his problems that he could never surpass even with so many episodes. Besides that, the early combats are awesome, the story gets fairly complex and good, and you can have a nice watch that only lacks abit of addicting value. Worth to watch for shounen fans, Evangelion fans, and especially Bones fans, but be ready to face a terrible late part that can make you really angry if you're not used to fillers and long-running series.

Comments
Ah! Eureka Seven... it took me a few months to watch it because a friend annoyed me so much claiming stuff like "It's thousands of times better than Evangelion!", "The best-anime-ever!", "Bones is surely the best ever, everything in Eureka Seven is perfect!", "Evangelion and Rahxephon are stupid compared to it!". Argh, it really annoyed me, and that usually makes me never watch an anime, but I waited until his hype vanished and started to watch Eureka Seven.

While the first episodes were great, they're not exactly the best thing in existence, they're only great. The series lured me instantly even with the surfing robots, it had lots of stuff happening in the setting, the characters were good, etc. So I've watched it until around episode 40, when I simply could not withstand anymore with the garbage the anime started throwing at me when Renton couldn't decide if he would accept Eureka as she was or if he would... I don't know, go insane, because that's definetly what happened. It took more than ten episodes for the protagonist to realize he liked the heroine and finally took a step forward... I know this part of the hero-development is essential, but freaking ten to fifteen episodes for such a obvious step is hard to swallow.

Anyway, I gave up that time and only after a couple years I've started to watch it again. When I reached that same part again I skiped a few episodes and endure some others up to the end. By that time I didn't know if it was worth to endure such childish part of the show, but I had great fun while watching the first half, so I can't blame the whole show I think.

Anyone who hangs around an anime forum frequently enough will eventually see the two types of people within the fandom: Type A, the folks who care more about the flow of the narrative, and Type B, the people who prefer an attachment to the cast. They are far from being mutually exclusive to each other, but I definitely consider myself more of the latter. Thus, I was actually quite looking forward to watching Eureka Seven, which I've heard has a splendid ensemble. But there are times, rare that it might be, that the story hampers my value on a work. And the worst part is, it turns the show's biggest strength into a double-edged sword.

But first, let's talk about how this world is brought to life. Its artistic detail isn't anything spectacular, yet doesn't hit any awkward spots either. The character models stay consistent, and surprisingly, so do the various ships and mecha, even during the midst of combat. So while the fight choreography isn't anything special most of the time, it's compensated by Bones' persistence. If nothing else, they once again prove their talent for quality animation.

The audio side of Eureka Seven isn't too bad either, but some of the tracks are rather misplaced. BGMs that would have been better suited for the beginning of the series are present towards the end, while some of the music gets overused as others are hardly utilized. For the most part though they complement their respective scenes quite well, and OP tune lovers are in for a treat, as the four opening numbers of this series are quite distinct from each other. Pick and choose a lyrical favorite, basically.

And now for what should have been the best part of the show, the characters. There are loads and loads of them, but don't worry if only a few of them are worth caring about; they're probably the only ones relevant to the story anyway, or were actually explored at all. To elaborate, the character development is devoted mostly to Renton, Eureka, Holland, Talho, Dominic and Anemone. They're very much flawed to the point where facepalming toward some of their actions is expected, but it's precisely because of their imperfections that they're so interesting to watch. How they eventually change is slow and punishing, much like learning how to surf (or in this case, Lift), but it's all good because they're what makes the show what it is. Everyone else, though, starts out with some promise then degrades into a plot boomerang at best. Now as previously stated, the story turned this show's biggest strength into a liability. What would be meant by that?

Let's put things into perspective here: Eureka Seven is basically without any real story for roughly -3/4- of its run. Basically, it's going to have to rely on its characters to make it worth anything. Of course, I am a Type B anime fan, and I did think quite well of what was done for the part of the ensemble they actually bothered with, right? However, good as those six characters were, it's the way in which they were presented that ruined their impact. To elaborate, almost every single episode after the first 1/4 of the series incessantly abuses the drama tag. Now, thrusting a work into TNA (Total Non-stop Angsting) isn't bad by itself, but the impact of a heavy scene can be easily lost if the viewer becomes desensitized to the problems of the cast member in question, and there's hardly any "normal" scenes throughout the series.

And therein lies the problem with Eureka Seven: it's so intent on spamming drama that it forgets all too often to take a break with something lighter. Basically, the impact that the dramatic middle half is supposed to have is hampered because there simply isn't enough of a glimpse as to how the cast will behave under "normal" circumstances. After all, can one really understand what sadness is if it were the thing they were predominantly exposed to? Would said person even be aware of their own feelings if almost no other emotions were ever experienced? Of course, other shows have gotten away with being rather depressing, but usually they either know how to balance the heavier and lighter moments, or had no softer scenes at all since a dark atmosphere was actually their intention, and Eureka Seven hardly bills itself as "dark."

To sum it all up, Eureka Seven is 75% character-driven with the technical qualities to match, but ultimately falls short because of how the story--the narrative--presents its cast. There's really nothing wrong with it from a production standpoint, but the imbalance between the angst and fun is sure to turn off quite a bit of people. If, however, you do not mind a lack of icebreaking and are in need of an overtly dramatic series, feel free to watch this as you please.

This anime was considered to be one of the most lovable mecha/adventure/action/romances of the previous decade and is part of thousands of user top lists. I personally never liked it much for very obvious reasons. It’s made by Studio BONES, so you automatically know it’s going to have pretty colours and the storyboard will be the scribbles of a five year old. As a person of plot (the actual plot) I am not attracted to shows that simply look good and don’t have much of a story.

But I understand why most casuals liked it back in the day. It combined several genres and had top notch animation. Trying to be many things at once most of the times results to a trainwreck, yet Eureka Sever got away with it by having a bit of everything and not much of something. There is a war, there is a shonen lead, there is a romance, there is a mystery, and they all are all bouncing off each other without feeling detached from the overall feeling of the show. There was a lot of effort in having uniformity, which in turn made the world feel more alive and easier to be immersed.

The downside to all that is a very slow and mostly uneventful plot. It’s 50 episodes of mostly slice of life and one episode missions that don’t move the story any further. It’s not an action heavy series despite including invasions, massacres, inhuman experimentations, and the abuse of mystical beings. There is not much tension regarding what is going on with the coral thingies either. In fact, what everybody was thrilled about the most was waiting for the main two characters to finally kiss each other. Something that took 50 episodes because Renton was a pussy.

Speaking of Renton, he’s a cookie cutter shonen lead and the blandest of the cast, effectively becoming a proxy for the audience. His father was famous, his life is boring, he wants to travel the world and be famous like his father, a pretty chick falls from the sky and takes him on an adventure, he digs her but is also a spineless pussy so he can’t take the next step, he is treated as an underdog on board the ship, and he slowly needs to prove his worth. As you see, he’s checking every box on the list of stereotypes and is very easy to like him if you are still a shonentard. Because if you are not, you will want to punch this guy for having the guts to go on a dangerous adventure around the world, yet somehow doesn’t have the balls to court a chick.

This is somewhat mitigated by having many episodes focusing on fleshing out the secondary characters and the setting, so at least it’s not one of those shonens where the hero gets all the spotlight and everybody else becomes background decoration. And they are all an interesting bunch, excluding the trademark annoying kids on board the ship. Why do they keep having kids on military ships? They are not comic relief, they are not offering a touch of humanity, and they are irritating beyond belief.

Anyways, the biggest issue with the show is still the loose plot that even gets completely random towards the end of the series, as expected from any BONES anime. The conclusion is solid as far as the romance goes but everything else is up in the air, as the coral creatures have some sort of weird reality warping powers. They never explained it properly and the terrible sequel they made many years later further proved they never had any idea of what they were planning to do with them.

In conclusion, if you are fine with watching a slow-paced and low-tone action adventure about a shonen lead trying to kiss a girl for 50 episodes, you are going to be pleased with Eureka Seven. If on the other hand you are looking for a thrilling well-written and fast-paced slugfest, don’t even bother.

The highlights

Animation: Mostly fluid and impressive, as to be expected from a BONES production.
Sound: Fitting music, great sound effects, and for the most part excellent voice acting.
WTF?:: Something you will say a lot throughout the series, especially towards the end.
Drama: Brilliant at times, forced at others.
Plot holes: Too conspicuous to be ignored.
Episode 39: Probably the most pathetic excuse for a filler episode I’ve ever seen.

The Review

What never ceases to amaze me about Eureka 7 is how much I enjoyed it despite all of its evident flaws. On one hand, I have an action and romance packed adventure with stunning aesthetics, some brilliant symbolism, witty references to pop culture and a marvelous setting; on the other, I have a myriad of plot holes, a protagonist that cries an average of about three times an episode, a villain that makes very little sense, and the most out of place, uncalled-for filler episode I’ve ever seen.

The predominant themes of Eureka 7 are not new concepts by a long shot. Humanity’s maltreatment of that which it doesn’t understand, the inability of people to cope with others’ differences, etc… Regardless of originality, Eureka 7 executes these themes in a very effective and touching manner. The story’s execution, however, is a completely different animal. Plot holes run rampant, and innumerable ideas are left not fully explained. What really is “desperation disease”? The “zone”? What exactly did Adroc Thurston propose in the “Ageha Plan” to coexist with the scrub coral? These are only some of the minor questions left unanswered. The more major and pressing questions I can’t directly state for they would be spoilers.

Eureka 7 displays a wide array of characters, most of which are developed to a certain extent. I must state that at first I was charmed by every single character. They were all so varied and original. The relationships between them were so entertaining. As the series progressed however, a few characters and relationships exhibited some major shortcomings… Although he has his heroic moments, Renton is such an overly dramatic crybaby. I understand he’s been through a lot but he even cries when he can’t make a pass in a soccer game for goodness sake. The fate of the world rests on the shoulders of a teenager who weeps enough to make my little sister seem as tough as Chuck Norris. Eureka’s three children, while crucial to the story, can be a group a ranting brats that are almost guaranteed to irritate the viewer. The grand victim of character malfunctioning however is without doubt, the villain, Colonel Dewey Novak. After watching Eureka 7 I thought I missed something; but after re-viewing some sections I realized I hadn’t. Colonel Dewey Novak, what he becomes, and what he turns out to be is an unexplained, illogical mess. As for Eureka and Renton’s relationship; it is, while touching, replete with repetitive and forced drama to the point where it mirrors a soap opera. I actually ended up enjoying Dominic and Anemone’s love story more.

Despite all these blemishes, Eureka 7 is one of the most memorable animes I’ve ever seen, and here’s why. Top notch animation to go along with fantastic background music and one of the most detailed settings you’ll ever see. A handful of some of the most touching and epic scenes I have ever come across; such as Captain Jurgen’s speech, Anemone’s realization, and many more. Not to mention some of the greatest symbolism through reference to culture I have ever beheld in an anime. “Eureka” being named after Archimedes’s famous exclamation meaning a great discovery; “Anemone” named after the character from Murakami Ryu’s novel, “coin Locker Babies,” who, as anyone who has read the novel would know, is just as emotionally unstable and also has a pet named Gulliver; “Stoner,” the laidback pacifist (needs no explanation), and my personal favorite, “Maurice,” “Maeter” and “Linck,” which, when combined, spell “Maurice Maeterlinck”, the Nobel Prize winning play writer who wrote mainly about death.

I would never trade my time spent watching this anime. My eyes were glued to the screen episode after episode. As an anime fan however I can’t help but wonder what this anime could have been if the creators would have planned a bit more thoroughly and avoided all the plot holes. This series is truly hard to define in terms of quality. As much as the following may resemble an oxymoron; “Eureka 7” is a masterpiece with an abundance of flaws.