[Anime Reviews]

Eureka Seven 46-50: final thoughts

Posted by Martin  [Tags: Eureka Seven]

And so we reach the end of the road for Renton, Eureka, the Gekkostate and the others as the final confrontation with the true nature of the Coralians looms: Dewey swings his plan into action while our heroes make a desperate final attempt to find a peaceful solution. Of all the expectations I had of the series’ conclusion, at least one turned out to be right on the money: it’s heartfelt and suitably epic.

That’s epic in the sense that nobody we’ve met along the way is left untouched by the events that transpire in the last five episodes. The show introduced recurring demonstrations of the importance of harmony and understanding, which plays out both on personal and literally universal levels. For a story that featured such a numerous cast as this, it’s testament to the writing that I remembered, and cared about, every one of them; in the same way that the overall aesthetic is bold and bright, each significant character will linger long in my memory.

[9 Comments]

[Anime Reviews]

Eureka Seven 40-45

Posted by Martin  [Tags: Eureka Seven]

The penultimate volume unsurprisingly ups the ante in terms of exposition and tension as Eureka, Renton and the kids are led by Norb to the inner sanctum of the Voderac and, following a meeting with the enigmatic Sakuya, embark on a journey to a very familiar-looking planet. Meanwhile the Gekkostate wage all-out war on Dewey, which involves Holland taking some dangerous risks to fulfil his mission. Another, very different, mission lead Dominic on a search for a way to help Anemone that reveals a chilling secret.

Here we are at the penultimate instalment - I have to say it’s been an outstanding series so far but the pick-up in pace towards the end leaves me very reluctant to make any predictions as to how it will turn out by the end. Although there are still a few moments of humour the tone is now much more serious as the whole affair prepares itself for the final episodes. The relationship between Renton and Eureka was often shaky and full of ups and downs from the outset but when placed in an unfamiliar environment, without outside help or even the trapar waves that the Nirvash relies on, they’re in a position of real vulnerability and helplessness, which doesn’t help their strained relations at all.

[4 Comments]

[Anime Reviews]

Eureka Seven 36-40

Posted by Martin  [Tags: Eureka Seven]

The relationship between Renton and Eureka runs into more problems while Norb, the Voderac priest, offers important insights into the Coralians and how their existence is tied to humans and the entire planet. Meanwhile, Holland’s brother Dewey is using the Ageha squad to take the issue of the Coralians into his own hands. After the exposition concerning the Coralians and the frustrating lack of progress regarding Renton and Eureka, this volume moves things along nicely with only one (admittedly entertaining) filler segment that sends things off-track.

I must admit I was a little disappointed last time around to see the marvellous moment, in which Renton returns to the Gekkostate and meets Eureka in freefall at the series’ midpoint, seemingly forgotten when they go back to feeling awkward and being unable to open up to one another. These episodes start off in the same way but the learning curve enters something of a steep area when Renton learns how Eureka not only knew his father but also provides the truth he needs to understand the significance of Adroc’s sacrifice. Similarly, Holland drops the bombshell that he knew Renton’s missing sister and gives our young hero the opportunity to move on; and about time too, I might add.

[3 Comments]

[Anime Reviews]

Eureka Seven 31-35

Posted by Martin  [Tags: Eureka Seven]

A striking aspect of watching Eureka Seven is that you come to expect the unexpected. As enjoyable as I find the aerial combat and edge-of-the-seat tension to be, it has a complexity of writing and confident direction that continues to amaze me, even after watching a number of apparently similar series. Every now and then I’m reminded of the classics with little details or background themes that echo everything from Kawamori’s own Macross franchise to Anno’s Gainax years of teen angst and organic mecha. What E7 continues to do is present those clichés and plot devices that fans are familiar with, but add fresh ideas to keep you guessing; and the fresh ideas keep on coming.

There are a few minor sticking points, such as Renton’s continuing awkwardness with Eureka which seems to be needlessly reiterating a point that has been made already but where this particular facet of the characterisation is treading water there’s plenty to keep us interested in other aspects: for instance there’s an important development in the Holland/Talho relationship (we even meet the former’s estranged brother into the bargain, with fascinating results) and a whole slew of background information regarding the Coralians.

[8 Comments]

[Anime Reviews]

Eureka Seven 25-30

Posted by Martin  [Tags: Eureka Seven]

Faced with the decision as to where to go next, Renton reluctantly decides to leave the Beams’ ship and return to the Gekkostate. Unfortunately the military are moving in on the Gekko with the inevitable outcome of an armed confrontation, placing him in the centre of it all.

We’ve now reached the midpoint of the series - has it really been twenty-five episodes already? Perhaps surprisingly (or perhaps not, if the series was original scheduled to be aired as two separate seasons back to back), #25 is a pivotal moment in the story that those of us following the show have no doubt been waiting to see for a while. The aerial scenes are superb and the characterisation are of the high standards we’ve come to expect from the series so far; I daren’t say any more on this new development in fear of spoiling it for you. Seriously!

[3 Comments]

[Anime Reviews]

Eureka Seven episodes 21-25

Posted by Martin  [Tags: Eureka Seven]

“People like you find it easy, naked to see, walking on air. Hunting by the rivers, through the streets, every corner…”

Eureka Seven reaches something of a turning point at its halfway mark as Renton, shocked at the true nature of Gekkostate’s activities and guilt-ridden over Eureka’s condition, leaves the ship. After some aimless wandering he falls in with a husband-and-wife team of mercenaries, Ray and Charles Beams (Ray…Charles…see what they did there?) while Eureka tries to come to terms with her own feelings for Renton.

[1 Comment]

[Anime Reviews]

Eureka Seven episodes 16-20

Posted by Martin  [Tags: Eureka Seven]

After the run-in with the military, the Gekkostate seek refuge in an abandoned mine to take on supplies and make much-needed repairs. With Eureka’s emotional condition worsening and tensions running high amongst the crew, even this stage of their journey proves to be eventful.

It doesn’t seem to matter what else is on my review pile – the next volume of Eureka Seven always ends up at the top and gets the first viewing. When the material on offer is of this quality though, it’s hardly surprising: there’s comedy, drama, intrigue and suspense delivered with a consistency that leads me to believe that this is one of the most enjoyable titles to hit our shelves this year.

[1 Comment]

[Anime Reviews]

Eureka Seven episodes 11-15

Posted by Martin  [Tags: Eureka Seven]

Before going into the review proper (which I c/p-ed from the one I wrote for AnimeUKNews.net anyway), I have to draw your attention to a format change on the blog. It’s called Water 3, designed by an extremely talented individual, the Undersigned - I hope you like it and if you don’t…well, the old layout is stored on my server so if I can work out how to do it, I’ll post up a ’select layout’ feature for visitors. There are still some tweaks to do though such as screencaps being centre-aligned instead of pushed to the right with the text wrapping around, link text not being highlighted enough and so on, but I think this is the layout I’m settled on for now. Okay, on with the review…

[1 Comment]

[Anime Reviews]

Eureka Seven episodes 6-10

Posted by Martin  [Tags: Eureka Seven]

The second outing of Eureka Seven sees our hapless hero Renton at the receiving end of some cruel pranks courtesy of Eureka’s three children that lands him in hot water. This is followed by a mission of equally uncalled-for embarrassment from the older (but not necessarily mature!) members of the crew. Soon afterwards a mission to capture a political dissident leads to some interesting details concerning the earlier lives of Eureka and the Gekkostate.

[5 Comments]

[Anime Reviews]

Eureka Seven episodes 1-5

Posted by Martin  [Tags: Eureka Seven]

Aside the fact that new mecha series have been few and far between lately, Eureka Seven can raise viewer expectations to levels that threaten serious disappointment. The credits for instance boast a list of big names such as Studio Bones, the Macross creator Shoji Kawamori and the likes of Bandai and Gainax who assisted in bringing it to fruition: a lot of talent and a lot of money have been poured into this series which leaves us hoping that it was worth their while. For the time being at least, it appears to meet most of my expectations.

[2 Comments]