Reflections of a Young Pilgrim

The “mecha” genre in anime has long been a criticized one.

It’s not because giant robots are impractical or childish (as if anime ever obeyed realistic physics), but because they usually follow a rehashed formula… child finds giant robot, discovers he has some hidden power inside him, meets terrifying enemy (aliens, military, etc), and becomes a better fighter using his mecha until he single-handedly defeats said enemy.

And in this overdone genre, Eureka Seven stands out. Why? Because it tries to be different. That’s not to say it doesn’t contain elements from its genre roots… yes, there’s a mecha, and yes there’s a child with some overpowered abilities… but Eureka Seven goes far beyond that. This isn’t a plot of “travel from point A to B” or “go from zero to hero” – it’s a tale of a boy who needs more from life, who needs to know what he’s supposed to do in this world, and mainly how everyday events keep changing not just him but the people around him. From dealing with his first serious crush, to deciding whether it’s alright to kill an army through a weapon of mass-destruction, Eureka Seven wants to flesh out its characters and story far beyond the typical mecha show.

However, just having a grand scope isn’t enough to make a good show.  Fleshing out your characters isn’t worth it if they aren’t likable, and fleshing out your story isn’t worthwhile if it becomes too complicated or confusing. *cough EVANGELION cough* It’s not enough to have a strong idea for a foundation if its parts aren’t put together well. So let’s just find out for ourselves how entertaining this modern mecha is, and whether it will be as memorable as it promises or not…

~ Synopsis

Renton Thorston is a 14-year-old boy with an uncommon passion for “reffing”, a fantastical type of air surfing that involves riding transparent light particles through the sky. But to Renton, his love for reffing is more than just a hobby — it’s the only way to escape the oppressive boredom of his life in Bellforest, where he lives alone with his mechanic grandfather.

His life takes a turn when a hulking mech called Nirvash crashes into his house one day and he meets the mysterious young girl Eureka, a fellow reffer who seeks Renton’s help in getting her machine back off the ground. When the military gets involved and attempts to attack them, Renton is invited to join Gekkostate - a rebel group of reffers that is against the military. However, he soon realizes that behind the facade of a traveling group of carefree rebels is a very dark reality.

As Renton travels with Gekkostate, he watches them take on missions as hired-guns or be targeted themselves by other forces. He also slowly grows closer to its members and starts to learn the grim history of why they left the military. As conflicts escalate and secrets become known, He, Eureka, and his friends will be facing hard choices that will greatly affect each other, if not the entire world.

~ Thoughts and Impressions

After watching the two full seasons of Eureka Seven, I can safely say that this is one of the best examples of anime storytelling. The story starts off simple enough, but it unfolds and develops piece-by-piece so that almost every episode is interesting. Considering its complex story, this show could easily have been a confusing convoluted anime. But thankfully it handles the execution fairly well (except for one episode that I’ll discuss later).

You may have noticed I said “almost every episode is interesting”. Well Eureka Seven has both pros and cons. I believe its high-points ultimately make it a recommended watch. And although its complex nature and slowly-developed plot may put off some audiences, most viewers will find a remarkably good tale in this.

But now we’ve come to the only serious problem with this 50-episode series… it has a very slow beginning, and a rushed ending.

The beginning, though gorgeous to look at, was so average (and in one particular episode, stupid) that I actually dropped it at episode 8. After reading a review from another anime blog, I discovered that Eureka Seven starts taking a different direction by episode 9. Ironic. I picked it up again, and sure enough, the first 8 episodes were no representation of the awesomeness that was the rest of the series. So a warning… it’s not a terrible opening arc… but it is average and can feel slow. Once you get past that misleading opening, you’ll discover a very special tale.

And then there’s the ending. It was definitely a great wrap-up to the show, but it was far FAR too rushed. They had so much important conversation in the first 20 seconds alone that I had to pause, rewind, play the conversation again, and think about what I just heard. Once it made sense (and it did, seems I just think slower than characters can talk) I kept playing. And when the finale completely ended, I had to take another 20 seconds to think about what I just saw. And then it all made sense and I felt satisfied about the conclusion.

It was as if the writers were making their episodes happily, and then someone told them “You have one more episode left in the series”, and in a surprised frenzy they tried to conclude all the stories as fast and effectively as they could in that one episode. Again, they succeeded in wrapping it up well, but I honestly feel that adding another 2 to 6 episodes was in order.

The ending also left a few minor questions up in the air… what is the Despair virus and why did its victims act that way during the exodus? What is the Amita drive? In fact, what is a Compaq drive? What is that book Holland and Novak are frequently reading with the woman on the cover?

Again, these are all really minor questions that are not essential to the plot. Just about every other major detail was concluded thoughtfully. However, I have to deduct some points for story. These were some glaring flaws that could’ve been easily avoided.

I’m really surprised at how many reviewers on the internet didn’t understand the ending at all. Perhaps they didn’t take the time to rewind and think like my brother and I did. Regardless, in the hopes of helping those people, I’ll post an epic spoiler-filled summary at a later date.

You may have noticed I just wrote 7 paragraphs of negative talk for this show. Despite its faults with pacing, I actually loved Eureka Seven. Remember that the flawed beginning and rushed ending make up only a fraction of the episode count. Just about every single episode had something interesting to say, and though it wasn’t always epic or superb, it was storytelling just done right.

Also, entertainment isn’t just about plot! If that was the case, nobody would’ve watched Pirates of the Caribbean or Transformers (they’re not well written, but they’re fun!). Thankfully, all the other good points of Eureka Seven work together nicely.

One aspect I noticed is that most of the show’s characters are likeable, or at least very interesting. I’ll go over the list of characters briefly later.

It was also interesting to me that Eureka Seven had outright great character development. All the main characters end up as completely different people from when they started out. And it’s not because some calamity or huge defining event changes them suddenly… like real life, the challenges and choices of each day is what shapes them. Each one asks the hard questions and wonders what kind of person he/she really wants to be. What do they really want from life? Basically, I wasn’t given a standard lesson of “determination” or “we learned the value of friendship” – it was nice, if not inspiring, to see characters that can actually mature.

The animation is also very well done. There wasn’t a single episode that seemed to be lacking in quality. Every scene was detailed, smooth, and well colored. That includes the fight scenes. Granted, it wasn’t superb enough to stand out from the crowd, but the art in this show did the job well.

~ Characters

Renton starts off in this series as a child who doesn’t know what he really wants to do.  His blatant weaknesses and childish thinking made it difficult for me to even like him… at first.  The events of every day slowly shape him from a boy into a caring young man. By the second half of the show, I ended up rather liking him and was eagerly rooting for him in his adventures.

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Eureka is the name of a nearly emotionless girl who fights for her friends and beliefs. She starts off as a very mysterious character… unknown past, she “talks” with machinery, and has a remarkable knack for fighting using Nirvash. She basically seems like one very cool girl. And sure enough, from the moment the series begins to when it ends, she is the shining star of this series. As she deals with people more and more (and every emotion that comes with that), she does have a rough time adapting to it all, but she’s usually willing to learn from her mistakes and move forward.

Holland, the leader of Gekkostate, was a very interesting but confused character. At first I couldn’t figure him out. What he was aiming for. What he wanted. Eventually, I realized… he didn’t know what he really wanted either. As the series progresses and he is bottlenecked into some hard choices, I really started to appreciate him as a character and as a strong leader.

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Even dear Talho grew on me. A fellow Gekkostate member, she starts off as a bit of a jerk towards Renton, and seems to nag on Holland often. Then I realized she pays so much attention to Renton because he’s one of the few people that pays attention to her. And she’s bothered by Holland so much because he’s always taking the hard road and demands he shoulder it alone. He basically tortures himself and he doesn’t have to, and it frustrates her that the one she cares about most is taking the hard way to learn such basic life lessons.

The other members of the Gekkostate crew were all special and memorable in some way. There’s too many to list, but these wacky characters added even more life to the show. They bring a huge (and sometimes funny) variety of personalities and visual designs.

The only members of the cast that I disliked were Eureka’s children. They started off as self-centered brats - and normally I can forgive that, you run into such kids in life - but these three got way too much screentime! Eventually they become more considerate of others, but considering how little they affected the story, they struck me as more of a distracting annoyance than anything. Thankfully, the large (more interesting) cast steals just as much screentime to give this show’s “characters” section a very good rating.

I’m not listing the “villain” characters here to avoid some major spoilers. However, all left a favorable impression on me (most were not cliché), and I won’t ever forget them.

~ Conclusion

Eureka Seven is a unique adventure story that is definitely worth watching. However, it stumbles in its beginning and ending with pacing issues. If you’re willing to overlook that, you’ll discover this is a rare gem of a show.

Storyline: 8 – Very Good
Characters: 8 – Very Good
Animation: 8 – Very Good

Enjoyment Rating: 8 / 10 Stars (Very Good)

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Watch a short clip of the Eureka Seven opening below:

~ Recommended Audience

Appropriate for the 16-up crowd for bloody violence and some nudity.

Violence: The show takes place during a period of military uprising and frequent conflict, so there is going to be occasional fighting. And a few battles do have blood spilling, though it’s never gratuitous; it’s mainly to remind us that the realism of war is not all pretty explosions. The most graphic scene is a bloody dismembered arm falling off a mecha. But if you can handle that, it doesn’t get any worse.

Language: There is some cursing issues (after all, almost the entire cast is military or ex-military). Unfortunately, I can’t recall how strong the language was, but it was never excessively spoken.

Sexual Content: With the exception of Talho flaunting her too-short tank top for attention and a couple moments of mild innuendo, there is no sexual content in this show.

Nudity: One completely unnecessary spa episode has rear nudity. There are two or three scenes in the entire series with frontal nudity, though they are completely undetailed (like a Barbie doll). Also, one of the books in this show (the one not explained in the rushed ending) has a cover with a detailed naked woman on the front; thankfully, these scenes go by fairly quickly.

Religious Material: There is an alternate religion in this show, though it’s peaceful for the most part and frequently persecuted. Unless you consider the existence of another religion offensive, there’s nothing in this section to worry about.

~ Show Details

Episode Count: 50
Version Reviewed: Subtitled by Nanashi and Bizarro-Nanashi
Aired: 2005-04-17 to 2006-04-02
Genre: Mecha / Adventure
Studio: BONES
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