Eureka seveN
| Psalm of Planets Eureka seveN | |
|---|---|
 A few of the characters. | |
| Director | Tomoki Kyoda |
| Format | Anime (TV) |
| Made By | Bones |
| # of Episodes | 50 |
| # of OVAs | 1 |
Contents
Genre
Action, Drama, Mecha, Romance, Sci-Fi
Sum it up in a Sentence:
CUT BACK DROP TURN
Main Description
Renton Thurston is a 14-year-old boy who lived with his mechanic grandfather in a backwater town. When a young girl named Eureka riding a giant robot, the "Nirvash typeZERO", crash-lands and asks his grandfather for a tune-up, she inadvertently brings the attention of the military to the garage; as a result, the garage is destroyed and Renton is forced to deliver a new type of interface-- the "Amita Drive"-- to her ship the Nirvash, crewed by an outlaw semi-mercenary team that Renton idolises and the military are chasing called Gekkostate. After a heated fight, Renton is invited into Gekkostate. However, he quickly realizes that behind the facade of a traveling group of mercenaries is a very bitter reality.
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Robots:
Renegades Roaming the Skies:
Other BONES shows, such as
Personal Opinions
Zorak
Bones has had some issues with writing anime. While they're one of the best studios at it, they keep on having an issue with finding an ideal balance between character development and plot development. Their strong point is the former, while with the latter they occasionally flub it. Plot development is important for driving character development, and sometimes badly timed character development can kill a plot altogether. Fortunately, that isn't an issue with Eureka Seven. While character development is ultimately the biggest thing in the series, and Bones is good at characterizing realistic character interactions, the plot doesn't ultimately suffer for it, though it is occasionally a bit confusing. The characters are, ultimately, rather realistic. While there are angsty/ awkward moments, they're realistically so. Renton and Eureka are both realistic people with realistic personalities; it makes for an incredibly interesting love story, though some parts drag on too long, and others are a bit too short. The ending I feel was pretty solid, and was ultimately much more fulfilling then Gurren-Lagann's, which is saying something. It's one of the better real robot series, even if it does abandon the real-ness at parts.
It's sort of a pity that one of the BONES series produced after E7, Xamd, has a sort of similar setting/ character interactions, but ultimately has a really bad plot, while at the same time blowing their "character development load", so to speak, about five episodes too early.
Nate RFB
At the time of its release, Eureka seveN had simply been "the new BONES show to replace FMA." That the gimmick of the show wound up being based around air surfing robots didn't help either. By all accounts, E7 should not have been nearly as big of a hit as it was. But with each release, the collective whole of the show grew stronger and stronger. E7 doesn't pretend to be something it isn't; it is a character driven story that relies on viewers getting attached to the characters and their endeavors. Major "plot twists" in the story center more on the characters themselves simply doing an action. It is by this reasoning that if you are going into the show just for the robots, and allow yourself to get distracted by the young ages of the characters or how annoying Eureka's kids are (because they are!), you're setting yourself up for disaster. But those who are interested in seeing what the minds of BONES and the robots of Shoji Kawamori can bring together, the result is nothing short of spectacular. I love Eureka seveN because it is a fun series that has so much god damn heart and soul. It is not particularly deep, nor does it try to be. The oft repeated coming of age story of a boy trying to live in the shadow of a famous father is somehow able to seem fresh and stirring. I liked Renton, but it was probably the character of Eureka that I think really showcases the best character development in the show. How did a sure fired Rei Ayanami clone get so far? I'm not really sure. All I know is that, collectively, I don't think any anime I've ever seen was a better joy to watch week in and week out. And hell, the robots wound up being pretty awesome as well. The action sequences are quite reminiscent of Macross dog fights, so really there should be something for just about everyone.
Big Big Moon
I might be in the minority here, but I really couldn't stand too much of this series. The character interactions are awkward and often forced, especially the budding relationship between Renton and Eureka. The longer the series goes on, the more apparent it becomes that in the end you're watching a 14-year-old and his surfer buddies piloting these awesome war machines with annoying kids cheering in the background and-- hey! String-laden music! Something exciting must have happened! It was terribly unfair in my mind for the writers to dangle this mysterious whiz-bang technology in front of me, only to yank it away and force me to trudge through another "Renton does something awkward and funny, guys! Remember when you were fourteen?" episode again and again. Don't get me wrong, the robots are sweet. Surfing Gundam-Transformers! I'd just prefer if a whiny kid with hormonal issues wasn't behind the wheel.
Mirsha
As far as giant mechas go kicking the shit out of each other this is alright. The thing which really set this series apart for me was the musical score. Apparently every episode is named after a seminal track from the 90's+ rave scene which meant a shed load to me as thats what I'm into. Yeah the 303 and all that meant something to me and I kept thinking 'where is the 808' and it was revealed to me later.
The show does show many subtle scenes of intrigue and interest, Renton waking up by a bass bin hammering out something that sounds like Hardfloor is a highlight and the whole Charles + Ray + Renton scenario which rounds off the first 26 episodes is still some of the most moving anime I've seen in that really gets me moody about the outcome. In fact the whole series carries a strong counter culture scenario which is elaborated in more depth in later episodes between the characters.
raezr
If you're going to start watching this keep in mind that lots of people (including me) who love this show don't really care for the first ten or so episodes. So if you give it the "three episode test" and decide that it sucks then you might want to give it a second chance. On the other hand it's not like the show completely changes everything after the first ten, so if you find yourself completely hating everything about them then this probably isn't the anime for you.
Kannen
It was a nice and unique show. Sometimes the animation wasn't what I expected of BONES and it probably could have finished in 26 episodes, but when it was on it was awesome. Not quite like Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, but then again, Nothing ever will be.
Infinitum
It's awesome.
Eggn0g
Gotta agree with raezr here, Eureka seveN has a very, very slow start, and the lengh of the show (50 episodes) probably does it more harm than good. Even after the slow starting episodes, there are still uneeded filler episodes here and there that kill the pace a bit. Still, the animation varies from good to amazing, the music is perfect and the character development is excellent, so don't let the pace and initially unlikable characters put you off.
Willsun
At best I can say Eureka Seven's a trippy kind of adventure, but beyond that I found the series largely confusing for me. Confusing moreso on the plot and just plain uncomfortable a lot of times for the character development. Like Zorak said, Bones is typically strong with character development and there certainly is a lot going on, but the biggest thing hanging over my head most of the time is what a dick Holland is the entire series. It's almost to the point where he's like an abusive father to the whole cast and I literally didn't sympathize with his emotional baggage by the time they revealed what's causing him all his grief that he lashes out to everyone on. I'm also not sure if it's coincidence, but by the time I watched Eureka Seven, I was plenty tired of the Xenogears-like plot that so many Japanese anime and video games do: main characters with psychological problems uncover huge illuminati plot organized by clandestine upper-echelon elites who were using some god entity to control the sheeple and good guys eventually have to interact with some 4th dimension and kill god with mechas the end. Maybe I'm just not deep enough to see more to this series, but the fact that they never explain anything just irritated me even more because I'm led on to the very end (twice that of a normal season of anime) and get very few loose ends tied up. --Willsun 21:00, 29 June 2011 (UTC)
ViggyNash
I can't say too much more than has already been said. Do at least a 5 episode test for this show since the first few episodes are, in my opinion, atrocious. Renton begins as a rash and annoying child while Eureka begins as a slow, naive weirdo. It's really hard to get into it at first. But this is a show that almost never stops getting better. It may flatline slightly at a few filler episodes, but it never starts getting worse.
Let me say one thing about Bones. I don't like them. They always seem to try to milk their shows with idiotic amounts of sensationalism and grandeur. That sensationalistic writing killed the end of FMA. However, it somehow felt perfect for this show. Like someone above mentioned, this is a show full of heart and soul, so a sensational ending served as the perfect climax. While I would have liked an epilogue of sorts, it was still a very satisfying ending after a great show that matured at the same pace as its fantastic characters.
On a different note, make sure you never watch the movie or the sequel, Astral Ocean. The latter is a horrific butchering of a great show, and the former can only be watched if you haven't watched the show since it is the same characters put into a completely different story and universe. It just feels wrong all the way through.
Redcrimson
Eureka Seven is an unusual show, to say the least. I don't agree that the early episodes are bad. Renton's characterization is brilliant from episode one. He's trapped in his father's shadow and can't reconcile the expectations of him that creates in others with his own desires and beliefs, and so he's just kind of a whiny pain in the ass. He's very reminiscent of Naota from FLCL. After all, Eureka Seven is primarily, among other things, a coming-of-age story. Via giant robot battles, because anime. But what makes this show unusual is the "other things". Most stories have one or two central themes that relates back to the plot. Not this show. E7 takes the shotgun approach, and decides it wants to talk about everything. It has multiple thematic elements, from coming of age, to anti-war messages, to quasi-environmentalism. Several prominent romance arcs. Tons of character development all around. Recurring flower motifs, allusions to 1960s American counter-culture movements, and countless nods to other sci-fi and mecha franchises. I think what fundamentally makes E7 work as well as it does is that it feels less like a linear story, and more like a series of individual moments threaded to a common conclusion. It feels as true-to-life as a show about sky-surfing counter-culture resistance mecha pilots reasonably could. The characters all have their own distinct personalities that color their actions, and inner demons that they struggle to overcome. The way they act, speak, and the decisions they make are all consistent with the people the story makes them out to be. Renton’s frequent missteps with Eureka are especially humanizing. I think everyone can relate to that awkward moment of talking to the girl/guy you like and inadvertently saying something stupid or insensitive.
Overall, Eureka Seven is a fun, and surprisingly ambitious entry into its genre. It has a lot to say, and articulates in a way that is equal parts understandable and meaningful. Aside from some minor pacing issues(I feel the show could have been 39 episodes easily), a bit of overwrought drama, and a few logical inconsistencies(Eureka‘s entire existence doesn’t make a ton of sense in the long run), I don’t really have any major problems with this show. This about as good as shounen action/adventure fare gets.
