Well, I finished my long run of Miyazaki reviews, so now I'm just back to reviewing whatever I happen to watch. As such, I decided to go with something that had been catching my eye for a long time, Eureka Seven. I'm a big fan of upbeat action and mecha shows, and this looked like something that would match those interests. So, what do you get when you combine surfing, giant robots, and the power of love? Is it a perfect wave or just a disappointing ripple?
Our story opens and we're introduced to the main character Renton, a teenager bored with both his life and the boring town he lives in who dreams of something more. Sound familiar? In this case, the something more is to become a great surf- I mean, lifter and maybe even join Gekkostate, an anti-government group of lifters led by Renton's idol Holland, the world's best amateur lifter. One day, his boring life is upset by a giant robot called an LFO crashing into his room with a mysterious girl as a pilot. Sound more familiar? Turns out the girl's name is Eureka (say it Ay-oo-reck-uh; weird, I know) and that she's actually a member of Gekkostate. The LFO is known as the Nirvash, and is the first LFO ever created.
When a battle breaks out above Renton's hometown between the government and Gekkostate, Renton is tasked with delivering a final part to the Nirvash - a device called the Amita Drive, said to awaken the Nirvash's true power. After attaching the part, Renton unknowingly triggers a phenomenon known as the Seven Swell, a massive energy wave that quickly dispatches the remaining government LFOs. Afterwards, Renton is invited to join Gekkostate. He quickly learns that life with Gekkostate is not as dreamlike as he thought it would be and a lot of the crew are pretty rude to him. One good thing has come of it for Renton though: he gets to be with Eureka, who he's fallen head over heels for. Indeed, Renton is willing to do anything so long as he can be at Eureka's side, protect her, and get a chance to tell her how he really feels.
The story of Eureka Seven is a romance story first and everything else second. The budding romance between Renton and Eureka serves as both the centerpiece of the plot and the driving force of almost every other major event of the story. Because of all this, it's a good thing that the romance in this story is done well. The relationship is really a romantic view of young love at first sight and the ups and downs encountered in a romance between 2 people who don't even really know what love is. The romance presented is very idealistic and tame and as such wouldn't be for everyone, but for me that just made it more heartwarming and endearing. In addition, the show also provides a notable focus on the relationships of other characters some of which are a bit more conflicted and don't always have a happy ending. All in all, the romance aspect is very charming and fairy tale-esque and will be sure to warm your heart at some point.
On the other hand, this is a sci-fi mecha show and there are other things going on while our young duo struggle with love. The other story of Eureka Seven focuses on government schemes and fighting against them, learning about the people and things that make up this world, and eventually focusing on how to protect it from being destroyed of course. The show starts off slow, with a lot of one shot episodes near the beginning, some of which are pretty dumb or annoying. It picks up and begins to focus in a little ways into it and really picks up about a third to halfway in and from there on out it's a pretty enjoyable ride.
That said, it does get pretty confusing near the end with a lot of concepts being thrown around that aren't always explained in clear, concise way. Even a friend of mine who loves the show said he didn't fully get everything till the third rewatch. Even so, there's a lot of simple themes present throughout the show about love, sins and regret, and prejudice and acceptance to name a few, and these can help serve as something to hold onto when everything else gets a bit confusing.
For characters, where better to start than our main duo? Renton starts off the series weak as a pretty bland, meek, and mostly boring character and while he does get better, throughout the series he maintains this childish feeling of naivete and innocence that helps the romance but doesn't make him particularly likeable. Get used to the idea of starting weak and getting better, it's everywhere here. Eureka, for example, starts off as a pretty typical mysterious, quiet, and serious girl. However, she struggles through a lot of development as she confronts both her own personal identity and her feelings for Renton and she grows into a strong and likeable character.
Another character who gets better as the show moves on is the leader, Holland. He starts off as a tough, serious, and generally badass leader, but quickly devolves from badass to jerkass. As he faces the issues he has with past decisions as well as issues with Eureka, his rudeness transforms into a kind determination and he emerges as a fierce protector of both our main duo and his crew as a whole, as well as my hands-down favorite character. Talho, another main female character, also displays this rising quality, starting off as annoying and rude and later becoming more serious and kind.
For our villains of note, we have Dewey Novak and Anemone. Dewey is a sinister and smooth schemer and a great villain, though he unfortunately doesn't have much story presence until near the end. Anemone is a girl with similarities to Eureka, though manic and crazy to Eureka's calm seriousness. She also gets some very touching eleventh-hour development. A couple of other characters I have to mention are Charles and Ray Beams, a pair of married freelancers. Though they don't appear in many episodes, they steal the show when they do, with Charles' bombastic but noble nature and Ray's loving and nurturing nature. They also have some very touching and intense scenes as well. The other side characters range from enjoyable to forgettable, but for the most part not annoying, except for Eureka's adopted kids. They spend the first part of the series mostly as annoying brats, and then they're cute at times but mostly just annoying kids.
When it comes to the art and animation, the show excels. While it's not quite on the level I'm used to after all those Miyazaki movies, the character designs are nice and unique for the most part and everything moves well. In keeping with the surfing theme, a lot of the characters have a sort of 70's surfer look to them that is very unique in anime and looks nice for the most part. Also of note are the mech fights, taking place almost exclusively in the air with surfing robots. Everything flows amazingly during these fights, with the robots moving quickly and smoothly through the air and lots of laser and missile flurries and quick motions. They're really a treat for the eyes.
The music in this series is good, mostly mood fitting background pieces. In addition, like the designs, there's a retro feel present in the music at times. The openings are upbeat and nice to listen to, but for the most part are sort of typical. The exception is the last opening, that starts with a beautiful bit of "Amazing Grace" and builds to a fast paced piece that gets you excited for the episode. The endings are ok but nothing that drew me in and made me pay attention to them. The dub cast is good for the most part but has a problem here or there. JYB's performance as Renton fell a bit short to me, mostly adding to the childish feel he had. On the other hand, Crispin Freeman and Patrick Seitz both blow their performances away and add a great level of intensity and flair to their characters.
All in all, Eureka Seven is a fun series with a nice romance, a mostly likeable cast, and great animation, though it does get confusing at times. If you like upbeat mecha shows or romances with a little more punch, you'll probably like the show. If you're not a fan of these genres or if you like things a bit more gritty or realistic, then the show's probably not worth the 50-episode investment.
Sorry if I ran on a bit too long, reviewing a long series will do that to you. As always, I welcome any recommendations for series and any feedback!
No comments:
Post a Comment