Eureka Seven

[Kefit]

I just finished watching this the other day. What an amazing, amazing series.

Everything starts simply enough - Renton, a young teenager, finds himself pulled into crazy mecha battles involving a mysterious girl around the same age as himself, along with the equally mysterious mech that she pilots. Throughout the course of his adventures he finds love, courage, and grows up. Oh, and there are dire threats to the planet and humanity that must be stopped at all costs, along with mysterious life forms that just might be the key to everything going on. Yadda yadda yadda you've seen it a thousand times before.

Except you haven't seen it done like this.

Eureka Seven is remarkable in the ways in which it breaks traditional anime conventions. Perhaps most obvious is the diversity of the cast and setting. The world that this show takes place in is quite unlike our own - but you wouldn't know it at first. This is because the characters take the world they are in for granted, and as the viewer you are expected to do the same. The show wastes no time with exposition to explain things that seem odd or foreign, instead relying on the viewer's ability to piece together for themselves the way in which this world works. One of the first things that will bug you will be the sport of reffing, which is kind of like air surfing. How does it work? Why is it possible? While you will eventually get answers to these questions, initially you are in the same position as any regular inhabitant of this world – you have no real idea why it works, but it does, so you take it for granted and go with it.

To further this sense of world immersion, the cast of this show is incredibly varied and of a diverse range of ethnicities unlike anything else I have ever seen in anime. This creates a truly rich world as the setting of the series, one that really resonates as something that could be real. But at the same time, these characters aren't tokens, and don't exist simply to represent their race. Their race is simply an aspect of their character that is given no special thought by the other members of the cast.

Which brings me to another remarkable thing this series pulls off - it has a HUGE cast. Yet everyone is superbly written, and has a reason for existence and why they are where they are outside of aiding main character development or plot necessities. No one is around simply to root for the hero - they are far too busy worrying about themselves and their own relationships to do that. Speaking of which, the relationship development in this series is simply unmatched. Throughout the course of the series we see relationships that spark in an instant, or slowly develop over years, or have always been taken for granted by everyone, or are destroyed in horrible, gut wrenching moments. Nearly every important character in this show is involved in a relationship of some sort, and watching the passage they take through them is one of the most rewarding parts of the show. Finally, and most importantly, the characters simply rock – indeed, without this, none of the careful writing and character development I just ranted about would mean anything. Every character's traits and quirks are delicately balanced, resulting in an incredibly compelling and likable cast. Thanks to the strength of the writing, each character is able to exhibit a full range of human emotion, from utter despair to complete badassary to total vunerability, adding layers of complexity to what could have been simple, stock archetypes.

Aiding all of this, and allowing it to come fully to fruition, is some of the best directing I have seen in a long, long time. The mech battles are incredibly well animated and choreographed, and are brimming with excitement, energy, and tension. The relationship aspects of the show are set with the perfect mood and tone by the music, the timing of the animation, and the direction of the art. And when these forces combine, the series produces scenes, entire episodes, that are simply beautiful - in fact, I would not be exaggerating at all in saying that I can pick out one particular episode that I would place in the running for the greatest single episode of anime ever made, along with several others that would probably get into my top 10. This is where the real meat of the show is. The style of stength of the setting and character development I mentioned above make these scenes possible, while the scenes themselves deliver the true knock out punches of the series.

Of course, Eureka Seven is not without its faults. Often times its pacing is quite slow. Throughout the first half of the series, there are several instances where the show stagnates for several episodes at a time. While time passes through these episodes, and relationships slowly develop, nothing major happens to keep the momentum going. Luckily, this problem largely disappears in the second half of the show, although there is still a slow episode here or there.

Another possible weakness of this show is that it tends to overload the viewer with information. As I said earlier, it expects the viewer to be able to take things for granted until they have enough information to piece together the nature of this world themselve's. Although I enjoy this type of storytelling, this could make the show very difficult to follow for some people.

But in the end, these are minor weaknesses. Unlike a lot of longish series I have seen (Full Metal Alchemist comes to mind), this show truly delivers in the end. And quite simply, I can't do the end of the series justice with words. You will just have to watch it yourself.

As a final note, you may have noticed that I have changed my avatar and sig recently, and you would be correct if you think that my avatar is a character from this show. If you know how much I love F/SN, and particularly Sakura, then you might realize how much I utterly loved Eureka Seven.

So what are you waiting for? Gekko-Gogogogo.

[testrut]

Yay, the reason I re-registered.

Go watch this show. I don't need to reiterate what Kefit has already said, just gogogogogogogogogo.

ps:

Kefit42: screw f/sn
Kefit42: more e7

O.O

[Omeganitros]

It has come to my attention that this show is really good. It gets an A+!

[ckj846]

Time to download!
O_o

[Omeganitros]

Download? Psshh. YouTube is your new best friend.

[sleeplessdragn]

A friend gave me the first 27 ep a few weeks ago; I figured I would start this after I finish F/SN.

[Kefit]

Heh, this show more or less made me completely forget about F/SN. F/SN has failed to live up to my expectations (although it is still quite good), whereas Eureka Seven demolished them with bestial fury.

But if you are going to wait, go and acquire the second half the of the series in the mean time - this is a show where you really won't want to be left hanging at any given point.

[lord_carbo]

Saw the dub. I've intended to download them or at least YouTube them since the first episode, but meh, it went over my head.

[SethSquall]

Style sorta looks like samurai champloo. I dont know though, so dont hold me to it. Looks pretty good

[Squeek]

Eureka Seven is the reason I will forever hate "mech" shows as they tend to be unnecessarily PSYCHOLIGICAL TRIPFESTS LOLOL

All I ever notice when I watch this show is that the creators try to deviate from a real plot and make things just scary and weird for no reason.

That being said, I hate this show. How the crap did you finish it. It's only subbed to like 38.

~Squeek

[testrut]

logging in again to say that squeek did not watch the show passed episode 13

I hate most mech shows too, but Eureka seveN is one of the most amazing shows I've seen in a LONG LONG LONG LONG time.

[Squeek]

Originally Posted by testrut

logging in again to say that squeek did not watch the show passed episode 13

I hate most mech shows too, but Eureka seveN is one of the most amazing shows I've seen in a LONG LONG LONG LONG time.

On episode 32.

Still psychologically trippy for no reason! Yes!

~Squeek

[Grandiagod]

Originally Posted by MrESqueek

On episode 32.

Still psychologically trippy for no reason! Yes!

~Squeek

What's wrong with a trippy story? If you want plain robot carnage just watch G Gundam or something.

[Kefit]

E7 is only psychologically trippy on two or three occasions (all of which you have seen at this point, I believe). And when it does go down that path, it does it very well - the imagary and events nicely reflect the characters involved, and lucidity of viewpoint is nicely maintained. Best of all, there is an actual reason that the trippiness occurs. And it even makes sense! But guess what? You will have to watch the rest of the series to figure it out!

But I can't understand how you wouldn't be enjoying the show at the point you are at. One of the bigger stagnations is in the early 20s, but starting with episode 26 the show is made of gogogo and win in ammounts that only increase as the series continues. You've made it past the slowest point of the series, and at this time you should really be riding a wave of momentum that rarely takes a break.

I suppose you are frustrated that the show isn't spelling everything out for you (similar to your response to Haibane Renmei). If this is the case, then it is a shame - E7 has some amazing sequences in it, which you should enjoy greatly even if you are too lazy to piece the plot together yourself.

Oh, and I could argue that there is not a single episode of filler in this show (I admit the soccer episode is debatable, but I could still make an argument for it). Every episode advances the plot in some way or another, or serves to elucidate an aspect of the characters or setting. The main plot is sometimes put into the background, but that is because large scale operations of the sort that drive this plot usually take quite some time - I would estimate that the events of E7 take place over roughly a year.

[sleeplessdragn]

So I watched the first episode of Eureka 7 last night, and afterwords I thought it would be fun if I did..

this!!!(click me, it's fun)

(cuts off because I was too lazy to record more than a minute)

Not to disrespect the show, because I thought it was really great.

[Reishiro]

this show kicks ass you should watch it

[Snowcrafta]

[18:22]kefit42: hey i got mono
[18:27]rettust: ya i just had it too


GOOD GOD THEY WON'T SHUT UP ABOUT IT. Don't talk to them about anime unless it's about e7, since they have been circle jerking to it for about the last week, and have been PERSISTING I join in.

[Kefit]

What the hell, I haven't mentioned the show to you in like three days >_>

Regardless it needs to be watched by everyone in existence right now.

[Animefreak999]

eureka seven is an awsome show i watch it every saturday on cartoon network

youtube is kool i watch FLCL and some other kool anime on there

[testrut]

Originally Posted by Snowcrafta

i wish i was as kool as kil

you're gay i haven't spoken to you about it outside of mentioning it in a sentence once or twice in the last five or six days

also let me repeat

you're gay