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Intro:

I first learned about Eureka Seven when I saw Eureka on the cover of a magazine back in 2006 or so. She was very intriguing, and the series looked interesting, but I wasn't much of an anime watcher back then, so I didn't watch the series. Eureka has always been stuck in my head though, so now that I watch anime as a hobby, I figured I'd give the series a go, even though I don't generally like mecha-related series.

First Impression: 4/10

After the first couple of episodes, I really didn't see a reason for so many people giving this anime a 10. Renton acted like Naruto (Who I've never really liked), but somehow more annoyingly. Eureka quite emotionless and frankly much more boring than I'd hoped. The beginning of the series gets no more than a 4/10 from me.

Story: 8/10

The story in the first 25-30 episodes is something close to non-existent. It was mainly time for character development, which gave some story, but what was there had little to do with the story that shows up in the last 20 or so episodes. You don't get answers to much of anything until 90% of the character development is done. The character development is not mixed in with the story, which makes both seem a little less realistic. If they had mixed the two, the anime could have been shortened to 30-40 episodes and become much more enjoyable. The story that does show up at the end though, is a very good one, and is pulled off very well. It doesn't seem rushed, and doesn't seem dragged out, things make sense, and you think you know what's going on, but there are surprises at every turn. So, my score of 8/10 for story can be further explained with a 3/10 for the first half of the series, and a 10/10 for the second half. If you're willing to sit through 30 episodes of mediocre story, the last 20 episodes are worth it. Though some things are never explained, I didn't really feel like they were important to know.

Art: 8/10

The anime almost seems to be divided in two by every category, actually. In the first half the art was decent, but not great. Many backgrounds lacked the detail I've come to expect from Japanese animation and the animation itself didn't wasn't that great. The second half, however, improved in both these areas, and many scenes were just gorgeous. The fact that the characters always looked very well drawn was always the same, though.

Sound: 8/10

I'm never really a fan of opening/ending songs, and this was no different. The only song I sort of liked was the last opening song. The songs did fit with the tone of the anime though, so much of my opinion on them is simply that, an opinion. There didn't seem to be anything different about the songs. They were your typical opening/ending Japanese pop songs, and were sort of pointless to me.

The background music was simply wonderful though. It matched the scenes and mood 99% of the time, and increased the effect of whatever is shown on the screen. If I left out my opinion on the opening/ending songs, sound would have gotten a 9/10, if not a 10/10.

Character: 8/10

The characters at the beginning were not very good. They were either incredibly dull, annoying, naive, or just plain idiotic. I kept watching though, hoping that they would learn something, and luckily they did... 30 episodes later. It just took far too long for these characters to learn anything. Once they do learn though, they become quite likable. The character development was very good, but it just took too long.

One aspect of the first 30 episodes I loved, though, was how much trouble some of the characters had with killing. Far too often in anime you see young teens running out into the battlefield and start killing people without looking back, and they never really suffer for it. I congratulate the creators of Eureka Seven for their amazing job of bringing up this subject and pulling it off well.

Enjoyment: 8/10

The enjoyment in the first 25 or so episodes was fairly low. A few exciting things happened now and then and a character did something cool maybe once every 3-4 episodes, but that was it. Once all the major changes happened though and the story started moving, enjoyment shot straight up and I watched the last 20 or so episodes in one night. The first half of the anime gets maybe a 4/10, while the second half gets a 10/10.

Overall: 9/10

Even though every category individually gets a lower score, the overall effect of the anime deserves a 9/10. Being able to see how the characters have grown almost makes up for the 30 not-quite-so-good episodes. Almost. If I was rating just the last 20 episodes, I would easily give it a 10/10.

In Closing:

This is over all a very good anime, but it's one for people with patience who won't hold grudges for too long against the characters for doing something stupid, which they do. A lot. The series turned out amazing and lived up to its potential, if only for the last 20 episodes. read more