Koukyoushihen Eureka Seven

In the backwater town of Bellforest lives a 14-year-old boy named Renton Thurston. He desires to leave his home behind and join the mercenary group known as Gekkostate, hoping to find some adventure to brighten up his mundane life. However, stuck between his grandfather's insistence to become a mechanic like him and the pressure of his deceased father's legacy, the only excitement Renton finds is in his pastime of riding the Trapar wave particles that are dispersed throughout the air, an activity akin to surfing.

Everything changes when an unknown object crashes through Renton's garage, discovered to be a Light Finding Operation—a robot capable of riding the Trapar waves—specifically known as the Nirvash typeZERO. Its pilot is a young girl named Eureka, a member of the Gekkostate, who requests a tune-up for the Nirvash. Their meeting sparks the beginning of Renton's involvement with the Gekkostate as he takes off alongside Eureka as the co-pilot of the Nirvash.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Eureka Main

Nazuka, Kaori Japanese

Thurston, Renton Main

Sanpei, Yuuko Japanese

Novak, Holland Main

Fujiwara, Keiji Japanese

Yuuki, Talho Main

Neya, Michiko Japanese

Anemone Supporting

Koshimizu, Ami Japanese

Sorel, Dominic Supporting

Yamazaki, Shigenori Japanese

Beams, Charles Supporting

Kosugi, Juurouta Japanese

Moondoggie Supporting

Miyano, Mamoru Japanese

Beams, Ray Supporting

Hisakawa, Aya Japanese

Stoner Supporting

Matsumoto, Yasunori Japanese

Maruyama, Hiroo Producer

Nakayama, Koutarou Producer

Morotomi, Hirofumi Producer

Yukawa, Jun Producer

Reviews

Mar 2, 2024

EvenWeirder

Recommended

Usually this type of long romance mecha anime is not for me at all. Plus, it did start out slow and generic. I'm not sure what convinced me to keep watching, but man I was glad that I did. After a certain point in the show, the drama really ramps up and the story starts to form a unique identity and it ended up being a pleasant surprise.

That being said, does everything work? No. There are some story elements that I wish had gotten more screen time and development, the relationships with the characters don't always work, and there is padding that was 100% unnecessary ... (the soccer episode for example). However, this is one of those shows where I can say the lows are lows, but the highs are so high they make it worth it to stick it out through the entire show.

I was also glad to see that the focus was always on the characters. Usually these mecha shows rely way too much on technical jargon, the history of the warring factions, and the breakdown of the combat. That almost never interests me; the mecha elements should only be used to enhance the intensity of the drama and characters, otherwise it just feels like a dime a dozen shounen.

I would not recommend this show as a first time viewer of anime. It's too long, not all the elements work, and the drama will seem really exaggerated or over the the top for someone who hasn't seen shows like this. However, if you watch anime and are looking for a change of pace from your generic mecha or are looking for a show with heightened emotions and drama, this one is for you, especially if you are into the sci-fi genre. There are some 10/10 moments in this show that have still stuck with me years later that I will not forget.

As for the multitude of sequels and spinoffs that have appeared since this show was released, I would only explore those if you are a mega fan. I took a look at the sequel series Eureka Seven Ao (Astral Ocean). While I did enjoy watching it, it is not as cohesive or fleshed out as the original show, and is not essential viewing. I have my suspicion that the other spinoffs will be like that as well, so take that into consideration.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Jul 25, 2022

aaron_z

Mixed Feelings

Since this was 50 freaking episodes I could never touch on every single thing I want to in a reasonable number of words so I'll try my best to mention the big things.

I don't want to say that I found this show to have missed potential because my expectations were never too high. I was definitely bored at many parts, but never actually felt any major dislike towards it. That is until I finish it, and I surprisingly feel strongly...unfulfilled? I think it starts from how this show clumsily dropped so much 'lore' (emphasis on the quotes) and terminology in the later stages. I ... have a solid idea of what it all was trying to say, but this was so late in the game that I don't necessarily care enough that this world-at-stake climax has me at the edge of my seat. I won't deny that the show was building up certain plot points throughout, it's just that when a car goes from 30 MPH to 80 MPH and then back to 30, you feel it.

Have to mention Renton and Eureka. Cute romance? Yeah. Perfectly laid out? Nah. I really like that throughout their relationship they get interactions with the older members of the cast that push it along, and I'm generally surprised that the show has their romance at such a forefront of the narrative. It's not something hinted at for the whole run, it's there and we actually see their affection expressed throughout. However, there was a definite jolt from them just getting closer to them 'realizing' their love. Then there are these f*cking kids that are involved for the whole 50 episodes. They don't do much other than overemphasizing the family dynamic trying to be built around Eureka assimilating into a human. Like I don't normally get bothered by these sorts of characters but when it's detracting from the real core of the show I start getting tired. Their 'arc' should've been left to a single episode resolution. In the end, Renton has bloomed into maturity, fully devoted to Eureka. It's all this plot hullabaloo that just for some reason doesn't make me feel the same sweetness over how their relationship resolves at the end compared to how I felt for the majority of the show.

Now I don't like to divide anime into 'story and animation' because it all coalesces at the end of the day, however, I do think the production value was a distinct factor in me sticking with the show. I LOVE the character designs, Eureka's especially is awesome. 2D mecha animation is a dying breed nowadays so going back to a real behemoth show that centers around it was really nice. Regardless of how I feel initially, Eureka Seven is a really ambitious anime project. The beginning had this early-2000's punk style down pretty nailed down but with the plot leaning much more into the sci-fi that novelty was kinda lost in the latter half. I still feel very comfortable in praising just how well made it is, even with the odd weaker episode here and there (what was that soccer episode about?)

I was well aware throughout that the target audience here was clearly not for me, especially in the beginning it had this 'Saturday morning cartoon feel to it that made me set my standards. With that, I still can't ignore how thinly laid out some ideas were, even if I do like what the show has to say in concept. This is especially in regard to the brief commentary on race relations and environmentalism. I don't think these 50 episodes were spent effectively. While E7 did scratch that shounen + romance itch, I can't shake the increasing indifference I felt as I finished it.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Dec 29, 2019

deathabarbar

Not Recommended

It's bad, I don't know what other people see in it.

*might contain spoilers*

The story doesn't really know where it wants to go, not only that but it seems to heavily borrow from other shows, such as NGE, but utterly fails to understand what what made those good. The episodes switch from SoL to grimdark to mecha fighting, you might get a "funny" comedic episode then get a backstory about wiping out a city. Near the end, where they have to save the world there is an episode, a full episode, of them playing football, you don't get 50 episodes for nothing. Speaking of the number ... of episodes, this is a 12, at maximum 15, episode show, and the rest is just filler or story episodes at very slow pace, most of the background characters don't even characterization besides one trait, and they stuck with that for 50 episodes. It's not even worldbuilding or anything and I would guess around half of the episodes could be just dropped without the story having to be changed. Most of the things are not explained anyway and there are things that are important for one episode, then completely forgotten for the rest of the show. And the worst thing is that it turns out that the villain is in the right.

Art is mostly good, with quality drops here and there, I suppose with 50 episode show you get that, but nothing special. The unique alien designs were good, but thanks to the story we don't get to see them too much. The charaters also look distinct, but not much is done with that.

Sound is about the same as art, OPs and EDs are good.

Most of the characters are absolutely garbage, there is one that's only role is to function like a note twice during the whole show.
Let's start with the MC, who is retarded. Probably actually has some mental illness, this is beyond normal anime stuff. It takes him 20 fucking episodes to realize that mechs are piloted by humans, despite piloting one himself. He probably killed dozens by that point if not hundreds. In the first place, he joined a pirates/criminals he was bored. The whole thing is played out as good guys vs bad guys before and after that, as if a policeman was evil because he tries to uphold the law and the show dehumanizes them to the point that they look as if they were machines. This brings up another point, the MC has character developement, but it keeps getting reset.
Eureka seems to swing between two personalities and doesn't seem to have any developement besides what happened in her flashbacks. That is, she suddenly grow maternal instinct when, after gunning down a bunch of people she found three children and decided to adopt them. These children continue to fuck up things and act as annoying as possible for the most of the show.
Holland, the leader of the criminal band, is a manbaby, it's a term that perfectly fits. Why the rest would follow him? Because most of the crew is 30-40 year old hippies that are even worse.
Talho is one of the better characters, she have her reasons and goals, and actually developes through the stroy. Her personality might not be the best, but it fits.
There isn't much to say about the rest of the crew, they really have anything going for them.
On the other side Anemone and Dominic gets just enough screentime to be likeable, I would say they are the only people in the show that gets actual character developement and traits, and not just what they need for the story, even though the romance might feel a bit forced, they most certainly cared for each other.
Apart from them, the other duo are the most likeable characters, Charles and Ray, they are actually good, kind people. Miles better than anyone on the Gekko, it's hard not to cheer for them, but they are killed off. I guess they were too good for the show.
The villain, Holland's brother, but that's only important for exactly one scene, is another well done character, and though his motives might not be the best, his goals are certainly worthy, to purge Holy Terra of the xeno menace. Through flasbacks it is show how he got there and while he does not get much developement, he is well established and his actions doesn't come out of nowhere.
Honorable mention goes to the army captain and his crew, barely any screentime, but they are present during most of the show, not much developement, but they end up being likeable.

The shows lenght really takes a lot out of enjoyement, especially when it's just another filler episode. I can say without a shame that there were episodes I watched at speed, as I mentioned above, there are lots of pointless stuff that doesn't nothing for the story or the characters. And even if it wasn't 50 episodes, most of the characters really suck, the story is a rehash of NGE and done badly. The original idea of surfing mecha is really good, and the way they've done is also good, but they just left it as that.

Overall it is not a good show by any means, it's note even average, while it has a few good moments, ideas and characters, the sheer amount of episodes and the focus on the worst characters with a bad story pushes those into the background, showcasing the worst aspects it has to offer.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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