The story follows a boy named Renton Thurston a young teenage boy who enjoys the sport known as lifting. Like most people of his age, he looks up to various individuals specifically Holland Novak a famous lifter who is currently in a group known as "Gekkostate" a sort of anti-military resistance. Moving on with Renton, he strives to be like his idol, and this opportunity literally fall right over his lap. As a giant white machine crashes into his home, where we meet the gekkostate pilot Eureka, whom Renton instantly falls in love with. After a series of events, Renton ends up being apart the gekkoste and this is where the adventure begins. The story as a skeleton. Is so open ended and simplistic which would be a negative for a 50 epsoide series, since there would not be enough premise to fill that many epsoides without adding filler content. But what's unique about this show in particular is that it is not character driven rather world driven. Eureka Seven manages to pack so much world exposition. Like loads of it. From world views to spirituality to war to discrimination to science to religion to the media. eureka sevens society is well constructed and is very rich in detail from a narritave stand point, literally to the point that I was worried that some part s from the main Arch's would be ommited, but I was wrong. E7 manages to squueze in to much and make it more or less complete (at least 95%). From a content standpoint it is a pure joy. It delivers so much without it feeling irrelevant For people to say that E7 is exclusively romance is a shame, this show packs so many themes and although its art design tells a different story, it can be a very grim place. So many themes get covered in this series which his great, not obscure and easy to find and deconstruct. We then go to pacing Eurekas pacing is ingenious. Its spikes up fast then goes at a snails pace only to spike up again. The slow part is a absorption part as this part is where more of the world buldong takes place. If you are not a fan of slower shows do not worry as the show throws events and information that cpativate your inate sense of wonder. Its like the writers already knew their flaws and took full advantage of those flaws to cover it up. Overall eureka seven delivers a complete, rich and content packed Archs that fail to dissapoint.
Character
Evidently if a story is good than so is the characters that manifest it. Eureka sevens characters are very well thought out. None of them give the viewer the impression that they exist solely for plot convince. Each character has a story or at the very least a desire, and considering how many characters e7 has I was once again surprised as to how much they manages to fit. There are some characters that are not exposed but you gotta cut corners somewhere right? What's more impressive is how many fleshed our characters there were, usually there would be 1-3 but in here we got 6+ and by this I mean characters with a background,a motive, a position and a informative explanation as to why they are apart of the narrative. But for the sake of length I will only touch on the more interesting, complicated or important characters that make e7 unique. Starting off with Renton. Renton is an easily relate able character. He seems to be portrayed as a child but in reality he is quite mature for his age, its just that he does not know much. Rentons problem for the most part is his ignorance rather than his maturity and he hates himself for that. Which is why he tends to be on the whiner side. Which in my honest opinion is the most realistic portrayal of a 13 year old child in the middle of a war zone. Renton is used as a vessel for exploration. We the viewer use Renton as a means to understand the world as he seems to know no more than we do as viewers. And that's what really pops out with Renton, you feel like Renton, you feel that you are a manifestation of Renton, who is simply you if you were plucked into this world feet first.
Holland Novak is a wild card for me. He's a very complex character and an interesting one too. Of all the times I have seen eureka seven I never truly felt what Hollands real goals were or why he reacted in certain episodes. His character along with Thalo offers a much more mature and gritty story line. Once you get the premise of His desires though it can be quite rewarding. But what really shines with Holland is when he is in conflict with Renton. People tend to complain about rentons crying. But if it was not for Renton crying and agressive behavior tmwe would not have been able to witness the over the top verbal conflicts between Renton and Holland. The voice actors for these characters did such an amazing job. And I have to say, it is a reason as to why I keep going back to watch it.
Then we have eureka. I absolutely love eureka as a character. For one reason her development. I think the reason why Eureka won the award for best character of the year is because of how they handled her personality. In most stories, when a dynamic character changes he/she does a complete 180° and is a completely different person. Eureka on the other hand is treated differently. She starts off as very quiet and some what soulless just piloting and mercilessly killing, to very emotionally, motherly and well love struck as she cleans the gekko, makes food for the crew members and is fearful of killing people. If This is a completely opposite and permanent change I would of hated. it if eureka just threw away her past like most character do it would have sucked. But that was not the case. By the end of the show, eureka is a fusion of her past self and her new self. It feels as if she understands what she was and is now integrating what she has learned into her old self. She does change, but still takes her past into account and learns from it. Eureka is by far the most realistic character of the series.
Then we have anemone.
Anemone is the main enemy of Renton and eureka. As.they fight constantly throughout the series. What makes anemone interesting as a villian is how she is portrayed. She's not the typical rwar I'll kills everything kind of villain. She very in depth, she seeks appreciation, she is scared that she will be deemed useless. Anemone is a very poetic character and an interesting villain that's for sure.
Ik there are many more characters that deserve a mention but for the sake of length I picked the ones that had a larger impact for me as a viewer.
Art Animation and Sound is amazing a unique aesthetic combined with cgiless great quality animation and a sound track that you want to immortalize in your micro SD cards these three elements enrich everything in a superb manner. It bears some of the best and most uniqueness mech designs that I have ever seen and character design is unique for each individual character. Facial expressions are beyond on point it sets the bar. Nothing less too expect from studio BONES. To conclude, this show is fantastic. I know I'm over hyping it but I have to give it the praise it deserves. I'll be perfectly honest with you the reader of this review. I can't stand most anime. I hate slice of life, I hate romance and pretty much most modern anime. Its very difficult to find d something in this genre that I like and enjoy and eureka seven is one of those rare occurrences that achieves that. There is so much that this show has to offer in it 17 hour run time and it is by far one of my favorite no anime bit TV shows of all time.
