My Top Moment in Anime 2009: Watching Eureka Seven

Posted: December 25, 2009 | Author: flomu | Filed under: Uncategorized |3 Comments »

Even after six months, I still can’t believe how good a series Eureka Seven is.

If there’s any one show that breaks the boundaries of genres, Eureka Seven would be it. A generic mecha show escalates the action until it becomes unbelievable (and in TTGL’s case, even higher), and ends with a bang. Eureka Seven stays low the entire time, putting out episodes that could be called a mix of slice-of-life, romance, mecha, action, drama, etc.. It creeps up on you until suddenly you realize “…wow.”

Since I’m pretty much the worst blogger out there in terms of analysis/showing why I like/hate a show other than saying that I like/hate it, here’s a list of the things I love about Eureka Seven:

• Romance

Renton x Eureka, Dominic x Anemone, Holland x Talho… Screw it, I take it back. Eureka Seven isn’t a mix of genres. It’s one cleverly disguised romance under layers of other genres. But it’s one awesome romance. There was a period back in June/July when I named my blog “Eurekaism,” but it really should’ve been “Eureka and Rentonism,” because it’s the romance between the two that I like, not Eureka herself.

All of those seemingly meaningless episodes (Eureka and Renton go shopping!) build up such a slice-of-life mood that the generic mecha theme of “I’ll do anything for you” becomes plausible. It’s like seeing Tomoya jump into a giant surfing robot and managing, like watching… wait, nevermind. There aren’t any other romances that could compare to the ones in Eureka Seven.

At its heart, Eureka Seven is the purest of romance shows. Capulet and Montague, meet Coralian and Human. Add to that the different kinds of love we see in the series: Renton’s childlike fascination with Eureka, Dominic’s undying devotion to Anemone, and Holland and Talho’s up-and-down relationship. This “variety” all share a common thread: pure and simple love.

For once, a romance show with believable romances! And it’s a mecha show, no less! In such an unbelievable context, we find such believable connections among such believable characters. Sometimes guys just are Holland-quality assholes. Sometimes “love at first sight” means “fascination at first, then fifty episodes building up into true love.”

Renton behaves like a normal guy his age would.  He puts a lot of trust in people (Ray and Charles, for example) and immediately becomes disillusioned as he steps onto the Gekkostate.  Holland is overly arrogant and reckless, and Eureka is what you’d expect from a human (?) war machine – cold and distant.  It takes her 50 episodes to open up.

Gone are the standard romance characters.  No childhood friends (unless you’re talking Pocketful of Rainbows), no transfer students or seitokaichous.  Gone are the standard “events” in a romance show.  There’s no “hero bumps into female before school and finds out she is a transfer student” or “hero falls in love with next-door neighbor.”

Eureka Seven is a trailblazer in the world of romance shows, and in the world of mecha shows.  It sheds off the faults of a normal romance show and evades the pitfalls (CG’s trainwreck of a plot, for example) of a standard mecha show to become something totally its own.

• There’s nothing else.  Epic mecha battle scenes are epic and shocking plot twists are shocking, but nothing can compare with the depth of the characters and the relationships among them.
• Wait, I lied.  The music is awesome.  Shounen Heart, Tip Taps Tip, Days, Sakura, Himitsu Kichi, Taiyou no Mannake he, Canvas, and Fly Away (not to mention every non-OP/ED song) make up the best anime soundtrack I’ve ever heard.  There is no comparison.

Oh, and

Merry Christmas.

P.S.: What the hell did I just type?  I’m going back to sleep.

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