Eureka Seven features giant mechas, called LFOs, constantly engaged in some of the most intense, nicely-animated dogfights you'll see. They happen pretty damn fast, and you probably won't be able to see every single thing that happens upon your first glance. Dozens of missiles go flying through the sky, LFOs dodge everything like crazy, and the background just spins every which way like it just lost control of the situation. Oh yeah, these LFOs going flying through the air on top of boards. You know, like the Silver Surfer. Process all of that for a second: giant robots, involved in some insane aerial battles, on surf boards. That's some pretty cool stuff, and having them surf around through the sky on boards is an interesting change of pace from what you normally see in a giant robot show. However, if you're gonna go watch this series just because of that, then you're watching it for the wrong reason. Granted, you'll see plenty of these fights through the course of Eureka Seven, but they're not even the main focus of the show.
You're now probably thinking you're gonna watch this series for the plot then, right?
No. The show doesn't even have much of a plot during the first half of the series. It gives you SOMETHING during some episodes, but then, nothing...
You watch the series for the characters. As you go through the first episode, you'll pretty much be annoyed by the main character, Renton Thurston. For the first half of the episode, you'll see this teenager moping around his small town, hearing his thoughts on how his life sucks. It gets annoying quick, because he says the word sucks at least 200 times during the course of the episode. Of course, in typical anime fashion, his life drastically changes, and in this case, it happens when a LFO, called the Nirvash, crashes onto his house. And, of course, the pilot of this LFO happens to be a pretty girl, named Eureka (pronounced something like el wreaka... I kid you not) who has a mysterious past. Renton instantly has a crush on her at that very moment... despite the fact that she just destroyed his house. The show quickly picks up at that point, and before you know it, Renton finds himself on the Gekkostate, a ship filled with people that are going up against the military of that planet. The leader of the Gekkostate? Well, it just happens to be the person that Renton pretty much worships, called Holland.
You think things would go smoothly for Renton at that point, right? Not even close. In almost every single episode, you just see him struggle with every obstacle that gets in his way. His constant, nonstop attempts at winning over Eureka's heart backfires at every turn, with everything or everyone interrupting or sabotaging his plans. In the early episodes, Eureka's adoptive kids just hate Renton, and they just do their best to make him mad or blurt things out that make him look bad. Holland contributes as well, since he has a hard time accepting what's going on between Renton and Eureka, making him reach superdickery status during moments of the series with Renton. I'm surprised Renton didn't end up handicapped with the type of abuse he takes from Holland.
While Renton and Eureka's relationship is the focal point of Eureka Seven, other characters get plenty of screen time as well. Holland, for example, is always at odds with his feisty girlfriend, Talho, who constantly finds his choices at times to be pretty stupid and obnoxious. Other members of the Gekkostate, while not really having as much development as the other mentioned characters, almost always make the best of the screen time that they have. They shine with their brief moments, like when they end up putting Renton through hell with a fake mission or failing horribly with their attempts at getting Renton and Eureka closer together. Even characters that only appear briefly, like Charles and Ray, who are in only five or six episodes, make a lasting impression.
Admittedly, when I was going through the series for the very first time, I just didn't think it was really necessary to have SO MUCH character development during the first half of the series. I wasn't annoyed or frustrated with it, but I was beginning to wonder if the plot, which was hibernating, was going to pick up at all. But here's the thing: you NEEDED that first half of the series in order to appreciate what goes down during the second half of the series. The characters go through highs and some really nasty lows during the first 26 episodes, and as the series progresses, despite the fact that some of them act like dicks in some cases, you end up rooting for these characters as they take on the impossible. It makes certain moments during the final few episodes much more emotional. Renton, who came off as an annoying, ignorant boy during the first episode, ends up being almost a different person by the series' end. Same goes for Eureka, who came off almost like a robot during the early parts, really goes through a lot of changes herself, and you just really want the both of them to triumph through all the hardships they endure.
Sure, a lot of these moments have been done to death in other shows, and you pretty much know how things are gonna turn out in the end, but the way Eureka Seven executes them throughout the show is what makes it worth watching.
That, and the cool mecha fights.
Overall Rating: 9/10
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