Renton Thurston is a dreamer. His idol is a Ref Boarder named Holland, from an organisation named
Gekko State. Holland and the other members of Gekko State pilot giant mech's called LFOs (Light
Finding Operation). Renton reads of Gekko State's exploits in a magazine called ray=out, and dreams
of someday joining them. Renton even bought a replica of Holland's ref board and practices every
day to become a ref boarding champion like Holland.
It seems ref boarding is the only escape for Renton who works for his grandfather, Axel Thurston,
in the small town of Belforest. Until one day a LFO, piloted by a strange and beautiful girl,
crashes into Renton's home. This is where Renton Thurston's adventure begins...
Credits: fluke
Story & Characters
At first glance, it looks like Eureka Seven is just another story about some lame teenager boy going on an adventure
with the group he has idolised so much. Some of you will think that this is just an imitation of the popular Gundam
series but fear not, even though this show is grouped under the "Mecha" category, it deals more with the story
than those giant robots. The first 10 episodes did not deal directly with the whole storyline but they did make us want
to know more about the world Renton lives in. However if you watch carefully, you will see that some of the real
storyline is being leaked out slowly. Here's a non-spoiler example: At first glance at Eureka, one will realize her
eyes are slightly different from the others. This is an indication of Eureka being somewhat different (it will be
explained later). This could be seen by some as a "build up of storyline" but for some it just puts them off
and causes them to put aside this great anime. My advice to those who have not seen the whole anime is to stick on till
the 10+ episodes. The real storyline begins with the fateful episode known as "Acperience 1".
Let's move on to the main plot. I must say that I am pretty amazed by how the whole story is presented. By the time
they finally move the main plot onscreen, you will be filled with a lot of questions. Over the course of this series,
the details are slowly revealed but they bring along more questions sometimes. Suffice to say, by the end of episode 50,
all of those questions would have been answered. This is what makes this series appeal to me. You could compare this
anime with the series "LOST" where you can come up with many theories as to why some stuff is happening and
what actually is so and so. The build up of storyline is pretty impressive.
One thing to note is that the story does include some form of philosophy in it. You could see some some philosophical
thoughts of the characters throughout parts of the series from the characters' dialogue.
You could say most of the character development centres around the two main characters: Eureka and Renton (about their
relationship and ultimately the love that develops between them). However the other characters aren't ignored as
well. Most of the significant members of Gekkostate are well developed. Some minor characters who do not last more than
10 episodes has some form of development. One thing lacking is perhaps the development of some of the less prominent
members of Gekkostate who are practically in every episode of the series.
Another interesting thing to note is that the characters are named after some famous fictional and non-fictional people.
For example, Renton is named after Mark Renton, a character from the film Trainspotting.
Thus, I will rate the story of the anime as 9/10.
Rating: 9
Art
Not being an artistic person, I don't have know what to say about the art. Its animation quality sure fits the
category of a recent anime but sometimes, the quality is not as good. Suffice to say, for the most climatic scenes, the
animation is top-notch.
As for the designs of the characters, you can basically see that each character is unique - you cannot find twins or
look-alike. The style of clothing is themed appropriately for the different groups of people (like for the Vodarek).
Not knowing what else to say, I will rate the art as 8/10.
Rating: 8
Sound
I must say the voice actors does a good job in voicing the characters. They use appropriate ways of expressing
themselves under different situations. For example, I can sense the "maturing" of Renton's voice (along
with his character) throughout the series. He no longer does those childish exclamation which he did in the beginning at
the end of the series. On the whole, they do a good job in conveying not just the content of the dialogue but also the
feeling behind those words. You might want to note that the crying in this series does not sound as bad as others
=X
I must say the voice actors does a good job in voicing the characters. They use appropriate ways of expressing
themselves under different situations. For example, I can sense the "maturing" of Renton's voice (along
with his character) throughout the series. He no longer does those childish exclamation which he did in the beginning at
the end of the series. On the whole, they do a good job in conveying not just the content of the dialogue but also the
feeling behind those words. You might want to note that the crying in this series does not sound as bad as others
=X
The opening and ending themes are great. In addition, the background music is superb and pleasing to listen to. Music
with the correct mood is used at the correct time. Mysterious music is used at mysterious moments, and joyful music is
used at joyful moments. They further convey the feelings evoked by the story itself. All in all, I don't have
anything to complain about the music. It's perfect for my ears and enjoyment.
This deserves a rating of 9/10!
Rating: 9
Presentation
It's definitely enjoyable to watch the series. The excitement it builds up during climatic scenes makes you want to
watch on. The questions you have with the storyline makes you want to watch on. You will be coming up with theories of
your own when you have an unanswered question. On a lighter note, when the characters are more relaxed, the scenes are
usually humorous and will definitely invite lots of laughter.
The story begins with the usual explosive beginning which brings us some questions. For the first part of the series,
the main storyline is generally put aside though parts of it is leaked out little by little while we get the humour and
laughter as character development takes place. It basically tells us something about each character. When all of these
are down, we are struck with the first climatic episode "Acperience 1". With this we are struck with a string
of questions that we have no answer to. As the series progresses, questions are answered with the answers, we have more
questions. As the series ends, we get all the answers that we have been craving for and the problem revolving the
antagonist is resolved. Along the way, relations between characters strain and improve according to what is happening.
This way of telling the story makes you want to come back for more. You just want to know what is going to happen next.
You want to know the secrets of the world, how conflicts between characters are resolved, and most of all, whether
Eureka And Renton will end up happily ever after. In conclusion, it just makes you crave for more Eureka Seven episodes.
The only complain I have is how some episodes where character are experiencing a "dream-like" state is
presented. Though not as bad as the last two episodes of Evangelion in that you can still make sense of what is
happening, it is still somewhat confusing to watch them. Thankfully, they only make up one or two episodes and
"real-world" happenings are usually shown beside these "dream-world events".
With that, I think this category deserves a 8/10.
Rating: 8
Final Verdict
8.5000 (very good)
Reviewed by chuayw2000, Apr 05, 2006
