I’m very conflicted on how I feel about Eureka 7 – I’m not sure if I love it, or if I hate it.
On the surface at least, it seems TOTALLY AWESOME. I mean, c’mon, giant robots (that transform!) and also can fly/surf in the sky, a huge cast of colorful characters with enigmatic back stories, and a mysterious girl. What more could you ask for?
Actually, come to think of it, this plot seems oddly familiar:
- Ragtag bunch of people
- On a ship
- Frequently living on the edge (no money)
- Taking somewhat shady jobs (crime)
- Evading the military/government
- Captain of the ship is ex-military
- 2nd in command is also ex-military, and used to serve with the captain, and is also a girl
- Slightly odd young girl with mysterious past on board
- Slightly naive boy who wants to protect the girl
Hmmm, yeah, where have I heard this before? *cough* Firefly/Serenity *cough*
Anyway, as I was saying – on the surface, this show seems like a total winner. It also doesn’t hurt that it has some absolutely monumental music – the theme music for the “Nirvash” (one of the big robots) is absolutely epic.
Once you get a little bit deeper into the show, however, things become a little less awesome.
Renton our main character is frequently a bit whiny and awkward and at times you just want to reach through the screen and slap him (hmmm… again, this sounds really familiar… *cough* Shinji from Evangelion *cough*).
Near the end of the series things also get a bit weird – as in, totally off-the-rails weird. At least in my opinion, the believability of the story takes a hit very near the end of the series – as if the writers were just more interested in making bigger, weirder, more unexpected things happen, rather than actually having a coherent story.
Although I think the show suffers for it, and it may leave you feeling a bit disappointed by the time you get to the end, there are other moments that do redeem this series. It has its share of truly heartfelt moments, and the characters really are quite colorful and interesting – undoubtedly at some point you will wish you could live on a big flying ship/plane/thing like the Gecko!
So, in the end, Eureka 7 is a show that gives me mixed feelings – but that doesn’t mean I won’t watch it again. And I guess that means I recommend you give it a watch as well.
p.s. Even though I know the character Eureka’s name is pronounced in-show as “el-wreck-ah,” instead of “you-reek-ah,” I still pronounce the show’s name as “you-reek-ah” 7, and nobody is going to stop me. So there.
