Lovely Monday, got a nice day off work (which would happen anyway if it wasn't Thanksgiving...) and managed to finish Eureka 7. Wow, does that sentence even read properly? Well it certainly reads properly, but it definitely doesn't read
nicely.
Rewind.
I finally finished watching all 50 episodes today. In my opinion, it is definitely one of my favorite television series I've seen to date, though note that I did not follow shows like "Lost," "Dexter," or other critically-acclaimed series, my views are admittedly limited. Despite this however, one thing I did appreciate about Eureka 7 was the simplicity of it. It was about a boy who falls for a girl, and the many ups and downs of their relationship as they proceed to learn more about their world and each other.
All wrapped in a mecha shellcase of course.
One of the series' strengths was definitely the characters, how they mostly (not all) grow and adapt to the events around them. Watching the last episode, I could easily remark how Renton, the protagonist, changed from a wimpy kid to a confident young man. And all it took was 50 episodes!
The animation was, as well, top notch. Very clean despite how hectic the mecha battles were. There was a particular sequence in episode 49 where, for about 20 seconds, you could see the animation budget SKYROCKET because the sequence was just GORGEOUS to look at.
The main draw of the show, however, was definitely the growing relationship between Renton and Eureka, the character the show's name comes from. What starts out completely (and humorously) one sided becomes a mutual affection, ultimately growing into a mature, sensible relationship. Unlike other shows or movies (*cough How to Train Your Dragon cough*) the relationship isn't stuffed down one's throat, though it can be argued that the show benefited from the 50 episode count, as it allowed the viewer to see some of the highs, lows, and all the growing pains of a relationship.
But not all the highs and lows actually. In fact, one can state that the show was ultimately very
naive about how it treated the relationship between the two protagonists, and I will have to admit, I agree. It
is very naive, but can we, the viewing audience, really say it's naive because their relationship
works, or because it
doesn't come crashing down? The characters are not simple cutouts, they're complex, with fleshed out personalities and different quirks. Barring from mind that this is a
television show, it can't be said that Eureka was
made for Renton, that her very personality and character is one that supplements for Renton's faults and quirks. No, rather Renton and Eureka complement each other in a way that successful, real life couples do. To that end, yes the show is naive about its relationship because it doesn't fully explore the many lows of a new relationship, instead the relationship itself usually flits about, reaching many highs with not too many lows. However, the show is not naive about its relationship in the sense that the relationship itself is shown to be successful, despite how "in the real world would not last" based on the age of the protagonists (they're teenagers, Renton is 15 and Eureka is 16).
This post became far, far longer than I originally anticipated. My point remains though, Eureka 7 was (and is) one of my favorite shows to watch, though it has the unfortunate side-effect of making me feel empty when I'm done watching (similar to the feeling after reading Scott Pilgrim, or watching Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz).
Amazingly, watching Kurau: Phantom Memory does not elicit such an empty feeling, but that is also one of my favorite series to date.
Anyway, great series! Now to get a copy of the movie!
Labels: Anime
