Eureka Seven Volume 2

The second outing of Eureka Seven sees our hapless hero Renton at the receiving end of some cruel pranks courtesy of Eureka’s three children that lands him in hot water. This is followed by a mission of equally uncalled-for embarrassment from the older (but not necessarily mature!) members of the crew. Soon afterwards a mission to capture a political dissident leads to some interesting details concerning the earlier lives of Eureka and the Gekkostate.

To be honest the first two episodes on offer here are little more than filler: good for laughs but offer little in terms of story or character development. That said I really felt sorry for poor Renton when the three little tearaways decide to make his life aboard the Gekko-Go absolute hell; whichever way you look at it though, it is just lightweight slapstick comedy. The ‘special mission’ is no better but at least these two episodes highlight the dynamic between Renton and his new comrades.

Perhaps because of the length of the series, Eureka Seven seems to be taking its time in getting off the ground plot wise (no pun intended!). When it does get into gear though it certainly packs an emotional punch – episode eight starts off as a Cowboy Bebop-style bounty-hunting episode but the subject of Gekkostate’s mission takes them to a place that opens Renton’s eyes to the origins of Gekkostate and their current situation. For a show that has so far been bold and brash teen adventure, these revelations are actually quite chilling but serve to set things on a more serious and defined course.

Initially I expected the character of Eureka to be the Ayanami-esque, bland cover girl for the series but it already appears that the writers have a deeper and more interesting portrayal in mind so she comes across as being more human and emotional than I expected – a refreshing change that makes her no less intriguing. The relationship between her and Renton is moving at an unsurprisingly slow pace and there are moments of cringe-worthy adolescent shyness on Renton’s part: it is already obvious that he has a lot of growing up to do! Once again this coming-of-age theme and the visual style are reminiscent of FLCL which is no bad thing in my eyes, for now at least.

Of course the mecha side of things is going to be an important aspect for many viewers so I’m pleased to say the LFO action this time is still exhilarating and fun to watch; there are one or two run-ins with the military that promise some complications for the Gekkostate later on, but crucially every aerial scene adds to the character interactions and/or story as well as looking good onscreen.

The final episode on this disc delivers not one but two more items of food for thought before the credits roll for the last time. The relationship between the feisty Talho and surly Holland clearly extends a long way beyond being comrades in arms, with its origins in their painful military past; secondly a new character is introduced in the final scene, which for some reason comes across as being very important in how the story might play out later on.

In Summary

After the lengthy character introductions the second instalment of Eureka Seven starts off with light and playful filler but we are soon treated to quite insightful exploration into the main cast and development of Renton’s personality and his place in the Gekkostate. Visually it is still a delight but it also leaves me eager to continue watching into the third volume.