Series: Eureka Seven is one of those series that people into mech robot fighting seem to really enjoy as a unique and interesting way of combining many of the elements that seem to be clichés when tossed into a series without reason. This was a special one as I pointed out months ago, writing: "Eureka Seven V1, a science fiction anime show that focuses on one such youth of tomorrow by the name of Renton Thurston. Renton is fourteen years old, lives with his grandfather, and spends his days dreaming of lifting (a futuristic version of skateboarding that uses the planet's "trapar", or floating energy particles, as a source of energy to fly with). His father was a hero who literally saved the world and young Renton is something of a slacker whose only dreams revolve around his idol lifter, Holland and the group he leads called the Gekkostate. People live in small city states with a loose knit government that has some form of corporate oversight (unexplained by the end of the five episodes included here) and Gekkostate is a form of traveling group of lifters that have elevated the sport to an art form. They generally do as they please and seem to fit into some sort of shady operation that the authorities know about but the general public doesn't. It becomes clear that they are being hunted down by the KLF (the military arm of the government) during the first episode with Renton quickly placed in the middle of the fight.

Okay, the premise of this futuristic story is that 14 year old Renton seeks a life of glory and adventure. He finds that one day with a young blue haired girl named Eureka, crashes her LFO (a large mech-robot) into his grandfather's repair hanger. It being a military device of great power, it strikes Renton as curious that such a cute young thing would be piloting it but one thing leads to another with him falling for her (as young men tend to do). She is chased by the authorities however and after some minor repair work, she's on her way. Interestingly enough though, Renton's idol is associated with the girl and comes to pay a visit to the shop where his presence is immediately denounced by grandfather, making it clear that the man was affiliated with his son (Renton's dad). This intrigues young Renton, who ends up installing a special device onto Eureka's LFO (called the Nirvash; the prototype LFO and far more advanced than the retro-engineering of the government has been able to install in their own LFO's) called the Amiga Drive. This device greatly enhances the power of the already unstoppable robot at the hands of Eureka, leaving Renton with a choice of whether he should join the Gekkostate or not. Despite his grandfather's emotional pleas, he leaves with them in order to live his dream life, not realizing that the reality of his situation is far different from the fantasy he has built up over the years (like running away and joining the circus).

In Eureka Seven V1, Eureka Seven V2, and Eureka Seven V3, the premise had been set up to that the world in which lead Renton lived in was turned upside down. He left the comforts of home and the security of being with his grandfather to chase a dream that involved his idol, Holland, and a girl he became infatuated with, Eureka. Holland knew more about the boy than he let on and had some ulterior motive for bringing him on the trip but that was underplayed for the most part, with the occasional exception of Renton's ability to access the Amiga Drive on the Nirvana. Holland was far more mysterious and temperamental than originally thought and Eureka seemed to be getting ill for some reason, perhaps related to Renton's connection with the Nirvash when the team made way to a near mythical portal that was appearing in a nearby area. The portal appeared to be a tsunami of trapar but no one seemed able to explain the wonders, and dangers, to Renton before he was cast into it as co-pilot with Eureka. The down side was that the military also saw fit to access the portal, called a Coralian, with a Nirvash class ship of their own, piloted by a young girl that looked very much like Eureka, named Anemone. Her handler was a ranking officer that looked much like Renton, called Dominic, and it was clear he cared for her in a similar manner too. The main thrust of the show was the battle between the Gekko and the warship Izumo as well as Renton's decidedly twisted experience inside the Coralian; a place that seemed to fuse past, present, and future as well as various perspectives of those around him, confusing him more than ever.

The episodes this time were 15) Human Behavior, 16) Opposite View, 17) Skyrock Gate, and 18) Ill Communication. In the aftermath of the battle by the Coralian, the team started off by going on a health food drive; not a promising way to make their limited stores last them in lean times (health food is harder to find and more expensive). The financing aside, Renton made an offhand remark about growing up in an area where a very healthy kind of nut was commonplace so he ends up on a mission to get some with the help of a few of his colleagues, including Eureka. They visit his uncle, a staunch Federation supporter, and then end up on the wrong side of his good graces when he figures things out in an interesting manner. As in previous episodes of Eureka Seven, the misunderstandings lead to the authorities calling in the heavy artillery, forcing Renton to flee in order to save the day. With the help of the crew that were upset at the tardiness the expedition had showed, he manages to save the day by piloting the Nirvash. Eureka sees his connection with the ship as troubling, pushing her further into her depression that she isn't as special as previously thought (by default). The mystery surrounding her past deepens as her illness is mirrored by her counterpart across the globe, but the plot thickens in other ways as well. The Gekkostate are forced to find a place to make repairs, ending up in a deep mine that proved to be tapped out of LFO's like the ones they retrofit to ride and fight with. As they continue to fix their ship, the dynamic between Renton and Eureka is noticed by the rest of the crew with an old miner living things up for the youth as he tells tales of the boy's grandfather (rather than his savior father). His true colors become clear as the crew finds itself fighting off the enemy but the emphasis was clearly on character development this time with some minimal fighting and action added in to spice things up just enough. Being on the run limits the options of the team and being out of money sure doesn't help but they appear to be set up to battle the enemy (Anemone and Dominic) very soon given the secondary plot elements.

So, with the story advancing on course and Renton figuring out more of the picture with regard to what's going on, this volume of the series was again worth a rating of Recommended. While I like the climactic battles and action sequences more than a little, I also recognize that building up to them makes them all the sweeter so while this might be considered a slight lull in the overall series, it provided the necessary background to make the coming material all the better. The fact that Renton was so in tune with the still mysterious Nirvash even more fluidly than Eureka had been able to foreshadows his connection to the machine but as part of a team with her assistance, will likely surpass even his own wildest dreams. I look forward to seeing more of this fine, quality show that has taken the world by storm.

Picture: Eureka Seven: V4 was presented in the original 1.33:1 ratio full frame color it was produced in for airing on television in Japan starting last year (yes, it's that new). It looked very appealing as eye candy with no obvious flaws to speak of and a lot of care taken to insure that the motion during the battle and flying sequences was handled to minimize the flaws so many older shows have displayed in recent years. There didn't appear to be a lot of corner cutting in general and the closer I looked at it, the better it looked to me.

Sound: The audio was presented with the usual choice of the 2.0 tracks: both the original Japanese track and the English language dub most of us have come to expect from anime. The two tracks seemed worlds apart in terms of the vocals, with the original track sounding somewhat more fluid and the dub having lots of liberties taken with the translation (I believe this was done to more accurately convey the sense of the material without devolving into the need for lots of explanations on cultural differences). In that sense, each offers up a different experience; both worth checking out. The special effects and music tracks seemed slightly louder and more pronounced on the dub, though the dynamic range was indistinguishable to my ears without a side by side comparison. None of the characters were immediately noticed as being wrong for their roles though, a step up from many contemporary releases (both original tracks and dubs alike).

Extras: For me, the best extra was the audio commentary on Human Behavior by the Japanese voice actors for Renton (Yuko Sanpei), Eureka (Kaori Nazuka), Akio Nakamura (Matthieu), and Mayumi Asano (Hilda)as the group is specially placed to know more about the show than almost anyone else. The addition of another textless ending, a video game trailer, some trailers to other shows, and the latest version of the Japanese interviews was kind of cool too. It is always fun and rewarding to see quality companies offer up a balance in the extras, though few seem to be willing to provide such extras on a regular basis. This time, the two were Renton (Yuko Sanpei) and Eureka (Kaori Nazuka), providing over 30 minutes of interview footage, with English subtitles to help those of us that are not fluent in the language.

Final Thoughts: Eureka Seven: V4 appeared to be the kind of morality play that is common in Japanese anime, with themes of religious persecution, popularity versus doing the right thing, and the pitfalls of hero worship. I sense there is also an environmental theme running somewhat deeper too (with more evidence this time then last) but the bottom line is less about the bigger picture this early in the series than the levels of technical and written excellence. There were some rough edges but I sensed that the story was going to be longer than just a season, or at least paced that way up front, so having established most of the basics this early; the series can do a lot more with what has been laid down. In all, the series is growing on me a whole lot and I hope the DVDs are as popular with those of you out there that prefer commercial free, unedited episodes over the cable versions. Eureka Seven is one of the better titles released this year, providing some of the finest animation seen out of Japan but also enough mental floss to keep you guessing as to where it is going as well.

If you enjoy anime, take a look at some of the recommendations by DVD Talk's twisted cast of reviewers in their Best Of Anime 2003, Best Of Anime 2004, and Best of Anime 2005 articles or their regular column Anime Talk.