Series: 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).

The back box cover put the second set of five episodes like this: "Renton has joined his idols as a member of the Gekkostate, but he's finding that life on board this legendary ship isn't what he thought it would be. He struggles to fit in among his new teammates, and is often subject to harsh teasing due to his status as low man on the totem pole.
He also has to come to grips with the fact that Holland isn't exactly the perfect guy Renton thought he was. He's also subject to harsh lectures from Talho for no apparent reason. And of course, Renton is still trying to find a way to get closer to Eureka and tell her how he feels. Eureka, meanwhile, seems to be getting weaker for some reason. And on top of all that, the crew of the Gekko state has to find ways to make money to keep their operation afloat."

One of the things the series seemed to focus on was the growing up of the adolescent Renton, arguably the leading protagonist of the series, even if the show wasn't named after him. The episodes were 6) Childhood, 7) Absolute Defeat, 8) Glorious Brilliance, 9) Paper Moon Shine, and 10) Higher Than The Sun. The growth of Renton took several forms, not least of which was his trying to open up to Eureka and tell her how much he likes her. This is made all the more difficult when the cock blocking trio of adopted children she has taken on decide that they're not going to share her affections with anyone, especially a geeky new guy whose still far from becoming a man himself. The kids torment him and he often takes the bait, all while the rest of the crew find great amusement at Renton's plight. The only one who doesn't know how he feels for Eureka is cold, emotionless Eureka herself, making it all the more difficult to convey what he wants to say while his tongue tied nature interrupts.

The rest of the show deals with a few key matters including exactly what will the Gekkostate do to earn money to keep afloat. From Renton's point of view, the touring, the videos and magazines, and all the other trappings of popularity should have the group as wealthy as any phenomenon could be yet they pinch pennies and otherwise chase the almighty buck by taking on risky ventures (smuggling primarily) with little regard for the morality involved. In the biggest thread of the volume, they become bounty hunters of a little old lady that shows them she isn't as easy to catch as she first appeared to them. The reward will finance their operation for awhile and working for the government they claim to hate strikes one as interesting to say the least though it involves more than just a simple price on the head. The lady is involved in a religion called Vordorak; a group that the government tries to portray as terrorists yet her community shows to be simply victims of military assaults for years (much like the Jewish faith has been in our world). This leads the crew to a special little community where they have to face their past, a past that involves secret government assault teams and none of them are innocent of wrong doing except for newcomer Renton. His dreams bursting all about him, he tries to understand but the bigger mysteries have yet to be uncovered in the show when a new thread about a new government task force starts up. Holland's reluctance to face his previous life aside, the old woman prophesizes that Renton and Eureka will have a tough road to follow now that they've embraced doing the right thing rather than doing what they're told without question.

I again found enough to enjoy that I flirted with a higher rating but settled on Recommended since there were some significant plot holes presented here that thinking people will probably see a mile away. The fighting sequences were few and far between but the overall quality of the show was such that I can see why this was a hit on cable recently, sparking endless discussion online about a variety of topics. In all, I strongly suggest that you watch the show in order but now that the premise is established, the pacing seems to be picking up rather quickly and it is kind of intriguing to see that the "good guys" might not be so "good" after all, especially considering what amount to war crimes from years prior. Depending on where this one goes, I think it should get a lot more exposure but I'm a patient man considering the use of so many elements popularized elsewhere.

Picture: Eureka Seven V2 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 Absolute Defeat by the Japanese voice actors for Renton (Yuko Sanpei), Eureka (Kaori Nazuka), and Moondoggie (Mamoru Miyano). The three were all hyped up and really trying to provide as many comments as possible while taking not only about this episode but the series in general with limited spoilers. I've heard worse commentaries but they struck me by the genuineness of their enthusiasm and that elevated the appeal to me more than a little bit. There was also a lengthy voice actress interview lasting about 15 minutes by the gal who plays Eureka on the English language dub track. I believe she said her name was Stephanie Sheh and the interview was broken up into a number of chapters where she addressed the basics questions most folks would have about her role, how she got it, and what she really likes about the series. There was also a clean closing, and some trailers but I admit that the primary extras were pretty cool compared to what we usually get (and giving some material from both sides of the Pacific is a nice trend that I hope continues).

Final Thoughts: Eureka Seven V2 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 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.

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.