With the mecha anime-"influenced" American action film Pacific Rim scheduled to open just days from now, I've been thinking not so much about whether I'll like Pacific Rim, but about the mecha anime series I already like. Here's the first of a series of posts then, on my favourites -- not exactly in order of preference.

[caption id="attachment_2846" align="alignnone" width="497"] Renton, and, Eureka, on the Nirvash, surrounded by sky fish.
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Eureka Seven

Title:	Psalms of Planets : Eureka seveN
Studio:	Bones
Air date:	April 17, 2005 – April 2, 2006
Episodes:	50

In a distant future on an Earth-like planet, where people and machines can literally surf the sky, both civil war, and alien invasion are in progress. Government, and rebels oppose each other using giant robot-like craft called LFO. The rebels are personified by a group called Gekkostate, led by a swashbuckling character named Holland; he, and most of his group are former soldiers from the military forces they now fight. This civil war is a result of the ongoing invasion/infestation of the planet by an alien something called Scrub Coral, and it's manifestations called Coralians. The authorities treat it as a threat to be destroyed, and have suppressed the truth that Scrub Coral is sentient, and may be seeking coexistence with humans. The rebels are trying to reveal the truth -- they believe coexistence is the only path for survival.

[caption id="attachment_2852" align="alignnone" width="497"] Eureka and Renton falling head over heels for each other.[/caption]

At it's heart, Eureka Seven tells the story of a 14-year-old boy, Renton Thurston, and Eureka, a turquoise-haired, lavender-eyed, Coralian girl; how they grow and mature, how love blooms between them, and how their love becomes the fate of their world. When the pair first meet, Eureka is with Gekkostate, piloting the giant robot-like craft called Nirvash typeZERO. Renton just happens to have a device called an Amita drive, which can awaken the full potential of the Nirvash. That Amita Drive has previously, and inexplicably, displayed the word "Eureka" to Renton several times.

[caption id="attachment_2851" align="alignnone" width="497"] Here's all of Gekkostate. Holland is the one with the cravat.[/caption]

Eureka Seven unpeels it's vast story, and the hidden connections between it's ever-growing cast of great characters, over the course of 50 episodes. We're talking the fate of the Human species, whether it will end in hope or dread. Eureka Seven is very much a mecha anime, in that giant fighting robots piloted by children are front and centre in the story, but it is anything but mechanical storytelling. It takes a character-driven approach to telling an epic tale. It also has a sense of humour.

The animation in Eureka Seven is at a consistently high level. The large number of aerial combat sequences are treated very three-dimensionally. The character designs are all visually interesting, and sometimes downright arresting. As is normal, for an anime which will spawn toys, each character has a stock costume; abnormally, in Eureka Seven, several characters change their look radically to underline changes in their outlook on life. The music is a high point. The soundtrack is integral to the scenes.

I can't say whether I consider Eureka Seven to be better than Neon Genesis Evangelion. I think thematically, and dramatically, NGE aimed higher than it could possibly reach, meaning, I think lots of it is incredibly great, and some of it is not so great, while I think Eureka Seven attains a consistently high level from beginning to end.

The original Eureka Seven was followed up by a theatrical anime in 2009: Eureka Seven: good night, sleep tight, young lovers, subtitled Pocket Full of Rainbows. It is set in an alternate universe, to say the least, and features all the principal characters from the original series, but in completely different roles; it is both mesmerizing, and confusing. I wonder if it's the universe as reimagined by Eureka, and Renton, but that would be telling. In 2012, a proper sequel series began, called Eureka Seven: AO -- I haven't seen this yet, but it's by the original studio, Bones. The original series has been available on DVD for years, here's a link to a six-disk boxed set on Amazon. ► Click the images to enlarge them.

Two technical points: I prefer to watch anime in the original Japanese, with English subtitles; the Japanese voice actors, or seiyu, are often remarkable performers. In the case of Eureka Seven, the Japanese cast is fabulous. The character of Renton, is voiced wonderfully by Yuuko Sanpei, a woman who specializes in voicing adolescent male characters. There are series where I think the English dubs are just as good as the original Japanese, such as FLCL. However, what I found exciting and profound about Eureka Seven in it's original Japanese, became dull and wooden in the English dub. Yikes!

Next in the series: Aim for the Top! GunBuster ►