Director: Tomoki Kyoda
Starring: Yutaro Honjo, Jamie Marchi, Sainty Nelsen, Nao Toyama
Running Time: 320 Minutes
Certificate: 15
Before watching EUREKA SEVEN AO I was more accustomed to mainstream anime television shows such as POKEMON, DRAGONBALL Z, NARUTO and BLEACH. Having said this I was not a huge fan of them all and I should confess now that I found some far more watchable than others. EUREKA SEVEN AO however, is both different and similar to the aforementioned shows in a variety of unique ways which can be good and bad.
The animation of EUREKA SEVEN AO is beautiful and a visual pleasure to gaze upon due to the immensely crisp, colourful characters and backgrounds used to accompany the jam packed narrative. The series follows a 13 year old boy named Ao who lives in Iwato Island in the year 2025. Political tensions are high between America, Japan and every other country of power, and the island of Iwato is frequently invaded by mysterious, benevolent alien creatures named ‘secrets’. Generation Bleu and their team ‘Pied Piper’ operate a small squad of high tech robotic vehicles to combat the secrets and it’s not long before Ao becomes involved with them. Ao accidentally unlocks a strange robot named the ‘Nirvash’ and joins Generation Bleu by becoming a member of Pied Piper in the hopes of learning about his mothers disappearance and his own mysterious past.
Much like most anime shows EUREKA SEVEN AO is definitely not short of plot threads and narrative material, however this quickly becomes convoluted and can get very confusing if full attention is not given. The series is also quite slow to begin with and does not fully engage you until the second or third episode. It should be noted however that this could also be said for many other great television shows and should not be a deterrent. The show also feels unusually similar and close to our world almost as if it’s a premonition of life 11 years from now. Although this is not the first television series or anime to portray the future, EUREKA SEVEN AO feels oddly distinct in its realistic portrayal of our not so distant world. This could be due to the Americanized style the shows uses in both its animation and its voice acting. Visually each episode is incredibly reminiscent of a modern Hollywood blockbuster film such as TRANSFORMERS or THE AVENGERS, and you can’t help thinking that this may have been an influence.
Many anime shows are mainstream and marketed to American audiences such as POKEMON and DRAGONBALL Z, however EUREKA SEVEN AO feels as if it’s intentionally trying extremely hard to do so. This comes across slightly odd at some points because it’s different to the early impression we are given from the show and it seems like the series isn’t sure what it wants to be at times. The characters even reference anime frequently with lines such as ‘this isn’t an anime’ and ‘guess it’s not as easy as in anime’ which is amusing initially but quickly becomes tiresome and irritating. However the characters themselves are all well thought out and very likable from the moment you lay eyes on them. They all echo themes of parenthood, childhood and loss effectively through their personal journeys that all deepen and gain more layers the further the series progresses. One character that also is worth mentioning purely for entertainment purposes is a sloth named Noah that rivals the mighty Pikachu in terms of cuteness, that’s reason alone to a least satisfy your curiosity.
Overall EUREKA SEVEN AO feels like a post-modern anime adventure that is right for our time by combining multiple political themes with traditional anime and Hollywood blockbuster elements. The end product comes across as a blender mix of these things that can be confusing at times but is worth watching for a different kind of series that will hopefully come to a satisfying conclusion in part 2.
[usr=3] EUREKA SEVEN AO Part 1 is available on DVD 6th January 2014.
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