Eureka Seven – Episode 19 - Ai Animes 🤖

Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I am pleased as punch to announce we are at last returning to Eureka Seven, after far too long a leave of absence from Renton and the Gekkostate crew. There’s really nothing like that particular era of ambitious ‘00s originals, and believe me, I’ve looked. Not to say that the era I grew up with was the best era of anime production – that’s just nostalgia talking, obviously. But every shift in the medium’s output offers its own pleasures, and I am exceedingly fond of these sweeping, go-for-broke combinations of insular personal narratives and globe-trotting fantasy, particularly when Dai Sato or Igarashi and Enokido are involved.

When last we left off, Renton had received a melancholy reminder of home in the form of the old miner Brittany, who remained convinced that just two more meters of digging would strike the motherload that would revive his town. Seeing his own grandfather in this man’s struggles, Renton was happy to make himself useful, until Brittany’s obsession eventually put the whole Gekkostate crew in danger. Thus this brief flash of nostalgia only served to remind him how far from home he was, and how disconnected he remains from the strange, violent world he now occupies.

Renton’s conflict embodies the synergy of Eureka Seven’s surfer crew/revolutionary dichotomy, with Renton essentially experiencing the same disillusionment as a young reporter following a spiraling rock group, or a boy who abandons his home to join the circus. The Gekkostate crew are not here to provide him with a purpose; they are mired in their own troubles, barely getting by, and far from the ideal mentors for a boy seeking to find himself. But no one ever matures under ideal circumstances, and now that the glow of chasing his dream has dimmed, Renton might at last begin the unglamorous process of learning to live with both his triumphs and his regrets. Let’s return to the skies!

Episode 19

“Acperience 2.” Our first episode title that’s a direct sequel, calling back to the brutal episode where Anemone’s attacks preceded Renton slipping into a self-scouring dream state, wherein his retreating past and burgeoning sexual awakening were both harshly interrogated through a torrent of charged imagery. This episode was actually boarded by overall series director Tomoki Kyoda, and scripted by Yuuichi Nomura, who handled nearly as many episodes as Sato himself

Episode director Ikurō Satō is also a major force, having directed the first episodes of such distinguished productions as Victory Gundam, The Big O, and Blood Blockade Battlefront. We’re clearly in for a spectacle here

Funny how every era’s technical limitations become their own sort of aesthetic charm in retrospect. Kenichi Yoshida’s character designs are obviously terrific, but even the early digipaint fuzziness of these backgrounds now seems endearing in its own way. Like a slight nostalgic haze, which actually feels perfect for shows like Haibane Renmei or Kino’s Journey

“The minute you give up, it’s game over.” It does often seem like every member of this team is just running on fumes, living in the present because the future’s an abyss

We open on that bleak apartment block they’ve been occupying, a grey and anonymous mass. They’re planning on retreating into the cave – against Eureka’s objections, as the resonance within remains a painful memory

Their doctor admits she doesn’t know how to treat Eureka’s condition. No surprise there; it’s clear that Eureka’s sickness is somehow a reflection of her connection to the coral. A classic trope – the emissary of an alien presence who has found humanity, but seems destined to lose it and return to their “true” nature

I am definitely envious of this era’s ability to let such narratives breathe across multiple cours, rather than run through them as rapid-fire twists. The kinds of stories I like tend to focus more on texture than surprise

“Everyone is so selfish. They just say what they want and destroy my faith in them.” Renton cannot accept his dawning realization of the fallibility of adults, and thus defines them as “selfish” while literally staring at a child’s toy

“She doesn’t realize how I feel as I pilot the Nirvash.” Another key adolescent realization – the inherent disconnect in our thoughts, and the fact that we only understand each other as far as we are willing to explain our feelings. What feels essential to our emotional reality isn’t necessarily obvious to another

“What am I thinking at a time like this?” Even still, his thoughts turn towards his attraction to Eureka. He is still all his instincts at once, incapable of fully embracing his own melancholy

As usual, Eureka expresses her solidarity without words, but Talho’s scorn drives them apart

Classic quasi-montage trick as we check back in on the Gekko, with a pan down the ship intercut with brief stills revealing all the individual aspects of the ongoing repair efforts. Efficient visual storytelling

This episode’s overcast skies and desaturated colors well emphasize the exhaustion of the whole crew

Talho isn’t gentle, but at times like these, she’s the iron holding the team together. In contrast, Holland retreats into himself in times of turmoil; he cannot be the man they need when things are tough. As always, Holland and Renton are mirrors, demonstrating that “youth is a state of mind” line from the OP in both a positive and negative sense

“Do you want me to be a broken record? Don’t run away.” Talho presents him with the difficult question of deploying the Nirvash, and he of course flees from it

Eureka’s children flee from her weakened condition, leading into a disorienting fisheye composition as she falls to the ground. Right when she most needs reminders of her human connections, it seems like everyone is abandoning her

“Do you all hate me now, just like the Nirvash?” Rejected by both her natures

Yet even this disconnect demonstrates the bonds they’ve been forging, as Eureka’s children rush to Renton for consolation. Their immediate needs help push Renton forward

“If things were going to end up this way, I wish I hadn’t changed at all.” It’s not an easy road, Eureka

The Nirvash then activates, driving Eureka towards the deep end of the cave. The end of the line for both her and the Gekkostate, neither of which can move forward without a blessing from the coral itself

Meanwhile, the Gekkostate bridge crew detects a massive army approaching. It’ll all come down to this!

Ooh, nice wipe to the eyecatch, with the momentum of this cannon’s projectile echoing the rightward spilling of the text

As Holland preps for launch, Talho asks again what he plans for Renton

“Right now, Eureka’s and our survival comes before the Nirvash!” Like Renton, he is simply fleeing from his responsibilities rather than charting an actual path forward. I love how this show is interrogating our childhood faith in rebellious heroes through these parallels – it makes sense that Holland would seem a figure of wonder or avatar of freedom to the young Renton, but the fantasies of childhood realized in the form of an adult add up to a fairly hollow man

Talho seems to only value Renton for his connection to his mysterious brother

Hearing the truth of Eureka’s disappearance, Holland elects to simply hold out as long as they can

“I’m down over 800 meters now.” Also quite enjoying the increasingly ominous worldbuilding details regarding the nature of trapars and the coral. This is how you handle worldbuilding – incidentally, without clumsy exposition, revealed at the pace and in the manner your active characters would actually experience it

Touching the walls at the base of the mine, Eureka appears to activate something, and is consumed

It makes sense given the genre and intended audience, but it’s a little funny how many of these coming-of-age stories revolve around this core conflict of “can a young man come to understand the most mysterious of alien creatures: a girl”

Some nice queasy body horror in Renton finding Eureka half-fused with the walls

Letterbox formatting emphasizes the staged nature of a dream as Eureka finds herself seeking a book in an endless plane of bookshelves

“If I don’t hurry, the night will melt me away”

“This is me. A book with no words. A book with nothing written in it.” Digging deep into her greatest fears – that she is simply a template, an experiment, or a key to an unknown door. As with so many things in this show, Eureka Seven offers a more compassionate take on its Eva parallel, Rei Ayanami’s quest for identity

Hah, and then we see her immediately contrasted against the moon, the object with which Rei was always associated. Distant, unknowable, and cold, forever divided from the warmth of humanity

“There is nothing to me. I couldn’t find who I am.” And yet, her fears resonate with all of this narrative’s lost souls. They’re all trying on different outfits, different hats, all playing house in their little Gekkostate community

“Help me, Renton.” At least she has that – a name to call out, a person who means something to her. We can’t solely define ourselves via our relation to others, but it’s certainly a start

“I promise I’ll protect you!” And Renton at last rises to the occasion

Interesting that Eureka found only terror in surrendering consciousness, in contrast with Shinji’s frequent willingness to embrace that over the pain of individuality

“Give me the power to protect Eureka!” And with that, the mine reignites

After the trapar wave sends both Gekkostate and Nirvash soaring to the surface, we end on Holland once again proving his unsuitability to lead, blaming and threatening Renton for these strange developments. Both of them are equally scared, but Holland can offer no comfort to his young ward

And Done

Whew, it is so damn nice to be back! Eureka Seven remains a gorgeous and persistently intriguing production, matching its keen adolescent psychological drama with a lavish coating of scifi action. This time it was Eureka’s turn to question her identity, driven by the abandonment of both Renton and her children to seek answers in the womb of the earth itself. Always a pleasure to enjoy the surreal imagery of the coral realm, and also quite satisfying to dig into the unflattering parallels uniting Holland and Renton. As Renton struggles to grow into a man worth respecting, his mentors seem to only prove that adulthood itself is a fantasy, a veil of certainty cloaking all those same youthful insecurities. You need some better role models, Renton!

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