Forum - View topic
Exploring the Psalms of Planets Eureka Seven 20th Anniversary Exhibition




Note: this is the discussion thread for this article

Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
Top Gun



Joined: 28 Sep 2007
Posts: 5293
PostPosted: Fri Dec 26, 2025 6:13 pm Reply with quote
First off, that headline instantly aged me decades, so thanks a lot for that. Laughing

What strikes me the most when I look back on the original Eureka Seven series is that almost no one involved with it seemed to have any understanding of why it was so beloved. For my money the series proper remains a stone-cold masterpiece, the perfect mix of high-concept sci-fi, spectacular colorful mecha action, and most importantly a perfectly-realized love story. Meanwhile every single recut or pseudo-sequel or alternate-universe take on it since has ranged from "what are they doing here" to "no, seriously, what are they doing here," and that includes those that reunited nearly all of the original's creative staff. I haven't even seen any of them myself, but I've been warned very strongly against them by people I trust who love the original as much as I do. Ignorance is bliss, right?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Estoma



Joined: 11 Jan 2019
Posts: 13
PostPosted: Fri Dec 26, 2025 9:31 pm Reply with quote
A fantastic series that still holds up very well today. It has a soundtrack that is out of this world, top tier character development, a great story, and incredible visuals. The mech combat from this series is better than a majority of stuff coming out today imo. I'll forever love Eureka Seven.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
residentgrigo



Joined: 23 Dec 2007
Posts: 2763
Location: Germany
PostPosted: Fri Dec 26, 2025 10:01 pm Reply with quote
The original anime would be remembered as a minor classic and is a rare example of a digital anime from the first half of the 00s that aged very well visually, were it not buried under an avalanche of Bones-produced rehash rubbish, starting with the movie version. Even an internal rip-off came only 3 years later with Xam'd: Lost Memories. 2 bad remakes, one bad sequel, a bunch of zero effort games and way too many forgettable tie-in manga. Even the official manga is an AU retelling! The one tie-in I can semi-defend but Eureka Seven AO´s manga isn´t a sequel to that manga and is also different from its anime. What were they thinking The IP.

Go anime only and stop with EP 50, as there is a non-canon alternate ending with the 2012 made EP 51! Even the original run has cancer grafted onto it...
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website My Anime My Manga
omiya



Joined: 21 Sep 2011
Posts: 1945
Location: Adelaide, South Australia
PostPosted: Sat Dec 27, 2025 4:37 am Reply with quote
Top Gun wrote:
What strikes me the most when I look back on the original Eureka Seven series is that almost no one involved with it seemed to have any understanding of why it was so beloved. For my money the series proper remains a stone-cold masterpiece,


Stone Cold was from Sacred Seven: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46KMKFji_kE Very Happy
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Glordit



Joined: 11 Sep 2020
Posts: 1184
PostPosted: Sat Dec 27, 2025 1:55 pm Reply with quote
residentgrigo wrote:
The original anime would be remembered as a minor classic and is a rare example of a digital anime from the first half of the 00s that aged very well visually, were it not buried under an avalanche of Bones-produced rehash rubbish, starting with the movie version. Even an internal rip-off came only 3 years later with Xam'd: Lost Memories. 2 bad remakes, one bad sequel, a bunch of zero effort games and way too many forgettable tie-in manga. Even the official manga is an AU retelling! The one tie-in I can semi-defend but Eureka Seven AO´s manga isn´t a sequel to that manga and is also different from its anime. What were they thinking The IP.

Go anime only and stop with EP 50, as there is a non-canon alternate ending with the 2012 made EP 51! Even the original run has cancer grafted onto it...


Bones is very hit and miss when it comes to anime originals, they either make something great and unique; Star Driver, Wolfs Rain, Space Dandy or try too hard to keep a good thing going and end up killing it. Darker than BLACK is a great example, the initial series was superb then they made a sequel no one asked for. Let's not forget Metallic Rouge either.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Philmister978



Joined: 12 Jun 2011
Posts: 530
PostPosted: Sun Dec 28, 2025 4:24 am Reply with quote
Glordit wrote:
residentgrigo wrote:
The original anime would be remembered as a minor classic and is a rare example of a digital anime from the first half of the 00s that aged very well visually, were it not buried under an avalanche of Bones-produced rehash rubbish, starting with the movie version. Even an internal rip-off came only 3 years later with Xam'd: Lost Memories. 2 bad remakes, one bad sequel, a bunch of zero effort games and way too many forgettable tie-in manga. Even the official manga is an AU retelling! The one tie-in I can semi-defend but Eureka Seven AO´s manga isn´t a sequel to that manga and is also different from its anime. What were they thinking The IP.

Go anime only and stop with EP 50, as there is a non-canon alternate ending with the 2012 made EP 51! Even the original run has cancer grafted onto it...


Bones is very hit and miss when it comes to anime originals, they either make something great and unique; Star Driver, Wolfs Rain, Space Dandy or try too hard to keep a good thing going and end up killing it. Darker than BLACK is a great example, the initial series was superb then they made a sequel no one asked for. Let's not forget Metallic Rouge either.

I'd argue Bones as a whole is pretty hit and miss, even with the adaptations they've done. Remember how the FMA fandom thought the 2003 series was the "worst thing ever" once Brotherhood happened (and how it seems to have kinda-sorta flipped in the years following)? I feel that much like their original productions, you got some decent to great ones like Mob Psycho 100, MHA or Ouran. But then you got Godzilla Singular Point, Blast of Tempest or SuperCrooks.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
BlueAlf



Joined: 02 Jan 2017
Posts: 1768
PostPosted: Mon Dec 29, 2025 9:21 am Reply with quote
I expected to see some stuff from AO and Hi-Evolution but turns out there weren't any. I'm not fond of how it retcon things, but I actually have a soft spot for AO.

Anyway, the original E7 is a mecha anime masterpiece. It takes a while to get going, but I recommend it to anyone who haven't watched it.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Greed1914



Joined: 28 Oct 2007
Posts: 5353
PostPosted: Mon Dec 29, 2025 10:57 am Reply with quote
Top Gun wrote:
First off, that headline instantly aged me decades, so thanks a lot for that. Laughing

What strikes me the most when I look back on the original Eureka Seven series is that almost no one involved with it seemed to have any understanding of why it was so beloved. For my money the series proper remains a stone-cold masterpiece, the perfect mix of high-concept sci-fi, spectacular colorful mecha action, and most importantly a perfectly-realized love story. Meanwhile every single recut or pseudo-sequel or alternate-universe take on it since has ranged from "what are they doing here" to "no, seriously, what are they doing here," and that includes those that reunited nearly all of the original's creative staff. I haven't even seen any of them myself, but I've been warned very strongly against them by people I trust who love the original as much as I do. Ignorance is bliss, right?


I think that is a fair take. Personally, the reason the retellings didn't work nearly as well is that it seemed like reshuffling a deck of cards (plot points) pulling out some of them, while leaving the rest in the draw pile and expecting it to make the same good hand out of it.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Top Gun



Joined: 28 Sep 2007
Posts: 5293
PostPosted: Mon Dec 29, 2025 12:47 pm Reply with quote
Greed1914 wrote:
I think that is a fair take. Personally, the reason the retellings didn't work nearly as well is that it seemed like reshuffling a deck of cards (plot points) pulling out some of them, while leaving the rest in the draw pile and expecting it to make the same good hand out of it.

From everything I've heard you're absolutely right, but for me it's something even more basic. For as long as I've been watching anime I've been struck by just how many anime series feel the need to end on a bittersweet note. I've heard it said only half-jokingly that "Japan loves tragedy porn." And I mean there's nothing wrong with that on its face, and indeed many of my all-time favorite series fall into that category, but every once in a while I want to leave a show feeling unambiguously good about life. That's exactly what Eureka Seven provides: the power of love conquers all, the boy saves the girl, and they both live happily ever after. It's a big reason why I hold it in such high regard. And then I sit here and watch everything else attached to the franchise say, "No they don't get to be together in the end, or maybe they do for a bit but some other ridiculous nonsense ruins that later, or..." I just sit here and think...you guys really didn't get it, did you?

I mean before now I didn't even know about that audio drama alternate ending that residentgrigo mentioned, but holy shit that is awful. And that was something they purportedly considered for the actual series ending? It's enough to make me want to reach through my screen and smack Dai Sato. "No! Bad writer!"
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
John the Dark Lord



Joined: 19 Jun 2020
Posts: 316
PostPosted: Mon Dec 29, 2025 1:03 pm Reply with quote
Top Gun wrote:
I mean before now I didn't even know about that audio drama alternate ending that residentgrigo mentioned, but holy shit that is awful. And that was something they purportedly considered for the actual series ending? It's enough to make me want to reach through my screen and smack Dai Sato. "No! Bad writer!"


From what I've heard, it was the director Tomoki Kyoda who originally wanted a darker ending, before being forced to change it because both the fans and the staff came to love Renton and Eureka too much.

For the record, Kyoda came back to direct all the sequels and spin-offs, while Dai Sato only came back for the first two HI-Evolution movies. Because of that, many fans concluded that the darker and more cynical tone the franchise took after the original is Kyoda's attempt to bring the series back to what he first planned before having to change the ending, but this is fan speculation.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Kicksville



Joined: 20 Nov 2010
Posts: 1415
PostPosted: Mon Dec 29, 2025 4:10 pm Reply with quote
Philmister978 wrote:
But then you got Godzilla Singular Point, Blast of Tempest or SuperCrooks.

These two being considered bad makes me feel like I'm losing my mind. Similarly while I'd agree Metallic Rouge isn't a masterpiece, I don't figure it deserves half the negativity it gets around here.

Funny enough, I've never finished Eureka Seven - for some reason it always felt...I don't know, a little too into itself or something. But I feel like I should give it another honest go.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
krpalmer



Joined: 03 Oct 2007
Posts: 38
PostPosted: Mon Dec 29, 2025 8:07 pm Reply with quote
Kicksville wrote:
Funny enough, I've never finished Eureka Seven - for some reason it always felt...I don't know, a little too into itself or something. But I feel like I should give it another honest go.


I know how much people love the original Eureka Seven (sometimes it seems as if it, if not Gurren Lagann, is the last "original mecha series" that's escaped being endlessly criticized and condemned ever afterwards whenever it does get brought up), and yet, while I've finished it myself, something about its general appeal seems to have eluded me. Maybe a part of me reacted to it as "just another post-Evangelion series" and supposed it clear piecing together the puzzle yourself based on close study was vital to really getting it, or maybe the protagonists starting off as "cool skateboarders" bumps against me being pretty much not very cool. I suppose I could do with trying it again myself...
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
residentgrigo



Joined: 23 Dec 2007
Posts: 2763
Location: Germany
PostPosted: Tue Dec 30, 2025 11:24 am Reply with quote
SuperCrooks was cursed by its source material and how short the comic is. The way Mark Millar scammed Netflix is crazy. Only J. J. Abrams has him beat. Bad Robot got half a billion to pitch things and then sit on their hand for 5 years. Ah, streaming deals.

Carole & Tuesday is the perfect case study of Bones originals. The first half is ok but goes nowhere. A 100-minute movie would have been more effective. The second half is the usual pondering and unfocused mess that fails to conclude. Eureka Seven, on the other hand, has a coherent and conclusive ending. Well, it had one in 2006. RahXephon was near immediately rubbished via movie remix. I wonder why Wolf's Rain was spared.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website My Anime My Manga
Display posts from previous:   
Reply to topic    Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Page 1 of 1

 


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group