Shelf Life

Say Yes to A Dress

There's both good and bad to this. The good part is that you can walk into good night, sleep tight, young lovers completely blind and still have a good time. In fact, that's probably the best scenario, as it's virtually impossible for those who've already seen the series to not compare it with this movie. Because the characters are new, the story is new, the world is new, and even the bad guys are new, it's essentially a standalone property that just pays visual homage to the series. It shares common themes with the series, but zero knowledge of the original is required.

The bad part is that if you're expecting a sequel to the original series, or perhaps some kind of intermediary between Eureka Seven and Eureka Seven: AO, then you'll be sorely disappointed, because it's nothing even remotely close. One can't even say that it's pleasant to see a return of their favorite characters, because appearances aside, the characters don't remotely resemble their original series doppelgangers. Their personalities are different, their backstories are different—hell, even the premise of the Gekko crew is different. And while one can appreciate that the movie shares similar themes with the series—destined love, sacrifice for a greater good and/or your loved ones—it's a little watered down. Compared to the meticulous 50-episode build-up that carefully crafted the relationship between Eureka and Renton, or Holland and Talho, or Dominic and Anemone, good night, sleep tight only has two hours to get its message across. It's there, but it's only a ghost of what Eureka Seven fans have come to appreciate about the series.

If the character relationships weren't so delicately crafted in the series, then perhaps the breezy way they're handled in the movie wouldn't matter so much. But it's like taking the best part of a series and running it through a juicer. The flavor is still there, but the fiber is gone.

That having been said, if one can completely and utterly distance themselves from the series, then the Eureka Seven movie is okay. It's not amazing, but it's not terrible either, and as far as standalone movies go, it has some aspects worth applauding.

For starters, those who absolutely hated Renton in the series might like him a bit better in the movie, since he's given a shot of confidence and anger that isn't really present in the show. There's one particular scene in my mind in which he rushes to Eureka's defense, and delivers a visceral, gut-driven retribution that's pretty satisfying to watch. Likewise, Eureka's personality gets an overhaul as well, though she still retains the same mystique as in the series. Whereas the kids gave her humanity in the series, it's already provided for her in the movie.

But first, let me back up a little bit. In this universe, Eureka and Renton have known each other since there were kids. They play together all the time and hang out with an adorable, pudgy little kodama-Alien-bean sprout hybrid named Nirvash. They call him a larvae (gross), but he eventually becomes the trapar-cruising mech that we've come to know (that happens to make cutesy mukyuu noises). One day, Eureka is kidnapped by the military, and we don't see her again until eight years later, when Renton has joined the Gekko crew. While on assignment, he rescues a "secret item" from a base being pummeled by the EIZO (this world's version of Coralians), only to discover that it's Eureka. In the events that follow, we learn the truth about Eureka, Gekkostate, and the current war being waged on the planet.

In a sense, it's almost Eureka Seven Lite, thematically. And whether or not you'll appreciate it just really depends on how much the story grips you. It's a reasonable piece of entertainment, to be sure, but it just doesn't have the same emotional punch that comes with 20ish hours of character development.

One of my gripes is that the script is just not good (though in fairness, Eureka Seven wasn't exactly Shakespeare either). Some of the lines are just awkward and clunky, like Renton's attempts to cheer up Eureka inside the Nirvash with a cheesy, "Look, no hands!" That's great, Renton. There's also a really bizarre dialogue interchange at the beginning of the movie where movie-world Dominic shows Renton and Eureka a snow moon flower, and Eureka says, "What kind of plant is that?" Dominic replies, "It's not a plant, it's a snow moon flower." I'm no botanist, but I'm pretty sure flowers are plants. In any case, this particular plant is plant-like enough that it even blooms and bears seeds, so if it's indeed not a plant, then the script needs to reflect this in a rational manner. Later on, one of the characters refers to Eureka as "a girl-shaped ___," which given the context of the comment... it's not incorrect, but surely we can think of other descriptors than "girl-shaped."

In any case, I think good night, sleep tight, young lovers is great for those new to the series. It's even good for people who just really love alternate universe stories. Taken completely as a standalone property, it's an adequate movie with a reasonably entertaining story and fun action scenes. But at the end of the day, if you're asking yourself if it's worth buying, or, "Does this add to my Eureka Seven collection?" Not really. Certainly not in the same way that the Evangelion movies add to the series, or that Brotherhood adds to Fullmetal Alchemist. But sure, if you just want to see two childhood friends battle some alien life forms, then it's fine.[TOP]

Taking place after the events of Samurai Girls, the characters find themselves completely broke after the "Leiman Shock," a worldwide financial crisis triggered by the collapse of the subprime mortgage market. *cough* In order to keep the dojo afloat, the girls rope Muneakira into their scheme of turning the dojo into a maid café, as though the series really needed an excuse to ram more butts and boobs in viewers' faces. (Incidentally, the maid uniforms are actually more conservative than their everyday outfits, especially monkey girl Sasuke, who literally just has some fur tendrils on her boobs, and a penchant for always having the tip of her tail strategically placed over her hoohah.) Soon after, they're approached by a group of Dark Samurai, who insist on battling Jubei. However, her powers have been locked away, leaving the characters no choice but to try and prolong the impending battle. Eventually, an even bigger threat is revealed, but not before we get plenty of chances to see boobs, butt, butts, and boobs.

In fact, if you're into fanservice, then Samurai Bride (and of course, Samurai Girls) is absolutely the series for you. There is loads upon loads of fanservice, ranging from meaty camel toes to round, voluptuous butts, to basically just gelatinous mountains of breasts. If you lined up all the butt/boob/camel toe frames end to end, it'd probably go to the moon. It's good stuff for those who like such things, and the girls make it plenty easy, with costumes that seem inconvenient for everyday living. I don't even like wearing strapless dresses; I can't imagine how some of the characters deal with open jackets (sans inner clothing) that always just magically obscure their nips.

For those who are curious, the Sentai release is indeed uncensored, so you can see all of the nipples in their un-ink splotched glory. Not that the series was exactly virginal with the splotches—one scene that killed me a little was when the gang was trying to track down a panty thief, and one of the girls was offered a (panty-clad) crotch to smell, because "her sense of smell is even better than a dog's." Oh, okay. As long as there's a valid reason.

Charmingly, the series' setting in alternate history Great Japan (which is still run by the Tokugawa shogunate) goes a long way in making sure the series never takes itself seriously for even a second, and it's honestly really fun. It's almost anachronistic (if you can use that word for fictional worlds), in that things look vaguely mid-19th century-ish, but the girls have iPads and Heinz ketchup.

Sadly, while the show's bright colors and fun atmosphere add a lot of visual oomph, the animation does tend to cut corners during the action scenes. Rather than choreographed fight scenes, the battles are mostly made up of action poses and stills, implying motion but never really showing it. It's a clever way to save money, but it's also very conspicuous and makes the fights a little tedious. Not even the artistic usage of grayscale or ink splotches can make up for lack of real animation.

I do have to mention that although the series has a harem setup, in that there are half a dozen girls and only one dude, it's actually kind of refreshing to see the girls going after him for mostly self-serving purposes. There are some moments where the girls fall over themselves trying to woo Muneakira, but it's largely to harness his ability to transform them into Master Samurai—and in this season, the Samurai Bride. Not that the characters are actually speaking for themselves, mind you, but it is a nice change of pace from your stereotypical harem romcom.

I will have to say, though, that once the actual main story arc kicks in later in the series, it's actually pretty decent. Gone are the maid café battles, and picking on individual characters, and drawing on omelet rice. Instead, we end up with a story of frenemies, and the circumstances that bring them there. The seed is planted fairly early on—one of the dojo-café's best customer is a jovial Dark Samurai who can't get enough of the food and moe love spells—but as the series develops, we see that the designation between good and bad is anything but black and white, and even the antagonists are a little conflicted on where they've ended up. It's not Macbeth or anything, but it's surprisingly more complex than what the series would have you initially believe.

There's no sense in pretending that Samurai Bride is anything more than what it is—a goofy, silly, sort of action-oriented fanservice series, and that's just fine for the audience it's trying to appeal to. Will it appeal to those who are looking for things outside of butts? Maybe. But fanservice aside, it's not really strong enough to stand on its own two legs. The story has too much fluff, and the maid café angle—while cute and occasionally funny—feels a little forced. The latter half of the series has some good moments, but it's not helped by the money-skimping action scenes, and it doesn't make up for some of the filler earlier on. For a fanservice show, though, it's not too bad.[TOP]