Eureka Seven

Episode Count	50
Season	Spring 2005
Genres	Adventure, Drama, Mecha, Romance, Sci-Fi
Source Material	Original Anime
Rating	TV-14
Streaming	TBD

Renton Thurston’s life sucks. He’s 14, he lives in bumfuck nowhere with his grandfather, his sister has been missing for years, he doesn’t have any friends and he keeps hearing in class about how his dead father was a great man who saved everyone. He does have a bright spot in his life though, he loves “lifting” a sport where you can ride a board in trapar waves in the air and he worships the Gekkostate, a band of outlaw lifters who evade the military and ride trapar waves on their LFOs (mechs). One day, after his favorite lifting spot is shut down, a mysterious girl from the Gekkostate named Eureka crash lands her LFO into Renton’s house and he is smitten with her then and there. From that day forward, Renton’s life will be forever changed.

Eureka Seven was created as an original mecha series by Studio Bones with the intention of making a late-night anime series that tapped into the youth culture of the day. It takes an amalgamation of rave culture, surf/skating culture, environmentalist themes and giant robots and weaves into a truly unique and captivating coming of age story. Featuring excellent action, music, characters and romance, Eureka Seven is the kind of show that will stick with you always.

Choose life, choose Eureka Seven.

(Try to steer clear of the sequels and spinoffs for the most part though)

- akasinan

Eureka Seven has earned the distinction of being one of the two anime my dear mom has ever watched in her life, and the only one she finished. While that might not sound like such a big deal to some, keep in mind that my mom is a 70+ year old black woman from Louisiana. Under normal circumstances, you would have a better chance of getting the New Orleans Saints to win the Super Bowl again this year than getting someone like that to watch anime. Still, my dear mommy really related to Renton's plight and his struggles growing up in prodigiously challenging circumstances. I suppose it helps that the whole show has the air of old-school surf movies from the ’50s and ’60s. She also adored Maurice, Mater, and Linck, Eureka’s three adopted kids, who are pretty much reminiscent of the kids she has spent most of her life caring for in daycares and schools as a volunteer. Most amusingly of all, she is a BIG fan of the fourth OP “Sakura”, to the point where she plays it in her car while driving. If that’s not a ringing endorsement, I don’t know what is.

(Also, she thinks Johnny Bosh, the V/A for Renton, is a very upstanding fellow.)

- KhakiBlueSocks