Alright, back to the Gekkostate for more Eureka Seven. I’m guessing we’re still in random adventure episodes at this point, given so little of the cast has gotten much focus time yet, but that’s fine by me. Eureka Seven has established a strong platform for episodic rambling, and given the show’s enduring reputation, I assume it will probably get better over time. So let’s see what’s happening with Holland and his merry men!

Episode 7

Opening with the giant robot version of a horror movie’s cold open, where a squad will undoubtedly be destroyed to set up the threat for the rest of the episode. Well, that’s what I assume – a sequence like this could also be used as a building block towards establishing the goals of the military, but as I’m guessing this is an episodic conflict, I’m also guessing this is a one-off genre setup

And yep, the classic “I’m reading multiple targets! They’re all around us.” You more often get such played-straight genre devices in shows like this, for younger audiences, presumably because they’re less likely to have seen enough of these to slot them into a cliche folder

Even got the “02, what’s going on?” and the soldier panicking. Aliens was a good movie!

Ah, turns out this actually was my second hypothesis – the show is establishing whatever threat is warming the heels of the Evil Council. I’m actually happy to see them established as a group forced into a corner this early on – normally the big bads aren’t humanized until much later, and so framing them as in trouble here implies they might actually become an understandable side in a larger conflict, as opposed to just ineffable antagonists

They left Renton in the brig for a week? Christ

“This important job can only be done by you.” Looks like Renton’s getting trolled again

And now they’re making a big deal of opening the payload. Is it ramen? It’s ramen, isn’t it

It’s ramen

“I wouldn’t be asking you such a thing if I could help it.” This actually does seem like a good role for Renton. The action that got him stuck in the brig was wildly irresponsible and incredibly dangerous – if this weren’t a show for kids, he’d have gotten killed. But to these characters, treating his actions seriously from an in-universe perspective, it’s clear that Renton needs to learn responsibility and the mechanics of his role in a safer, more controlled situation. So they send him out on “important missions” to make him take things seriously, learn his future duties, and also direct his energy in more positive directions than “I’m going to spray-paint a military base”

Welp, the show sure isn’t hiding the fact that they’re trolling him. Just gotta wait until something complicates the situation and the mission becomes real

I like this kid blankly licking a lollipop in the background as they play out their little farce

The beret guy’s name is actually “Stoner”? Huh

Now they’re demanding he pull on gang members’ hair until he finds the one with a wig. This is some serious trolling

Their dickery now running into the unfortunate fact that Renton’s absurd dedication to this group means he’ll actually agree with their demands. They’re going to get a hiding when Eureka finds them

“It’s not certain there’s a guy with a wig inside that sauna.” This guy seems like the smartest of Eureka’s kids, and frankly one of the smarter members of the bridge brigade in general

Moondoggie is a good name for this twerp

“You guys hazing our rookie again?” Talho was the one who brought up the idea, and Holland demanded video evidence. This crew is pretty terrible-great

And we switch back to a little more context for the evil council’s dilemma. Gotta complement this episode’s shenanigans with a little urgency

The head mecha was overrun by what looks like coral. A nice riff on this show’s overall worldbuilding conceit – robots that surf in the sky, terrain that looks like a series of cresting waves, and some antagonist that overruns humanity’s robots with natural undersea formations like coral. I really appreciate the creativity and coherence of this show’s style choices

Moondoggie is actually jealous of Renton’s attention. So we are getting that fleshing out of the secondary crew

“Tears of frustration don’t count.” There are clear rules to hazing, apparently

Moondoggie’s quasi-girlfriend actually appreciates how worked up he gets over this. This setup, where almost the whole crew is observing them on the couch, really does help develop distinctive impressions of all these characters. And the fact that Holland and Talho are absent is good, too – we know their personalities already, and this episode is absolutely superfluous outside of how it textures the cast, so their presence would only detract from what’s actually being conveyed here

“I was afraid someone innocent would get hurt by me delivering this.” This is actually a clever conversation. Renton is accidentally drawing an inspirational speech out of Moondoggie’s entirely misdirected anger. Way to be the shounen hero, Renton

“I think we may have gone a little too far with this.” You think

So I guess Moondoggie was today’s focus character, more than anyone

The Three Sages. Corallians. Alright, so “Corallians” is pretty on-the-nose, but the rest of this is just Proper Noun word salad

“Everyone has changed since you’ve come aboard, Renton!” Given a couple episodes like this, I can actually kinda believe that. Eureka Seven is somewhat unique in that as opposed to featuring an unusual pilot entering an imposing larger organization, Renton is possibly the most serious person there. Gekkostate is a crew of flunkies, and Renton’s extremely straightforward presence actually could pull them together

Holland: “I’m so uncool.” Oh man, what a punch of an ending. He suddenly realizes he’s watching this video alone, sipping beer while Renton pours his heart out. Holland is an interesting one

AND THAT’S THAT. Well damn, turned out I had a bunch to write about this episode. This one used a tried-and-true genre shell to offer some solid texture to the Gekkostate’s crew, demonstrating Renton’s own clear value in the process. We are very slowly moving forward!

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