Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. You all ready to dive back into Eureka Seven? Personally, I’m ready and then some; Bones’ early classic has lain dormant in my Current Projects for half a goddamn decade, but I never lost my interest in this unique and beautiful property. With one of my generous, lovely, intelligent readers having offered it the breath of life, I’m not planning on wasting this opportunity – I’m charging forward as far and fast as I can, buoyed by the wings of financial incentive to ride among the gallant Gekkostate crew.
Episode nine served as a clear turning point in the narrative, as Renton at last learned the true history of Gekkostate, and was formally inducted into the team as a full crewmate. Learning that the team were former military agents actually explains a great deal; their hardware all seemed oddly advanced for a group of beach bums, and odd details like Eureka’s children now make perfect sense. But while the path behind is now clear, the road ahead remains a mystery. I’m hoping Renton’s new position means we’ll at last be learning something of Gekkostate’s true objectives, as we return to the exhilarating Eureka Seven!
Episode 10
Surfing works as a pretty handy metaphor for Renton’s first steps into adulthood here. An ostensibly dangerous, complicated activity that requires patience and practice, but which ultimately allows him to fly freely, far beyond the bounds of his life as a child. It’s a fine complement to the standard giant robot metaphor of robots standing in as the parental boots a child must learn to fill
Holland awakes to find himself on a sepia battlefield, presumably a war flashback. The show had to hold back on much characterization for a fair amount of the Gekkostate crew, until we learned of the history that informed their perspective. Now that we already know Holland was once a soldier of the military, we can dive into the lingering trauma of that perspective
The violence is brutal and unflinching, actually more graphic than I’d expect from this show. And in the end, Holland is gunned down by his doppelganger in military dress, making the memory explicit
Interestingly, Holland was sleeping on the couch next to the bed, which Talho was occupying by herself. They possess a pretty fragile relationship, it seems
That strange glowing liquid that Holland received is sitting on the floor
Holland reaches for Talho, but pulls back in anger when she mentions Renton. He really is a child – how could he possibly feel any sense of rivalry with an actual kid?
Though I suppose we now have some clear reasons for Holland’s emotional immaturity. If he was raised as a child soldier, always following orders and never possessing an independent life, then it’s not too surprising that his emotional skills are seriously underdeveloped
I love the sparse layouts of this whole sequence. Pulling the camera back and isolating Holland in the corner of the frame really emphasizes the barren nature of this bedroom, as well as Holland’s sense of isolation within it
“Higher Than The Sun”
Seems like a legendary wind may be appearing? This is good; now that we’ve learned Holland’s dark side, it seems like we’re going to complement that with a vision of him in his element, celebrating the things he loves
“Seeing Eureka in so much pain like that, I can’t help but wonder if there’s anything I can do for her. I don’t know what the real truth is about anything.” Another key stage of development for Renton – discarding the false confidence of childhood, and coming to understand just how much you don’t know about the world around you, as well as the limits of your ability to change it. This doesn’t mean falling into despair or inaction; on the contrary, it means coming to a genuine understanding of your abilities, and thereby beginning to understand what you can most effectively apply yourself to in life
Yep, there’s a big wave coming. We’ve passed the “getting to know you” episodes, curved towards the future narrative with the “this is our true story” episode, and are now set to solidify the main party with an “affirming the bonds we’ve grown” episode
Pretty fun seeing the classic “team pores over a battle diagram” sequence, except here applied to the quest for the greatest waves
Their journey will take them to the southern hemisphere, courtesy of some unique trick by Talho. She still seems frustrated with Holland; frankly, she almost always seems frustrated by Holland. It feels like this is one of those relationships where she was dazzled by his attitude at the start, but has by now outgrown him
“They all just think of themselves!” Looks like we might be getting a general Talho episode, which I’d certainly welcome
Interesting that the Gekkostate has an in-flight store that the crew actually buy items from, rather than just sharing their collective holdings. Sorta speaks to their loose affiliation as crewmates
Apparently, Talho will be flying the Gekkostate over the atmosphere, in order to make their wave on time. This episode thus serves another purpose: demonstrating that this is one of Talho’s abilities in a non-critical scenario, so it feels like a natural turn when it comes up in a combat situation
Love this use of scratchy linework to evoke the rumble of their ship exiting the atmosphere
“This planet, it really is… round!” We’ve arrived at a Eureka Seven “transcendent moment,” a moment that emotionally evokes the show’s purest essence. The joy and terror of your first brush with freedom, and first glance at the larger world in all its glory
Also very much appreciate this garage rock track backing this moment. As someone who first fell in love with anime in the early ‘00s, I was misled into believing anime at large shared my fondness for indie and garage rock. It turns out that anime’s infatuation with rock only lasted for an eight year period or so, but that was certainly long enough to get me hooked on the medium
“The Great Wall” seems to be a massive storm, visible even from space
“If only I’d understood what Eureka’s eyes were saying then, things might not have ended up the way they did.” In retrospect, I’m also quite charmed by this tone anime boys of this era strike when talking about the girls they have crushes on. FLCL’s Naota dips into this tone quite often, presenting this sense of girls as unknowable creatures of danger and mystery
Meanwhile, Dominic is making a report on the assault from last episode
He concludes that this attack must have been perpetuated by Gekkostate, which is no surprise to his superior. It seems the military is at last developing a strike team capable of destroying Gekkostate – another clear sign that we’re moving beyond the “getting to know you” phase of this narrative. This wave will likely serve as one last hurrah for the Gekkostate in peacetimes, before the narrative as a whole moves towards greater conflict
“The Gekko Cup Competition! Cheese Stretching Champion!” Yeah, they’re currently taking it pretty easy
The place they land is a former military base that was destroyed by a tectonic shift six months ago. All these incidental splashes of worldbuilding indicate the tectonic shifts are bringing humanity closer and closer to the brink
Apparently, Talho didn’t actually steer them to their intended destination
“Geez, they don’t have to go and flaunt it like that.” God, Holland is so childish! He really is getting jealous over Renton holding hands with Eureka
It seems that Holland once rescued Talho from this place, back when he was in the military. Seeing Talho in these flashbacks seems to support my view of their shifting relationship – Talho was desperate for escape then, but has grown into greater confidence since, and her relationship with Holland has been complicated as a result
Eureka is paralyzed with fear that she’s losing her connection with the Nirvash. Meanwhile, Renton is Horny
This too reminds me of the FLCL dynamic. Mamimi struggling with her complex feelings about Naota’s brother leaving and her own home situation, while Naota’s all just GIRL HOT
Talho claims Holland is running away, and he agrees
“I’m begging you, can’t you just let me forget all of it?”
“The wave never came.” “The pizza was good anyway.” Feels almost like a life philosophy in miniature
“You really know how to hit a guy where it hurts.” “Your weak spots are just too easy to find.” Holland clearly doesn’t enjoy this mantle of revolutionary that he’s been burdened with, but Talho knows him well enough to be confident he’ll accept it, even as he grumbles all the while
And at last, Anemone appears!
And Done
Fine, be that way, Eureka Seven! This was more or less the act-ending episode I expected, but goddamn did this one hold its cards close to its chest. We received only the barest hints of context for Holland and Talho’s relationship, with this visit to a former military base mostly just affirming our existing suspicions regarding their original partnership. The two of them possess an intriguingly messy bond, but we still need a bit more information before we can truly understand what’s guiding them. Meanwhile, movements on the military side have confirmed that playtime is likely over for our heroes, as the government initiates its plans to stamp out their insurrection. Once again, Eureka Seven provides more questions than answers; but given we’re just approaching the show’s first quarter mark, I have every confidence that they’ll be answered in due time.
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