Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

Eureka Seven: Part One Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman May 27, 2014

A little less than a year ago, FUNimation Entertainment released Eureka Seven AO, a 2009 reboot of one of the more venerable anime outings of the past couple of decades, Eureka Seven, which initially aired from 2005 to 2006. Despite its relatively recent vintage (at least when compared to really old school fare like Dragon Ball Z), Eureka Seven has attained an almost iconic status as one of the formative works in the mecha subgenre that populates a lot of contemporary anime. As was mentioned in the Eureka Seven AO Blu-ray review, both that series and this original outing offer what is at its core a rather simple story, albeit one adorned with a confounding array of supposedly high-tech terms and acronyms, which may make the initial going for some viewers about as bumpy as a kid lifting on trapar. And if you don’t understand that reference, just relax: the good news is that Eureka Seven, for all its accrued density in verbiage, actually offers a straightforward enough tale that is generally more than easy enough to follow. The protagonist of the story is young teen Renton Thurston, a kid with the perhaps unenviable heritage of being the progeny of one of his country’s most lauded military heroes, a guy named Adrock Thurston who saved the planet but who disappeared under mysterious (and perhaps nefarious) circumstances. Adrock’s reputation is somewhat bifurcated as a result, and Renton’s older sister Diane has also vanished, supposedly in an attempt to prove that her father was in fact a hero. That has left Renton alone with his dreams of becoming a hero himself, albeit under the watchful gaze of his somewhat stern grandfather. When a cataclysmic collision introduces Renton not just to the mecha of his dreams, a prototype unit called the Nirvash typeZERO (orthography is very important in a series like Eureka Seven), but also to the girl of his fantasies, things seem to be looking up for the boy. But soon Renton finds himself embroiled in a series of events for which he may be spectacularly unprepared.

The slowly unfolding and often surprisingly sweet interplay between Renton and Eureka, the strange girl he finds encapsulated in the Nirvash typeZero, provides quite a bit of the interest in the episodes included in this first volume of Eureka Seven. There’s a certain amount of mystery with regard to both of these characters’ backgrounds, and as story elements begin to play out, the two find that they’re each an integral part of a vaster saga which neither of them really had a complete handle on. Eureka seems to be the more knowledgeable of the two, at least in the early going. She’s already in cahoots with the renegade group known as Gekkostate, which is led by an enigmatic “surfer dude” hero of Renton’s named Holland. But as various plot pieces fall into place, it becomes evident that Eureka is just as unaware of certain aspects of her background as Renton is of his.

An artifact given to Renton by his grandfather proves to be a perhaps dangerous technological gizmo that provides the Nirvash typeZero with unexpected powers, but for Renton, the device may also be his one remaining link to his father and the past he’s still trying to sort out. In the meantime, Eureka’s appearance and pre-existing relationship with Gekkostate seems to kill two birds with one stone, as far as Renton is concerned. He’s obviously completely smitten with the girl, and he’s long had designs of joining Gekkostate himself.

What ends up being kind of disarming about Eureka Seven is how subtly it interweaves a number of ideas into a relatively seamless whole. Many would probably simply look at the “a boy and his machine” side of the story and come to the quite understandable conclusion that Eureka Seven is “only” a mecha outing, but even spending a few episodes with the show will prove that that really isn’t the case. While the series admittedly has an almost debilitating reliance on its own private language, once the basic concepts of the universe fall into place, there’s a rather heady stew here that combines elements of a political thriller, action drama and even more than a dash of science fiction, courtesy (without spoiling too much) of an evolving sentient lifeform which is seeking to understand its environment.

Finally one of the most alluring aspects of Eureka Seven is how unabashedly sweet it is. Sure, there are super cool surfer types zooming through space on their boards and taking on various nefarious elements in their world. But underlying the action elements is what might almost be called a willful naïvete, as evidenced by the sweet relationship between Renton and Eureka. When Renton transforms into a quasi-chibi, with bright red cheeks and exaggerated thumbs pointed optimistically toward the sky after Eureka pays a little attention to him, Eureka Seven finds its real heart, and it isn’t in a machine.

Eureka Seven: Part One Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Eureka Seven is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of FUNimation Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080i transfer in 1.33:1. This native SD presentation actually looks surprisingly decent if not fantastic, if one comes with appropriate expectations. This certainly exhibits none of the softness and drabness of, say, Shakugan no Shana: Season 1, but it just as certainly doesn't have the crispness and clarity that native HD source elements could have provided. Colors here are vivid and nicely saturated and the interlaced presentation doesn't really drastically affect the overall image quality. While line detail never devolves to stairstepping, it doesn't quite have the fine sharpness that some may wish for. There are occasional issues with banding in some fine gradients. Overall, this offers an acceptably sharp and well detailed viewing experience.

Eureka Seven: Part One Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Both Dolby TrueHD 2.0 mixes included on the Blu-ray, one in Japanese and one in English, sound nicely rambunctious and detailed, with excellent reproduction of both dialogue and sound effects. There's some nice lower end here courtesy of some of the action sequences. Dialogue remains well prioritized even in noisy segments.

Eureka Seven: Part One Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Blu-ray Disc One:

• Episode 01 Commentary with Yuko Sanpei (Renton) and Kaori Nazuka (Eureka)


• Episode 07 Commentary with Yuko Sanpei (Renton), Kaori Nazuka (Eureka), and Mamoru Miyano (Moondoggie)

Blu-ray Disc Two:

• Episode 13 Commentary with Yuko Sanpei (Renton), Kaori Nazuko (Eureka) and Shigenori Yamazaki (Dominic)


• Episode 15 Commentary with Yuko Sanpei (Renton), Kaori Nazuko (Eureka), Akio Nakamura (Matthieu) and Mayumi Asano (Hilda)

Blu-ray Disc Three:

• Episode 20 Commentary with Yuko Sanpei (Renton), Kaori Nazuko (Eureka) and Keiji Fujiwara (Holland)


• Episode 26 Commentary with Yuko Sanpei (Renton), Kenichi Yoshida (Character Designer), and Masayuki Miyaji (Storyboard Artist)


• Textless Opening Song #1 (1080i; 1:32)


• Textless Opening Song #2 (1080i; 1:33)


• Textless Ending Song #1 (1080i; 1:37)


• Textless Ending Song #2 (1080i; 1:36)

DVD:

• Voice Actor Interviews:

  Yuko Sanpei (Renton) and Kaori Nazuka (Eureka) Part 1 (480i; 14:53)

  Yuko Sanpei (Renton) and Kaori Nazuka (Eureka) Part 2 (480i; 31:44)

  Stephanie Sheh (Eureka) (480i; 16:02)

  Johnny Yong Bosch (Renton) (480i; 11:05)

  Keiji Fujiwara (Holland) and Michiko Neya (Talho) Part 1 (480i; 15:22)

  Crispin Freeman (Holland) Part 1 (480i; 16:13)

Eureka Seven: Part One Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It's really not very hard to see why Eureka Seven has such an outsized reputation in the anime world. This is a series that rather smartly balances head and heart, offering a convoluted but ultimately rather simple story of two individuals finding themselves through each other. Newcomers need to be warned that there is an awful lot of show specific terminology that has to be mastered in order to fully understand some of the rapid fire dialogue, but having a little patience pays off with this show. While the image quality on this set is perhaps unexpectedly decent given native SD source elements, those expecting crystalline clarity are probably going to be disappointed by this release. Those who don't mind their viewing looking a little "old school" will find charm to spare in this series, and Eureka Seven comes Recommended.