Oh, Bones.
Dec. 2nd, 2012 06:54 pmA month after the fact, I finally got around to watching the conclusion of Eureka Seven AO.
And... wow.
There are two types of bad sequels: Sequels that are just bad (for any reason - bad writing, nonsensical plot, just plain not living up to the original), and then there are the bad sequels that aren't just bad but that take that badness a step farther by actively shitting all over the spirit of the original. To wit: Alien 3. Aquarion EVOL. The Star Wars prequels. And now you can add both the Eureka Seven theatrical film and the AO TV series to that list.
And of course I'm sitting here full of bitter fangirl disappointment that Eureka Seven spawned not just one but two completely awful sequels, because, well, I fucking LOVE the original.
Eureka Seven is Bones at their creative and artistic peak. It takes the high-minded science fiction concept of Solaris and blends it seamlessly with a story of two immature teenagers growing up and growing together, and honestly, when you really think about it, has their ever been a more perfect metaphor for contact with an incomprehensible alien intelligence than the exhilarating yet horrifying awkwardness of two teenagers falling in love for the first time? Eureka Seven takes three basic storylines and mixes them in nearly perfect harmony: One, humanity's continued failure to communicate with the deadly Scub Coral; two, Eureka and Renton growing the fuck up and realizing that life is not at all what either of them understood it to be; and three, Eureka and Renton coming to trust, understand, and eventually love each other. It's a story about communicating and understanding on every possible level, whether it's between two awkward teenagers, two cynical adults, two estranged brothers, two former enemies, or between two alien races that are literally destroying each other with their inability to communicate and their increasingly desperate attempts to do so. It's a story about overcoming loss, about found families and unlikely friends, about children who don't understand war and about adults who don't understand children, about standing by your morals, about rejecting what you know is wrong even when you still don't know what should be right, and about how the human ability to listen to each other can literally move mountains, save an entire species, and save an entire planet. Plus, you know, this is an anime with fucking awesome giant robots and fucking terrifying alien monsters and gorgeous character and scenery designs and awesome music and amazing characters and just aaaaaaaah! it's SO GOOD. There are very, very few stories in any media that can successfully pull off BOTH the "it was Earth all along!" plot twist and the "twu wuv saves the human race!" ending without descending into total ridiculousness and stupidity. But Eureka Seven successfully pulls off both of these tropes, and does it BRILLIANTLY.
I'm not even going to waste space writing about how the Eureka Seven film and then AO managed to completely fuck up all of the above on every level. I'd rather sit here enjoying my memories of how great the original series is, thank you very much.
Here, have an awesome ten-minute AMV tribute to the original series, courtesy of Studio Bones themselves:
And... wow.
There are two types of bad sequels: Sequels that are just bad (for any reason - bad writing, nonsensical plot, just plain not living up to the original), and then there are the bad sequels that aren't just bad but that take that badness a step farther by actively shitting all over the spirit of the original. To wit: Alien 3. Aquarion EVOL. The Star Wars prequels. And now you can add both the Eureka Seven theatrical film and the AO TV series to that list.
And of course I'm sitting here full of bitter fangirl disappointment that Eureka Seven spawned not just one but two completely awful sequels, because, well, I fucking LOVE the original.
Eureka Seven is Bones at their creative and artistic peak. It takes the high-minded science fiction concept of Solaris and blends it seamlessly with a story of two immature teenagers growing up and growing together, and honestly, when you really think about it, has their ever been a more perfect metaphor for contact with an incomprehensible alien intelligence than the exhilarating yet horrifying awkwardness of two teenagers falling in love for the first time? Eureka Seven takes three basic storylines and mixes them in nearly perfect harmony: One, humanity's continued failure to communicate with the deadly Scub Coral; two, Eureka and Renton growing the fuck up and realizing that life is not at all what either of them understood it to be; and three, Eureka and Renton coming to trust, understand, and eventually love each other. It's a story about communicating and understanding on every possible level, whether it's between two awkward teenagers, two cynical adults, two estranged brothers, two former enemies, or between two alien races that are literally destroying each other with their inability to communicate and their increasingly desperate attempts to do so. It's a story about overcoming loss, about found families and unlikely friends, about children who don't understand war and about adults who don't understand children, about standing by your morals, about rejecting what you know is wrong even when you still don't know what should be right, and about how the human ability to listen to each other can literally move mountains, save an entire species, and save an entire planet. Plus, you know, this is an anime with fucking awesome giant robots and fucking terrifying alien monsters and gorgeous character and scenery designs and awesome music and amazing characters and just aaaaaaaah! it's SO GOOD. There are very, very few stories in any media that can successfully pull off BOTH the "it was Earth all along!" plot twist and the "twu wuv saves the human race!" ending without descending into total ridiculousness and stupidity. But Eureka Seven successfully pulls off both of these tropes, and does it BRILLIANTLY.
I'm not even going to waste space writing about how the Eureka Seven film and then AO managed to completely fuck up all of the above on every level. I'd rather sit here enjoying my memories of how great the original series is, thank you very much.
Here, have an awesome ten-minute AMV tribute to the original series, courtesy of Studio Bones themselves:
