Ask John: Is Eureka Seven AO Really Good or Really Bad?

Question:
Lately I’ve been watching Eureka Seven Ao, and I have to say that compared to some other big anime mecha sequels (Last Exile Ginkyou no Fam, Aquarion Evol) it is one of the better ones. The show is smartly written (although the political diatribe can be a bit boring), has terrific animation and boasts a really good soundtrack. It seems as if Bones is providing viewers a quality viewing experience; however, I’ve been noticing that many forums decry how terrible it is. Most of it stems from the fact that it is so tonally different from the previous Eureka Seven and that it is catering to new age anime fans obsessed with moé by featuring all female pilots. This has baffled me as I find the show to be an improvement over the original’s somewhat naive tone and storytelling. So, what is your opinion of this show so far? Does it really deserve to be judged so critically?

Answer:
To be honest, I’m not the ideal critic to discuss Eureka Seven AO because it’s a direct sequel to a series that I have very minimal familiarity with. Despite having purchased all of the domestic Eureka Seven DVDs, I’ve actually only watched the series’ first three or four episodes and the non-continuity motion picture. So while I have watched the first eight episodes of the current series, I’m poorly equipped to understand all of its references and connections to its predecessor. But that doesn’t preclude me from having an opinion on the current series.

Particularly in comparison to the somewhat unfocused Last Exile: Ginyoku no Fam, the highly silly Aquarion Evol, and the childish Gundam AGE, Eureka Seven AO (like the current AKB0048, by the way) does feature impressive art design and animation quality, and a narrative that demands attention while, thankfully, being marginally less convoluted than the practically incomprehensible current Gundam Unicorn OVA series. However, my personal impression of Eureka Seven AO so far is that its story is made up of an assortment of ideas that the screenwriters and episode directors have tacked onto a broad story outline. The very fact that the show has had four screenwriters for the first eight episodes alone and seven episode directors helming the series’ first eight episodes suggests the adage “too many cooks in the kitchen.” The show has introduced three different political factions vying for control of Okinawa, political conflict between America and the private military company Generation Bleu, internal conflict and dissatisfaction within Generation Bleu itself, racism within the Okinawin society, succession of leadership within the Okinawin community, international disagreement over the ownership of the Nirvash mecha, tentative romance between multiple characters, questionably ethical commercial exploitation of pan-dimensional material, and even multiple seeming alien beings with their own unclear agenda interfering in human society. The show has introduced the supporting “Team Goldilocks” sub-division of Generation Bleu but hasn’t extensively utilized them yet. The supporting characters Gazelle, Pippo, and Han seem to periodically disappear from the story and reappear only when the screenwriters remember that the characters exist. Episode seven prominently introduced the pop singer Mirror then subsequently forgot about her. The show has seemingly arbitrarily decided that Naru has supernatural abilities.

To its credit, Eureka Seven AO can’t be called superficial nor simplistic. But at the same time it feels a bit like it’s trying too hard. Especially given the introduction of the alien beings in episode six, the show has a unifying tone but doesn’t feel like it has a firmly unified narrative. Perhaps, and hopefully, all of the show’s disparate elements will gel together and reveal a larger interconnected narrative as the story continues. But presently the show feels like a solid program that frequently branches off into multiple unfulfilled side stories and directions that dilute the narrative effectiveness of the story. So far, the show feels like it has a conscious knowledge of the general narrative direction it wants to take but experiments with new approaches and ideas practically every episode as new screenwriters and directors tie their own ideas and priorities onto the core narrative thread. The effect does not make the show bad, per se, but does make the show feel disjointed and not only confusing but actually confused itself. Compared to a lot of contemporary anime that takes a safe route and concentrates on being easily digestible and marketable, Eureka Seven AO deserves credit for being willing to challenge its viewers. The show also does deserve credit for its handsome production values. However, Eureka Seven AO, so far, has proven a bit dense and partially impenetrable, which explains its mere moderate success and approval among anime viewers.