Eureka Seven


Eureka Seven, known in Japan as Psalms of Planets Eureka seveN, is a 2005 Japanese anime series created by Bones. The series was directed by Tomoki Kyoda, with series composition by Dai Satō, character designs by Kenichi Yoshida and music by Naoki Satō. Eureka Seven tells the story of Renton Thurston and the outlaw group Gekkostate, his relationship with the enigmatic mecha pilot Eureka, and the mystery of the Coralians. The fifty episode series premiered in Japan on MBS between April 17, 2005 and April 2, 2006 and was subsequently licensed by Funimation in North America, Madman Entertainment in Australia and New Zealand and by Anime Limited in the United Kingdom for English home video releases.
The series spawned six manga adaptations, a light novel, three video games and a feature-length anime film which was released in Japan on April 25, 2009. One of the manga titled Eureka Seven: AO which was serialized in Shōnen Ace between January 2012 and October 2013, was further adapted into an anime series which aired twenty-four episodes in Japan between April 13 and November 20, 2012. Eureka Seven was well received by critics and earned several awards at numerous award shows in Japan, most notably the 2006 Tokyo International Anime Fair.

Overview

Setting

; Scub Coral
; Command Cluster Coralian
; Kute-class Coralian
; Antibody Coralians
; Human-form Coralians
; Trapar waves and lifting

Plot

The series focuses on Renton Thurston, the fourteen-year-old son of Adrock Thurston, a military researcher who died saving the world. He lives what he considers a boring life with his grandfather in a boring town. He loves lifting, a sport similar to surfing but with trapar, a substance abundant throughout the air, as the medium. He dreams of joining the renegade group Gekkostate, led by his idol Holland Novak, a legendary lifter.

An opportunity to do so literally falls into his lap when a large mechanical robot, called the Nirvash type ZERO, and Eureka, its pilot and a member of Gekkostate, crash into Renton's room. Renton's grandfather orders him to deliver a special part to the Nirvash called the "Amita Drive", which releases the immense power dormant within the type ZERO called the "Seven Swell Phenomenon". Afterwards, Renton is invited to join Gekkostate, where he quickly discovers that the behind-the-scenes life of Gekkostate is hardly as glamorous or as interesting as printed in the glossy pages of their magazine, ray=out. Only one thing makes it all worthwhile for him: the presence of Eureka, the mysterious pilot of the Nirvash. Renton, Eureka, and the Gekkostate embark on an adventure that will shape their future as well as the world's.

Development

The series was made by Bones and co-produced by Bandai Entertainment. Bandai Entertainment provided the title and handled the creative aspects of the series. Bandai had originally proposed a mecha anime series to the animation studio Bones. The studio had initially rejected it, but later reversed its position because it had already planned to create an anime using mecha designs by Shoji Kawamori. With the appointment of director Tomoki Kyoda and writer Dai Satō, Bandai's proposal was more or less scrapped and the staff began work on their own series that would become Eureka Seven.
While conceptualizing Eureka Seven, Kyoda "wanted something that reflected the music and the subculture of his generation—and a love story." As such the show contains several references from music of the 1980s and the 1990s, and almost all of the show's episodes are named after real songs, composed by both Japanese and foreign artists.
The director wished to design the series as one that would at first focus on the personal elements and conflicts of the characters, then subsequently move the framework into a broader scale and perspective. The series' two halves each have their own very clear focus that reflects this design choice.
With the premise of the surfer robots in mind, Satō interviewed several real-life surfers and came to conclusion that they are close to nature. From this perception, he envisioned the environmental thematic as central point of the story. He said "I thought it might be an effective message for children, especially in Japan. It's pretty veiled. I didn't want to be preachy."

Release

Anime

Eureka Seven consists of fifty episodes which aired from April 17, 2005, to April 2, 2006, on the Mainichi Broadcasting System and Tokyo Broadcasting System networks.
Eureka Seven was available for online viewing on the Adult Swim Fix, Adult Swim's online video service before its televised debut on the Adult Swim channel between April 15, 2006, and ended on April 28, 2007. Adult Swim traditionally cut down the opening and ending themes from each episode to fit the series to American television's time restraints, which resulted in the final episode's first airing having actual content cut from it as the episode originally had no theme song sequences; it was re-aired properly the following week. In Canada, Eureka Seven premiered on YTV's Bionix block on September 8, 2006.
Bandai Entertainment and its affiliates distributed the English version of Eureka Seven. It was released in the United States and Canada by Bandai Visual USA, in the United Kingdom by Beez Entertainment, and in Australia by Madman Entertainment. The first translated Region 1 DVD volume of the series was released on April 25, 2006 in the US, while the European Region 2 version was released on September 25, 2006. The English version was produced by Bang Zoom! Entertainment in Burbank, California. Following the 2012 closure of Bandai Entertainment, Funimation acquired the rights to the TV series and re-released the series on Blu-ray and DVD in 2014. On January 6, 2014, Manga Entertainment had released the first half of the series.
An anime sequel titled Eureka Seven: AO began airing on April 12, 2012, and ended on November 20, 2012. There is a total of 24 episodes. It has been released in Japan on Blu-ray and DVD, along with an OVA titled "The Flower Fields of Jungfrau". On May 16, 2013, Funimation announced the official release date in English dub. The first twelve dubbed episodes were released on DVD/Blu-ray on August 13, 2013, and the rest of the series released on October 15, 2013.

Music

Eureka Seven uses ten pieces of theme music. The opening themes of Eureka Seven are "Days" by Flow, "Shōnen Heart" by Home Made Kazoku, "Taiyō no Mannaka e", by Bivattchee and "Sakura" by Nirgilis. The ending themes are "Himitsu Kichi" by Kozue Takada, "Fly Away", by Asami Izawa, "Tip Taps Tip", by Halcali and "Canvas", by Coolon. The two insert songs are "Storywriter", by Supercar and "Niji", by Denki Groove.
The soundtrack music is available on three different albums composed by Naoki Satō and a variety of other artists who composed insert songs used in the series. The first and second soundtrack albums were released on November 2, 2005 and April 5, 2006 respectively. The third soundtrack, titled Eureka Seven: Complete Best include the full-length versions of the opening and ending themes for both the series and game, as well as the insert song for the final episode.
The anime adaptation of Eureka Seven: AO uses six pieces of theme music. For the 13 first episodes, the opening theme is "Escape" performed by Hemenway and the ending theme is "stand by me" by Stereopony. Starting with episode 14, the opening theme changes to "Bravelue" performed by FLOW and the ending theme changes to "Iolite" performed by joy. The two insert songs are "Parallel Sign" and "Seven Swell", both performed by LAMA.

Media

Manga

A manga adaptation of the original anime was created by Jinsei Kataoka and Kazuma Kondou. The manga was published by Kadokawa Shoten and began serialization in Monthly Shōnen Ace from the March 2005 issue and ended in the January 2007 issue, with a total of 23 chapters. The chapters were later compiled into six volumes. A second manga titled Eureka Seven: Gravity Boys and Lifting Girl by Miki Kizuki, features the protagonists of the video games ' and '. It was published by Kadokawa Shoten and serialized in Comptiq magazine. Two volumes were released in Japan on November 7, 2011 and September 26, 2006 respectively. A manga adapting a proposed alternative ending of the series, titled Psalms of Planets Eureka Seven New Order was serialized in Comptiq by Kadokawa Shoten between June 2012 and May 2013.
On December 22, 2011, Kadokawa Shoten's Monthly Shōnen Ace magazine announced that a sequel manga titled Eureka Seven: AO based on the sequel series would be launched in their January 2012 issue. It featured an original story by Bones and was illustrated by Yūichi Katō. The manga began in January 2012, and concluded in October 2013, with a total of 21 chapters spanning over 5 volumes. A spin-off manga titled Eureka Seven AO - Save a Prayer began shortly after and focuses on a girl name Yuna and her two friends as they make their way from becoming trainees in Generation Bleu's Headquarters. A manga titled Eureka Seven nAnO was published as a 4koma and featured characters from the AO series.

Light novel

A light novel series written by Tomonori Sugihara and illustrated by Robin Kishiwada, was published by Kadokawa Shoten under their male oriented Sneaker Bunko label in 2005 and 2006. Bandai Entertainment released all four volumed in English between 2009 and 2011. A novelization of the Eureka Seven film Pocketful of Rainbows sharing the same name was also written by Tomonori Sugihara and illustrated by Hiroki Kazui and Seiji has also been released in Japan on May 1, 2009.

Video games

Eureka Seven has three video games, all developed by Bandai or later Namco Bandai Games. The first to be released was Eureka Seven Vol. 1: The New Wave, which was released in Japan on October 27, 2005, and in North America on October 24, 2006. The game features a different cast of characters and takes place two years before the anime. A sequel, Eureka Seven Vol. 2: The New Vision, was released in Japan on May 11, 2006 and in North America on April 17, 2007. New Vision takes place two years after the events of New Wave. Both games were released on the PlayStation 2 and feature the theme song "Realize", sung by Flow. A PlayStation Portable game sharing the same name of the anime, was released on April 6, 2006, in Japan. This game is based on the events from the first half of the show.

Films

A theatrical adaptation, Eureka Seven: Good Night, Sleep Tight, Young Lovers, was first announced in the May 2008 issue of Newtype; it was publicly released on April 25, 2009, during Golden Week, with the animation production handled by Kinema Citrus. It contained a new mythos in an alternative universe, despite still featuring Renton and Eureka as the main characters, and confirming the events of the original series happened in a parallel world. Good Night, Sleep Tight, Young Lovers screened at select theaters nationwide in the US for a one night only special event on September 24, 2009 courtesy of Fathom Events. The movie also played at the Fantasia festival in Montreal on July 28, 2009. The main theme song for the film is "Space Rock", by iLL.
A second three-part theatrical adaptation, Psalm of Planets Eureka Seven: Hi-Evolution, was announced on March 17, 2017. The film trilogy takes place before and during the events of the original series, as well as having an original story. The first movie was released on September 16, 2017. It shows the "First Summer of Love" phenomenon, previously only alluded to in the series and retells the "Charles and Ray" arc of the original. The second film, taking place in an alternative universe and focusing on Anemone, was released on November 10, 2018 under the title Anemone: Psalm of Planets Eureka Seven: Hi-Evolution. The last film, titled Eureka: Psalm of Planets Eureka Seven: Hi-Evolution was originally planned for release in 2019, but was delayed to 2021.
At Anime Boston, Masahiko Minami confirmed that the first film of the trilogy will premiere in Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand in Fall 2017, and that Funimation will distribute the film in the United States. Madman Entertainment will distribute the film in Australia and New Zealand. Anime Limited will distribute the film in the UK. Odex later announced they will distribute the film in Southeast Asian territories.

Reception

Towards the end of its original Japanese run, Eureka Seven won multiple awards at the 2006 Tokyo International Anime Fair, including Best Television Series, Best Screenplay for Dai Satō, and Best Character Designs for Kenichi Yoshida. Yoshida, the series' main animator and character designer, also received an individual award at the 10th Animation Kobe Awards in September 2005. The series also won an award at the 20th Digital Content Grand Prix in Japan in January 2006. At the Anime Expo 2006 SPJA Awards, Eureka Seven won the award for Best Television Series, and Best Female Character for Eureka. Anime Insider voted it "Best DVD Series of the Year" in 2006. During a conference in 2010, writer Dai Satō claimed that many anime fans dismissed Eureka Seven as a clone of Neon Genesis Evangelion without even watching it.
The sequel series, Eureka Seven: AO, was met with mixed-to-negative reviews from fans and critics, who criticized the series for contradicting themes of Eureka Seven. It was however awarded the jury selection prize by the 17th Japan Media Arts Festival Awards.