For those who grew up watching “Eureka Seven” or for those wanting to watch this classic sci-fi mecha anime series in completion, now you can with “Eureka Seven: The Complete Series”. A fantastic anime series that I will forever cherish and a deep and entertaining sci-fi anime series that I highly recommend!
Image courtesy of © 2005-2006 BONES. All Rights Reserved.
TITLE: Eureka Seven: The Complete Series
ANIME SERIES AIR DATE: 2016
DURATION: (Episodes 1-50) 1250 Minutes
BLU-RAY INFORMATION: 1080i High Definition (4×3 SD Remaster), English and Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0, English Subtitles
COMPANY: Funimation
RATING: TV 14
Release Date: August 30, 2016
Series Director: Tomoki Kyoda
Series Composition by Dai Sato
Music by Naoki Sato
Character Design by Kenichi Yoshida
Art Director: Atsushi Morikawa, Kazuo Nagai
Chief Animation Director: Kenichi Yoshida
Anime Production: BONES
Featuring the following voice talent:
Kaori Nazuka/Stephanie Sheh as Eureka
Keiji Fujiwara/Crispin Freeman as Holland
Michiko Neya/Kate Higgins as Talho Yuki
Yuko Sanpei/Johnny Yong Bosch as Renton Thurston
Akio Nakamura/Kirk Thornton as Matthieu
Ami Koshimizu/Kari Wahlgren as Anemone
Aya Hisakawa/Melissa Fahn as Ray
Eriko Kigawa/Peggy O’Neal as Maeter
Fumie Mizusawa/Jessica Straus as Gidget/Linck
Juurouta Kosugi/Patrick Seitz as Charles Beams
Kouji Tsujitani/Kim Strauss as Dewey Novac
Mamoru Miyano/Steve Staley as Moondoggie
Mayumi Asano/Megan Hollingshead as Hilda
Michiko Neya/Mary Elizabeth McGlynn as Maurice
Rikiya Koyama/Jamieson K. Price as Norb
Shigenori Yamazaki/Peter Doyle as Dominic Sorel
Tamio Ohki/Kyle Hebert as Ken-Goh
Tarô Yamaguchi/Tony Oliver as Hap
Yasunori Matsumoto/Doug Stone as Stoner
Relive the classic era of anime with the studio that brought you Escaflowne, Fullmetal Alchemist, and Wolf’s Rain. Returning to the spotlight after almost a decade, Eureka Seven – the greatest anime love story ever told – makes its long-awaited arrival on Blu-ray!
Renton is a teenager trapped working as a mechanic in a backwater town. He dreams of joining up with a daredevil group of pilots known as Gekkostate and following in his father’s heroic footsteps.
When a mysterious beauty named Eureka shows up asking for a tune-up, Renton soon finds himself drawn into a high-flying mecha dogfight that makes him a target of the military. When the dust settles on the spectacular battle, Renton is invited to join Gekkostate, but he soon discovers that even a dream come true has a dark side.
“Eureka Sevenâ€, the popular mecha anime TV series from Bones has spawned video games, novels, movies and also a manga series which ran in Kadokawa Shoten’s “Monthly Shonen Ace†from 2005-2006 with a total of six graphic novels released. And a sequel to the anime series titled “Eureka Seven: AO” would air on television in 2012-2013 (and would focus on the character, Ao Thurston).
As the anime series was a big hit in the US airing on the Cartoon Network’s “Adult Swim†and it was a series that introduced many people to anime.
And now this anime sci-fi classic will be released as a complete collection on Blu-ray courtesy of Funimation.
“Eureka Seven†revolves around a boy named Renton Thurston, a young 14-year-old who is brash and tends to enjoy living for the moment. His hobby is grabbing his lift board (somewhat like a surf or skateboard but is used for floating in the air) and just riding it and having fun. Renton, also happens to be the son of the late military hero Adroc Thurston and the grandson of famous scientist Axel Thurston. But unlike them, Renton is not into studying nor does he have any career ambitions, he’s just a boy who idolizes Ray-Out Magazine’s Holland Novak, a professional lift board rider.
One day, a mecha (an LFO known as Nirvash typeZERO – the world’s first humanoid mobile machine – Light Finding Operation) crashes near his home and inside it comes out a girl who piloted it. While repairs are being done on the LFO, Renton becomes happy when the girl tells him that she knows Holland (Renton’s lift board idol) and immediately, Renton becomes happy but the more he sees this girl, he starts to fall for her.
The military (U.F. Force) then disrupts their meeting as they try to get the girl and the two quickly escape on the LFO together.  While being pursued, somehow the two managed to create “The Seventh Swell†and grabs the attention of Holland and his crew (known as The Gekko State). Can Renton be the source of hidden power of the Nirvash?
Meanwhile, we learn from the military why they are pursuing Eureka and that she and the Nirvash were part of a major military secret project that was stolen by Holland and now they want her back. Meanwhile, the crew wonder if Renton is the real deal of what happened with the Nirvash or was it freak situation that just happened. As for Renton, he’s just happy to be part of a group that Holland belongs to and most of all, to be near Eureka.
While the bulk of the main storyline of the first half of the manga series features The Gekko State trying to hide from the military or getting into battles with each other, a third party, an alien race known as the Coralians have reappeared and for some reason, they are also going after Eureka.
Outside of the storyline involving the Gekko State and UF Force, the other primary storyline is Renton and Eureka’s storyline as two people who don’t understand their emotions but they are attracted to each other. The other storyline focuses on the Novak brothers as we see Holland doing what he can to protect his team but trying to calm his hatred towards his brother Dewey, and vice-versa as Dewey tries to put his plan to rule UF Force and using anemone (a girl who looks similar to Eureka but are quite different) to destroy Gekko State and those who will stand in his way.
The main characters of the series are:
Renton Thurston – The main protagonist. A 14-year-old who loves to ride a lift board and a boy who feels that he can never live up to his father’s legacy. He idolizes Holland, has a crush on Eureka and will do whatever he can to help her (including becoming a member of Gekko State).
Eureka – An unusual young woman with blue hair. She is the pilot of the mecha Nirvash typeZERO. She doesn’t comprehend these emotions she has when she’s around Renton. She is also the adoptive mother of three young kids: Maurice, Maeter and Linck. She and Holland are the primary pilots of Gekko State.
Holland Novak – The popular lift boarder but also the leader of the Gekko State. He tries to analyze Renton and wonder if he is the person behind the secret power of the Nirvash typeZERO. Holland is a former member of the SOF, a military unit but when he was ask by Norb to protect Eureka, he took her and the Nirvash from the military to protect her. Now he is a wanted man. Meanwhile, he has a deep hatred towards his brother Dewey. Holland pilots the LFO known as Terminus typeR909.
Yuki Taiho – A friend of Holland and Dewey when they were in the military. Yuki now pilots the Gekko and is a close confidant of Holland.
Gekko State – A group of lift riders and friends who support Novak’s goal. Other members include Matthieu, Hilda, Stoner, Ken-Goh, Mischa, Gonzy, Jobs, Woz, Hap, Gidget and Moondoggie. Also, joining the team are three orphans: Maurice, Maeter and Linck.
Colonel Dewey Novak – The main antagonist who takes control of the U.F. Force and has a deep hatred towards his brother Holland and the Coralians.  His greatest asset is Anemone who is loyal to him.
Anemone – A person who resembles Eureka but belongs to Dewey of the U.F. Force. She can sense Eureka and she loves to eat sweet things. She is the pilot of Nirvash LFO, typeTheEND.
Lieutenant Dominic Sorel – A young lieutenant assigned to tend to Anemone’s needs and works for Col. Dewey Novak. Although a high ranking officer of the U.F. Force, he seems to have some differences with his superior which he keeps to himself.
The Coralians – Eureka Seven takes place 10,000 years after humanity left for space after the arrival of the aliens known as Scub Coral. Because they merged with the planet, humans were forced to leave the planet and moved into a planet known as Land of Kanan which parts of the land are occupied by the Scrub Coral. The Coralians are manifestations that either ravage a land, attack humans (after they have been attacked) or a human-form of Coralian who try to learn from humanity.
VIDEO:
“Eureka Seven: The Complete Series” is presented in 1080i High Definition (SD Remaster). It’s important to note that this is an older anime series from 2005-2006 and was aired in standard format. Overall, picture quality is good for the overall animation but there is slight softness and this series was released before anime companies would focus in creating anime in HD.
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
“Eureka Seven: The Complete Series” is presented in Japanese and English Dolby TrueHD 2.0. The series did not receive a Funimation 5.1 treatment, considering the series was released many years ago by Bandai Visual. But for the most part, dialogue in Japanese and English is crystal clear and English subtitles are clear and legible.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“Eureka Seven: The Complete Series” features the following special features:
NOTE: Japanese audio commentary comes with English subtitles
- Episode 1 Commentary – Featuring audio commentary by Japanese voice talents Yuko Sanpei (Renton) and Kaori Nazuka (Eureka).
- Episode 7 Commentary – Featuring audio commentary by Japanese voice talents Yuko Sanpei (Renton), Kaori Nazuka (Eureka) and Mamoru Miyano (Moondoggie).
- Episode 13 Commentary – Featuring audio commentary by Japanese voice talents Yuko Sanpei (Renton), Kaori Nazuka (Eureka) and Shigenori Yamazaki (Dominic)
- Episode 15 Commentary- Featuring audio commentary by Japanese voice talents Yuko Sanpei (Renton), Kaori Nazuka (Eureka), Akio Nakamura (Matthieu) and Mayumi Asano (Hilda).
- Episode 20 Commentary – Featuring audio commentary by Japanese voice talents Yuko Sanpei (Renton), Kaori Nazuka (Eureka) and Kenji Fujiwara (Holland).
- Episode 26 Commentary- Featuring audio commentary by Japanese voice talents Yuko Sanpei (Renton), Kenichi Yoshida (character designer) and Masayuki Miyaji (storyboard artist).
- Episode 27 Commentary – Featuring audio commentary by Japanese voice talents Yuko Sanpei (Renton), Kaori Nazuka (Eureka), Jurota Kosugi (Charles) and Aya Hisakawa (Ray)
- Episode 32 Commentary- Featuring audio commentary by Japanese voice talents Yuko Sanpei (Renton), Kaori Nazuka (Eureka) and Ami Koshimizu (Anemone).
- Episode 36 Commentary- Featuring audio commentary by Japanese voice talents Yuko Sanpei (Renton), Kaori Nazuka (Eureka), Eriko Kigawa (Maeter) and Fumie Mizusawa (Gidget)
- Episode 39 Commentary – Featuring audio commentary by Japanese voice talents Yuko Sanpei (Renton), Kaori Nazuka (Eureka), Yasunri Matsumoto (Stoner) and Taro Yamaguchi (Hap)
- Episode 43 Commentary- Featuring audio commentary by Japanese voice talents Yuko Sanpei (Renton), Kaori Nazuka (Eureka) and Kenji Tsujitani (Dewey).
- Episode 50 Commentary- Featuring audio commentary by Japanese voice talents Yuko Sanpei (Renton), Kaori Nazuka (Eureka), Kazuhiro Wakabayashi (sound director) and Tomoki Kyoda (director)
- Yuko Sanpei (Renton) and Kaori Nazuka (Eureka) Interviews Part 1
- Yuko Sanpei (Renton) and Kaori Nazuka (Eureka) Interviews Part 2
- Interview with Stephanie Sheh (Eureka)
- Interview with Johnny Yong Bosch (Renton)
- Keiji Fujiwara (Holland) and Michiko Neya (Talho) Interviews Part 1
- Keiji Fujiwara (Holland) and Michiko Neya (Talho) Interviews Part 2
- Keiji Fujiwara (Holland) and Michiko Neya (Talho) Interviews Part 3
- Interview with Crispin Freeman (Holland) Part 1
- Interview with Crispin Freeman (Holland) Part 2
- Interview with Crispin Freeman (Holland) Part 3
- Kate Higgins (Talho)
- Episode 50 (Special Textless Version)
- Textless Opening and Ending Songs 1-3
- U.S. Trailer
- Trailers
EXTRAS:
“Eureka Seven: The Complete Series” comes with a slipcover.
Over a decade ago, “Eureka Seven” made its debut on Japanese television.
Not long after, the series would air in America on Adult Swim and for many, it gave more recent anime fans a glimpse of a sci-fi mecha anime series with a love story (while others have grown up with watching it in various “Gundam” series and “Macross”).
“Eureka Seven†is an awesome series. From when it starts out, I really enjoyed the underdog theme going for it with Renton being this unlikely hero but turning out to be a young kid who is really turning out to be more than anyone has expected.
Eureka is also an interesting character as she is quite mysterious and the whole Gekko State team is pretty cool and for the most part, cool characters and interesting antagonists. Throw in the alien Coralians and you have that secondary evil that made you wonder how this series will progress.
For those not familiar with “Eureka Sevenâ€, I think those who have followed the “Mobile Suit Gundam†or “Gurren Lagann†series will definitely find “Eureka Seven†to be an entertaining series.
You get a large group of characters but a storyline focusing on the underdog who turns out to be quite the hero but yet has the low self esteem issue and tends to doubt himself. Sure, it’s a prevailing theme with many mecha series but in this case, where Gundam focuses on survival and “Gurren Lagann†focuses on eradicating the evil on the planet, “Eureka Seven†so far has been a storyline featuring a band of renegades with stolen military technology and trying to avoid being detected by the military.
Problem is, both sides have similar technology and it’s all about who will be the last person standing, in this case…it’s either Gekko State or the UF Forces.
And as the series progresses, things really become dramatic as the Gekko State faces several tragedies and the group taking part in a major battle. And of course, Renton and Eureka’s up-and-down friendship/relationship and much more.
As for the anime series on Blu-ray, I have to emphasize that this is an older anime series released in 2005-2006, so picture quality is featured in 4:3 standard format and 1080i, not 1080p.  With that being said, while the series is not vibrant as one would usually see in a newer anime series on Blu-ray, the upscale is still very good. Character designs, art backgrounds and everything else about the series looks very good on Blu-ray. There is a slight softness but that can be expected with an anime TV series.
As for the audio, it’s presented in English and Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0 and for the most part, dialogue, music and special effects are crystal clear through the front channels.
And as for special features, you get a ton of audio commentary from the Japanese voice actors (with English subtitles) and also interviews with both Japanese and English dub voice cast.
Overall, for those who grew up watching “Eureka Seven” or for those wanting to watch this classic sci-fi mecha anime series in completion, now you can with “Eureka Seven: The Complete Series”. A fantastic anime series that I will forever cherish and a deep and entertaining sci-fi anime series that I highly recommend!