Eureka Seven: Astral Ocean – 08

June 1, 2012Guardian EnzoUncategorizedAnime, Eureka Seven, reviews

It’s ironic that Eureka Seven AO is the first series in almost two years to make me question whether I really wanted to be blogging at all.

Sorry, Haters – I’m not jumping ship. I still love AO, and that’s just the problem. For some reason the overwhelming negativity I see towards this series really bothers me, more so than with just about any series I’ve covered. It’s not as if I’m unused to disagreeing with most fans about a series, and it’s not as if the general reaction to AO has been negative. The show does quite well on MAL and Anime Planet ratings, and the comments on this blog have generally been positive. But the negativity has been so loud, so shrill, and – in my view – so wrong. And maybe because I have a special place for E7 in my heart despite it’s flaws, that really depresses me. This is a show that I love to watch and find exhilarating, and one where the experience of being a fan should be overwhelmingly positive – but instead, my mood is dragged down by all the hate. It’s enough to make me wonder whether I really should be doing this – it’s not like I’m getting paid for it. I do it for love of anime, and Eureka Seven is an elemental part of my love of anime.

If I might vent a bit, let me just state why I think the criticism of AO is misguided – bearing in mind of course that opinions are just that, and art is subjective. I could compare this to another beloved series getting a sequel in the past year, Last Exile. What I see here is a series by BONES trying to be true to its predecessor, yet expand beyond it. With Gonzo, I see a series blatantly casting its core values aside to try and cash in on the flavors of the moment. AO is a series with a talented writer and director trying to make a statement, with animation drawn by hand. This is anime created by people vs. anime created by a committee, and the contrast couldn’t be more stark.

So what is AO about, really? Well, I don’t think it’s any coincidence that there was a Madoka Magica reference early on, as this show owes as much to that one as it does to any (though with Aikawa Shou rather than Urobuchi Gen I expect less overt hopelessness and despair) apart from the original Eureka Seven. Look at the track record of Aikawa Shou – Martian Successor Nadesico, UN-GO, OER. This is a writer fascinated by politics, by generational betrayal, by the untrustworthiness of our five senses. His stories feature a fundamental distrust of authority and often dip their toes into illusionary worlds. In the 1950’s Eisenhower (a former 5-Star General) warned Americans about the “Military Industrial Complex” – a warning I wish Americans had heeded more closely – and this is the root of what Aikawa-san is depicting here, and in UN-GO. As with Madoka, he’s doing a kind of deconstruction here – not of E7 per se, but of mecha anime and sci-fi anime in general. He’s exploring the core assumptions of child soldiers in the same way Urobuchi Gen did with mahou shoujo. That’s why you see elements from not just the original Eureka but also other pillars of these genres, like NGE (and sometimes even direct references to them).

The trickiest part of all this is that Aikawa and director Kyoda-san have to do this while maintaining the spirit of E7 and linking to it, and so far I think they’ve walked the tightrope brilliantly. But I hear complaints that it’s too different from E7, that it’s confusing (seriously, after E7 to complain this is confusing?). The kerfuffle over Naru’s supposed betrayal (about which we know next to nothing) reminds me of the uproar over Nagi’s virginity when Kannagi was airing. I don’t feel the need to have everything explained a third of the way through the series, and I think the links to E7 have been suggested and teased quite smartly. For me, E7 was all adolescent rage against the machine – disrespect for authority, surfing, club music… AO is E7 grown up (ironic, given that the hero is younger) – rather than teenage angst it’s dystopia. Rather than a fantasy setting it’s our own Earth in the unsettlingly near future. AO is it’s own show, and I don’t want a copy – I want something that feels like E7 but moves beyond it, and that’s exactly what we’re getting from BONES here. And I’m just sad that more people don’t see it that way.

Which brings us after that roundabout introduction to this week’s episode which, apart from a dip in animation quality, provided another example of the superb writing this series has consistently provided (screenplay was by the esteemed Kawasaki Hiroyuki, who wrote the adaptation of Hyouge Mono). Once again Astral Ocean displays a philosophical similarity with it’s predecessor handled in much different style, and that’s the moral ambiguity of the authority figures (and power figures too – not necessarily the same thing). In some ways I think E7 was told from Renton’s POV – it was that world as seen from the POV of an angry 14 year-old boy. Well, we have an angry 12 year-old boy at the center of AO, but the narrative perspective here is more reflective – in a sense, it’s as if the story is being told by an adult Ao looking back at these events.

The differences between Ao and Renton are an interesting element of the two series. Ao is an angry boy, but (and bear in mind, I like Renton) the anger is born more of righteousness – a trifle grandiose, but genuine – rather than self-pity and sullenness. Gazelle makes reference to Ao hating his father of course, but what does that mean, exactly? Ao presumably doesn’t even know who his father is (we of course assume it’s Renton), so perhaps he simply hates him in absentia – and hates him for being absent (or even more, for abandoning his mother). Bear in mind too that Gazelle is a young man who hates his father himself, and for good reason. Hatred of fathers is hardly a rare subject in mecha anime, but it’s certainly very much at the heart of this one.

Then there’s the father who’s very much present in this story, Christophe Blanc. Fleur hates him because, effectively, he saved her life at the expense of that of her mother – certainly a defensible action. Or perhaps there are deeper reasons and that’s just the one she tells herself is true because it’s straightforward and easy to get a handle on. What’s clear here is that there are multiple axes of power at Generation Bleu, each with their own agenda, and it’s not clear which are “good” and “evil” yet – and most likely, all are somewhere in-between. Blanc is kind to Ao when he tries to take the Nirvash and go after Naru, when Rebecka is pressing for severe punishment – but then he makes sure Ao knows he’s under his thumb by sending Gazelle, Popo and Han to obviously shadow him Keystone Kops style. He apparently cuts a deal with the Americans to remove Pied Piper from dealing with a Secret attack in the nation of “Feisal Arabia”, an enemy of the United States – then used Gazelle and his team (who seem to have become Blanc’s odd jobs squadron) to fake a news report to force America into relenting and letting Pied Piper save the day.

I don’t think Blanc wants anyone to know just where he stands – perhaps he even knows that Stanley and Rebecka are keeping their own counsel behind his back. It’s an inescapable fact that GenBleu is both a military rescue outfit and a money-making corporation and that Blanc must ultimately answer to his stockholders. I’m also intrigued by where Ivica stands in all this, and right now my sense is “caught in the middle”. I’m convinced that he really does prioritize protecting the children on his team – but not convinced that there isn’t a more sinister reason why that’s such a priority. Like all the other adults he knows more than he’s letting on. I’ve seen numerous complaints about this being yet another mecha series where the pilots must be children – but for me, that’s akin to criticizing Madoka Magica because the mahou shoujo are all little girls. AO is exploring the very nature of the premise here, and digging deeper into the consequences of it – the stuff that most series skate right over.

Meanwhile Aikawa and his team continue to pepper the story with intriguing mentions of Secret events at key moments in our history – in this case, Philadelphia 1752, where Benjamin Franklin supposedly discovered electricity by flying a kite in a lightning storm. The implication here is that The Secret have played a critical and perhaps even intentional role in human development. There’s also a very obscure and clever reference by Elena as she opens fire – “A Hot Day in Little Russia”, which is the overture from Mussorgsky’s opera “The Fair at Sorochyntsi” – which is about a demon and temptation. She also makes reference how Ao and Fleur should “Gattai” – which would no doubt please Rika from Hagani. Universe!

While the scuttling of Ao’s plan to rescue Naru took her character out of the mix this week, the other pilots were very much at the center – especially Ao and Fleur. I enjoy the banter between the three of them which (perhaps because of the youth of the seiyuu) rings quite true – they behave as adolescents quite naturally would in this strange situation, or so it feels to me. I think Elena’s imagination (“Elopement!”) was running away with her, but there’s no question that Ao and Fleur found common ground – and in the same way teenagers often do, complaining about their parents. Indeed, the Fleur flags were raised proudly this week, but I don’t think they trump Naru’s even more prominent flags. This is proving to be an area of distinction between the two E7 series though, as there was really never any doubt about the potential pairings in that series (though there were certainly more of them).

So at that, we’re officially a third of the way through the series. Astral Ocean has done exactly what I hoped it would do – carve an identity of its own, while still strongly hinting at the direct connections to the original series. It certainly isn’t a series that’s taken the safe route for a sequel, and I’m happy that’s the case. Going for edgy and difficult is always riskier than giving fans exactly what they expect – not that there’s anything wrong with that if you do it well enough – and it remains to be seen whether BONES will be rewarded for taking this approach. Given that the negativity is so much louder than the opposition it’s tempting to believe AO will fail commercially, but I still have hopes that won’t be the case – not just because BONES is in dire need of a hit, but because I want studios to be encouraged to take chances and challenge their audience, even with beloved franchises like this one. For my part I’m going to do my best to be objective and not let my enthusiasm as a fan get the better of me, but also to not let the negativity spoil the experience of watching the series. In the end things like BD sales are out of my control, and the only opinion that really matters is my own.

Guardian Enzo

38 comments

A

Anonymous
June 1, 2012 at 10:29 pm
Reply

"I want studios to be encouraged to take chances and challenge their audience"

Please, there's nothing challenging about this show. It's just a pile of tired tropes. Although, the harem shenanigans introduced in this episode may end up saving the series (commercially speaking).
A

Anonymous
June 1, 2012 at 11:14 pm
Reply

>nothing challenging

False.

>saving the series

Pre orders were among the top. I don't know wtf you are talking about.
admin
June 1, 2012 at 10:57 pm
Reply

And so it goes…
x

xRichard
June 1, 2012 at 11:17 pm
Reply

Let the kids whine all they want.
N

Nayrael
June 1, 2012 at 11:02 pm
Reply

I know the feel Enzou. I love the show and also find the criticisms irritating becase, really, it is undeserved.
S

SQA
June 1, 2012 at 11:11 pm
Reply

On the sales numbers: the early indications were that AO will be the best selling first Volume of the season. Maybe in the 20k BluRay range? I'd have to go find the post someone made about the "preorder velocity" numbers, but it's going to be a strong seller. At some level, it's a E7 series.

Short political note: I don't want to take the comments in a political direction (mostly as arguing politics on the Internet is right up there with arguing Religion), but the US Federal Budget FY2011 spent 19% on Defense. We listened to Eisenhower quite well. Of course, we also double downed on sending money to the Disabled and the Retired. And this doesn't cover the point that Europe outsourced their military spending to the USA.

But, still at the end of the day, War is Politics by another name. Christophe showed that pretty well in this episode. He obviously cut a deal with the USA Secretary of State to keep the Nirvash for cancelling the contract with Faisal Arabia. But he had no intention of either allowing the Secrets to blow up the Scub Coral or lose the Quartz. Which is where Gazelle and company come in. (Though that was kind of a refrigerator moment at the end, they'd have been out of the studio long before Pied Piper made it back)

AO has a very different storytelling perspective from E7 TV. I do agree that E7 was pretty much a POV story and Renton's coming to understand the world, both good and bad. (Especially coming to understand that you have to make hard choices, and those including killing people when you're in a War) Whereas here, Ao & Fleur just got hit up side the head with the fact that world is a far more complicated place than just rushing in to save the day. It was a nice thing to see, as most series just gloss over the problem of a "rampaging Hero". There's rules and to have to work within them, if you don't want everyone to turn on you.

Which is another contrast to E7, but we've all noted that one a lot. E7 was a complete rejection of the Current Order; AO is dealing with the world inside that Order. While it opens up a whole lot more storytelling paths, it's a big risk. No one gets to really be a pure villain. Though E7 didn't even really have that. Dewey just had slightly too high of a tolerance for "acceptable losses."
admin
June 1, 2012 at 11:16 pm
Reply

I don't think we listened very well to Eisenhower well at all. When companies like Haliburton write the defense budget and "private" corporate militaries are paid hundreds of millions for "security" operations, the military industrial complex is as big a threat as Ike could ever have feared.

This issue of the different perspectives of the series is a critical one, I think. Not only is AO less of a first-person narrative, but Ao – despite being younger – is actually more mature than Renton in many ways. E7 is full of moral ambiguity, but with a desperate desire to see grey as black and white (Renton's desire). Ao/AO don't seem to have that same inclination.
admin
June 1, 2012 at 11:11 pm
Reply

Thanks, Nayrael. I will say it's been much more positive here than most places I look (including RC) which gratifies me. Perhaps over time I've inevitably managed to draw mostly readers whose tastes are similar to mine – though I still get a lot of disagreement with some of the other shows I blog.
L

Litho
June 2, 2012 at 1:57 am
Reply

RC is hardly a barometer for quality. Most of the people there actually enjoyed drivel like Guilty Crown and LE:Fam. Only go there to look at screencaps, and although I must admit I wouldn't have discovered LoA if not for RC, why do you even blog there these days?

Anyways, with regards to E7:AO. Yes, I have quite a bit to complain about, especially these last 2 eps (BONES are running the risk of reverting to the old E7's flaws), but it hasn't been totally bad so far. The original E7 was 10% awesome (Charles & Rey arc), 10% great club music, 30% Renton being a whiny fag, 30% Holland abusing Renton cos he was butthurt, and 20% just plain weird (Eureka being retarded, mainly). That adds up to 20% good vs 80% bad. This one is currently 60% good vs 40% bad, by my not-so-generous standards. It was 75% good before Truth (seriously, that's the corniest hipster name I've heard in a while) showed up, though.

Still good by most standards. Yes, there are better shows out this season (Apollon, Tsuritama, Fujiko, Space Bros) but AO's still better than almost anything from last season, and (at the moment) already much better than its predecessor. I have no clue what the criticisms are since I don't follow that many anime blogs, but most of it's probably undeserved.

Just my few cents.
admin
June 2, 2012 at 5:20 am
Reply

Heh, if you think E7 is 80% bad I consider that review a ringing endorsement of AO!
S

SQA
June 2, 2012 at 5:49 am
Reply

Since talking about E7, if you have time, it's really worth a rewatch. Renton actually isn't a whiny as we tend to remember him being, especially in the second half of the series.

It also holds up really, really well. And you can't help enjoying when Storywriter pops up. Which is actually my only real complaint about AO: there's no awesome insert song. (Can't have everything, haha)
A

Anonymous
June 2, 2012 at 9:15 am
Reply

30% Holland abusing Renton cos he was butthurt. You know that part really disturbed me, ESPECIALLY later on once you find out that rentons father was Hollands "Hero" and Renton looked up to Holland the same way but Instead Holland Beat that kid for half an episode for like ten episodes or whatever, I mean I had never seen so much CHild abuse in any kind of medium, and it really pissed me off, a LOT more than Renton's whiny ness, I was really glad once renton left the ship, that saved it for me I mean I was so close to deleting that shit if he hadnt left the ship when he did. then of course the ray and charles part was the best and kept me hooked till the end, but yeah that child abuse section. . .fuck that
K

KayDat
June 3, 2012 at 9:28 am
Reply

@Enzo:
That pretty much describes me. Like Litho, your posts caught my eye on RC, and I started frequenting here after a while. That, and anyone who loves Cross Game is a winner in my books.

@Anon:
When was the last time you watched it? Go back and give it another go if it's been over a year or two. You'll be surprised as you grow older, your perspective changes and you start empathising with different characters differently. I probably had a very similar view to you the first time (and second…and third…hey, I've rewatched it so many times I've lost count :3) I watched the show, but when I went back to it after a few years, I realised that I started to relate a bit more to Holland, and found at the end of the show I actually didn't hate his guts. Very surprising, and entertaining to watch something you thought you were so familiar with, and then see it from a different viewpoint.
admin
June 3, 2012 at 4:33 pm
Reply

Thanks Kay, obviously glad to have you here.

Anon, I must say I agree with you about Holland – the physical abuse of Renton definitely rubbed me the wrong way, and it doesn't change with review. Violence against children is a zero-tolerance thing for me, and while I could feel some sympathy for Holland in other respects, ultimately I could never accept him as a sympathetic character after that revolting display.

The saving grace for me was it wasn't as though we were supposed to be rooting for him or anything – I think the writers intended for it to be shocking. But in my view they made a mistake and it was too over the top.
H

Helen
June 1, 2012 at 11:13 pm
Reply

I'm watching the Funi simulcast so I'm a week behind but I agree that I'm confused why other people are saying they're confused (since E7 waited a full 26 episodes to start explaining 75% of what was going on there) or how it's an Eva rip-off (because in my mind E7, and RahXephon, were the anti-Eva, how the world could literally be destroying itself around you yet it could still be saved if you somehow, miraculously, still had a positive enough attitude about it). I would love to have a gigantic cast like the first show again but really that's my only complaint so far, it's just a bit too early to be freaking out over the plot or such.
S

SQA
June 1, 2012 at 11:14 pm
Reply

One thing I do keep finding hilarious is the people that complain about AO compared to E7. They somehow forget that the plot had been mostly suspended for 6 episodes by this point in E7. It'd be another several episodes before it got started again, then it would be another 20 episodes before anything actually got explained.

Yet this is confusing? E7's world story was given by IV drip over 35 episodes, then one huge injection. We've gotten quite a lot here in AO. So, every time I see that objection, I laugh pretty good.
x

xRichard
June 1, 2012 at 11:38 pm
Reply

Fleur's development in a box, that's how this episode felt to me as the overarching plot was obviously paused. I don't know why she opened herself that much with Ao so quickly. I guess it has to do with them being children. By the way, sometimes it feels like they over-stretch some scenes (Truth's mayhem, Ao's being followed).

Enjoyable episode. And yes, complainers fail to see how similar is this show to the original. My gut is telling me that it's going to be even better.
admin
June 2, 2012 at 12:00 am
Reply

It was a change of pace, but I don't see it necessarily as a pause of the plot. I think Fleur's connection to Ao is an important part of the plot, in fact. As to why she warmed to Ao so quickly, I don't know that she did – it has been several eps since they met. I think she sees that he's idealistic and respects that, and I think hearing that he also has parent issues helps too. Nothing unites adolescents more than complaining about parents.

Or maybe she just thinks he's cute.
T

Tolly
June 1, 2012 at 11:52 pm
Reply

During the first E7 I really enjoyed the world that was created in the story. It was probably the reason that I was drawn into the series. The idea of lifting and LFO builders/diggers. The pylons everywhere and how the voderak were persecuted. The unknown past of Joy Division, even the way compacts were used to power everything. There were lots of little details and fun childish things that made you feel like just going off and exploring it for yourself.

When Bones made the series X'amd I believed it was the closest thing we would ever get to an E7 sequel. Now the real thing is here and I find myself enjoying every second of it. However, I understand why fans would complain. Instead of lifting and playing pranks for the first 8 episodes, this series has been all business. AO isn't allowed to eat ice cream with his brother doggie, and we have yet to see the captain of the pied piper walking about in his underwear.

I guess what I'm really saying is that maybe the fans were expecting the childish stuff before the serious eps. I really love Astral Ocean and I feel it's a good follow up to palms of planets. I expect Ao will get a chance to lighten up some once he gets out from under Genblue's thumb.
I

Indigo_Fire
June 2, 2012 at 12:57 am
Reply

Enzo, I am really really glad that you're blogging this series. I've loved every minute of it so far and definitely think it improves on the original in almost every way, but reading all the negativity on the ANN forums and elsewhere has been downright depressing. Your reviews are a breath of fresh air amongst all the stale criticism, so keep at it!

As for this episode, I loved the intricacy of all the political maneuvering and deceptive conversations that we saw, though I was a bit disappointed that Ao seemed to put Naru out of his thoughts so quickly. I certainly approve of the writers not letting him run off to rescue her and being forced to abide by authority, but I wish we had seen a little more internal conflict in him throughout the episode. I suppose that's a bit of a nitpick though.
admin
June 2, 2012 at 1:56 am
Reply

Thanks, Indigo. I think we saw Ao's anger over Naru's situation at the beginning, but it would have been hard to portray in the rest of the ep with everything going on. It would have ground things to a halt, yknow?
j

jebnemo
June 2, 2012 at 3:46 am
Reply

And would Ao, at this point, even stand a chance against The Truth? I'd speculate that it won't come down to an actual fight, but Naru deciding what she wants to do.
S

Seishun Otoko
June 2, 2012 at 1:42 am
Reply

Hmmm… I didn't know there was so much negativity out there. I know Enzo's a fan and the last time I checked, pre-orders for the BDs look pretty decent 😉
admin
June 2, 2012 at 1:52 am
Reply

They do look pretty good. I'll be on pins and needles on the 22nd.

I think a lot of people really like the show, but in most public forums it's nothing but complaints. I suppose the answer is I should stop reading them, but at RC that's not an option…
I

Ishruns
June 2, 2012 at 1:59 am
Reply

A simpler episode to follow about the backhand politics of war. You notice that in anime Americans, or rather the American government/military are always bad guys or certainly not good guys. No wonder the Japanese government and press want to do away with them.

Was a fictional character like Nagi not being a virgin that big a deal?
S

SQA
June 2, 2012 at 2:48 am
Reply

It was mostly a thing on 2chan, but apparently got picked up for mockery all over the place. There were a few die-hards pissed about it, but it seems more it became a way to mock the otaku over than it was such a huge actual deal. But I only came upon the kerfuffle quite a bit later, so that's my "after action" impression.
M

Myssa Rei
June 2, 2012 at 3:44 am
Reply

Not to derail the topic a bit, and it's been a while since it happened, but it was due to the revelation that, in one chapter of Kannagi, that Nagi (who as an ancient goddess is expected to have dalliances with similar being) was revealed to have had a lover prior to the start of the series. The creepy segment of the fandom fixated on the "purity" aspect (and all fandoms have this — see K-On for some really weird examples) basically flipped out, and made a spectacle of things on the message boards.

Many believed that this was the real cause of why the manga went on hiatus, and not because of the manga-ka's declining health. Given how she's done All-Around Type-MOON in the interim (where most of the skits from Carnival Phantasm are actually from), maybe there is some truth in it.
i

info600
June 2, 2012 at 4:57 am
Reply

it's a shame that most media today only displays what the creator WANTED the viewers to see…
(which explains the American hate, though it might be that the Americans doesn't want Arabia to become an energy exporter once more)

Funny how politics work…all those selfish self-interests (intentional grammar mistake for effect), but what is Christophe Blanc's intent through out all this?

Final note: troll(Elena) strikes again…twice
S

Snuckerpooks
June 2, 2012 at 6:48 am
Reply

Holy cow, this post brought the nemotoads to typing finally. I agree with you Enzo. This is a fantastic show, it has the right amount of everything. But my opinion for Guilty Crown was also positive. GC was a fun show for me, E7 is a fun show for me as well.

I really do hope that the sales of this series do skyrocket, because all I see for posters are Macross, Accel World, and One Piece everywhere. This season really is a great season for anime and for me E7:AO is part of that fantastic line-up. I hope other people don't get butt-hurt and turn to something else before they just relax and watch it for entertainment purposes. Once you realize it is a fun show, it all makes sense how there are lots of people that love the series.

I really love the style of their UI's for computers though. That interface just looks so darn cute!
A

Anonymous
June 2, 2012 at 8:03 am
Reply

I just wanted to post a small message to encourage you.
I have not been able to really watch anime these last weeks as I'm preparing for a new job abroad, but I have tried to follow a bit the beginning of E7 AO thanks to your blog.
All I want to say is : thank you. It is a pleasure to read everytime, I can see in your posts that you really enjoy this show, and even better you really make me want to see it too. I'll be sure to finally watch it when I have time to do it.
And about negativity : BD sales will be the only real way of seeing popularity. Haters can make a lot of noise on the Internet, sometimes being aggressive, while people who appreciate the show often just enjoy it without feeling the need to contradict persons with a different opinion.
Anyway, I'll be waiting again for your next AO post with pleasure.
S

StopGoingtoAnieSukiForums
June 2, 2012 at 8:58 am
Reply

Enzo, Just stop going to Animesuki forums, For YEARS that place has been a cesspool of the "My/our opinion is right, and you are scum for disagreeing" attitude, seriously just stop going there, blog what you wanna blog and use the time spent there replying to posts to people that dont want to have a discussion but just want ATTENTION and go cure cancer or something.

I went there a couple years ago (saw some of your posts there too…they were good) and just got turned off at that B.S. that I promptly deleted that site from my cache. That is not a site to have a discussion at all.
S

Setsuken
June 2, 2012 at 11:27 am
Reply

I honestly may just be out of touch of the anime "fandom" but I feel like I've never really been a huge fan of forum discussions and the like. People there are waaay too bickery, and I've found that bloggers and their comments are the true advent of where intelligent, smart discussion about anime is.

I love Eureka AO, in fact, my roomate who hasn't seen the previous series, loves it as well. Not only does that prove that this series is exceedingly awesome for fans, but it attracts newcomers as well, despite being a sequel.

Honestly, Mecha anime has kind of been on the down low lately, and it's great to see one of the more endearing franchises making a return and delivering.

I haven't the faintest clue where all this negative criticism has been emanating from, but in the circles where I watch, read and enjoy Anime, it seems to be quite beloved. =D
admin
June 2, 2012 at 2:35 pm
Reply

Setsu, thanks – that's always good to hear. Buy the Blu-rays!

It isn't so much AF where this negativity pervades but just about everywhere but here, seems to me. The solution is surely for me to just not give a damn, of course.
A

Anonymous
June 2, 2012 at 8:49 pm
Reply

Good in depth reviews as always. I can see this series going for the 50 ep mark, mainly because there's a rich new story and world we've come into and there's so much room to grow. Plus the fact that just because we haven't see any old cast but Eureka, really just means their slowly merging the two series. Why make it a direct sequel if your not going to bring up the old series and characters? That wouldn't make any sense, it would be shooting them self's in the foot and i see form the pace the series is taking how this should all progress. Just have some patience and enjoy the series as on it's own and it'll get to where we all want it to go.
admin
June 2, 2012 at 11:15 pm
Reply

Sadly, it's confirmed for 24 eps. But if the discs sell well (a 5-figure average at least, I should think) a 2nd season seems very possible. An OVA is already planned.
h

hikari
June 3, 2012 at 5:20 am
Reply

I thought most of the negative comments were in AF, but it's totally no big deal for me. So far I've been greatly enjoyed by AO & none of those negativity will affect my view of it. Just like what yourself said anyway Enzo, art/anime is subjective & people opinions will always different anyway, despite how great/awesome a title can be I'm sure there's always someone/anyone who didn't like it. Heck, I even know there's some people who hate Anohana, Steins Gate, etc. After watching anime for quite a long time I kind of used with all the pro-cons surounding it, but I understand your feeling perfectly cuz i've been through the same thing many times before. All I can say is keep up your good job on AO so far & your solution is the right thing to do of course, I mean although I have a rather similar taste with you but it doesn't necessarilly makes us always having agreed on almost everything, right. Well, that's what makes us human fascinating anyway.
A

Anonymous
June 3, 2012 at 7:28 am
Reply

Well confirmed but many anime that have multi season start that way, the starting ratings for first few eps will tell the broadcaster if it's a sure thing. Plus the first e7 was 2 seasons and a well rated show.
M

Mormegil
June 3, 2012 at 9:40 pm
Reply

As a member of the MAL community, the comments there have been quite negative. The previous episode, in particular, was bashed left and right. It's a shame because unlike the recent Last Exile series, I feel like AO is actually doing a lot of things right. It's always a difficult thing when you take a beloved series and add a sequel(or reboot) to it years after the original. Most people will go into watching it with a negative attitude: "The sequel will never live up to the original!"
Obviously that goes for all entertainment mediums out there, not just anime.

Anyway, with two huge disappointments – the new Last Exile and Blood-C(not exactly a sequel, but you get my point) – it's great that there are series like Eureka Seven: AO and the new Hunter x Hunter that are doing just fine on their own.

Don't let them get you down, Enzo. We're still early on, and the negative comments may go away in the future.

Guardian Enzo

Related posts

38 comments

Anonymous

Anonymous

admin

xRichard

Nayrael

SQA

admin

admin

Litho

admin

SQA

Anonymous

KayDat

admin

Helen

SQA

xRichard

admin

Tolly

Indigo_Fire

admin

jebnemo

Seishun Otoko

admin

Ishruns

SQA

Myssa Rei

info600

Snuckerpooks

Anonymous

StopGoingtoAnieSukiForums

Setsuken

admin

Anonymous

admin

hikari

Anonymous

Mormegil

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply