The Series (5/5)

    Somehow in all my years of watching anime (since the late 90's), the 2005 series Eureka Seven had managed to fall through the cracks. So until the complete Blu-ray series landed on my doorstep the other week, I had not heard of, let alone seen what is described as "The Greatest Love Story Ever Animated".  Eureka Seven follows the exploits of a young kid named Renton.

    Renton as the story begins is the assistant to a mechanic (I should say WAS, he finds himself unemployed soon after the show starts). He is bored with his life, and thinks everything about his existence sucks. He is great fan of the Gekkostate and wants to live the exciting life he thinks they lead. One day, a mecha crashes through his window piloted by a woman named Eureka. He is immediately taken by her, and as it turns out she is a member of the Gekkostate. He joins them, but is soon to find out that the life they are purported to lead, and the one they actually do is not one and the same. However, he finds himself enamored with the mysterious Eureka, and attempts to get closer to her as the series progresses.

    The Complete Series collects part 1 and 2 that Funimation released in 2014 in one convenient set. The first half of the series spends its time building the world of the series, its conflicts and characters and does so in a subtle and effective manner that creates a group of people that viewers are certain to care about especially Renton.  The first half is setup into small vignettes with the crew just taking on mercenary tasks for money. The 2nd half of the series which  can be viewed as taking off from the point when Renton returns to the Gekkostate after his break from the crew, is more about Renton's feelings of loss, and the relationship he is now trying to build with Eureka. All the while things are becoming more difficult for the Gekkostate.

    Eureka Seven absolutely deserves every accolade it gets. The animation is absolute wonderful for the most part. The writing is compelling throughout the 50 episode run from the narrative down to the characters and their relationships. There really is a great love story here, and it is not exactly typical, and it is occasionally bleak. The action is excellent, but because it's punctuated with real depth of character it's made all the more greater.

Audio/Video (3.5/5)

    Funimation Presents Eureka Seven in a quite solid 1:78:1 1080p AVC encoded transfer preserving the shows OAR.  The show looks quite solid, but not perfect. Colors  are nicely reproduced, detail is solid for the most part, there is some softness at times. 

   The audio is presented 2 Dolby TrueHD 2.0 mixes in English and Japanese. Both tracks are quite suitable for the material with dialogue and score coming through nicely.

Extras (2.5/5)

    There are episode specific commentaries, interviews with the voices actors, and opening and closing clean animations.

Overall

    One of the best mecha animations I've seen this side of Evangelion and Rahxephon Eureka Seven's true strong suit is strong characters with excellent relationships. The Blu-ray has solid A/V, and decent extras. RECOMMENDED.