Cover By: TheLaughingMan
Article By: TheLaughingMan
Cover: Renton Thurston reffing on a reflection board.
Psalms of Planets Eureka seveN (交響詩篇エウレカセブン)
It would only be appropriate to make the first issue of our forum’s ray=out magazine about the anime it came from:
Psalms of Planets Eureka seveN (交響詩篇エウレカセブン).
Eureka seveN takes place 10,000 years after the mass exodus of humanity from Earth, set in the world referred to as the “Promised Land,” a world covered by a sentient life form called Scub Coral - the life form responsible for the presence of Transparence Light Particles, commonly called Trapar Waves. The story is primarily focused on and seen through the eyes of Renton Thurston, a fourteen year old boy who sees his life as the ultimate example of boredom and dissatisfaction. Renton Thurston is the son of an acclaimed military researcher, Adroc Thurston, who died saving the world approximately ten years before the series in an event known as The Summer of Love; because of his death, Renton was left with his sister Diane, and his grandfather Axel. Not too long before the series Diane leaves Renton and his grandfather at first for unexplained reasons, but as the show progresses, it becomes apparent that she leaves in order to find truth and answers to her fathers’ work, obsessing over his research. Facing the world without a proper path to follow, Renton’s’ dreams and his passion is what keeps him able to move on; his love of lifting, or “reffing” according to some fansubs and official translations in some countries, allows him to hang on to life, a popular sport similar to surfing but uses Trapar Waves to propel the lifter through the sky. His ultimate dream is to join Gekkostate, an outlaw group led by a renowned lifter named Holland Novak; and as fate would give him - an opportunity literally falls out of the sky with a large LFO (Light Finding Operation; mechs of the series) known as the Nirvash typeZERO crashing into his room. Stepping out of the crashed mech is a pale young girl with aqua/teal hair and lavender eyes, who Renton falls in love with at first sight, named Eureka (not actually pronounced the way English would have it, but you can watch the show if you really want to hear it). Instantly Renton’s world becomes one with his dream, joining Gekkostate after delivering a special part known as the Amita Drive to the Nirvash, activating a dormant power causing the Seven Swell Phenomenon. But just as quickly, Renton begins to realize the dark truth of Gekkostate, a group of ex-military special ops soldiers, responsible for the massacre at the Vodarac city of Ciudades del Cielo; a dark past not depicted in the surfer-styled-life printed in the pages of their illegal counterculture magazine ray=out. Throughout the entire series Renton, faces challenges and decisions from “getting along” with the members of Gekkostate, to running away in search of who he is, and his heart. But as time progresses only one thing makes his life worth living and that’s being with Eureka; protecting her, and catching her. The field is set: Renton, Eureka, and Gekkostate plunge into a world of chaos, adventure, and mystery, a journey that will shape the fate of the world.
Now, I’m not the kind of guy that writes spoilers for people; if you really want to know how the anime goes, then watch it. But the one thing that separates this anime from most others is its wide variety of themes. The anime is categorized in keywords such as: romance, mecha, science fiction, and coming of age. Or as MBS Producer Seiji Takeda says:
“This show would likely fall into the category of PF = philosophical fiction. It is a term used to describe sci-fi novels of the 90’s and also one of Director Kyoda’s favorite phrases. I, too, believe that the term and every nuance contained within it accurately describe this show.” Several predominant themes in the series include racial and religious tolerance, parenting and family, and identity and protection, all of which are watched over Renton’s overarching theme and struggle of change and growing up.
Interestingly enough,
Eureka seveN uses many allusions to pop-culture, from character names to episode titles. Composed of 50 episodes, and first airing in Japan on April 17, 2005 and ending on April 2, 2006, all of Eureka seveN’s episode titles are real songs, from the 1st episode: “Blue Monday” by New Order, to “Ill Communication” by the Beastie Boys, to the last episode: “Wish Upon a Star” by The Drummonds. Even the model number of the Gekko-go (Gekkostate ship), SL-1200 MK-II is the same as the SL-1200 direct-drive turntable (a DJ turntable actually shown in the series a couple of times). Other allusions to pop-culture are the names of the characters. Renton and his sister Diane are named after characters from the film Trainspotting. Even the names of lesser characters are references to the real world: such as Jobs and Woz (hardware and software engineer for the ship) are named after Steven Jobs and Steven Wozniak, founders of the Apple Computer Co. Other interesting allusions are the names of the three kids: Maurice, Maeter, and Linck; named after the Belgian playwright Maurice Maeterlinck. There are many other references, even in location names (such as Tresor) and dialogue.
In 2006,
Eureka seveN won a multitude of awards at the Tokyo International Anime Fair; awards such as Best Screenplay for Dai Sato, Best Character Designs for Ken’ichi Yoshida, and Best Television Series. Other awards include Best Female Character for Eureka during the Anime Expo 2006 SPJA Awards. Eureka seveN was produced by BONES Studio, distributed by Bandai Entertainment (and its affiliates), with the Series Composition by Dai Sato, Character Design by Ken’ichi Yoshida, and Series Director Tomoki Kyoda.
I hope you enjoyed reading all this. Feel free to discuss anything about the anime in this topic; from favorite characters, to random pictures, to other things you want to ask/point out in the anime…
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ray=out Issue No.01 "Eureka seveN" 
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