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R2 DVD Reviews
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Written by maehara
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Thursday, 18 September 2008 16:00 |
 Poor Renton's feeling unwanted, and decides that maybe it's time for him to move on - which is met with more dismay by the Gekko crew than he would have expected (not that he's around to see it). The one person on the ship who would really miss him, though, is the one that no-one tells about his disappearance: Eureka...
21 - Runaway
The Vodarac have been called upon to perform a ritual that Holland hopes will return Eureka to normal, and after an agonizing wait it seems as though she'll make a full recovery. However, Holland's now convinced that Renton's a danger to Eureka and the Gekko - a danger he won't tolerate for much longer. Renton has his own worries, though - the mental anguish caused by having killed a man is weighing heavily on him. So much so that he's beginning to wonder if he made a mistake by joining Gekkostate, and decides it's time he moved on. Meanwhile, with the military unable to deal with Holland themselves, they're lining up a little freelance help to try and take him down...
22 - Crack Pot
Eureka's recovery continues, but no-one's bothered to tell her about Renton's disappearance yet. He's the centre of all the gossip on the Gekko, with most bets being on him just going through a rebellious phase, and that he'll soon be back - but it seems more serious than that. Since parachuting off the ship, Renton's been aimlessly wandering the countryside, facing a life on the streets after most of his kit is stolen. Eventually, though, he meets freelance pilot Charles Beams and soon finds himself travelling with Charles and his wife Ray, unaware that they've been hired by the military to deal with Holland. Back on the Gekko, meanwhile, some of the others are beginning to realise that Eureka is in love with Renton...
23 - Differentia
Renton's settling in to life on Charles' ship, and doing his best to make himself useful. It's a more relaxed atmosphere than the Gekko, and he seems to be more appreciated by Charles and Ray than he ever was by Holland and co, which suits Renton just fine. He's soon getting involved in Charles' work, though - first up, a courier mission that takes them into the midst of a city under high alert of terrorist attack. The "package" is a young girl, dying, who must be taken to the Vodarac holy land before she passes away. Simple enough on the face of it, but when Renton hears why the girl is dying, he's driven to do something else to help her situation - but his meddling only makes the situation worse. Back on the Gekko, Eureka is asking some awkward questions about what love is - and Renton seems to be foremost in her mind...
24 - Paradise Lost
The Gekko's usual missions continue, but Holland's heart clearly isn't in it, and his lack of concentration is beginning to both bother and worry the rest of the crew. They're also missing Renton, as much for the useful chores he did around the place as for anything else. Having finally learnt of his departure, Eureka has begun filling in for him, but she's pining after him herself - and in her fragile mental state, that's not a good thing. Meanwhile, Charles and Ray have taken to Renton enough that they've begun treating him as their own child - but finding out who Renton's father was seems to be a huge shock for both...
25 - World's End Garden
Renton's back on his own again, and wandering aimlessly. He eventually ends up in a mist-covered forest where, weak with hunger and tiredness, he finally collapses. He's taken in by local farmer Will Baxter, who's pleased to have a guest - he's been living alone with his ill wife Martha for some time now, and Martha, who Renton believes is suffering from desperation disease, isn't the best of company. On first seeing Martha, Renton immediately realised there was something very wrong about her - and maybe with Will, too. Meanwhile, following through on his promise to Eureka, Holland has begun his search for Renton, and is already making progress in tracking him down...
The introduction of Ray and Charles was a nice change - they're both very different from the Gekko crew, with a homely, laid-back feel about them that makes them very easy to watch. You can see why Renton was so taken in by them. Ray has some of the appearance of a Coralian about her, which makes me curious to know more about her - but that's going to have to wait for another time, as Renton's decision to move on again draws that story thread to a premature close. It's clearly only Eureka that's drawing Renton back to the Gekko - everything else being equal, he'd be far happier and better off with Charles and Ray, but that's not what the story needs.
Eureka and the rest of the Gekko crew only really play a fringe part in this volume's episodes - the reasons for him leaving and Eureka's reaction to it are both important, but they're only covered very briefly, with Renton's travels taking most of the focus. That's not such a bad thing - most of the crew have only ever been stereotypes, and while Eureka's adorable in some ways, she's a cipher in others, and for these episodes she's back to being the girl with no personality. In that mood, she doesn't exactly make for riveting viewing.
Instead, we get five episodes of Renton's voyage of discovery, which is interesting as much for the people he meets along the way as for what he learns about himself and his place in the world. Ray and Charles we've already covered, but Will and Martha deserve a mention as well, as it's Will that perhaps best puts into words what Renton's trying to figure out for himself. The story of how he and Martha came to be where they are now also makes for a good diversion from the many story.
Eureka Seven seems to be a real love-it-or-hate-it series - I've seen reviews on other UK sites that have scored it very poorly, but while there are some aspects to the show that need work, overall I don't believe it deserves the kicking it's received elsewhere. This volume changes the dynamic a bit with the introduction of Ray and Charles, but with them sitting on the fringes at the moment I'm not expecting any drastic changes from future volumes - and that's no bad thing. Eureka Seven is one of those series where I wait eagerly for each new volume, and is definitely worth a look.
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