is Eureka Seven a "girly anime"?

[Totoro Man]

I've taken a liking to "Eureka Seven". however, one of my friends said that it looked "too girly". I'm curious about what that might mean. is this one of those animes where women like it more than men?

while the dub wasn't horribly--I find it more entertaining in the original Japanese. the only English dub actors I feel more or less satisfied with are the ones who play Holland and Talho. the others don't quite do it for me.

there's some great moments in the show (like when Eureka tries using make-up for the first time... or any time Anemone starts fighting people... and I like how three-dimensional most of the major players are).

I guess I could see how it might be a 'chic flick anime' as there's SO much time spent on relationships (good and bad) and people sorting out their "feelings". but to each their own.

I'm perfectly fine with most people finding it boring or just not caring.

I actually loved "Night on the Galactic Railroad" which has GOT to be one of the most slow-moving, introspective, and depressing anime I've seen in ages. hell, I'd say it's almost as bad as "Grave of the Fireflies". and most people have either never heard of it... or fell asleep watching it. I guess sometimes there's such a thing as being "too philosophical" in anime... (I'm looking at YOU Mamoru Oshii! :rolleyes: )

[Neal R]

Eureka 7 could be perceived as "girly" for those reasons you stated. That's also why I like it. The confession scene in episode 1 where Renton and Eureka first meet in the cockpit of the Nirvash is what made want to check out the show in the first place--and the show hasn't disappointed.

Another thing your friend could be responding to is the way it's designed. Everything's soft and bright. That's not to say that this is a cute show but if you compare it to something like GUNDAM ( a show that focuses more on war and the effects of war), there's a marked difference.

This reminds me of a story once. A while back the FOX network aired a handful of episodes of Escaflowne. The show of course was butchered (I applauded them for just getting it on the air even the form that it did) but they started it at episode 2. To get to the action faster. They didn't want it to appear to be too girly. Episode 1 takes place primarily at a high school track and field and involves the lead girl confessing her feelings to a boy she likes.

[Arilou]

I'm fairly certain it's not a shoujo series.

[The Xenos]

Hurm. I think Eureka Seven is one of many anime series trying to get a cross gender audience. It has the action, mechs, and sexy girls for boys and a love story, pretty boys, and soap opera drama for the girls. I think. Haven't seen too much of it. I know they said Gundam Seed was more like a J Drama soap to get more female viewer ship. Though even Wing had pretty boys to get more of a female audience. I think many companies might be trying this. I know Code Geass is surely guilty of this tactic.

[Arilou]

Which of course is only wise, why try to exclude 50% of your potential customer base?

[AllisterH]

Which of course is only wise, why try to exclude 50% of your potential customer base?

Heh, what do you think manga/anime are? Superhero comics? :D

[Totoro Man]

well, having seen some episodes over again--yeah, it's definitely more 'girly' than most of the stuff I've seen out there. but I still like it. all I had to do was listen to some of the Japanese audio commentary from the female actors to put the "nail" in that "coffin". they kept talking about how "sweet" the series was, or how insightful and emotionally raw the stories and character interactions were.

doesn't get much more "girly" than that! not enough bad-ass fight sequences and stoic warrior types who never let anything bug them, I guess.

my sister watched part of one episode, and regarding Holland Novac, said, "heh, he's certainly a pretty boy." so... there ya have it. I like "girly anime".

given that my first manga purchase was ALL of "Maison Ikkoku" I guess that doesn't surprise me. :o (still the best writingTakahashi ever produced, cuz she didn't chicken out of resolving things... forever)

[Len Ikari145]

well, having seen some episodes over again--yeah, it's definitely more 'girly' than most of the stuff I've seen out there. but I still like it. all I had to do was listen to some of the Japanese audio commentary from the female actors to put the "nail" in that "coffin". they kept talking about how "sweet" the series was, or how insightful and emotionally raw the stories and character interactions were.

doesn't get much more "girly" than that! not enough bad-ass fight sequences and stoic warrior types who never let anything bug them, I guess.

my sister watched part of one episode, and regarding Holland Novac, said, "heh, he's certainly a pretty boy." so... there ya have it. I like "girly anime".

given that my first manga purchase was ALL of "Maison Ikkoku" I guess that doesn't surprise me. :o (still the best writingTakahashi ever produced, cuz she didn't chicken out of resolving things... forever)

Have you watched the whole series yet? The battle scenes get much more intense after halfway through the anime. Plus, the plot gets very intriguing. But yeah, Eureka Seven isn't a heavily action-oriented show. It emphasizes more on character development, interactions, philosophy, pseudo-science and the general plot.

Though, as Arilou said, it doesn't have a shoujo feel about it. It's basically seinen(slice of life genre) mixed with mecha and sci-fi. It adds extra dimensions not only to the characters, but the story itself. I don't see how making the characters and the situations feel more realistic "girly". It still has more than its fair share of combat(and the battles are *intense* and at times, very brutal), it's just not the main focus of the show.

[The Xenos]

Seinen isn't slice of life. Seinen is manga targeted at older males. Stuff like Berserk, Golgo 13, or buisiness or golf manga for buisinessmen.

[Len Ikari145]

Seinen isn't slice of life. Seinen is manga targeted at older males. Stuff like Berserk, Golgo 13, or buisiness or golf manga for buisinessmen.

Oh, my bad.:o

[Totoro Man]

Have you watched the whole series yet? The battle scenes get much more intense after halfway through the anime. Plus, the plot gets very intriguing. But yeah, Eureka Seven isn't a heavily action-oriented show. It emphasizes more on character development, interactions, philosophy, pseudo-science and the general plot.

Though, as Arilou said, it doesn't have a shoujo feel about it. It's basically seinen(slice of life genre) mixed with mecha and sci-fi. It adds extra dimensions not only to the characters, but the story itself. I don't see how making the characters and the situations feel more realistic "girly". It still has more than its fair share of combat(and the battles are *intense* and at times, very brutal), it's just not the main focus of the show.

***SPOILER***

I love this recurring theme of "fighting people always leads to somebody getting hurt or dying." sure it's kinda obvious, but it's so nicely handled on a dramatic level that I think it works well.

just saw the two episode where Charles and Ray attack the Gekko. man alive, that was depressing... ESPECIALLY when Ray bites it. and yet, very cool at the same time. I like the fact that the fights and violence aren't simply about looking cool or show-casing awesome moves.

on the Charles and Ray/Holland fights they did a great job of making the characters on each side three-dimensional and very likeable--so when it finally comes down to "kill or be killed" it's almost difficult to find which side you want to root for.

let me rephrase that, even though Holland is an almost complete asshole, it's made very clear that he desperately WANTS to do the right thing--but frequently goes about it in the worst possible way. so it makes you want him to win even more when he's risking his life to save the two main characters.

heh, and to think that got shown every Sunday morning at 7 AM for a year. the could be a bummer of a way to start the day, lol. not quite as bad as watching "Donnie Darko" over breakfast, but it's up there, lol.

[Shameless Fanboy]

To me, it's only a "girly anime" because the title character is a girl. But otherwise, you have huge robots fighting each other in epic sky battles, a young male lead, a madman's suicidal plot for world domination, and alien invaders who can kill people horribly with a single touch...

But I do think Eureka 7 does have some girly elements in the sense that there is a drawn-out love story (or two) among some otherwise seriously non-girly stuff...

[Devil_LeonX]

Is there a Box set of the entire series out yet and not so expensive I hope...

[Neal R]

Is there a Box set of the entire series out yet and not so expensive I hope...

Bandai's latest release for this will be out in the second week in January I believe. That's Volume 11. I haven't seen a solicitation for Volume 12 which will wrap it up.

Bandai's policy seems to be lately that they will re-release it at a future date in a cheaper collection. All those "Anime Legends" releases, for example. Don't hold your breath for it, though.

If you want a deal on what's out right now, go to Rightstuf.com. They've got the first 10 volumes bundled for a nice discount. Personally, I like the art boxes that come with this series.

[Devil_LeonX]

Bandai's latest release for this will be out in the second week in January I believe. That's Volume 11. I haven't seen a solicitation for Volume 12 which will wrap it up.

Bandai's policy seems to be lately that they will re-release it at a future date in a cheaper collection. All those "Anime Legends" releases, for example. Don't hold your breath for it, though.

If you want a deal on what's out right now, go to Rightstuf.com. They've got the first 10 volumes bundled for a nice discount. Personally, I like the art boxes that come with this series.

alright thanks alot man

[Laughing Mask]

no but it has some hot chicks!

hot! hot! hot!

[Robotech Master]

That it did. Besides Eureka and Anemone being cute characters in different ways, I remember Talho and Gidget being especially well designed.

[Totoro Man]

Is there a Box set of the entire series out yet and not so expensive I hope...

I wouldn't get it, honestly, UNLESS they had a veritable boatload of extras... meaning like at least TWO DISKS of bonus materials that includes all of the bonus material thus far and THEN some.

it's very interesting that the recorded the original voice actors as an ensemble cast (that's really odd for animation, anywhere in the world). it was recorded more-or-less as though it were a live-action movie. maybe that's why the Japanese audio has a VERY different feel than the dub.

I always like seeing alternate character designs that didn't quite make it. how they decided on a particular design, or how they made their casting decisions. if any changes were made to the script during the production... stuff like that. any artistic or literary influences, or even criticism on both sides of the Pacific might be interesting.

I like the extras thus far, but I wouldn't buy a box-set unless they had significant differences or extras to offer.

[Wenatchee the Hatchet]

This is a show where, now that I've seen everything up through volume 11, just screams out all the reasons why subtitles with original Japanese audio is better than dub. Especially in this case with the ensemble work the cast does. It's very awkward to listen to the dub voices for Renton and Eureka after hearing the original crew. The only two dub voices that come close are the ones T-Man mentioned.

When Totoro Man brought by the first volume of this series he can vouch for how deeply skeptical I was about this show. People operating mecha that fly around on surfboards promised to suck like nobody's business! And the meet cute of the earliest episodes didn't seem that promising. Around the time Renton gets hazed I began to think the series was simultaneously getting too cutesy but at least going in a direction I didn't quite anticipate. I was sufficiently curious about the political intrigue and Eureka's obviously not being human to wonder when Renton was going to figure that out. So I gave the series some more time and Anemone's introduction and the plot shifting rapidly into darker stuff about Holland being an abusive asshole won me over to the series. All the cute designs masked some pretty dark stuff that I liked.