[Spoiler Alert! Eureka SeveN episode 26, Xam’d ep 19, the Macross ones are negligible]
I’ve been warned, and people can say they told me so. Well yeah, you told me so. Eureka SeveN is awesome. Every so often it will blow me away with a big moment. Episode 20 gave me a big one, but it’s this particular moment in the 26th that I had to pause the show to fight the tears.
I say this fully and without irony: This young love, is beautiful. My 14-year old self could only dream of a story like this. And maybe that’s why it’s so powerful. A fantasy where a young boy gets to act out and fail as much as humanly possible while fighting his way back to get to a point where he can be redeemed by love.
At 14 I was learning to play the guitar and finding the right power ballad that I can sing to my crush who had zero interest in rock music. I was too stupid to care. Rock conquers all (it didn’t). Renton gets to do awesome things. I don’t get angry at him when he fucks up the same way I got pissed at say, Ikari Shinji or Amuro Ray. I’m too busy getting pissed at Holland, who at the halfway point of this 50-episode anime is such a huge failure in being a man about things. It’s quite brilliant, really.
So what about this moment? Renton finds his way back to the Gekko-Go just moments after Eureka realizes how she can’t depend on Holland who is a failure even at lying, and leaves the ship only to run into the trap set by the Federation to catch the Gekko State. Renton flies out on the Nirvash Type Zero to rescue her. And HE DOES. The moment itself I can describe via comparison to similar scenes in other awesome shows.
This moment is like… (in terms of visual spectacle)
or
Plus the emotional power of…
Only that put together, they are still <
This could very well end up being one of my favorite moments of anything. Nothing against Macross or Xam’d. These are great moments in themselves. In the Macross examples, these are exhibitions for the animators calling attention to how cool and exciting things get in the show. In the case of Xam’d, it’s quite special how the female lead does the rescuing, and the execution of the drama is so good that I wholeheartedly forgive the smoky cheesiness of the whole thing. But the whole of Eureka SeveN episode 26 is near perfect, and the moments leading up to this image and the moments immediately after give this even more power.
We Remember Love 
Indeed, one of the single greatest moments in anime history and it’s just fuckmazing, especially with the multicolored clouds in the background and stuff. Fucking glorious. A truly, truly special moment.
And interestingly, that episode is where Holland makes that concious decision to grow up in the closing mometns and proceeds to GAR up consistently over the rest of the show.
Yes, more on Holland later. Holland is another example of remembering love done awesomely.
Agreed. On of my favorite moments in the series.
It stands on its own, but what I’m particularly impressed about it is how powerfully it builds on its inspiration. This is but one example (where it references/is comparable to similar scenes in both SDF Macross and Spirited Away; and there are many where elements of previous shows are lovingly referenced and built on. The Gekko-Go is the White Base after all.
I’ve mentioned in digiboy’s videocast that writing blog posts is but one way to ‘remember love,’ and if I could have my way, I’d make a robot anime too like these guys from BONES did.
Flying moments!!! Pretty much loved that scene in Frontier, and in E7. Had to go watch 4th E7 OP, as I recall a sequence like that there…
It’s the 3rd OP. I WANT’ TO FLY AWAAAAAY, when Anemone freaked out when she saw Eureka and Renton in each other’s arms while falling through the air, while the 1st chorus played, falling into the cockpits of the upgraded Nirvash… whooo
I’m not a fan of the 3rd OP, but I actually love that scene. If I remember correctly, I think even the 1st OP (Days) had a similar thing. Oh, wait until you see the 4th OP. Never have I felt shivers down in my spine watching the sequence in years ever since Gundam Wing’s 2nd OP.
Oh something to look forward to then! I actually am putting my viewing on hold (I’m at 35) until I can finish writing the posts I want to write. I have at least two more. I blitzed through Martian Successor Nadesico only producing 2 posts which is a shame because there’s so much to talk about there.
One of the best scenes in anything, ever. I think it was possibly conceived as a tribute to the Macross scene, but became a billion times more. More amazingness is yet to come though.
A lot of people really came down on Xam’d for basically recreating this moment, but Xam’d has its own merits.
Mechafetish told me that the real inspiration/analog for the Xam’d scene is Spirited Away because it involved the lead female character getting the lead male to remember his name: a critical plot point (and yes this all happened while flying and falling and catching). I haven’t seen Spirited Away in a loooong time, but I vaguely remember this part.
One of the things that makes this scene so incredible is the amazing run of episodes that lead up to it. The show is at its best here, and this scene is the culmination of a great arc. It all comes together in one magical moment that the series truly earned. Their reunion is truly heartwarming.
Agreed, and the following ones don’t let up on the momentum either. It really switched into a higher gear and it is I who needs to step back a bit and reflect. There’s no need for me to rush to the final arc which everybody tells me is awesome anyway.
With less time to re-watch episodes, I really am going to savor these and create the best content I can out of my experiences.
Ah I love this that sequence. After listening to the commentary of this episode, I started to notice all the little things of this episode. Things like the lighting in the scene with Eureka and Holland or the colors of the clouds and what they represent in the situation. Heck, even Talho’s sudden hair movement. Worth a listen if you find a way to get the DVDs.
You’ve certainly given me enough motivation. The commentary is in english?
Kinda yeah. The audio track for the commentary is in Japanese and it has English subtitles for it. That one had Yuko Sanpei, the voice of Renton, Masayuki Miyaji, the episode’s director, and Kenichi Yoshida, the animation director. This was one of the more informative ones. Some episodes you get random talk between the voice actors, but it is always enjoyable. Commentary tracks are what usually convinces me to buy the DVDs.
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no point saying i agree with everyone cos anyone that watches it will, what im trying to get is the song they play all before he catches her and where can i get it?
There should be OSTs available (4 discs). I forgot the name of the track though.
HOWEVER, I think a similar scene near the end of the series got to me even more. I think you know what I’m talking about, lol.
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Ah this comment is months late but I just found this and gotta say: G
REATEST MOMENT EVER. OF ANYTHING. PERIOD.
The emotion, the soundtrack, the skyscape, the heroic danger, the power of LOVE!
The first time I beheld this scene, I forgot I was watching an animation and was transported into the fantastic world of Eureka seveN, if only for a moment before the akwardly overrought emotionalism of the show brought me back to reality.
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This is probably the anime moment I’ve rewatched the most. Your review is awesome.
Don’t think of it as a review, just a piece of loving faggotry. Thanks for the kind words.
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That scene gave me the GOOSEBUMPS 🙂