[Reckoner]

Originally Posted by Arabesque

For myself, I was sold on the show from the introductory episodes. It managed to hit all the right notes with me, not just as a stand alone series but as what I felt was a spiritual successor to E7. The animation was excellent, the fights were fun to watch, the characters and their VA were likable and matched well IMO, the music was good etc. but more than that, I felt that I was watching E7. It managed to capture the same feeling the first series had, and even now I can still sense the same vibe from the older show in the backdrop of this one. Maybe it's the hints we had been getting, but when it comes to those I'm having more fun trying to casually figure out what is going on (only to have it all be revealed near the end and for me to be mostly wrong ), so I'd like to think that there is a quality that is distinctly E7 included in this anime.

Well I was in your camp for the first three episodes. What transpired afterwards with team Goldilocks and the Truth is where I fell off the wagon.

Originally Posted by Arabesque

Of course, none of this is tangible. These are all feelings, hints and general aesthetics that sell me on the show and for me at least, enough to place my faith that I'm going to get something good out of AO by the end of the 24th episode. Which is exactly why I can empathize with Reckoner here. He is simply asking ''what exactly am I looking at?''. He wants to understand and know exactly what is this show going to do, and how does it relate to the older anime that he loved. I get that since again, this is a time investment into an anime that may or may not turn out to be related to the older E7 in a concrete way. I get the core of his position, and to be honest, I think that had I not been loving this show so much right now, I would be agreeing with him mostly.

Of course, I had accepted that no answers will be given at this time. It's like the older show where the answers were presented only at the finale. Or at least, That's what I think it going to happen here, since again, I have no way of actually knowing how will the series will unfold. I can only place my faith in that it does so in a satisfying manner.

I'm fine with answers being presented later honestly... I'm not asking this show to tell me what the Truth is about (Though I thought this writing choice was generally poor), or what's up with quartz or the G monsters... These are things that generally most anime will not answer immediately and not for quite some time. All I'm asking is something I can really get behind that reminds me that this is indeed Eureka 7. I was feeling it in the first 3 episodes but the show now feels so so so different to me that I can't even recognize what I am watching anymore. Not quite sure this is Eureka 7.

Originally Posted by Arabesque

I do agree that compared to the older anime, AO lacks the same amount of diverse cast members, however I don't think that is a bad thing when the show has less time compared to the older anime, so I would think that having a lesser amount would be better to help focus on the more core characters.

Also, I don't really think it matters much if the cast is made out of adults or out of children, I mean look at a show like Dennou Coil. What was impressive about Holland and Tahlo was their past history and inner demons, motivations for what they did and do in the series, the development they received and how much they changed and grow (yes, grow) to be better people thanks to it (the scene where Holland starts to cry gets me every time), and most importantly, they had their moments where they had shown exactly how great they were. Being adults, I think, doesn't really factor much into it other than it helps with making them have a history together.

So far with AO I've felt that the stories presented were pretty good, but I don't think it's fair to compare them to the older anime when this show didn't get around to showing us exactly how will these plot lines will conclude. Ao's and Fleur's stories so far are the ones I'm most involved in, but I can't really compare them when they had just started.

Well the way I'm looking at it right now, we're about at the 1/3 point of this show, and getting closer to the half point (If this ends up getting more cours that would be more assuring but no indication of that so far). In the first series by this point we already got plenty of development for many of the cast members, most all being Renton and Eureka, as well as Tahlo and Holland (Not saying they finished their character arcs since that doesn't happen for quite some time, but neither has Ao for any characters). Just things that were hooking me about their characters and kept me interested in following them.

I like Ao in this show, and Fleur so far has been OK, but that's where hte majority of the development has been and nowhere else. Considering Ao has started becoming very static, at least in comparison to the gradual evolution of Renton throughout E7, I question what they were doing with their time. Well one explanation would be that they are focusing more on plot lines and setting developments, but both because I find this setting a bit bland in comparison and I'm not invested in many of the characters I find it hard to really enjoy what I am seeing.

Originally Posted by Arabesque

You might be one of the few people out there who liked Renton's personal narration form the get go

For me, I find Ao a lot more likable than Renton, and I generally liked Renton. I never got the feeling like he was hard to understand, on the contrary, I think that he wears his emotions on his sleeve and is easy to figure out (and see that he is a good kid). I don't know, but I've always felt the raw emotion in this anime, and even now I can still feel it.

I thought it was sort of there in the first 3 episodes, but the introduction of team Goldilocks and then the Truth really took it out of me. I guess when I saw a 9 year old lecturing Ao like she was an experience adult it left me with a frown. The Truth obviously isn't helping me either. I still believe the largest issue besides this Truth nonsense is mostly who Ao interacts with. I liked his relationship with Naru earlier in the series, but now she's nonexistent in the show and almost all of Ao's interactions are with Fleur now, which is pretty much summed up so far as "we hate our fathers." Not that it's bad, but by this point in E7 Renton had meaningful interactions with Eureka, Tahlo, his grandfather, Holland, Doggy, and more (Assuming we are at the 1/3 point like that show). Now surely they can't spread it to so many characters, this show is shorter, but not even half of that has been delivered here in my opinion (Sorry interacting with team goldilocks counts as a negative to me so lets not consider that).

Originally Posted by Arabesque

Well, I will say that I think this is overall the 4th best OST of the season right now, but I can conceded that the original is better by virtue of being so excellent. I just think that this one has a really tough act to follow.

I don't really blame the show, I did say myself it was a very tough act to follow. But the sound track was one of the defining aspects of the older show for me so alas .

Originally Posted by Arabesque

To be perfectly honest, everything you just said about AO and the MoTW problem can be attributed to the original and then some. We may have learnt that the seemingly filler episodes actually had a goal later on, but that didn't make them on first viewing a very, very strange and confusing experience for a lot of people. Yes, they were fun, and they did help add a lot for the cast (as I would argue these first nine episode did for AO) but even then, a lot of the time you started to wonder if the show actually had a clear goal if you had been watching the show without any prior knowledge. It honestly felt like a random collection of short stories than anything.

With AO, while the MoTW formula is starting to wear a bit thin, I always get that there is a clear goal to be accomplished, a clear enemy to be defeated etc. I get the impression that the show is still on track, the conflict is still on going, the story is still moving on. I don't feel like there is a ''filler'' in there.

Most importantly, I get the feeling that with each week, I'm learning something new about the world and/or it's cast, and slowly the mystery is starting to be revealed. For me I can say that's a huge plus over some of the episodes in the old E7 IMO.

Well you have to note the distinction I was making. Eureka 7 presented itself to me at first as a fun adventure, which eventually became something more as we learned what Gekkostate was about but that wasn't important to me initially since I was just having fun with the lively adventures of Gekkostate. Eureka 7 Ao doesn't feel like a fun adventure. It's a dramatic, tension filled show that revolves around a monster of the week format at this point. That's why I have I'm talking about the conflict being compelling, which to me it isn't.

Why isn't it? I'm not terribly into the characters for one thing. I hated team Goldilocks and what they brought into the show. The Truth was an even more mind boggling introduction into the show. Just a really weird character who feels so different from what I recognize as E7 that I'm kinda left scratching my head since I don't really have any faith that he will be bringing anything good to the show (You may feel differently this is just a feeling afterall).

Furthermore, the G monsters all look the same, don't talk, and are relatively just uninspiring in their abilities. The action and tension as a result is just not that great to me. It's neither fun like the middle portions of NGE episodes, nor gritty and intense like other NGE episodes (to compare to another MotW show). Well really this just opinions.

I'm still holding out here. I am not terribly insulted by this show or anything, just disappointed. Last Exile Fam was an insulting show though...