OK. This is starting to peeve me. This series just does so little to really draw me in anymore. The latest episode left me staring at the screen and I had to actually try hard to focus on anything that was going on.
It's hard for me to put into words what is not grabbing me about this show generally, but the best way I can explain is just by comparing the old series and this one. Now this isn't to be a testimony of "WHY'D THEY CHANGE THAT GRRRRR!" but more so an explanation of what worked and grabbed me about the original and how comparatively Ao doesn't.
The setting
Eureka 7 had a completely different setting than our Earth. It wasn't even really connected at all to Earth. Modern day countries didn't exist, and there were interesting cultures and locations all around in E7. Exploring the setting of E7 was part of the fun, and there was always a sense of wonder about what was going on. You always felt like you were learning more and more about the world.
Comparatively Eureka 7 Ao clumsily integrated the idea of modern day countries, albeit with a twist on historical events. However, I felt the setting lost a lot of its appeal and now has become a bit boring. I'm not very interested in finding out more about this earth. Furthermore everything is so different I even wonder why they bothered to make a sequel of "eureka 7" like this. I suppose I'll eventually find out if at all, but this doesn't really feel like a sequel technically speaking (the stories don't really connect in a good way, which I think a sequel should IMO)
The cast
Needless to say I really loved the cast of E7. Eureka herself was a very charming character and Renton was a very easy to empathize main character. But even more than that it was the supporting cast that really made this show shine. Characters like Holland and Tahlo. And you know? They were all adults, and adults who got full out character arcs and development.
Eureka 7 Ao has a few adults, much of whom have barely got any notable development so far ( This is a 2 cour show and they definitely have less time to do it). The main focus on the show is on Ao who is actually pretty decent, though perhaps getting a bit static lately. The thing is Ao barely interacts with anyone save perhaps Fleur in a meaningful manner (Which isn't all that great itself, but it's OK). All the other pilots are female children, which sort of trivializes the drama at play. All in all there's basically of little interest to me here besides Ao and maybe Naru who has been barely on screen since the beginning.
To me the stark different in cast quality is just seen in comparing these two images.
The raw emotion
Eureka 7 was awesome at conveying raw emotion. You could really get into the characters and what they were feeling. Again this may be related to the cast itself but it also has to do with certain little touches. I thought one reason Renton was really easy to get into was because so many of the episodes at the beginning and end included personal narration of his character. You always got queued into what exactly he was feeling, what he was doing things for, what his thought process was. These sorts of touches really helped. Beyond this was just some really solid character building episodes.
Eureka 7 Ao doesn't have this kind of personalization, and the plot moves so quickly so far that you can't really slow down to absorb the characters on any level. Of course it also doesn't have that personal narration I was talking about so Ao is not quite as likable as Renton to me, and it's actually kind of hard to be able to tell what he's really feeling in general. I feel emotionally detached from these characters, and the show hardly has the sort of raw emotion that I appreciated in the original. There were glimpses of it, particularly in the first 3 episodes, but since then I haven't really seen it.
The soundtrack
Eureka 7 Ao's sound track isn't bad, might even be pretty decent, but Eureka 7 had an AMAZING sound track in my opinion. The main reason is that it had several defining tracks, perhaps most notable of them all being Storywriter. Eureka 7 Ao lacks something like this. The audio portion definitely isn't as impressive as a result, and ot me great audio can really help enhance a series. Perhaps Eureak 7 Ao had too tough an act to follow, but I hope it wasn't too much to expect to get something like another Storywriter.
The Conflict
Eureka 7 was just a great big adventure. A very fun one as well. Gekkostate always had a goal, but Renton didn't learn about them in detail until later and was really just along for the ride. But what was always there was a sense of adventure as they explore places, until of course shit starts to hit the fan in the series and it became more than just an adventure, but a fullout conflict with the people on the planet who waged war against the colarians. The way the conflict was built up was quite excellent.
Eureka 7 Ao is just a monster of the week, and this isn't inherently bad (My favorite anime is NGE...), but the execution of it is quite lacking and it's also a bit of a jarring transition from the spirit of E7. This no longer feels like a big adventure, but more so a battle against some primitive life form that look pretty damn bland. They also aren't very horrifying and always seem like easy fodder for Generation Bleu, so there's hardly any tension or sense of impending doom in this series. Unlike NGE as well this series isn't very introspective and concerned with the ideas of existentialism or depression or things like the hedge hog's dilemma among other things, so on that front the show cannot hope to keep a compelling conflict. It all draws back to these monsters and the truth (Who feels like a joke at this point), which don't really give me any sense of tension they should.
Misc.
I have to ask, but where the hell is the old cast? Mentions of Eureka are around, but really if this show has practically nothing related to the old characters in a meaningful way, why is this an E7 sequel? Kinda making me think this should've just been a new anime title, not Eureka 7.
Wave riding. This sport was a defining aspect of the old series and it always something I found entertaining. The cutback turn and what not. This seems to have disappeared in Eureka 7 Ao, which is a shame since it was a setting detail I really liked.
What the fuck is up with this Truth character? I know I complained about too many young girl pilots in the show, but compared to this guy they seem right at home. He's so out of place and feels like a final fantasy villain. I'm being patient, but it's getting harder to take him and the threat he poses seriously.
Also are religions like that surrounding the Vodarak priests just gone? I mean what? Again if this series barely feels connected at all, why even make it a "sequel" and not its own title.
The Nirvash doesn't seem nearly as cool as in E7. Things like seven swell or the like hardly are around and he almost seems like just another generic mecha. In fact the mecha action hasn't been nearly as compelling or entertaining in general in this. Fighting generic monsters who all look the same and aren't threatening, though they have different abilities, gets old really fast.
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I know this all sounds like a rant about how this doesn't match up to the original and that I'm merely putting on some nostalgia goggles on or the like, but I really am just trying to show what worked for me in the original and what doesn't work for me in this work. Ao didn't have to copy E7 exactly, but if it was gonna change things up, I'd hope they could make it compelling in similar fashion,b ut to me it clearly isn't.
I'm going to follow this to the end, but my feelings towards this are really similar to how I felt about Last Exile Fam at this point of its run, detached and uninterested even if it wasn't outright bad. I hope at the very least that unlike that show the plot doesn't enter a free fall into a pit of shit. It can at least manage that right? Dunno, just awfully disappointed right now.