Ao’s time at Generation Blue may not last all that long…
What They Say:
As this mysterious Truth wreaks havoc at Generation Bleu HQ, his motivations remain enigmatic, but they seem to have something to do with the Nirvash. And by extension, as Nirvash’s pilot, with Ao.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
While we’ve seen things come together a bit for Ao as he gets situated with Generation Belu and what it is they’re about, other events in the world are moving along as well. The appearance at the end of the previous episode of someone down the lonely highway is one that leads to massive destruction at the start of this one as a group of people are now making smart, calculated attacks on the facility that Generation Bleu works out of. While the series has been mixed for me so far, events like these as done by Bones is a lot of fun to watch as it gives a very good sense of presence and scale with the abilities used and the visual display of it all.
The movements of these now labeled terrorists as they move through the facility is really fun to watch since they have some good confidence about them. Not bravado, but a cool confidence to walk in and cause trouble with a glimmer in their eye. The security forces do their best but they’re quickly dealt with for the most part, which is forcing an evacuation plan to be put in place to get the pilots and their gear out of there. But when one of them lands on the Nirvash with Ao in it, getting it ready to go, things take a curious turn as he wants to know why he’s in “that woman’s” craft. The ties to the original series have been slight for the most part so far when you get down to it in terms of story, and this is one that hints more about the connection. Something that’s definitely been necessary.
The episode takes a curious turn as events continue to unfold in the facility sa the terrorists cause all sorts of trouble, and as Naru herself ends up caught up in a lot of it, spirited away by one of them. That alone is enough to set off Ao, but there’s a different series of events that are really unfolding which is putting Naru in a different position that she was before. She’s trying to be more involved as there’s something that’s drawing her into it that she can’t describe. Amusingly, Ao is pretty much a teenage boy here as he gets all aggressive and territorial about her and goes after him, but things get out of hand completely in a way that’s mysterious, seemingly almost supernatural in appearance but with a big connection to Naru’s past. A lot of things are seemingly revealed here, but the context isn’t included so it doesn’t quite make sense. But it does leave you desperately wanting more.
In Summary:
Eureka 7: Astral Ocean continues to be something of a love/hate series because of how it’s unfolding. I’m totally behind its visuals and everything it does there, but the story has been difficult to get behind. Part of it comes from this being related to the original and trying to jive things up but I also have a hard time seeing this as a well working series to someone completely new to it all. I don’t expect all the answers up front, but I do expect more solid foundation material and that’s where the show is really lacking. It has some great moments, this episode especially, but it’s all teetering in the wind because it doesn’t have enough to support it yet. I’m hopeful they can add more good foundation along the way before it all collapses an dpushes away viewers like myself.
Grade: B
Streamed By: FUNimation
Review Equipment:
Sony KDS-R70XBR2 70″ LCoS 1080P HDTV, Dell 10.1 Netbook via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
