Eureka Seven, Volume 1 (Special Edition)
The 2005 broadcast seriesEureka Sevenoffers snazzy aerial sequences that suggest snowboarding raised to thenthdegree. Fourteen-year-old Renton Thurston lives with his mechanic-grandfather, but dreams of joining the elite pilot-mercenaries of the Light Finding Operation (LFO) aboard their ship the Gekkostate. When LFO pilot Eureka crashes hermecha, the Nervash Type Zero, into his grandfather's shop, Renton is smitten with her beauty and her flying skills. He brings her the Amita Drive, a mysterious invention of his father's, that increases the power of the Nervash astronomically. Thurston's latent talents win him a place on the Gekkostate, but he has a long way to go before he's accepted as a real member of the team.Eureka Sevenranks as a noteworthy series in many ways. The aerial maneuvers andmechabattles are choreographed with exceptionalélan; the handsome designs recallLast Exile, but with a bolder palette; and Renton expresses the enthusiasm and insecurity of a rookie without becoming a pill. The storytelling is rather oblique, but once the filmmakers finish cutting through the thickets of back story,Eureka Sevenshould really soar. (Unrated, suitable for ages 12  and older: violence, tobacco and alcohol use)--Charles Solomon