Renton puts his hand on Eureka’s cheek as she sleeps. He thinks about how he’s been thinking about her all this time but hasn’t directly looked at her until now. In the aftermath of recent events both of them have been put in detention, along with Eureka’s kids. Renton wonders why the kids were put here. Moondoggie stops by, apologizing for being late with the food but saying they’ve been preparing for something. Moondoggie provides Renton some food and supplies saying he’s going to have to live off of these for a while. This includes gas masks and bullet proof vests and finally a pistol. Renton wonders what is going on. Moondoggie says everyone has been uptight and they should try to eat and rest. He tells Renton of how lonely Eureka was in his absence. Meanwhile on the Gekko bridge Woz says the skies are clear and the Federation military forces aren’t tracking them. Ken-Goh claims this is just the mishaps of the army. He wonders where Holland is. Talho says it is their turn to protect Renton and Eureka. Holland, having gotten out of the shower has cut his face with a razor while shaving. On the dock, Hilda asks Matthieu to move aside some newspapers he is reading. He says the news has been depressing. Hilda says more people want a new regime with the way tectonic shifts have been happening everywhere. She says the masses want a hero and they mention Holland. Holland heads to a clothes locker in his room, mentioning the names of Charles, Dewey and Adroc. Meanwhile the Hakucho flies on autopilot, with a shuttle releasing from it. Ken-Goh speaks to Mischa in the halls about the recent unrest and the need for a leader. Aboard their shuttle Charles and Ray have put on dark outfits and talk about the thrill before doing something dangerous. Charles and Ray each swallow an egg shaped object. Charles feels this is where they can settle their final score and feels thankful to Dewey for permitting it. Holland meanwhile has applied dark makeup across his entire body. He lifts up his mattress, pulling up some guns beneath it. Stoner, seeing some information about the Coralian in a magazine thinks they’ve gotten into an information war and talks to Happ about if it’s time to pull the plug on Ray=out. Stoner says he will continue to document their actions regardless of if they continue to publish it. Their shuttle soon approaching the Gekko, Charles and Ray speak of doing this on their own with no backup. Ray says she doesn’t care about Dewey or Holland but wants to see Renton again, to save him from Holland. Charles and Ray playfully speak of old military regulations and ensuring they are followed. The two of them depart the shuttle and surf their way towards the Gekko. On the Gekko, Gidget speaks to Jobs until Talho interrupts them. Talho tells her to get some rest and to standby in her quarters along with Moondoggie until needed when she declines. Holland and Talho remotely talk with each other. Holland thinks that Charles would break in even if he was on his own. At that moment Charles and Ray descend onto the Gekko and climb their way across attempting to find a way in. Woz spots a small compac reaction beyond the clouds, signaling Charles and Ray’s shuttle, which is quickly upon them. It crashes into the front of the ship forcing an emergency lockdown of all bulkheads. Charles and Ray are able to breach the hatch. Talho tells Renton and Eureka that they and the kids need to put on their masks.
Talho, Ken-Goh, Happ and Woz speak of how the crash of the shuttle wasn’t a kamikaze attack but meant to distract from explosives the enemy had prepared, believing them to be on the ship now. Control of the ship has passed over to the sub-bridge, where most of the remainder of the crew is. Jobs is tracing things for a trap they’ve laid but senses the enemy in the engine room. Charles appears in the engine room but finds it empty with the engine off, realizing Holland expected this and he’s on camera. He claims things are just getting started and he’ll have a good time. Holland tells Jobs to arm the anti-personnel lasers aboard the ship. Ray meanwhile makes her way out of a duct into the hallway and narrowly avoids the laser. Using a mirror she spots where it is. Renton asks Eureka if she’s alright. She says yes, although he admits to feeling uneasy. Eureka says she feels she can overcome anything when with him which is why she feels comfortable. Happ, Woz and Ken-Goh make it to the sub-bridge where they’ve realized that the enemy has split up. Things have been silent for the last 6 minutes. Talho is making her way through a duct, heading over to where Renton and the others are. Ray works on hacking the system, shutting down all non-flight related power systems in the ship. Charles calls out for Holland to come out of hiding and Holland starts firing at him. Charles hides behind a corner and returns fire. Spotting a sign for the catapult he makes his way there. He and Holland continue to exchange fire and Charles is surprised at Holland’s lack of appearing via his night vision goggles. Charles spots that the Nirvash is running. At that moment Holland is hiding on top of it, confident that he isn’t being seen. Talho makes it to Renton and the others, telling them they’ll head through the ducts. Ray pulls a gun on Talho, recognizing her from her days in military intelligence. Ray tells Renton and the others to come out with their hands raised. Ray is surprised to see children aboard and that they call Eureka mama. She pulls out a knife to threaten Talho with while also pointing a gun at Eureka. Renton pulls out his gun, surprising her. She has a hard time believing it but Renton says he is serious. Woz is able to reactivate the power and the light distracts Ray long enough for Talho to escape from her clutches. Holland and Charles continue to exchange fire and the Nirvash starts operating on its own, surprising Holland and the crew watching from the sub-bridge. Meanwhile Talho has overcome Ray and holds her against the ground. She announces to Holland over the loudspeaker that Ray has been captured. This distracts Charles and Holland runs up to him, shooting him in the stomach. Charles, while severely injured, pulls out a gun, telling Holland his softness will be his undoing. He says he knew from the moment he saw him that Renton was the one who inherited the qualities to be the “king.” The gun starts sinking, but he pulls the trigger before he dies, hitting Holland in the leg. Ray is brought out to the hallway where Holland is and says he just killed Charles. Ray asks to see him and Renton follows. Ray thinks to herself of how she won’t accept Eureka being a mother. As they make their way to the catapult deck, Renton thinks of how this is the first time he’s seen the dead body of someone he knows. Ray asks if she can kiss Charles goodbye. She tells Renton to watch closely and how this is the responsibility of those who won their freedom. She closes Charles eyes and kisses him. Holland realizes that Ray has set a bomb on Charles body and knocks Talho out of the way. Ray rushes forward as the explosion goes off and uses the opportunity to escape. Renton thinks of how he was relieved that Ray was able to escape although he didn’t realize the battle wasn’t over yet.
We have a fairly strong episode here as Charles and Ray launch their attack on the Gekko. The episode spends much of the first half of the episode effectively building tension aboard the ship and visiting with nearly all of the crew members. The second half filled me with a lot of dread, as I like both sides and didn’t want to see anyone come to harm. Alas, that was inevitable. Charles and Ray’s attack is very reminiscent of the attack Ramba Ral launched on the White Base in the original Mobile Suit Gundam, aside from Ray coming along. This includes the infiltration of the ship as well as Charles detonating a bomb on his body after telling Renton to closely watch. I will miss Charles as a character quite a bit and we’ve got to assume that Ray will not exit the picture very easily. Starting up the show’s third cour we are treated once again to new opening and ending sequences. The new opening is heavily inspired by the events of the previous episode, although the animation appears rather lackluster. The new ending sequence, which features many of our characters in a slice of life setting is considerably better.
Eureka Seven Info
Director:
Tomoki Kyoda
Writer(s):
Dai Sato
Hiroshi Ohnogi
Chiaki J. Konaka
Ichiro Okouchi
Yuuichi Nomura
Shotaro Suga
Megumi Shimizu
Mechanical Designer(s):
Shoji Kawamori
Yutaka Izubuchi
Character Designer:
Kenichi Yoshida
Musical Composer:
Naoki Sato
Format:
50 episodes
Airdates:
Japan 04.17.2005 – 04.02.2006
U.S. 04.16.2006 – 04.29.2007
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