Episode 1 - Blue Monday

The opening! I swear the music sounds like something from a 70's TV show. It's not bad, mind, but different. The animation's pretty cool, though, Renton on his board, Eureka in her mecha. I like the design of the Gekko State's ship, too.

We open on a cloudy sky, and somebody giving going about how the real value of media stems from the memories it leaves us. I take a quick, spoiler-free look to see his name is Stoner (heh) and his partner and the pilot of his mecha is Matthieu, who tells him to zip it and radios Leader (Holland) if he's planning on re-joining them anytime soon. Holland tells Matthieu to zip it, and the latter can look down and see they're really going at it down below. Mattieu tells Stoner it's almost time to get ready, and Stoner goes on more about memory and stuff in a manner that lets him live up to his namesake. Just then, several mecha come zipping past Matthieu's, three chasing a third but having zero luck. It dodges the traditional barrage of missiles, and then Holland does a cool move Matthieu IDs as a Cut-back Drop-turn to take out the other mechs. Matthieu radios back in to base that they're still on schedule, and Talho tells them to proceed. Holland is less than thrilled at heading to their destination of Bellforest, prompting Talho to get on his case because the whole thing was his idea. We can probably blame the picture of the girl with her face all marked out for his reluctance.

Cut to a rather messy room, filled with sky-surfing paraphenalia, including a poster of Holland on his board. A radio broadcast tells us that conditions are right for a batch of waves headed our way. The room's owner, Renton, is thrilled by the news, grabbing his board and bounding outside. He VOs he's 14 years old and nothing amazing's ever happened to him, and he gets the feeling nothing will. Yup. He's 14 all right. Renton also briefly puts me in mind of FLCL's Naota. I also wish to state at 14, *I* had no cool motorbike like that. Getting his board serviced, Renton's trying to convince the mechanic he really can do the Cut-back Drop-turn, but the older guy says he can't because he doesn't believe in the waves. He tells Renton Holland could because he's a genius, and where he learned is way better for that sort of thing. More proof he's 14 in that the kid quotes his hero at every chance, saying Holland says anywhere can be your spot. The old guy gives up, and suprises Renton by not charging him for the work. With one teen as his only customer, he's moving away to the city to pick up some real business. Even in anime, Mondays suck.

The town Renton lives in doesn't look too bad to my eye, but it's really not cut out for somebody who wants to ride the waves, and the only way to make a decent living is to become a soldier. At the somewhat prison-looking school, the day's lesson is on the Transparence Light Particle phenomenon. For short, "Trappa" and it led to the building of the Compac Drive, and this was called the Summer of Love. Heh. The man who turned disaster into something special was none other than Renton's dad (King) Adrock Thurston! There's a loud commotion outside and the teacher calls for self-study, so two kids take the time to raz Renton on how his dad thought the Comac Drive was a messenger from God, and his sister went off to prove his dad really did save the world. Proving he's not Shinji, Renton slugs one of them. The kid retreats to the roof, where some girls are talking about ray=out, which I take to be the sky-surfing version of Thrasher. They talk about how the rumors are Gekko State are untrustworthy punks. Renton stares mournfully at his Compac Drive and flashes back to his sister telling him if he can believe it, it'll happen. She hugs him, and his Drive flashes the word 'Eureka,' and he's smiling warmly at the Drive in the present. The girls think he's weird.

To cap off the end of a perfect day, Renton's got a parent-teacher conference. A grandparent-teacher conference. His teacher says Renton's grades aren't very good, but being his father's son, he probably could get into military school if he wants. Grandad cuts him off, saying no-one in his house is going to be a solider and gives Renton a spark of hope. Despite the bad news, he treats the kid to steak and shrimp, and immediately wonders what he did to bring the kid up this way. Renton VOs he can put all of this behind him as long as he's got his favorite hill and his waves. Naturally, this means the military has fenced it off to use it as an LFO testing site. Poor Renton. That night, Renton figures even if Holland is a criminal, he'd still trade places with him in a second, or even better, with Holland. Just then his Compac Drive kicks out the word Eureka, for the third time this month. The kid indulges in some wild fantasies about what it really means, and Grandad pokes his head to put a stamp to all this youthfulness. Grandad calls the place a sty, saying mechanics like Renton will be have neat rooms. They bicker about who's doing what and on whether dreams are stupid, and Renton sets his Grandad off by promising no matter his job Grandad'll get a nice retirement community.

Elsewhere, but probably close by, an LFO piloted by Eureka herself is coming in hard. Grandad figures that board of his is the reason for all of Renton's nonsense, and snatches it up to throw away, heedless of the fact it's a Holland Style Replica. Renton chases after, but they both pause as the LFO comes surfing in, and performs a Cut-back Drop-turn to Renton's delight. And then it crashes into Renton's room. Heh. It's not like any LFO Renton's ever seen, and Grandad old mans that it's the Nirvash Type Zero, the LFO's LFO. The cockpit slides open, and Eureka stands up, calling her LFO a kid and saying it could use some help, if they'd be so kind. Renton takes one look at her and he's done for.

Grandad's calling in some help to fix their place, and pulls out a box found by Renton's dad, and regrets him ever coming across it in the first place. Renton's gaving at the Nirvash even more raptly than he did Eureka, VOing the interesting facts it was A) discovered and B) the blueprint for every other LFO. He immediately decides it must have an original Compac Drive and searches for it, and while the thing has the socket, it's got no Drive. Hmmm. Hearing footsteps, Renton tells his Grandad that the Nirvash is kinda-- oh, hey, Eureka! She doesn't seem to mind him rooting through her mech, and just wants to borrow a flamethrower so she can make up for all the trouble she's caused. Renton's touched! He also wants to know why it doesn't have a COmpac Drive, but Eureka says it's never needed one before, even though LFO's normally need one to get going. Over Eureka's doubts, Renton wants to try his Drive in the Nirvash, saying he's got a good sense about these things because machines have hearts and respond to those who take care of them. Eureka thinks that's painfully obvious. Hmmm. She leaves to go snag the flamethrower, and Renton tells his sister he's already writing his marriage vows.

Then Renton wonders what on earth the cute if weird chick could need a flamethrower for. Why, a funeral pyre for his room, of course! The kid tries to stomp out the flames and gives himself a hot-foot, and Renton's rampant goofiness makes Eureka laugh. Holland, Stoner and Matthieu are watching a bit away, amazed at this turn of events. Matthieu wonders why they didn't go up and just ask Grandad to fix the Nirvash, but Holland's reluctant for reasons he doesn't bother to explain. He complains about Renton looking like somebody (I think), and also the crappy waves. Inside the garage, the Nirvash is reading an error message after the Drive's been installed, and Eureka thinks they should take it out. She goes off on how believing in things can lead to a whole lot of hurt, and Renton's about to try and convince her otherwise when Grandad shows up with Adrock's box. He old mans it's because of the gizmo inside is why his family was torn to pieces, so take it and leave.

Senior rudeness is interrupted by a missile strike, as will happen sometimes, and Eureka quickly kicks the Nirvash into gear, transforming it into a wicked-looking vehicle mode and burning rubber. The bad news is Renton and Grandad get thrown to the side, and Eureka gives them a regretful look before turning it back to robot mode and taking to the skies. The military-types that launched the missiles argue about whether or not the Nirvash needs to be taken in pieces or not, Information Officer wanting to save it and the Air Force commander not wanting to be made to look like chumps again. The commander gets his way, and they launch a flight of LFOs after the Nirvash. On the ground, Grandad comes to, and he and Renton both watch Eureka duel with the other LFOs. Grandad rasps to Renton to take the gizmo, the Amita Drive, to Eureka, and no back-talk. Renton rides his motorbike to the one place he could get enough lift to ride his board up to the battle, namely off a cliff, and it's pretty darn impressive. While plummeting towards the ground, Renton suddenly starts wondering if leaping into a gorge was really a smart idea.

Thumb's up to the ending animation and song.

Next Episode: The coolest mid-air delivery I've ever seen.