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Reiterating my same feelings after season 1, full stop I will simply never buy into this entire sham that is Rudeus’ character. Alongside that, I will reiterate that I really enjoy the world being built, and many of the characters involved. However, it all ultimately comes back to the MC, and how this story expects me to find glory or fulfillment in this grown man being able to live out his wet dreams.

This author goes through all this effort to introduce and build upon entire locations with their own respective set of characters. Big events and concepts are introduced that give us this really ... expansive feeling, as if we’re barely looking at a few pixels on a high-resolution image. Demon God’s popping out, Orsted having beef with whatever the Man-God is, Nanahoshi being someone who has also been transferred to the world, discovering how the mass teleportation has shaken the whole story. All that is being explored, and yet it feels wasted on an MC that generally disgusts me. There are these moments where Rudeus feels so much like his own character, and I can appreciate interpreting that as the guy in his past life “growing into” his new Rudeus identity, so we get to see some awkward, clumsy, clever moments from Rudeus while seeing him grow in this world but the intended fulfillment will always be empty when the man behind Rudeus’ actions has still remained the same.

Of course, we as viewers are seeing the story progress and are observing Rudeus’ reactions to that but that shouldn’t at all be mistaken for change from the character. And I think that’s a frequent theme when anime fans of these shows try to defend these sorts of characters in that they see these positive, sweet, or painful moments and think that alone is a justification for how the character acts. Like Eris leaves Rudeus and he forms his “illness” fans will point to that and say that the author thus being fair with his character, but that doesn’t change all the moments Rudeus, the man, wanted to manipulate that underage girl to sleep with him and the story failed to implement some form of personal change to him. And I say that because here at the end of Season 2 Part 1, Rudeus is still the same character. Because he dealt with this “illness” for a few years and managed to sleep with another young girl to cure it does not all of sudden mean I should stand up and clap for him. And similarly to Eris, I’m not blind to how sweet it is to see Sylphie find an old friend and finally confess her love. It’s incredibly sweet, these types of romances which are built around younger memories and being able to see how both parties have “matured” I tend to enjoy. Sylphie is no doubt one of my favorite characters from the show, I just desperately it was all handled with a similar arc of character but a different MC. Sylphie and Rudeus Greyrat is dope, but Sylphie and Rudeus the man are not. I’m not at all trying to separate the two identities, but I’m more so pointing to how much better this show could be if the MC was handled in a slightly different way.

I could even tolerate it if Rudeus was just a bit of a young teen perv. Generally speaking, I like how intimacy within the show isn’t something that characters shy away from talking about. Again, I’m just not gonna sit here oblivious to this author trying to play both sides in painting Rudeus’ as this tragic character who finally finds romance and fulfillment but indulges in those same traits that cause him problems. Because the anime is still ongoing, and generally I am a big fan of the production behind the show, I will probably keep watching. If neither of those factors were true, I would probably have dropped this by now. Ultimately, I have no indication that this author will make some drastic change in their writing, so I’m just gonna hope nothing too bad happens to the characters I like and that I see more of them explored than this washed-up MC.

After enough time people know what to expect from stories in dystopian settings, commentaries on classism, our detachment from emotion, etc. However, I don't think we'll encounter many dystopias that are so distinctly stylized as Kaiba, at the very least I know I haven't. The character designs can seem so opposite at face value from the vivid instances of violence and sexual content, yet what these elements create are an emotive world and set of characters who all help punctuate the ideas being relayed to the viewer. Particularly in Kaiba's case, the idea of memories.

The question in itself is fun to ponder. What exactly are ... our memories? Are they simply a recollection of the past? Are they insignificant? Are they *us*? As Kaiba continues down this line of thinking it eventually comes to the question of identity, and if our 'identity' even has value. Can we truly change who we are as people, or is our past (our memories) always going to define us? Even if we do decide to throw away that past, are we really the same person? I don't mean to try and spew some philosophical mumbo jumbo, but these are the sort of questions that I was taking away from Kaiba as I was watching. What I think the show does from all this is connect the inherent inequality that comes with classism (built off capitalistic models) to tell these stories of struggling people and how they handle their emotions. Like the episode where the grandmother had repressed her memories in order to avoid her grief. Then there's of course the main character arc that takes place, but that's entering major spoiler territory. I will say that I love that character arc, and it's the focal point of so much of my positive feelings towards the show.

The sort of 'answer' I think Kaiba provides is that our memories aren't all of what we are, because there is ultimately the present and the future to look forward. However, they are undeniably a part of us. Without them, then we lose our grip on who we are as people. What really makes Kaiba special, is that it understands that maybe our 'identity' doesn't matter to us, but it can matter to other people. When those are people who really care for us and can stand in our corner, then that's a reason to not run away from our feelings, no matter how unsavory they are. Kaiba is many things, bizarre, evocative, moody, but also very sweet. I'll be thinking about it for awhile, cause even still I don't think my thoughts are complete on it.

Since this was 50 freaking episodes I could never touch on every single thing I want to in a reasonable number of words so I'll try my best to mention the big things.

I don't want to say that I found this show to have missed potential because my expectations were never too high. I was definitely bored at many parts, but never actually felt any major dislike towards it. That is until I finish it, and I surprisingly feel strongly...unfulfilled? I think it starts from how this show clumsily dropped so much 'lore' (emphasis on the quotes) and terminology in the later stages. I ... have a solid idea of what it all was trying to say, but this was so late in the game that I don't necessarily care enough that this world-at-stake climax has me at the edge of my seat. I won't deny that the show was building up certain plot points throughout, it's just that when a car goes from 30 MPH to 80 MPH and then back to 30, you feel it.

Have to mention Renton and Eureka. Cute romance? Yeah. Perfectly laid out? Nah. I really like that throughout their relationship they get interactions with the older members of the cast that push it along, and I'm generally surprised that the show has their romance at such a forefront of the narrative. It's not something hinted at for the whole run, it's there and we actually see their affection expressed throughout. However, there was a definite jolt from them just getting closer to them 'realizing' their love. Then there are these f*cking kids that are involved for the whole 50 episodes. They don't do much other than overemphasizing the family dynamic trying to be built around Eureka assimilating into a human. Like I don't normally get bothered by these sorts of characters but when it's detracting from the real core of the show I start getting tired. Their 'arc' should've been left to a single episode resolution. In the end, Renton has bloomed into maturity, fully devoted to Eureka. It's all this plot hullabaloo that just for some reason doesn't make me feel the same sweetness over how their relationship resolves at the end compared to how I felt for the majority of the show.

Now I don't like to divide anime into 'story and animation' because it all coalesces at the end of the day, however, I do think the production value was a distinct factor in me sticking with the show. I LOVE the character designs, Eureka's especially is awesome. 2D mecha animation is a dying breed nowadays so going back to a real behemoth show that centers around it was really nice. Regardless of how I feel initially, Eureka Seven is a really ambitious anime project. The beginning had this early-2000's punk style down pretty nailed down but with the plot leaning much more into the sci-fi that novelty was kinda lost in the latter half. I still feel very comfortable in praising just how well made it is, even with the odd weaker episode here and there (what was that soccer episode about?)

I was well aware throughout that the target audience here was clearly not for me, especially in the beginning it had this 'Saturday morning cartoon feel to it that made me set my standards. With that, I still can't ignore how thinly laid out some ideas were, even if I do like what the show has to say in concept. This is especially in regard to the brief commentary on race relations and environmentalism. I don't think these 50 episodes were spent effectively. While E7 did scratch that shounen + romance itch, I can't shake the increasing indifference I felt as I finished it.