Being the titular character of the series, Eureka plays a major role in Eureka Seven serving as the female protagonist and partner to Renton Thurston, the male series protagonist. Beyond filling the role of protagonist however, Eureka brings a lot more to Eureka Seven than serving merely as a plot element. Throughout the 50 episode ride of Eureka Seven, we see her evolve tremendously as a character, eventually growing to be one of the best qualities of the anime. In fact, watching Eureka grow as a character is arguably the most fulfilling parts of the series.
The reason why Eureka is such a well established and talked about character from Eureka Seven is because of the changes and the experiences that she goes through in the span of 50 episodes. Initially, she is depicted as a character being devoid of emotion. Early in the series, she was often shown with a straight face, lacking any trace of feeling and connection with others. While the first reason that one would think of would be her military background, being a former soldier alongside Gekkostate leader Holland, it is quickly revealed that this is not the case. As the series progresses and the story unfolds, the revelation that Eureka was primarily a blank slate becomes apparent. The beauty of her character is that we are allowed to see her transition out of this state, becoming human through her experiences and emotions.
One of the major points to Eureka’s character is how her doors are closed to all but Holland. At the beginning, she gives the impression of being extremely disconnected and distant to others especially to the Gekkostate newcomer, Renton. Despite this initial disconnect between the two, we see the pair slowly building a strong relationship. It is through this relationship that Eureka experiences some of the most potent and powerful human emotions which in turn serve as a foundation for her growth as a character.
Being the focus of romance, the most apparent human emotion that Eureka experiences is love. Throughout the course of Eureka Seven, her connection to Renton grows stronger and stronger. Their relationship begins with a one sided love reflected in Renton’s efforts to grab Eureka’s attention. Later on however, we see Eureka’s feelings when she begins to seek his presence and company. We see her love grow stronger as she begins to show more concern for him. Aside from the fact that she chose him as her partner instead of her longtime companion Holland Novak, we see more blatant proof of her growing love in the small acts that she does and in her repeated attempts to understand Renton. One of the most memorable scenes of the series actually involves her asking members of Gekkostate about what love in an attempt to understand what she’s feeling. Coupled with this were subtle hints that captured the experience of falling in love, specifically that of Eureka’s increased heart rate in Renton’s presence.
Besides love, Eureka also encounters intense jealousy. This happens early on in the series serving as another one of her experiences with Renton. At one point in the anime, the Nirvash shows a clear preference to Renton by refusing to move for anyone but him. Even Eureka who had previously been the only pilot to be able to operate the Nirvash couldn’t use it without Renton. Coupled with this, the Nirvash grew distant to Eureka who was capable of communicating with it. With the Nirvash actively ignoring her in favor of Renton, Eureka’s jealousy grew manifesting in animosity towards the former. The way that this situation between the two was depicted was interesting particularly because of how Eureka didn’t quite understand what she was feeling. She couldn’t articulate what her emotions were and also couldn’t explain why she was acting so cold towards Renton. Despite these setbacks however, Eureka still strove to understand what she initially couldn’t eventually leading her to grow closer to Renton and also grow as an individual.
Eureka also serves a symbolic character showing how an individual outside of our own group can integrate themselves becoming one of us. Eureka’s character embodies this, overcoming the isolation that would come from being a Coralian among humans. The ending of Eureka Seven shows a subtle irony. Just as Eureka fully grows and matures as a human full of emotion, she makes her physical transformation into her Coralian form. It becomes clear at that point that despite her outward appearance, Eureka is nothing short of human.
While Eureka Seven has a plethora of reasons that make it worth seeing, Eureka’s character would probably serve as one of the very best and most compelling reasons to do so. Her development is shown to be natural and charming with small moments that build up her traits. Rather than forcing her quick growth, the anime allows her room to make mistakes and experience the full range of human emotion. These are all captured in moments that define both the character and the series.