Eureka Seven AO - Episode 9

As one of the major players within Eureka Seven AO's political machinations, it can never be good news to see ideological fractures within Japan's defence ministry - while the status quo is to make the most of the fragile peace currently offered, there are clearly some who want to improve the nation's foothold in the world by utilising the power of both IFOs and Secrets.

Regardless of these divisions, one thing Japan does seem Hell-bent upon is producing Quartz from the site of the Sub Burst which decimated Tokyo so many years previously.  This is, of course, not good new for anybody else - in particular Generation Bleu, who quickly call up Pied Pier from their relatively relaxed standing to head out and tackle the problem.

However, as per usual Ao's response to the orders given to him is nothing short of rebellious - while Generation Bleu's plan is to retrieve the Quartz the Japanese are using and nothing more, hopefully dissipating the issue with a now marauding Secret with it, Ao refuses to run the risk of letting people die and thus sets off on a mission of his own to stop the Secret.  Given the problems which come from fighting underwater, where both this particular enemy and the Japanese experiment are taking place, this proves to be easier said than done, although in the process of fighting this particular Secret we do seem a step closer to understanding what draws out their appearance.  Such interesting observations may have to wait for another day however, as Truth seems to have his own designs towards the Japanese powers that be, and given his proclivity for killing people and generally blowing things up this surely can't be good news.

While elements of Eureka Seven AO still hold what is very much a "monster of the week" feel as our IFO pilots are sent to dispatch a new Secret every time, this still manages to mesh rather well with the wider plot elements of the series which, although still rather disparate, seem to be building into a more cohesive whole the longer the series goes on.  It still isn't the kind of story-telling or concept that will blow your mind, but it remains very much an entertaining affair which is making decent use of both scenario and characters the more it builds upon its premise.  Aside from continuing to feel very different to the original Eureka Seven, this continues to be a pretty accomplished show.