Eureka Seven AO - Episode 15

Following recent events, this week's Eureka Seven AO finds the show's semi-titular hero suffering from nightmares surrounding Naru, in turn causing a lack of sleep which is, of course, rather problematic when you're a mecha pilot.

It seems that Generation Bleu are also a little curious about Ao's current physical and mental state, even going to the lengths of calling for site-wide medical check-ups just so that they can investigate his current state.  Mind you, Ao isn't the only one acting odd in the wake of Eureka's visit to Earth - various parties are rethinking the role of the Secrets as word spreads about their rumoured role as protectors rather than aggressors, and what's more there are more and more reports of Scub Bursts complimented by ever-more humanoid looking Secrets.

We get to see just how true this is as Generation Bleu are called out to another oddity - a previously neutralised area of Scub Coral that has since reactivated.  As Pied Piper despatch to investigate, they come across a seemingly deadly and decidedly humanoid Secret who manages to take down Ao while proving decidedly difficult to tackle itself.  With Scub Coral and reactivating all over the place and Secrets emerging with them, it looks like this is going to be all too much for even Generation Bleu's resources to deal with, but maybe the Secrets themselves have the answer?  At last, we stumble upon the possibility of gaining some answers for this show's myriad questions as a Secret captured by the Japanese and able to comprehend English looks set to reveal their mission, while Generation Bleu themselves plan desperate measures to resolve the currently escalating scenario.

At the moment, it feels as though Eureka Seven AO has so much going on that it's difficult to know where to focus as a viewer, such are the multitude of constantly shifting and turning elements contained within each episode.  Certainly, this is no shallow sequel to Eureka Seven, and as such it isn't suffering from the moments of relative calm and distraction of that original series, which to be fair is a good thing... providing it can resolve everything in its remaining episodes.  There's so much to hold our attention at this point that it seems churlish to complain about any of it - the mysteries swirling around in my head alone are sufficient to fill the gap between episodes (although perhaps less so as we take a break for the Olympics), and I'm becoming increasingly fascinated by what the series is trying to do in the long run.  Here's hoping it doesn't crash and burn by attempting to tackle too much.