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「プラトー・オブ・ミラー／mirror of the world」 (Puratō Obu Mirā)
“Plateaux of Mirror”
If you want intrigue and mystery, this episode of AO should be your one-stop shopping for the week.
I’ve enjoyed the world-building episodes of the last several weeks (and I’ll gladly fight the legions who disagree with me), but I was strongly inclined to believe we were about to see a sharp upturn in both the “canon” level, E7-wise, and the intensity. And boy, did we ever get them this week. I think those world-building eps were necessary for roughly similar reasons to the buildup eps in Seirei no Moribito and Tsuritama that people complained about, and the payoff will come in the second half of the series. It’s actually started to come while we’re still at the tail-end of the first cour in AO’s case, which means we’re likely in for an intense and dramatic second half of the series. Every one of those episodes was telling us something vital we needed to know about the world of Astral Ocean – it just wasn’t being terribly obvious about it. Now it appears Aikawa Shou and his writers are asking “Were you paying attention?”
And not just to the first Decalogue of AO episodes, but to the original E7 as well, as it’s clearer than ever now (though I was never in doubt) that this is a true sequel. This really feels like a BONES series now more than ever, with its increasingly intricate plot and “kids vs. the world” themes. Aikawa-sensei is not a writer who gives up his mysteries easily (see UN-GO) but rather makes the audience work to connect the dots themselves. That increasingly makes me think that The Truth is Aikawa’s avatar on screen, acting as The Pied Piper to the cast (no matter what Ivica says) much as Aikawa is to the viewer.
Let the theorizing begin – I have no more definitive answers than anyone else, but it’s certainly fun to speculate. I made note of some small stuff – for example, GenBleu’s employee file lists Ao as 13 years old (Fleur as 16, Elena as 15), which struck me as odd as he was referred to as 12. But then I noticed that his birthday was this week (6/27/12 – Happy birthday, Ao) and I tend to believe that date was conspicuously included for a reason. I also thought it odd that BONES placed the Cavern Club in Manchester and not Liverpool – another “this world is incorrect” hint?
The meat of the mystery in this ep was certainly Elena and her identities. Remember way back when, when it was insinuated that Elena was actually Miller, the idol? Turns out the reality is a whole lot more complicated than that. In the first place I think the name itself and the Japanization of it, “Miller/Mirror”, is clever and possibly significant given the circumstances. What are we told? Miller and Elena are two different people who look alike – Miller/Mirror notes “Maybe we’re related.” And Miller was acting as a spy for the US Government, but Elena at some point began to impersonate Miller the spy (if not the idol) and give info to the Americans – though whether than info was good or not we can’t be sure. And Miller herself appears to have been some sort of “alien” creature composed of trapar particles that look like sand, and which have the ability to induce hallucinations in the minds of children who grew up in trapar-intense areas.
Did we mention that growing up in such places supposedly induces changes in a child’s brain? That’s important because it’s those changes that make children able to pilot an IFO. But there’s much, much more here. Gazelle, investigating the Miller-Elena spy angle, seems to be getting closer to sniffing out the truth that The Truth keeps referring to. Along the way he discovers that Elena apparently died five years earlier – which begs the obvious question, who is the Elena we see at GenBleu now? Rebecka makes reference to Ao being “physically different” and Christophe adds “And Ao” – and Rebecka refers to them as “Secrets”. Not only that, but it’s clear from Elena’s hallucination that she’s connected to Eureka and the world “our” Eureka comes from – because we see her with Eureka on a very familiar beach and best of all, we see a very familiar moon with two names on it. Could Elena be Ao’s sister (the eyes say it’s possible)? A Coralian? Could she be possibly be Anemone and Dominic’s child – providing a connection to what looks like typeTheEND beneath GenBleu headquarters – in a cavern Elena posing as spy-Miller tells the Americans looks like remains of “alien technology”?
There are obviously way more questions than answers there, but for now that’s the way the ledger looks. My feeling from watching this episode was that the GenBleu pilots are rats in a cage, living inside an artificial world they’re made to believe is real. Trapar Miller/Mirror might not have been their friend, but I’m not so sure she was the enemy either, just as I’m not sure The Truth is. I thought the aftermath of the crash scene was very interesting, with Ivica wrapping Ao and Elena in a bear hug – and then, after a moment’s hesitation, Ao hugging him back. My gut is telling me that Ivica is playing along with the ones doing the experiment on the rats, but that it’s killing him inside – I think what he feels for the kids is genuine, and he’s carrying a load of guilt above and beyond that associated with his time in the Balkans.
In addition to the huge and excellent mystery element, I enjoyed a lot of the smaller character moments and humor this week – like Rebecka chopping George’s nose off when he got off on one of his long-winded explanations, and his deeply offended response. We also had some nice banter that seemed to put a damper on any Ao-Fleur speculation (which I never believed, anyway) courtesy of a typically indelicate Dad-like question posed by Christophe (she’s too old for Ao, if nothing else). It appears that we’re finally ready for Naru’s re-entry into the story next week, as well as Ao’s first taste of space combat – which should give the animators at BONES a chance to strut their stuff.
(Thanks very much to Mochi for her help in getting this post to you as quickly as possible this week!)
Preview
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So it looks like you wrote this just as I watched it! And it also looks like Flour x Gazelle is confirmed. Lol :D. Evangelion, anyone?
This was a nice episode; I like how this series actually goes into the background of a couple of the main characters (rather than how most of Gekkostate’s crew became unimportant). I’m a little confused about who Elena is now, though. The director wondering how the sand affects Ao and Elena, plus the scenes of Eureka holding her as a baby and snippets of the original E7, have now made me curious and wanting for more.
But the story sorely needs to get going. I feel like not enough of the actual plot is advancing; we only get parts of the story that *may* become important. I hate when anime shows do that -_-. Oh well, I guess it’s alright since the series hasn’t even made it halfway yet.
Fleur*
Sorry, must have been the autocorrect on my iPad. >_<
Also, possible new pilot? (And am I the only one who's noticed that Ao is the only male pilot?) http://eurekaao-prj.net/?attachment_id=1499
GEEEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOORRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG :'(
I KNEW IT!!! I had a gut feeling that this world is a alternate dimension. Things in this word just seemed so out of place.
-Nobody was refboarding anymore.
-the moon didn’t have the love sign.
-the land in Eureka7 was alien like while this one is just boring earth.
-they were mentioning all of these real world countries and it felt ULTRA OUT OF PLACE in Eureka7.
-the military was using tanks instead of LFO’s(why would they use tanks if they were using LFO’s in the past thats a huge downgrade and the military would never do that).
-this ridiculous cliche plot device of only little girls can pilot IFOs.
I still have no idea why Eureka is there in the first place.
TBH, that much should’ve been obvious from the beginning, AO’s world was either an alternate dimension or way back in the past before the events of the original series. (In case you didn’t known, the original series took place on “boring earth” as well).
On this episode itself, this was definitely a step in the right direction, about time they start to push the main plot forward.
An alternate dimension…or a different planet, I believe (or was I led to believe that??!). Calling them “children of the stars” must be for some reason.
The original Eureka 7 was also on planet Earth, but in the far future, something like the year 10,000 or so AD.
The current world in this series seems to be something created by a dimensional split caused by the catastrophe of the Limit that was randomly mentioned in the original series, which is essentially when the Scub Coral absorbed too much knowledge and caused dimensional rifts everywhere. The rifts between the worlds are the openings where some of the Scub Coral and Coralians are coming through.
I don’t know if that makes the world in this series fake. The original series briefly mentioned (or more like, showed through pictures of Space shuttles and such) that the Scub Coral originally landed on Earth near the year this series takes places. But in this world, Scubs have been showing up for practically all of human history (a sign of this world’s falseness, perhaps?).
This show should simply be called “AO” for Obvious reasons
I’m not ready to abandon the Ao-Fleur ship just yet!!! While Elena did hint that she also has a crush on Gazelle, her arguments to disprove any feelings for Ao seemed to be excuses rather than genuine explanations. Why else would she keep mentioning how he loves Naru in such a sarcastic (i would say jealous) tone?
That ship has sailed – cash in your ticket and cut your losses!
Actually, I have a wild theory about Fleur and many of the other characters in the series being “NPCs” who just don’t know they are, but there’s nowhere near enough evidence for me to seriously argue for it yet.
FlAoeur Power 4eva!!!!
That theory reminds me of St. Elsewhere and Star Ocean 3, I’d be a bit disappointed if that were the case, but I don’t think it’s that far fetched of an idea. They’ve been really blatant about the world being false, especially with enemies named “secrets” and “the Truth.” Hell, maybe all the events are the product of Eureka’s mind.
Can’t wait for Naru to get back in the mix, for all the service she gets in the intro and ending, she hasn’t done much at all. I just realized this right now, though it’s probably already been mentioned, but Naru’s reliance on the inhaler is kind of reminiscent of Anemone’s constant medication. Definitely really slow lately too, also just realized that her taking care of Noah is like Anemone with Gulliver, and the fact that Noah gets placed in Ao’s care mirrors Dominic and Gulliver.
Actually that theory reminds me very much of The Matrix.
We have the real world as the E7 world, and the Matrix as the E7:AO world. Everyone in the the E7:AO world believes they are “real”, and Truth is akin to Morpheus, trying to free people from the matrix. Some people may even be aware of this, but are trying to cover it up for whatever reason. The Scub Coral are “glitches” in the matrix, and the Secrets are the Agents.
It’s a wild theory, but I won’t be surprised if the question “What is Truth” becomes the crux of E7:AO, if it isn’t already.
I alsolute /bad at tying/ agree that episode 10 of erureka ao was intense and at first I through 9 was really really good. Preview of 12 are we looking at a female “BRuno”. I hope Ao go to the other world Eureka world but I doubt it? Good Brain Teaaser for the Mind Dont You Think!
Now I know why the 1st opening is escape by hemenway
But this episode is hell
Really love this one <3
https://randomc.net/image/Eureka%20Seven%20AO/Eureka%20Seven%20AO%20-%2011%20-%2019.jpg
Jaalin post? No, wait…
>And Miller herself appears to have been some sort of “alien” creature
Wait a second… I thought the Miller we saw this episode was the secret they picked up in the desert which took form from Elena’s thoughts (much like how it looked liked truth to Ao). Does this mean that Elena had already killed the human Miller off two months ago? Was that also what they were hinting at with the end scene with the buried wig? Quite confused this episode lol
I got that impression as well because Miller is already dead at this point but it’s interesting that the core sand secret gave Miller such a strong physical form based on Elena memories.
Elena comments during the crash scene was interesting as well. It wasn’t there’s a Secret in the cars but “It’s an enemy, An enemy sky has infiltrated.” to Ivica confused comment “What enemy!”. Also Elena say that Miller hit death flag had already means she is aware that she it dead but may had forgotten it up to that point. Why Elena was impersonating Miller to the point of a split personality (thus the strong imprint on the sand Secret) is a good question.
Elena herself doesn’t know half the things she minics, at the beginning of this episode saying “Elena? is that my name.” I’m pretty sure the wig she style to be like Miller’s real hair and burying it is she way of saying goodby. She said after seeing the Secret in the car for being a fake Miller was “Your me.” I think her realized then that she had imprinted Miller into herself. Weather or not she killed Miller for being a sky is not clear but Elena is aware of that fact that Miller was a sky is.
Just a side note that Elena is a cosplayer scene with her purplw Miku wig in episode 3 and this episode in a fashion magazine wearing a s very simple Goth-loli style. She has suppliers for wigs and clothes already lined up for orders.
Actually that wasn’t the wig she was burying that was actually the entire corpse of Miller. I have no idea how her corpse is still in that good of shape after 2 months or better yet where has she been keeping it all this time.
Nope definietly a wig, you could see her wearing it during the shower scene. I dont think she has the physical strength to carry a body unnoticed and burying it just outside of her dorm. And No point she would dig up a body and to cover it again to say good night.
Good, some hints of plot. This certainly is a step in the right direction. Another confusing episode, but at least this one was more comprehensible than the one afer Truths attack. I’m still not sure what exactly happened regarding to Miller and Elena, but it is clear that a lot of people are keeping things from us.
I had a feeling it was some alternative world and it’s been confirmed as of now. So what is it? A dream of the Coralian? Some other dimension-thingy? And what was with the smoke monster? Looking forward to finding out and seeing some kind of payoff for all this slow buildup, anyway.
Still has nothing to do with Eureka Seven……..Show still sucks
Patience grasshopper, the show isn’t even at the halfway point yet, still plenty of time for it to have a lot to do with Eureka Seven.
Also how does it not have anything to do with E7? We got to see the Gekko-Go, Great Wall and the Gratified moon all in one episode.
“Do not try to bend the spoon — that’s impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth: there is no spoon.”
Spoon Boy,Matrix
Interesting to note that the resume states Ao has been in Gen Bleu for 2-3 months.
At this point i just hope that Eureka7 Ao doesn’t pull and Aquarian EVOL move and make up a random fact that screws the show over and the 1st season as well. But i don’t think it could ruin the 1st season entirely maybe just what happened after the ending.
Unless they decide to hire Okada Mari to write the second cour I think we’re pretty safe from that.
People keep playing the time card and saying this is a prequel. AO is most likely some other dimension running parallel to the original E7 world with a different time scope. Time is just a number anyways, they could be using different calendars.
I’m speculating this world is something like the imaginary world Renton traveled to and met his sister and father. This leads me to speculate that the secrets are the gateway out of this imaginary world to the beach world (hence the sandy Miller) which is the alternative world to the original E7 world. So could Miller be the Beach world Elena stepping into this imaginary world because the secret connected them over?
World-ception. World (AO world) inside of a world (Beach World) inside of another world (E7 World) :<
Another point, Eureka is the only person able to traverse through these worlds. So it could be a Coralian thing where they stole the kids from the E7 world. And Eureka is trying to bring them back.
Arggghh BONES why do you always do this to me!! :<
As mentioned in the end on the original series, the ScubCoral ie Nirvash states that half of the people in the world would go along with them to other side of the universe. While, the other half would stay behind. I believe that the people who left formed an alternative wrold right at the point where the ScubCoral fist entered the human world trying to “reset” history so that things could be different. Keep in mind of what was the “primary goal” of the ScubCoral in the original story. It was to collect intel on the human species and see how it was like to be human. A strong indication to this was the Eureka7 episode Zero which was right before this series. In it you hear Eureka saying she wanted to be human, ie the ScubCoral wants to be human.
Looks like E7:AO is picking up the pace with the plot. Looking forward to whatever BONES has got in store, I do really sorely miss their productions… Though I kinda want them to start another ORIGINAL series that would kick ass or adapt somethine that would definitely capture the attention of viewers.