For my review of volumes 1-2, click here.

As is common for shonen manga, Eureka Seven gets better as it goes. What’s not so common, though, is that it already started off great. More revelations, action and drama in these volumes keep things dazzling and amazing until the final battle begins in volume 5.

The series’ strongest point at this point is its characters. While Renton still isn’t super-likable, he’s believable, and that alone makes up for any other reasons to not like him. Eureka matures in these volumes, and we learn another sinister truth about her in volume 3. The side characters become more developed as well: we see a scary side of Holland, Talho’s feelings come out, Anemone changes, and Dominic gets a little hotter shows multiple faces we never knew he had. One new character in particular gets introduced at the end of volume 4, and Talho fanboys will love her, if you catch my drift…

Mecha and action fans get their fair share of eye candy too. The Nirvash vs. The End battle is just plain awesome, and Holland’s raid on the military installation is almost as good.

The drama, though, is more intense than any mecha battle. Eureka and Renton’s relationship in particular undergoes incredible strain, which is to be expected after Renton finds out the truth about her. But what’s more shocking is how Eureka’s attitude towards life changes, and how it reverts back in time to save lives- including Renton’s. Talho and Holland share in the drama spotlight this time, as Holland meets an old comrade as well as his brother.

The boundaries of good and evil are tested as well- but I won’t say how, ’cause it’s a pretty big spoiler. The ‘evil’ side, Dominic and Anemone, begins to grow on you as these volumes wear on. This bothered me a little; I sort of wanted to hate Anemone. But after reading volume 5, I realized the changes in these volumes are for the better. Waaaaaaaaaaaaay better.

For a mere pair of volumes, though, Eureka Seven 3 and 4 managed to shock me quite a bit. Don’t read them if you haven’t read the first two volumes- you’ll be totally lost!- but instead, read the whole series. It’s well worth it, and it’ll encourage the creators overseas to write more of this good stuff, instead of pointless harem tripe. Take that, Maburaho!

CJ’s rating: 9 out of 10 California rolls.

Possibly objectionable content: Whew… lots of blood, violence, drama, and scary moments- your typical mecha content. But then there’s the brief nudity (nothing detailed, and it serves a purpose) and revealing outfits on Talho and Ruri. That bumps my age rating up to a 14+ on these volumes, 15+ if you’re picky or if the reader in question is naive/clueless.