In the backwater town of Bellforest, Renton Thurston has deep desires to leave and join the mercenary group Gekkostate, looking to find adventure like his father before him. However, his grandfather stoutly insists he become a mechanic. With his dreams somewhat deferred, Renton almost gives in until a mysterious girl and her mech crash into his garage, requesting a tune up. When she realizes that Renton’s presence makes her mech, the Nirvash, perform better, this girl whisks him away to Gekkostate.

When Eureka Seven first came out, it seemed Bones found a way to breathe new life into the otherwise stale mecha genre, and while the show flails as it goes on, it does have its fun moments. If you want a show as unique as Eureka Seven, give these anime recommendations a try.

For Fans of Crews as Close as Family

Xam’d: Lost Memories

Akiyuki Takehare lives on the peaceful Sentan Island between two warring nations with his mother. One day, when arriving at school he is caught in an explosion that produces a mysterious light that enters his arm. Although it causes him excruciating pain, a random girl that rode the bus with him that morning will use it to lead him to incredible power.

Both Xam’d and Eureka Seven were done by the same studio, so immediately you get that same feel as well as animation. However, the part that stands out so prominently is the immediate family feel you get between the crews in both series.

Cowboy Bebop

In the year 2071, humanity has all but left Earth behind as it colonized several different planets. To keep the peace in the galaxy, the Inter Solar System Police established outlaw bounty hunters, or Cowboys. Jet Black and Spike Spiegel are two such bounty hunters, but ones with poor luck. As their crew grows with other misfits, so too do their misfortunes.

In both series you have a crew that flies around usually just trying to survive, but sometimes getting caught up in more serious things. However, both Eureka Seven and Cowboy Bebop have a love of western pop culture references. Sometimes you think you are watching a jazzy blues anime with Cowboy Bebop just as you might think you stepped into a 1950s surfer movie with Eureka Seven.

Mars Daybreak

With Mars now almost entirely covered by water, humanity traverses it on city ships that float the open seas. However, with the economy poor and the government corrupt, many have taken to piracy. To combat this, Earth has sent over a special task force to combat the menace. Unfortunately from Gram and his friends, they were in the wrong place at the wrong time and end up on the run with the most notorious pirates on the planet.

If you are familiar with a wide array of Bones anime, then Mars Daybreak features a little bit of everything. As Eureka Seven is one of their most prominent, you will find a lot of similarities such as a boy traveling with criminals fighting against a regime, high tech mechs and ships, orphans, aliens, and a geeky main character that kind of sucks.

For Fans of Sci-Fi Romance

Kishin Taisen Gigantic Formula

In 2035 A.D., the heads of ancient giant idols were excavated all over the world. Using those twelve stones statues, Humanity had barely overcome the threat of extinction called the “Equatorial Winter”. But the stone statues had forced Humanity to construct colossal suits of armor as their bodies and demanded that the humans fight each other.

Gigantic Formula and Eureka Seven have basically the same formula but it has given its own legs by slight alterations. Basically you have an average boy plucked up from obscurity by a mysterious girl and taken into a strange mech. Throughout you watch him fall in love with this mysterious girl and other girls vaguely show interest.

Planetes

With space travel an everyday reality and corporations taking over, Ai Tanabe satisfied her space ambitions by joining the Technora Corperation. Unfortunately she finds out that her department, one responsible for removing space debris, is just a big joke. Yet Ai is undeterred in making a difference.

Both Eureka Seven and Planetes both take their sweet time introducing their characters but when they let the conflict loose, they really let it loose. Yet in between all that conflict, they do a good job creating a compelling romance, though admittedly Planetes does a better job because Renton is kind of terrible.

Escaflowne

During a twist of fate, Hitmi Kanzaki witnesses a boy named Van fall from the sky and kill a dragon. After he defeats it, they are both sucked into a pillar of light and Hitmoi is taken to Van’s world where she finds out he is a prince and his kingdom is at war. After his kingdom falls, they both end up on the run as they try to take his kingdom back and get Hitomi home.

Eureka Seven is like Escaflowne come again. Both series rely heavily on romance for the plot and build much of the story upon the back of a special mech that is awakened by the main characters. While the plots of both series are vaguely unclear at the beginning, they fully flesh themselves out equally as things go on.

For Fans of Mysterious Adventure-Sparking Girls

Comet Lucifer

Deep underground are blue crystals known as Giftium that posses great value. Sougo Amagi’s hobby is gathering these crystals. One day, while arguing with classmates, Amagi and his classmate Kaon fall into a hole and discover a strange blue-haired girl called Felia. While they become fast friends, when Felia leaves the mine, the town is suddenly awash with problems.

Aside from the whole plot of boy meets mysterious girl that changes his life, the biggest similarity between Comet Lucifer and Eureka Seven is the main character. They both love discovery, are good with tech, and enjoy hoverboarding as a hobby, although Amagi is a little more cool about it.

Blue Gender

In the near future, humanity has been replaced on the top of the food chain by a race of bug-like aliens called Blue. Retreating to their space station, humanity hopes to reclaim Earth someday in the future. On Earth, the cryogenically frozen Yuji Kaido is awakened after being frozen to halt his disease. Joining a team of soldiers sent to extract him, it isn’t long before he is forced to come to terms with the bloody horrors of his new reality.

Oh, you know the old tale. Boy meets girl, girl’s suppressed emotions reawaken, boy and girl use each other for character development. The only difference is that Blue Gender walks a much darker and mature path than Eureka Seven.

Guilty Crown

After being ravaged by the Apocalypse Virus, Japan has fallen under control of the GHQ, an independent military force dedicated to the restoration of order. However, a guerrilla group called Funeral Parlor seeks to put an end to their despotism. After a fateful run in with a key member of Funeral Parlor, weak and anti-social Shuu Ouma finds himself with a powerful new weapon, the ability to pull out manifestations of a person’s personality to wield as weapons. Now he must make use of it in order to free Japan once and for all.

Both series feature a boy meeting an apathetic or emotionless girl through circumstance and then find himself drafted into what appears to be the rebel faction. However, like other anime of the same plot, Guilty Crown goes for the darker route almost immediately while Eureka Seven occasionally wallows around in silliness.

Did we miss any good anime recommendations for Eureka Seven? Tell us about them in the comments section below.