Last week news broke that Studio Bones would be retelling the original Eureka Seven animated series in a new trilogy of films spanning the next three years. The first entry into the trilogy, Eureka Seven: Hi-Evolution, is set to release in 2017 across Japan. In light of this, we reached out to Dai Sato to briefly discuss his thoughts on the trilogy, as well as what he has been working on over the last 12 years.
Best known for his work on series such as Cowboy Bebop, Eureka Seven and Ghost in the Shell: SAC, Dai Sato has played a lasting role in the animation industry. In 2006 he was awarded ‘best screenplay’ at the Tokyo International Anime Fair for his substantial work on Eureka Seven. The following year in 2007 Dai Sato went on to establish his own company, Storyriders.
It’s been 12 years now since the original Eureka Seven series ended. What projects have you been involved in since then?
I’ve been working with various video game-related releases such as ‘Resident Evil: Revelations 1 & 2’, ‘Halo: Legends’ and ‘Tekken: Blood Vengeance’, as well as animated series’ such as ‘Space Dandy’ and ‘Lupin the Third: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine’. I was also responsible for various animated kids shows such as ‘Battle Spirits’, ‘Puzzle & Dragon Cross’ and ‘JOKER’.
What kind of changes can we expect to see in the trilogy? A lot has happened in the last 12 years, do you think your thought process when working on anime has changed at all?
When I originally worked on this series 12 years ago, anime was still very much ‘counter-culture’. These days though, it’s almost become a part of every day life for society. Because of this, we’re really looking at what we can do with the series.
Shortly after the announcement of the rebooted trilogy, ‘Eureka Seven’ was at the top of the trending terms on Twitter. What kind of an impact are you hoping to leave on the animation scene with these films?
While I was pleasantly surprised by the positive reaction fans of ‘Eureka Seven’ gave to the announcement, I also want to build that much excitement amongst people who will be watching the series for the first time too. I want to leave a strong impact on those new people, just as I want to for the original fans.
The upcoming trilogy, which will act as a retelling of the original 50 episode series, will include remade animation and audio, as well as additional scenes. The trilogy is set to build on the ‘Summer of Love’ anomaly that occurred 10 years prior to the original story, offering viewers a healthy dose of fresh content mixed in with the story they know and love.
The team working on the trilogy will consist largely of the series’ original staff, including script-writer and OTAQUEST co-founder Dai Sato, alongside chief director Tomoki Kyoda. Also working on the upcoming trilogy are Kenichi Yoshida, Shoji Kawamori, Kazutaka Miyatake, and Shingo Takeba, amongst a team of returning and fresh talent.
Originally aired in North America through Adult Swim, the series was met with wide-spread approval. Following the story of protagonist Renton Thurston, audiences were invited on a 50-episode journey through the skies as Renton’s entirely boring life got turned upside-down.
The official website for the upcoming film trilogy can be found here.