Koukyoushihen Eureka Seven Hi-Evolution 2: Anemone

If anyone is wondering if it would be fine to jump into Anemone if they have only seen the original TV series, I wouldn't recommend it and would very much recommend everyone to go through the movie (Pocketful of Rainbows), the TV sequel (Eureka Seven AO), and the short manga retelling first to fully enjoy the franchise's very well-written narrative that the Hi-Evolution trilogy expands upon.

I can only describe my experience of having seen the movie on theaters the first time as an absolutely breathtaking roller coaster with how it completely went far above my expectations that I had established ever since we got the ... first proper PV for the movie.

The movie incorporates different "forms" of animation that switches around depending on the context of the show. It majorly consists of new footage in beautiful 2D animation and switches to remastered 4:3 resolution of old footage from the TV series whenever Anemone goes into her "diving" sessions. And lastly, we have beautifully rendered CGI animation which is used when showing the main characters as when they were young. All of these "forms" of animation, that the movie shifts between in a very unique and cleverly put-together way, coupled with an equally powerful and moving soundtrack that the franchise has always boasted, results in definitely some of the most engaging and best looking animated mecha show we've had in the past decade.

For the characters, we have Anemone as the protagonist and Eureka as the deuteragonist. A very welcome and interesting spin given their roles on the original TV show and will definitely be a treat for long-time Anemone fans to see her take the spotlight. The supporting cast mostly consists of returning characters from the original TV series along with a few new ones, mainly Anemone's dad.

All of these elements come together to depict what is probably the best story Eureka 7 has had so far. And by the end of the movie, realizing that it's only a prelude to what will probably be the best culmination of one of the most passionate franchises ever, lord knows I cannot contain my excitement for Hi-Evolution 3 for even another second. But I will wait and put my trust on the whole staff that's done nothing but treat the franchise with the most care and love that they have for the past decade and more.

Finally, I can only describe the Hi-Evolution movie trilogy so far, and especially Hi-Evolution 2 Anemone, as a masterful and deeply heartwarming love letter to every fan of the franchise that took the time to enjoy all the entries and supported it til now. And the whole Eureka 7 series as something thats definitely worth everyone's time, patience, and understanding.

Eureka Seven Hi-Evolution 2: Anemone seems to maybe continue in the same universe as movie 1's start-up action scene, I'm not sure if there is a way to tell. But I don't feel you need to have seen it. Eureka Seven Ao established a concept of multiple universes and this movie does too. Anemone is the teenage protagonist, though it does start with her in her early childhood. She is not the same as the tv series. The Coralian apocalypse is starting and humanity decides to mentally (think VR style) dive into "eureka seven" aka the apocalyptic coral to fight it since conventional weapons don't ... work.

Here is where the screen crops to 4:3. Anytime a mental dive is happening, the director(?) introduces new 4:3 dialogue footage alongside classic tv action scenes involving Anemone. In this new series, she is depicted as only slightly angsty attitude driven, so it clashes with her more extreme expressions form the tv series action scenes before returning to her usual tamer movie persona.

It's ending is a bit convoluted, not sure if I want to spoil anything here, just brace for it... Though it does set up a bit for a seemingly movie 3 Renton Film.
I did enjoy the aesthetic of the film. Very militaristic. Yeah, young Anemone is CG while teenage Anemone is 2d, but that didn't bother me. It seemed to be specifically for the ending anyway. Dominic is siri, that's a thing here.

I found it's implementation of using old footage very unique, not good, but unique. Franchise films are usually either completely new content/animation or a condensed/alternative take of the original content, think more movie 1. However, this film sits right in the middle of this separation of mine. It is new story using mostly new animation but found an excuse to slip in classic scenes when it really didn't have to or should have in my opinion.

If you haven’t seen the original Eureka Seven, this movie is a confusing, boring, inconsistent film. It fails to explain anything, it makes no sense, it cuts from some legitimately great new animation to some bad cg to reused footage from a show from 2005.

And if you ARE a fan of the original, it becomes an abysmal, insulting mess. We spend ungodly amounts of time in a weird, alternate reality that has nothing to do with the original plot. Magic doors open in the sky, every character is acting completely different, and a bizarre multiverse storyline begins to happen that has nothing to do with ... anything at all.

Studio Bones seems to desire hurting the fans of Eureka Seven, as every single piece of media past the original series has been endless retcons and alternate versions, designed solely to ruin the series. First you have the films that changed the plot completely, then you have AO, a ‘sequel’ that had almost nothing to do with the original at all.

And now this, Hi-Evolution, the rebuild of Evangelion of E7.

Do you enjoy wasting your time? Well this movie certainly does! It spends half it’s run time showing old footage of Eureka Seven but used in a different context, which advances nothing in the plot at all! then it ends on the most nonsense, series destroying retcon ending possible, making rebuild 3.0 a logical conclusion from the previous film in comparison.

Nothing in this film makes sense, and it's pathetic attempt to retcon the shattered, confusing franchise into one plotline where everything was a fake alternate reality... give me a break. Stop, please stop hurting me and the other fans, I love Eureka Seven, but this... this is Not Eureka Seven.

I’d write a longer review but I honestly don’t want to think about this movie ever again. It looks bad, it sounds bad, it insults fans of the original and drags a once great series through the mud to tell a story that is not only pointless, but actively ruins the original series and it’s ending. Please, if you are a fan of the show, never watch this piece of crap.