Koukyoushihen Eureka Seven Hi-Evolution 2: Anemone

If there was one complaint I had about the original series, it would probably be the character of Anemone for about the first 32 episodes or so. "Broken" villains are nothing new (e.g. Dilandau from Escaflowne), and while she was interesting as the anti-Eureka, watching a sadistic, unstable girl repeatedly beat up Dominic got old pretty quick. We got to see an inkling of her origin story, she was redeemed late in the show, but other than that, her story isn't nearly as fleshed out as it probably could've been.

So this film is a collision of 2 what-if scenarios: 1. What if Anemone is just ... a normal girl, not a human experiment, and 2. What if Eureka was thrust in the shoes of the original Anemone?

While most of what we see through Anemone/Fuuka's eyes is Bones' bad habit of wanting to animate every last possibility they wrote but missed, it's helpful to bear in mind that not all storytelling is meant to drive a plot forward-- fans of the show who remember the Acperience episodes might understand this, particularly the first two. The scenes in the dream world are very impressionistic and serve more to show the character's state of mind rather than show an event taking place. The film ends up being a reboot of the original series, of sorts, vaguely following the last chronological scene in the first Hi-Evolution film. If you're feeling nostalgic, there's always the original 50 episodes, and you can insist that's the only possible canon. If you're open to a new angle, this ain't bad. Anemone/Fuuka as the heroine finding and pulling Eureka out of despair is probably a lot better written than Anemone swerving from sadistic killing machine to damsel in distress. It's not Final Fantasy VII Remake, but it's good if you tend to "feel" your way through a production rather than try to put it together logically.

Credit where it's due: Yes, there's recycled shots from the original show. Funnily enough, the recycled shots (AKA Anemone/Fuuka's exploration in VR) are in the resolution of the original broadcast, possibly to make the audience think we're watching a flashback. But even these "flashbacks" end up being original: they are the fights between Eureka and Anemone if it went horribly, horribly wrong for Eureka. And if you've watched the original show, if it went wrong like this, the universe plunging into crisis wouldn't be at all surprising.

The race to the climax (neatly bookending the opening scene) is reminiscent of Gainax or Ghibli, with an army of creatures gobbling up the dream world as Anemone/Fuuka and Eureka make a run for it. At first it was cute, then hilarious, then delightfully absurd if a tad derivative. And while the closing scenes are a bit cheesy, at least they went for a hopeful ending. Unfortunately 3 of the cast members are no longer with us, so either they'll have to re-cast (risky), or they will have to write the next film in such a way to not give them speaking roles (much harder). Because Dewey's voice actor died in 2018, his role was given to Keiji Fujiwara. Understandable, but maybe there could've been someone else to fill those shoes, considering Fujiwara has passed as well.

This film, particularly the climactic scenes, probably would've been a nightmare to animate in 2D, and there are a couple of shots (even close shots) that are clearly 3D CG, while much of the rest of the production do a very good job of lighting/shading the shots to look like hand-drawn anime.

The mech design was by Shoji Kawamori, and Anemone's mech combines insanity, cuteness, and absurdity. I guess he had some fun doing mechs other than Valkyries.

Naoki Sato's soundtrack is strong, if a bit understated compared to some of his other works.

Overall, while I think this film falls short of the original, it's quite strong as long as you experience the film rather than try to piece together history from it (again, Acperience is a recurring theme here). Rebooting Anemone's story worked for me, and while just about the whole film is 3D, most of the time you won't notice.

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.

Anemone: Eureka Seven Hi-Evolution.

Did you treasure the original series, enjoying every segment, profound moment, and the chemistry of Eureka and Renton? Well, it's thrown out the window now. Turns out during the fight with Anemone in the original series; what happened afterward is non-canon.

With Anemone taking the front stage and becoming the driving force of the movie, it becomes rather sloppy quickly. Switching to CGI is great but preferably stuck to one animation style. The story is a complete mess. Throwing aside everything from the Original Series, Eureka AO, Pocket Full of Rainbow Movie, and Manga spin-offs to the curve, making them irrelevant. ...

The film is an utter mess, trying to make itself a fantasy and dream reality type of Disney flick. Throwing a bunch of nonsense at us and going all over the place. I have no hopes for the third installment of the series. Completely disappointed, the series ended on a high note. Eureka AO was a sequel not wanted that told us an unnecessary story but didn't ruin the franchise. Eureka Hi-Evolution 2 is just a cash grab, destroying our childhoods and the story we fell in love with.