The New Eureka Seven Movie is Really Fucking Weird

I don’t know what I was expecting going into Anemone: Eureka Seven Hi-Evolution, but it sure wasn’t this.

Image source: エウレカセブン ハイエボリューション公式 on Twitter

The Eureka Seven saga began over a decade ago as a 51 episode TV series. Since then, there has been a sequel TV series, special pachinko episode, and a theatrical film. Then, last year, the first film of a new planned trilogy, Eureka Seven Hi-Evolution, was also released. Largely a recap movie reusing footage from the TV show, it nonetheless contains a brief section of new footage that acts as a prequel to the events of the TV anime. Recently, the second Hi-Evolution film, Anemone: Eureka Seven Hi-Evolution, hit theaters in Japan. But while it does occasionally reuse footage from the TV anime, it’s most certainly not a recap film.

The TV anime that started it all, Eureka Seven, is set on a world where the surface of the planet is covered by unstable coral. A side effect of this coral is a substance released into the air that allows mecha to fly through the skies on giant surfboards. The story follows young pilots Renton and Eureka who are members of a band of air surfers, waging an anti-establishment rebellion against the tyrannical government.

Image source: エウレカセブン ハイエボリューション公式 on Twitter

The sequel, Eureka Seven AO takes place on an Earth somewhat similar to our own–though with masses of coral (accompanied by giant monsters) appearing seemingly at random. It follows Eureka’s son, Ao, as he becomes the pilot of his missing mother’s mecha and attempts to solve the mystery of her disappearance.

Anemone: Eureka Seven Hi-Evolution, on the other hand, is something completely different.

Image source: エウレカセブン ハイエボリューション公式 on Twitter

The film takes place on Earth in our near future. Seven massive coral explosions known as “Eurekas” have occurred across the globe resulting in the deaths of 2.6 billion people. Humanity has never once been able to destroy the coral–mainly because of the invincible monster that appears whenever the coral is threatened. However, a young half-Japanese woman stands poised to bring the battle to “Eureka Seven” and get revenge for her father who was killed by the coral years before. Her name is Anemone and she is humanity’s last hope.

As physical attacks have been useless against the coral, the goal of Anemone and her team is to use a special device, hidden in Tokyo harbor, to attack Eureka Seven mentally–to enter the world of thought within the coral and fight it there.

Image source: エウレカセブン ハイエボリューション公式 on Twitter

Inside the mental world, Anemone appears piloting a mecha and her Siri-like companion AI, Dominic, materializes as a young man. There she finds herself battling a strange mecha. When she defeats it, Anemone catches a glimpse of the pilot–a girl with green hair who calls out a single word “Renton.” Returned to the real world, Anemone finds that, as hoped, a part of the coral has been destroyed granting humanity its first victory. But even as she continues to dive in and battle the green haired girl, Anemone starts to suspect that there is far more going on than anyone has imagined.

Now, it’s important to note that the Anemone in this film is not the Anemone from the TV series–despite the fact that they are physically (and nominally) identical. Their histories are completely different as are their personalities. However, what they share is the fact that they are both socially isolated.

Image source: エウレカセブン ハイエボリューション公式 on Twitter

In the TV series, Anemone has only Dewy, her commander (who she pretends to adore even though she’s actually terrified of him); Dominic, her liaison to the military; and Gulliver, her pet badger-thingy. The Hi Evolution Anemone is even worse off: all she has is a simple smartphone AI made by her father and a stuffed animal of Gulliver. However, this lonely existence is actually her attempt at connecting with someone: her dead father.

When it comes down to it, Anemone is a story of loss and how we try to cope with it. Anemone is a girl who has defined herself based on the loss of her father. He was a soldier, so she becomes one too–picking up his mission to destroy the coral threatening the world. Yet in her attempt to become closer to him in some ethereal way, she has isolated herself. Trapped within her own loneliness, she is seeking a true connection with another person. But she’s not the only one in such a situation.

*Spoilers Begin*

Image source: エウレカセブン ハイエボリューション公式 on Twitter

On the flip side of the story, we have Eureka. Unlike Anemone, this Eureka is identical to the one from the TV series–though with a twist. At some point, Eureka touches the Silver Box superweapon and her Coralian powers go out of control, killing Renton in the process. With Renton dead and Eureka with near godlike powers, she begins creating worlds–trying to create a timeline where Renton doesn’t die.

However, these attempts cause “Eureka” events in Anemone’s world–the coral itself being the physical manifestation of Eureka’s created realities. But Eureka doesn’t care about the destruction she is causing–heck, thanks to her powers, she’s not even sure what reality is anymore.

Image source: エウレカセブン ハイエボリューション公式 on Twitter

Eureka has been completely broken by the death of Renton. She would do literally anything to get him back–meeting him again is all that matters. However, despite her godlike powers of creation, she just can’t seem to get it right and Renton dies again in each reality. Worse still her powers are near their limit–she’s created all she can. And then comes Anemone, fighting against her in the mental realm–destroying her realities one after another.

Though they are enemies, Anemone is perhaps the one person capable of truly empathizing with Eureka and vice versa. After all, both of them have structured their lives around the death of the most important person in their respective worlds. In self-imposed isolation, they have fought to become closer to their lost loved ones. And, in the end, both have failed.

Image source: エウレカセブン ハイエボリューション公式 on Twitter

But it is through their shared pain that they have the chance to make something new–to break each other’s isolation and begin living in the present, instead of the past. It is a shining point of hope for these two lost souls and one they would be forever unable to reach without the other’s help.

*Spoilers End*

Visually, there are three distinct styles in Anemone: traditional 2D animation, 3D animation, and remastered 4:3 screen TV series animation. But rather than being mixed and matched at random, each is used artistically to bolster the storytelling of the film.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6MiNx3r8K8

The widescreen 2D animation is used for all scenes taking place in Anemone’s present-day world–from Anemone’s downtime to the army’s battles against the coral. The 3D animation, where both characters and backgrounds are rendered in 3D, are flashbacks or dreams set in Anemone’s past around the time that her father died. Finally, the remastered 4:3 TV series animation is used in scenes when Anemone enters one of the mental worlds inside the coral.

For the most part, these three styles work well together, clearly marking when and where any given scene is taking place just from the format alone. The only noticeable issue comes from the remastered sections.

Image source: エウレカセブン ハイエボリューション公式 on Twitter

The problem isn’t the quality nor the amount of reused animation in the film (the old TV animation makes up perhaps 10% of the film if that), the problem is that the Anemone in the film is not the mentally unstable girl of the series. The emotions we see on Anemone’s face during certain remastered scenes–i.e., the fights where Anemone goes the craziest–don’t match the personality of the character in the film. It causes an odd disconnect and pulls you out of the movie; you immediately know that the footage you’re seeing wasn’t made with this film in mind.   

On the music side of things, the soundtrack is nothing particularly memorable–except for the main theme song, “There’s No Ending” by RUANN. It is simply fantastic and alternates between a techno beat, acapella vocals, and what sounds like a pan flute backed by tribal drums. Yet, somehow, this mix perfectly fits Eureka Seven.

Image source: エウレカセブン　ハイエボリューション公式 on Twitter

In the end, Anemone: Eureka Seven Hi-Evolution is a film I don’t think anyone was expecting. Not only is it almost completely unrelated to the previous Hi-Evolution film, but how exactly it connects to the rest of the franchise is up to interpretation as well. Strangely surreal and full of yet-to-be-explained mysteries, it nonetheless delivers an understandable and emotional tale of two girls devastated by loss yet finding hope for the future in each other.

And trust me, by the time the final credits roll, you’ll be dying to see how it all turns out in the third and final Hi-Evolution film scheduled to hit Japanese theaters next year.

Anemone: Eureka Seven Hi-Evolution was released in Japanese theaters on November 10, 2018. It’s scheduled to hit theaters in the US sometime in 2019.

Top Image Source: エウレカセブン ハイエボリューション公式 on Twitter