Eureka Seven Hi-Evolution is a trilogy of anime films that takes place before and during the events of the original Eureka Seven series, as well as having an original story. Studio BONES and the most of the show's original staff (including director Tomoki Kyoda, writer Dai Sato and composer Naoki Sato) return, with CGI sequences in the second film provided by Graphinica.
The trilogy is comprised of:
- Eureka Seven Hi-Evolution 1Japanese title (2017)
- Anemone: Eureka Seven Hi-EvolutionJapanese title (2018)
- Eureka: Eureka Seven Hi-Evolution.Japanese title (2021)
The first film is presented as a partial prequel to the series, showing the previously unseen events of The Summer of Love incident before becoming a compilation of the show's middle arc of Renton's time with Charles and Ray, though with some differences.
The second film takes a turn into an Alternate Universe in which Anemone must face against the mysterious world-ending threat known as "Eureka Seven" whilst hoping to avenge her father's death.
The third and final movie takes place 10 years after the events of Anemone as Eureka continues to deal with the fallout from her actions while safeguarding a young girl named Iris, a being born from the Scab Coral and possessing the same power to control the Scab Coral like Eureka herself.
The Eureka Seven Hi-Evolution films contain Hi-Evolution-exclusive examples of:
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- 2D Visuals, 3D Effects: Vehicle animation is rendered in 3D in the movies during the new footage while the mecha remain 2D.
- Anime Theme Song:
- Hi-Evolution 1's ending theme is Glory Days by Hiroya Ozaki.
- Anemone's ending theme is There's No Ending by Ruann.
- Eureka's ending theme is Eureka by Hentai Shinshi Club, feat. kojikoji
- Aspect Ratio Switch: Any clips taken from the series are presented in the original full screen aspect ratio, while all the new footage is in widescreen.
- Darker and Edgier: Whilst the original series was pretty lighthearted, the trilogy puts the series in a much more serious and cynical tone. Many characters die and by the end of it a bittersweet ending happens at best for the audience.
- Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: The second and third films go with naming them after a central character but the first film is an Odd Name Out by being without a subtitle.
Eureka Seven Hi-Evolution 1
Don't beg for it, earn it and the universe will give it to you.
- Action Prologue: The entire Summer of Love sequence.
- Alternate Continuity: Is one to the original show with the general story being the same but with some big differences in Renton's relationship and backstory with Charles and Ray.
- Anachronic Order: Presented as such through Renton's stream of consciousness perspective so events from days or hours before/ahead constantly play based on what he's focused on. Though the perspective of time is played to present day, in this case Renton on his way to reunite with Eureka, as the film ends by noting he'll meet Eureka again in 18 hours and 24 minutes.
- Compilation Movie: Essentially one of the Charles and Ray arc of the original show.
- Early-Bird Cameo: Posters and graffiti of Anemone as an idol can be seen in the background at certain points.
- Fun with Subtitles: Taken to an extreme. Multiple characters, locations and objects all receive subtitles lining out their names, occupations, history etc over the course of the film.
- In Medias Res: Following the Summer of Love sequence, the recap portion begins with Renton having just left Charles and Ray to reunite with Eureka and the Gekkostate, only to be attacked by some dogs along the way as he narrates to the audience how he got to this point.
- Killed Offscreen: The dogs that were chasing after Renton in the beginning of the recap portion. We only see their dead bodies after the fact with visible gunshot wounds and said gun lying in front of them, implying Renton was forced to kill them to stop their chase.
- Mind Rape: Seemingly what happens to Dewey when he comes face to face with the Silver Box Base Component which overwhelms him and his LFO but ultimately leaves him alive following Adroc's sacrifice, unscathed but clearly shaken.
- Related in the Adaptation: Charles and Ray adopted Renton in this universe following Adroc's death rather than him being in the care of Axel Thurston like in the original.
- The Stinger: Has one acting a preview for the next film, styled like that of the original show's after credits previews. Though none of the footage shown actually happens in the next film.
Anemone: Eureka Seven Hi-Evolution
There's No Ending
- Aborted Arc: None of the scenes shown in the first film's after credits preview occur in this story. The only hold overs being Anemone in her military themed idol outfit which she wears for different reasons and the four girls (of the "Super 6" group) performing alongside her appearing but in a different capacity.
- An Arm and a Leg: Dewey's legs are fading away, seemingly representative of the fact he comes from another universe (likely to be that of Hi-Evolution 1). He regains them when he escapes the facility, now having mysterious power of his own.
- Apocalypse Maiden: Eureka has essentially become one herself. Empowered by the Silver Box, the new (and ultimately failed) worlds she creates to bring Renton back are bringing the actual world to destruction & caused billions of deaths.
- Art Shift: The sequences/flashbacks involving young Anemone and Eureka are presented in CGI but the rest of the film is traditionally animated.
- Aspect Ratio Switch: Done whenever Anemone is diving into the "Eureka Seven" world, where she inhabits scenes from the original series as her series counterpart fighting Eureka and the Nirvash as presented in their original 4:3 ratio.
- Cliffhanger: An alive Renton is out there (on another planet as it appears) swearing he'll come back to Eureka as she, Anemone & Dominic see his message calling for her on the Nirvash while an escaped Dewey watches on.
- Cosmic Retcon: Through the power of the Silver Box, Eureka has created multiple realities in search of one where she and (the currently dead in the main world) Renton can live happily. All these realities are the previous series, films, games and manga. Though it is brought into question that the power of the Silver Box simply granted her the ability to see those other universes for her to copy as Dewey calls those created worlds fake.
- Crucified Hero Shot: Villainous example. Dewey is kept in custody by the military in this pose, he even calls them out on it.
- Disappeared Dad: Anemone's father Ken, who died several years earlier failing to stop "Eureka Seven".
- Fun with Acronyms: The United Nations organisation Anemone and her team works for to investigate and stop "Eureka Seven" is named the "Anti Scab Strategic Infantry Division" a.k.a. ASSID.
- Medium Blending: All the segments with Anemone's childhood or her initial face to face meetings with Eureka are animated in CGI while the remainder of the film is traditionally animated.
- Mythology Gag:
- The Insert Song that plays when Anemone and Dominic are fighting "Eureka Seven" so she can dive in one last time is a cover of Ryuichi Sakamoto's Ballet Mecanique by Etsuko Yakushimaru. The song title was used as the name of episode 48 of the original show, the episode in which Anemone switches sides and becomes a couple with Dominic.
- A billboard with the name "Génération Bleu" can be seen in the background when Anemone and Sonia are talking on the rooftop.
- The failed worlds that Eureka tried to create to bring Renton back flash on screen while she's talking about them. Among them are the original series, ''Pocketful of Rainbows'' film, ''AO'', the video games and the manga adaptations.
- Naked on Arrival: The "Super 6" girls who previously tried diving into "Eureka Seven" before Anemone appear as such in the finale after Eureka finally gives up her mission. They're all notably covered up by green slime coming out of a big Nirvash.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning:
- Eureka's eyes glow red while offering Anemone the chance to live in a world where her dad is alive.
- Dewey's eyes also glow red when he escapes imprisonment.
- Robot Buddy: The Dominic app that Anemone's father Ken created for her operates as one for her. Though the Dominic that appears whenever she dives is much more than that.
- Uncertain Doom: It's not addressed by the end if Dr. Bear is still alive or not after Dewey escapes imprisonment and shatters the glass window in his direction. The following film would reveal he is still alive and well
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Eureka: Eureka Seven Hi-Evolution
A Girl's End. A Girl's Beginning
- Ambiguous Situation: In the end, Renton finally reappears to help Eureka destroy the refugee ship before it crashes into the planet. They both disappear after this and where they go or even if they'll come back is left ambiguous.
- Anyone Can Die: This movie absolutely dials it up to eleven. By the end of the film, on top of all the countless civilians that were killed during the film's events, the Super Six, Sumner, Ruri, Dewey, Holland, are all dead.
- Art-Shifted Sequel: The character designs for this film are handled by Masashi Okumura, instead of Kenichi Yoshida who did the original series and first 2 Hi-Evolution films.
- Ascended Extra: After being teased in the after credits teaser of film 1 and not appearing in film 2 till the very end, the "Super 6" girls actively appear and play a role in this story as ASSID pilots, complete with their own Combining Mecha named the "Loveless" piloted by all 6 of them.
- The Atoner: Eureka has become this, working under Anemone and her military group ASSID, after becoming publicly known and hated around the world for the destruction she caused.
- Badass and Child Duo: Eureka and Iris respectively.
- Big Bad: Like in the original series, Dewey Novak shapes out to be this.
- Bittersweet Ending: Dewey Novak and his army are no more, Earth is saved, and the Scab Coral lives on. However, Renton and Eureka disappear after the destruction of the refugee ship.
- Brought Down to Badass: Following her surrender at the end of Anemone, Eureka lost her Silver Box and Scab Coral powers, though her military background, piloting skills and work with Anemone and ASSID means she's still a capable fighter.
- Cool Ship: Anemone has become the captain of her own space ship named the Buena Vista.
- Creator In-Joke: Several of the companies involved during the production have their logos scatted in the film, including Bandai Namco (on a billboard outside a building, and later on a truck's trailer), BONES (On the gun box in Eureka's suitcase and later on, a tanker truck that blows up), and CGI studios Studio GOONEYS (on a different truck's trailer during one of the many CGI vehicle sequences) and Directrain (on a bus).
- Demoted to Extra: Despite being a major character in Anemone and being brought into the real world in its conclusion, Dominic has no role in this film. He only makes a single blink-and-miss-it cameo appearance in the background, on a digital billboard alongside Gulliver early in the film.
- Even though he doesn't have a significant role, Amemone is clearly shown wearing a wedding ring which means that she did end up marrying Dominic at some point before the events of the third film. Which suggests that he was planned to appear but they decided to only leave a brief reference to him instead.
- While the entire Gekkostate crew are demoted from being main characters in the original series, arguably none suffers more than Talho, who only appears in two scenes and is depicted as a Flat Character whose only significance is being pregnant with Holland's son.
- Expy: Dewey takes on a number of traits from the titular antagonists in the Terminator franchise. He is depicted as a superhuman killing machine focused on a single child with a significant role to play in his larger plot, is almost immune to virtually any form of attack, and can regenerate from any injuries in a fashion highly visually similar to the T-1000 in Terminator 2: Judgment Day. One scene in particular even shows Eureka and Iris attempting to melt him in a vat of molten steel, making clear that these references are deliberate.
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: Main villain Dewey possesses an odd scar that goes diagonally across his face, going through his right eye all the way to his left cheek. Notably his right eye's pupil and sclera changes color, making it mismatched with his left.
- Mama Bear: Eureka becomes this to Iris as her mission to bodyguard her evolves.
- Sean Connery Is About to Shoot You: The main poster visual shows Eureka carrying Iris in one arm with a gun pointed to the camera in her other hand.
- Shout-Out: One of the "Super 6" girls is named La La Land
- The aforementioned scene where Eureka and Iris try to melt Dewey in a vat of molten steel, which is a clear reference to the ending of Terminator 2: Judgment Day.
- Time Skip: The movie takes place 10 years after the events of Anemone.
