My biggest worry going into this was about the rumor that they were going to add original footage about Adroc Thurston and the Summer of Love. One of the key thematic arcs of the show was Renton's feelings of resentment for his father's reputation as a hero, having to live in the shadow of someone who lived this exciting life and became a hero to the entire world. We never got to see the Summer of Love in the show, so the gravity of what Adroc did got to be filled in by our imagination. How could they actually depict Adroc's sacrifice and make itstand up next to our imagination?

By showing us just the last hours of his life and filling them with a million explosions as the world goes to fucking shit all around the main characters.

The strategy of not explaining the complete nature of the Summer of Love or Adroc's part in the creation of the Silver Box that caused the Seventh Swell we see didn't just preserve the mystery of Adroc that is so core to the show: it accentuated them. Now we get to have our cake, this action-packed climax to the man's life, and eat it to by knowing just the right amount more about what occurred, such that the original show isn't tarnished. Not only is this a 10/10 masterpiece, it makes the original 10/10 masterpiece even better by proxy.

But that's just the first 20-30 minutes or so. What the movie is actually about is Renton's relationship with Charles and Ray. I can't properly describe you the emotional swell I felt as the realization dawned on me that this wasn't going to be a straight rehashing of the show. The first part of this trilogy is a stylish re-edit of my favorite arc from one of my favorite shows of all time. I could cry. It was so beautiful to see, even if the 4:3 aspect ratio is outdated next to the widescreen of the opening and the remastered animation is still quite obviously TV-quality, not modern film quality. But what should we have expected? Bones to animate the sides of the frames so that all the scenes could be in widescreen while all the action was in 4:3? Nah. The Charles and Ray arc from the show can stand on its own very easily, so save that money for higher concentrations of original footage in 2 and 3, please.

Charles and Ray is a microcosm of everything Eureka Seven was about. Renton meets them as the spoiled child who has rejected Eureka because of she wasn't the dream girl he idolized and expected her to be. He leaves them as someone who has a better grasp of the need to listen to other people and understand their differences so that he can respect them and go through the world more confidently. Making a movie about his relationship with them as a separate thing from his relationship with Eureka makes sense to me because it can be a standalone about growth in the aftermath of an undescribed massive disaster like Acperience was for Renton and Eureka. This very closely parallels how the show as a whole is about growth in the aftermath of the Summer of Love. More than that, the arc's presentation is edited and intercut such that the emotional gut punches of the arc just keep coming and coming and coming in an extremely methodical way.

Using the lens we were given in Hi-Evolution 1 (and assuming for the sake of useful argument that 2 and 3 are strictly content from the show), I would totally expect someone only interested in watching the movies to get a good understanding of what Eureka Seven is about. They get a thematic summary with 1, then they'll see Renton grow up from nothing to a hero alongside Eureka while she does the same over the course of two more films. I'm extremely looking forward to that and whatever the hell they have planned for those soccer KLFs and idol singing in the next episode preview.

Even if you haven't seen the show, you owe it to yourself to watch this. If you have seen the series, this is an unforgettable way to experience an excellent arc of it (again, my favorite) in a new way. See this. It's not a replacement for Eureka Seven; it's a peerless companion to it. SEE THIS.