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A disappointing follow up to one of the best mecha shows ever made. Not enough runtime and questionable character progression.
On the bright side, The HD models of the Zegapain units are all good looking and move better than they did in the original 06 show. And realistically, none of the old characters behave in any way that could feel out of character or anything like that, and it’s aware of its own ideas like pain being what reaffirms your existence.
And that’s about all the good things I can say about the film. For the negative, let’s start with the pacing: For some reason, they thought ... it would be a good idea to devote 25 fucking minutes to recapping both ADP and the 06 show (when there’s already a compilation movie for that one). So despite the runtime being 1 hour and 30 minutes, it would be closer to say the actual films last just a single hour. This is just not enough time. One of the biggest strengths of the original show was that it took its time to develop and run through all the concepts and implications that came with the setting; we didn’t get clear answers until deep into it. And on the subject of the original show, the movie considers itself as a sort of ‘episode 27’, but it’s really hard to treat it as such when it’s so jarring in aesthetics and character progression. For starter, the first half feels like an informatic themed battle shonen, with characters using abilities that are pulled straight out of something like S-cry-ed. The new villains lack all the nuance and thematic depth that the Gard ORMs had, and they all look like characters from a completely different show. They come, say what their powers are, do a demonstration of them and leave until the middle act when the movie remembers that it’s actually a sequel to a mecha show and remembers that there are people outside winter maihama. Even the girl with the headphones that you think would end up being important doesn't really do anything other than saying some cryptic lines about what’s happening. Not to mention their origin story and plot twist is extremely contrived and there were no hits to them in the original show.
And I really dislike the overall setup of the movie: you mean there was enough stored data of Kyo 1.0 in the Altair after he blew himself up to create a copy in the backup server? Then why is there just a single Ryoko and not two of them? Wasn’t the whole point that Meta-bodies could not be replicated like simple files? That despite being data, they were all irreplaceable individuals? That memories define who you are? Why are there Gard ORMs helping the celebrants (yes, i know about NOT)? So many questions, so little time to answer them. And above all, i really really dislike how the movie treats Shizuno. One of the things I liked about the original show is how, despite everything, she still had the chance of reuniting with Kyo and that she too could become human one day, free from the painful memories of the past, but free to move forward. But this movie decides to ignore that final part, and that it’s better to stick with Kyo 1.0 (despite the fact that 1.0 shouldn’t even exist) together in the back up server for all eternity as long as the server lasts, as two incomplete halves that complete each other. I really dislike this and it is almost a form of escapism that goes against the original show.
As a whole, this movie should have been a 12 episode anime at the very least. I don’t even mind most of its ideas if at least the film developed them. But as it stands, it’s disappointing, and it’s a real shame because the 06 show is one of my absolute favorite shows of all time, and easily one of the best things Sunrise has ever done. It’s a shame that the movie acts as if this was some sort of grandiose conclusion to the franchise, when episode 26 of the original show: “All Creation” already did that 18 years ago. Personally, i don’t recommend it, but it’s just 1 hour so i guess you can watch it if you are curious.