Kôkyô shihen Eureka Sebun: Poketto ga niji de ippai (2009)

This is a story about another universe, and another Renton and Eureka. Nearly half a century has passed since a war began between humanity and the mysterious life-forms known as the Imago, which suddenly appeared in the South Pacific. Fear and hatred have engulfed the world, and people have lost hope. Renton, a boy living at the Warsaw base, Eureka, a girl, and Nirvash, a young KLF, are left behind when Dr. Dominic, an adult who was important to them, disappears without saying goodbye. Renton later learns that research in Warsaw caused an unprecedented catastrophe known as the “Tragedy of Doha,” and that Dominic was among its casualties. Afterward, Eureka is abducted by the People’s Liberation Army, which appears suddenly. Unable to save the sobbing Eureka, Renton gives in to the violence of adults for the first time and is crushed by his own helplessness. As the son of Charles Thurston and Ray Thurston, two of the research project’s central members, Renton spends miserable days enduring brutal bullying. When he grows up, he is selected as an air force pilot after demonstrating extraordinary aptitude, with Nirvash—now grown into a KLF—as his partner. In 2054, Renton is assigned to the Gekkostate, the combat carrier of the People’s Liberation Army’s 303rd Independent Roughnecks. Under Captain Holland’s command, he undertakes a special mission to retrieve top-secret military material from a base in South Dakota. During the operation, guided by a rampaging Nirvash, Renton finds Eureka, from whom he had been separated, inside the base surrounded by a swarm of Imago. For some reason, Eureka seems afraid of something. Though she tearfully rejoices at seeing Renton again, she refuses to go with him. When Eureka is flung into the sky from the collapsing base, Nirvash responds by transforming and unleashing a tremendous energy wave that wipes out the Imago swarm. As Renton prepares to return to the Gekkostate, Holland tells him that Eureka is the military secret they were sent to retrieve. Humanity has been driven to a desperate situation. Alongside the Megaroad Project, which aims to evacuate 20,000 selected people from Earth, the “God’s Hammer Project” has been advancing as a last-ditch measure. But it is thrown into crisis when its executive officer, Major General Dewey Sorenstam, is assassinated. The project is reluctantly handed over to Braya Mattingly, prime minister of the People’s Central Government. Coda Labelle, Braya’s former wife, who is on the verge of retirement, is called in to investigate the assassination. Following the case with the help of Maria, her trusted secretary, and Maria’s husband Yurgens, head of the Public Security Bureau, Coda uses a syringe containing a drug called Datura, left at the crime scene, as a clue. She discovers the scandal that Dewey, celebrated as a hero of the “Tragedy of Doha,” had kept boys and girls orphaned by the war around him to satisfy his own sexual urges, and that a warrant had been issued for his arrest. Coda and her colleagues then receive word that the 303rd Independent Roughnecks, having recovered Eureka, has disobeyed orders and fled. They also learn that Holland Novak, believed to be the ringleader of the rebellion, has been found dead. Coda becomes convinced that the 303rd Independent Roughnecks is made up of boys and girls orphaned by the war, and that “they” assassinated Dewey and Holland and seized Eureka. As Renton talks with Eureka, who is receiving treatment aboard the Gekkostate, she tells him that she is a spy robot sent by the Imago, and that she is nearing the end of her life. Later, Renton scrambles into action and sees Holland destroy a state-of-the-art People’s Liberation Army vessel. He screams. After being captured, Renton learns that every member of his unit except him was in on the plan to frame him. When Renton asks, “Why?”, the man using Holland’s name asks him, “How old do I look?” Coda goes to Warsaw and learns from Morita that 40 war orphans, all 17 years old, had been gathered at the research institute and made to take part in “an experiment.” During it, they reached a parallel world in “another universe”—the world of the television series—and rapidly grew into the ages and appearances of their counterparts living there. Though they survived and returned, they remained in their rapidly aged forms and suffered the aftereffect of continuing to grow at three times the normal rate. They were barely staying alive by suppressing this with Datura, a growth-inhibiting drug. Coda learns that “they” called themselves “the Children of Neverland.” She also learns that the Warsaw Institute, which had been researching tactics against the Imago, became cult-like as it tortured the spy-robot girls sent by the Imago in an attempt to extract information from them, and that it brought about the “Tragedy of Doha” in pursuit of its goal, the “Myth Re-Creation Project.” Morita explains that the phenomenon, which triggered the destruction of super-gravitons and created a black hole on Earth for several seconds, was recreated by the scientists based on a story called the “Agesha Myth.” Coda consults an expert in superphysics and hears the theory that the Agesha Myth is a “guidebook” prepared by the Imago to make humanity press the switch for “world recreation.” The Children of Neverland intend to carry out the Myth Re-Creation Project—the experiment that ensnared them—in order to go to Neverland, a world where time has stopped. Renton resists Holland’s demands, stubbornly refuses to cooperate, and is taken into custody. Eureka overhears that Holland and the others intend to inject Renton with a truth serum and force him to cooperate with their plan. The Gekkostate encounters another military pursuit unit. Amid the ensuing confusion, Eureka rescues Renton and urges him to escape. Meanwhile, Captain Talho collapses from illness, forcing Holland to take command of the Gekkostate. Unable to sortie himself, he is put at a disadvantage in the fighting. Eureka tells Renton to leave her behind and run, but he gets angry. Taking Eureka aboard Nirvash, he quickly destroys the pursuing unit and saves the embattled Gekkostate. Determined to get his hands dirty for Eureka’s sake, Renton locks onto the Gekkostate and threatens Holland, forcing him to explain their plan. Holland proposes a deal, and Renton promises to cooperate. But Renton’s actions cause a rift within the unit. Hap, distrustful of Holland for letting Renton off the hook, conspires with Stoner and plans to attack Eureka to confirm that she is an impostor. Swarming Imago are gathering toward Antarctica. In response, Archetypes of the KLFs stationed around the world begin to run amok. The same thing starts happening aboard the Gekkostate. Sensing the disturbance, Eureka goes to the hangar to stop Nirvash from going berserk, but Hap and the others attack her. Renton punches Hap to save Eureka, but is shot in the abdomen. Hap and Stoner are killed by the enraged Nirvash. Once the rampage stops, Nirvash reverts to its young form and nestles beside Renton, who lies there covered in blood. Eureka’s scream echoes through the hangar. With Renton in critical condition and expected to last no more than three days, the Gekkostate heads to the Vodara Palace to visit the “pink-haired woman,” Anemone. But the person there is an old woman accompanied by a black young KLF, The End. Convinced that the old woman is Anemone, Eureka takes her hostage and demands that Holland and the others transport Renton to a hospital. Around the same time, Dominic, who was supposed to have died along with The End, appears beside Renton, lying in intensive care. Meanwhile, with humanity’s survival at stake, Braya is about to carry out the “God’s Hammer Operation”: attacking the Imago core gathered in Antarctica with an optical weapon that concentrates sunlight. Coda proposes that the operation be stopped, saying it is exactly what the Imago want. Braya refuses, saying that he has reached a point where he cannot back down. As the situation grows tense, the Imago, having detected Anemone’s whereabouts, attack the Vodara Palace. With the Imago closing in, Anemone takes on her youthful appearance and stops time, urging Eureka to make a decision. Dominic likewise urges Renton to decide. “Don’t beg for it; take it. Then it will be given to you.” In response to Eureka and Renton’s decision to weave a new myth, Nirvash undergoes an extraordinary transformation and growth. The new Nirvash, carrying Renton, easily drives back the Imago. Taking Eureka with him, Renton tries to fly toward Antarctica, where Braya’s attack is imminent. Holland pursues him in the Devilfish. A fierce battle between Renton and Holland unfolds, with the fate of the myth at stake.