I'm not saying that with any kind of glee either. And now, with Hi-Evo looking more and more to be a failed venture, I think it's very possible we're looking at the death of a franchise.
EUREKA SEVEN AO SEASON 3 SERIES
Everything that's come after the 2005 TV series has either had no connection to the original or did everything possible to stomp on (or at least severely alter) its legacy. Bones has either been incompetent or cruel in trying to make what was initially an indie, experimental mecha anime into a massive multimedia franchise. It's either one of them, or both of them, but it can't be neither of them. In my view, the one running theme in Bones' treatment of E7 has either been its incompetence or its cruelty. With Bones' (and more importantly, director Tomoki Kyoda's) track record with Eureka 7 as a franchise, the outlook isn't very promising.
EUREKA SEVEN AO SEASON 3 MOVIE
Given the lackluster financial returns and tepid, mediocre critical response for both Hi-Evo 1 and 2, this movie has a lot to answer for and has to make up a lot of lost public mind-share to be even remotely successful. To get right to the point: if Hi-Evo 3 doesn't live up to expectations or performs well at the box office, it's game over for Eureka 7 as a franchise. I'm not saying that just to tout how great I am or whatever but to give you a sense of where I'm coming from with this franchise and where I think it's going. Keep in mind all of this is just my perspective on things as an OG fan who's been around since the beginning, so take it as you will. And now that the last film of the trilogy is due this summer (two whole years late, I might add), I think it's worth taking stock of just where this franchise is and what we can expect from Bones going forward. I will say, however, that regardless of your personal feelings on the "reboot" trilogy, it hasn't garnered the greatest reception from critics at best it's been mixed and at worst it's like AO all over again. That's a dead horse at this point and frankly it's not really relevant for what my post is about. I'm not going to make this a post about whether Hi-Evo (or other entries in the franchise for that matter) are good or not. In that time, I've seen the fandom experience highs and lows, and witnessed the rise and fall of a cult classic among anime fans. I've been a part of the itty bitty E7 community since it started, almost. I've been a fan of Eureka 7 pretty much since the day it premiered in America on Adult Swim back in 2006. So I've been a longtime lurker on this subreddit and only just recently got an account.