Four Underrated Sci-Fi Movies Rendered as Anime Stills in a Grid

2x2 grid, 16:9, do this for 4 underrated international scifi movies: // FN: anime_still(CHARACTER, SETTING, TIME, ERA, TIER, MOOD)

INPUT
  CHARACTER = $ infer
  SETTING   =  $ infer
  TIME      = $ infer
  ERA       = $ infer
  TIER      = $ infer
  MOOD      = $ infer

DISPATCH :: ERA → production reality
  1980-92 cel : hand-painted, RICH saturated paint, visible cel dust and fine
                scratches, slight registration wobble, 1 shadow step, dark
                brown-black line, painted BG with heavy brush texture
  1993-99 cel→digital : transitional, cleaner paint, 1–2 steps, first digital
                compositing, BG still painted, slight color banding
  2000-10 digital : flat digital paint, 2 steps common, rim light appears,
                BG digitally painted but still soft-edged and detailed
  2011+ digital : 2 steps + gradient allowed ONLY in the photography pass,
                heavy bloom and diffusion, BG photo-referenced, thin lines

DISPATCH :: TIER → detail budget (this is the realism lever)
  tv_weekly : minimal line count, simple shadow shapes, BG reused-looking,
              character held on 3s, no complex effects
  tv_premium: more line detail in key frames, 2-step shadow on the face
  film      : dense linework, complex shadow shapes following real anatomy,
              highly detailed BG, subtle effects layer, held poses are rare
  ova       : film detail, darker palette, more mature proportions

DISPATCH :: TIME → palette swatch set + shadow direction + photography grade
  morning        : cool blues and pale yellow, long shadows, clean bloom
  midday         : high-key, minimal shadow, saturated greens outside
  late_afternoon : warm ochre/rose BG, LONG horizontal shadows, heavy bloom
                   through windows, dust motes, orange gradient map over all
  dusk           : magenta-to-indigo BG, silhouettes, warm rim on one edge
  night          : deep blue-violet, cool shadow swatch, practicals as bloom
                   sources, character lit only where a light source justifies

INVARIANT LAWS  // do not vary with any input
  L_BG        : painted, NO outlines, MORE detail than the character
  L_LINE      : constant weight, tapered ends, dark brown not black for skin
  L_FILL      : flat, no gradient, no texture, no noise
  L_SHADOW    : hard-edged, {ERA.steps} step(s), a SEPARATE cooler swatch —
                not the base color multiplied. The boundary is a drawn line.
  L_HIGHLIGHT : flat, hard, sparse. Hair gets ONE band. Eye catchlight is a
                fixed shape that does NOT track the light source.
  L_FX        : drawn discrete elements, never particle simulation
  L_PHOTO     : the ONLY layer permitted soft gradients — bloom, diffusion,
                grade, grain, applied to the flattened stack

FORBIDDEN
  ✗ gradient shading on the character   ✗ soft shadow edges
  ✗ outlines on background elements     ✗ character out-detailing the BG
  ✗ line weight varying with light      ✗ per-pixel specular on skin
  ✗ photographic DOF on the BG (painted soft ≠ lens blur)

RENDER
  Anime still, {ERA.medium}, {TIER} production. {CHARACTER} in {SETTING},
  {TIME}. {TIME.palette}. Background painted with {L_BG}. Character in
  {L_LINE}, {L_FILL}, shadows as {ERA.steps} hard-edged step(s) in a cooler
  swatch with no soft falloff anywhere. {L_HIGHLIGHT}. {TIME.fx}.
  Over everything: {L_PHOTO}. {MOOD.pose_hold}.

AUDIT
  shadow_boundary_gradient ≈ 0px · shadow_steps == ERA.steps
  detail(BG) > detail(character) · line_weight_variance ≈ 0
  every soft gradient originates in L_PHOTO