Eureka Seven: Pocket Full of Rainbows (AKA Good Night, Sleep Tight Young Lovers) is an alternate story sci-fi seinen movie, featuring many of the characters and aspects of Eureka Seven. There is a big difference between this and the 2005 anime. With all of the differences, I enjoyed this more than the original series, especially since this movie fixes many of the problems that series had. It has a more complex story that may leave your mind boggled, thus is more suited for adults. The story is set on Earth this time, with none of the trappars or the like, but it does have references to the 2005 anime, like the moon and an abandoned Vodarak town. In case you want my opinion and insight into the 2005 series - here.
Animation
It's amazing the difference a few years can make. The quality of the animation is stunning, just the first scene alone had me in awe. It retains the design and animation style but things just look even better. Eureka doesn't look weird anymore and many things that looked a bit odd in the 2004 anime. Of course this still has a unique style, one that I've only noticed in all of the Eureka Seven animes. The action and fighting runs smoothly, it's just great. No ecchi or pervyness, though the artwork on a book essential to the plot shows a nude woman.
Sound
Once again, the music is also amazing. As to be expected from a movie, they really went all out. Sound design was good, the background music kicks in at all the right moments. The outro was especially sweet. Once again, this features the entire original cast of both English and Japanese audio. To quote my review of the 2005 series: "The VA for Renton, Johnny Yong Bosch also did the VO for Lelouch from Code Geass and the VO for Koizumi from Haruhi Suzumiya. And the VA for Eureka, the other main character, is Stephanie Sheh who also voiced a couple of characters in Code Geass, Illyas from the Fate series and Asahina from Haruhi Suzumiya too. And Crispin Freeman, the VA for Holland also did VO for Jeremiah from Code Geass, Togusa from Ghost in the Shell and Kyon from Haruhi Suzumiya. MichelleRuff even got a minor role too. So many VA did VOs for many animes and many of them were in the same anime like Code Geass and Haruhi Suzumiya." I'd download this soundtrack too, but I'm sure it's in a complete audio collection of Eureka Seven somewhere.
Characters
Renton Thurston is not the dumb kid he was in the 2005 anime. In this anime he is instead a badass prodigy soldier of the military, ranked corporal and is the sole pilot of Nirvaj. By the way, Nirvaj is also an adorable chibi larva creature that floats around. He doesn't give a damn about anyone but Eureka and this time, he has the guts to tell her how he feels and to act the way he wants taking no orders from others. There's no older sister this time, who instead has a minor cameo role as a scientist working for the government. Neither is he related to his grandfather, also a cameo role at the end along with the 3 kids (I'm glad they aren't in this), and his parents were a part of some sort of cult who caused a devastating event to occur. No hero dad this time either. I hated this character a bit in the 2005 anime, but here he's way more cooler. Except... there is one occasion where I think he pisses himself.
Eureka is Renton's childhood friend in this anime. She also makes her feelings for Renton apparent very early on and her character is arguably more normal. She even gets angry at Renton and behaves with him like a normal girl would. At the start of the anime, a few years before the rest of it, she gets abducted by the military for torture and experimentation, getting seperated from Renton. She also turns green with exposure sunlight and doesn't have wings. If that last bit makes no sense, pay no heed. There is some similarity between her actions here and in the old anime. Overall, she is still a better character.
Dominic and Anemone. In this anime, Dominic is instead Renton's childhood teacher and a professor who reseaches some serious stuff. He is a more calm, collected and philosophical figure, similar to Anemone in this anime. They are in love with each other from the very start as they spent their adult life doing Dominic research. Anemone also features later, in a role giving guidance. Completely different to the tsundere girl of the 2005 anime and I love it! Also 'The End' is a chibi larva creature just like Nirvaj.
Holland and the rest of the crew of the Gekko are not rebels in this anime. Instead, they are part of the military and Renton is one of their crew members here. Except something is different. They aren't necessarily the white knight protagonists in this anime and have more of a gray role. The rest of the crew don't feature much but Talho still has a bigger role. This time, their romantic relationship is set in stone from the start, much like the other couples in this anime. The crew of the Gekko are seperate from Renton and have an interesting backstory in this movie, unlike the 2006 anime and are not what they seem. For starters, they call themselves 'The Children of Neverland' which has a lot to do with the plot.
The other characters are also different. I'm disappointed by the lack of Charles and Rei, who weren't even in the 2005 anime much. Many other characters don't appear or have very minor cameo roles. This includes Dewey, who was killed by his allies before the events of the story and was also apparently abducting children for who knows what nefarious deeds. The council and military are the good guys this time too and the story follows Lady Koda rather closely.
Story
The plot of this anime is vastly different, especially since it is set in another universe compared to the 2005 anime. There is no ref boarding or trappars here. On earth, the humans have been warring with the invading alien creatures known as the Azo for approximately 70 years. A great catastrophe was triggered by Renton's parents a few years back and from the annihilation, a group of children were found at the epicentre. Eureka is captured by the military as a kid and Anemone has nothing to do with the military this time. The crew of the Gekko are part of the army who fight the war against the Azo, but they also have eyes on something else: Eureka who is being held in an allied facility. The story of Peter Pan is referenced here, especially with 'The Children of Neverland.' There is a lot in this story that is confusing and unexpected, but it is fast paced and the plot doesn't simmer down for one moment. It's better than the 2005 anime IMO and reminded me a lot of FMA and Neon Genesis Evangelion again, but this time more crazy like NGE. I loved it. Trying to read in between the lines is rather difficult, especially as this is a fast paced 2 hour movie, but I think it says a lot about peace. There's some heavy material reference like pedophiles, torture, genocide and such, but nothing too much. This plot is more suited for adults as such, especially with the difficulty of understanding it.
Conclusion
The 2005 anime Eureka Seven ended in a rather satisfactory manner. This movie doesn't add to the story but instead does it's own thing. In my opinion it is better, since it has a more complex story that is akin to the likes of Neon Genesis Evangelion. as such, younger viewer may not be able to appreciate it, but adults would like it better. I know I did. A great watch and a must watch for any who watched the 2005 series and for fans of mindboggling seinen storylines.
Family-friendliness Rating: 4/5 It would be 2, but the image on the book and implied dark themes (lower is better)
Overall Rating: 9.7/10 (higher is better)