Eden of the East tv Review

Story & Characters

No series debuting has a more compelling prologue: a naked guy holding a handgun and a cellphone runs around the street of Washington D.C. Now how can you pass up wanting to know more about that? If you're looking for the new season's most unusual entry, something that can immediately draw viewers in with its first episode and get them to want to keep watching, this one is it.

The story is set in the modern Japan (namely in 2011). On November 22, 2010, ten missiles strike against uninhabited areas of Japan, claiming no victims. This apparent terrorist act is referred to as "Careless Monday" and disregarded by most people. The series begins three months later, Morimi Saki travels to Washington D.C as a part of her graduation trip. There, she is questioned by the police after attempting to throw coins in the White House fountain. Just across the street, a naked young Japanese man appears and comes to her rescue. This man, upon realizing he has no memory, adopts the name Takizawa Akira and has a very modern cellphone charged with 8.2 billion yen in digital cash. While they are coming back to Japan, they learn that a new missile has hit their country.

Back in Japan, Akira discovers he is related to a case of twenty-thousand potentially deceased NEETs and is a part of a dangerous game consisted of twelve. These individuals, dubbed Seleção (Portuguese for selection), are given 10 billion yen to save Japan and are able to contact the phone moderator, Juiz, to fulfill any kind of order for a price. However, if the conditions are violated, the individual will be eliminated. Akira, accompanied by his new friend Saki, will enter a world populated by secret organizations, serial killers, terrorists and corrupted politicians.

Followed the prelude is Akira's search for his identity. This type of storytelling never gets old, but it's is its uniqueness that makes Eden of the East second to none. It's all very clever, none of these events are seemingly related, from the massive missile strike Careless Monday to the disappearance of twenty thousand NEETs. Not to mention the elements composing the story are very interesting: from the killing method of the "Johnny" hunter to the reappearance of the (naked) NEETs bear a strikingly resemblance of a zombie outbreak. Or how Akira says "BANG!" which destroys the missiles. They eventually lead to a satisfied and outstanding climax tying up the series' many mysteries.

Of course, the cast's delightful nature plays no small part in this series. It doesn't matter much what kind of man Akira was, you can tell he's a happy-go-lucky guy by the way he smiles and his, eh, outrageous acts. You seriously wouldn't show off your "Johnny" just to prove your innocence like this guy, would you? Saki, on the other hand, looks like a typical heroine, girlfriend wannabe, but her cute chemistry are enough to compensate. Oh, and her hilarious facial expression? Priceless.

Rating: 9

Art

Honey and Clover's author, Umino Chika, did the character designs. Nothing can go wrong if you're a fan of her art, gentle and whimsical innocence. Akira looks like a carefree guy, always smiling. Saki, I must admit, she does resemble Ayumi from Honey and Clover, from her expression to hair color. The other Seleção were portrayed to match their personality, "Johnny" hunter Shiratori looks sexy in underclothes, while Seleção number two Tsuji Jintarou is clearly an extravagant playboy. However, the members of Eden of the East lack details, it can't be help since they are college students. And I'm glad the scatological parts were censored.

Production I.G provides the animation, I've seen their works many times but still impressed. The meticulous backgrounds and visual effects can be seen in many highlighted scenes such as the explosion on the highway or how landscapes looked from above.

Rating: 9

Sound

The pieces of music here feel natural. The OP "Falling Down" by Oasis combines ruins from Careless Monday with intriguing imagery filled with poetic English quotes and the unique ED "futuristic imagination" is actually a recall of the missile attack. I say it's very like Umino Chika's style, with the animation was almost entirely made by pencils and paper.

Two recent prolific seiyuu Kimura Ryouhei and Hayami Saori provide the voices of the main leads; for now, I personally think that this is currently their best performance in a great series. The rest, well, not a perfect list actors for voice, but they each play their roles well enough. Akira's laid-back cool voice, the way the rest of the cast digs into the supporting roles is a lot of fun, and dialogue that should be in English actually spoken by its native speakers. For the English-dubbed option, I never watched it but with this rendition, bet they must be good. Original or English version, whatever your preference, you'll meet satisfaction.

Rating: 9

Presentation

This anime is an easy pick for the year's top honors as this near-future political thriller about an amnesiac guy, a cell phone, and the girl who gets mixed up with them topple others merely by dint of aiming for, and hitting with irresistible force, cuttingly smart, politically and socially relevant, and yet loose, human and funny enough that it's never forbidding or pretentious.

Eden of the East is quite possibly the year's only "truly" great anime, few who give it a chance are likely to regret it. Even if the two movies were kinda let down, the conclusion of this weird and charming show is still, in a word, superb.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Story: 9
Characters: 9
Art: 8
Animation: 10
Voice: 8
Music: 8
Overall: 8.5

Good:
+Superb first episode, better and more complex storytelling than many.
+Great entertainment and deep touch in character developments.
+Basically flawless in execution.
Bad:
+Controversial ending (movies).
+Some scatological jokes.

Rating: 8

Final Verdict

8.6667 (very good)

Reviewed by Weskalia, Jan 11, 2011

Comments

Warpten29 Jan 14, 2011

Thanks for the unique review!
Tama-Neko Jan 18, 2011

This sounds like an intriguing series I'll need to check out soon! I know a coworker really liked the movie, and considering I didn't expect her to be big on anime (outside of the normal Japanese occasionally-watching-anime-if-it's-there) I think that makes two big pluses for me.
SchRita Mar 20, 2011

Nice graphic!
maryshee Apr 11, 2011

Another superb review Weskalia. I didn't know that the character designer of this anime and Honey and Clover is the same, thank you for that info. I like Takizawa's 'always calm and smiling' expression that also carries some mystery behind it.

I like the Sele

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