Eden of the East review

Although it was one of the shortest anime TV series to air recently, I feel it’s definitely one of the best…

The story/plot of Eden of the East (a.k.a. Higashi no Eden) is one that’s not only creative, but it also makes a worthwhile commentary about the current political and economic status of Japan, or any other modernized, capitalistic country for that matter. Right from the first few episodes, the mention of terrorists, NEETs, missile attacks, and even 9/11 shows that Eden wants its viewers to relate to its story on a current, real-world level. While the show has its share of violence, explosions, and destruction, these things are not particularly glorified – there’s a lot of cover-ups and mysteries in the story, which add to its suspense and realism. Although the series does have scenes of slightly exaggerated humor amidst the characters at times, it’s not really enough to take away from the dramatic feel of the show.

Despite having only 11 episodes, I felt that the series had excellent pacing and did a good job with revealing answers to its subplots neither too quickly nor too slowly: at the beginning, we don’t know what’s going on, but soon enough we start to learn about the Selecao game, and a little while later, we learn about Mr. Outside. After that, we learn about the Eden of the East web site, the origin of the missile attacks, and finally, Akira’s past. I’m usually not good at following anime with complicated plots involving politics and a lot of details and mysteries, but because Eden didn’t bombard me with too much information in any one episode, I was able to do pretty well =) I also really enjoyed the whole Selecao, Mr. Outside, and amazingly advanced cellphones plot; very unique and interesting. Of course, using the cellphone and being able to have any request you make granted quickly is kinda hard to believe =P But I suppose it could be possible.

The characters in Eden of the East add to the show’s appeal too. In general they’re fairly likable, sympathetic, and realistic. Although Saki is a pretty bland, static, and typical “normal girl who gets caught up in an abnormal situation” character, Akira on the other hand, is not your typical bad-ass, angsty, emo, and/or “dark” male character; on the contrary, he’s cheerful yet emotionally-stable. The rest of the cast also tend to stay away from expected anime archetypes and are more or less realistic rather than anime-ish. While I can’t see any of the Eden characters becoming fan favorites, they work perfectly well with the feel of the show.

When it comes to aesthetic worth, Eden excels. Production I.G. definitely gave Eden some high-budget animation, as little to no animation short-cuts or distorted character designs are noticeable. Everything looks very lush and backgrounds are quite detailed. There were obviously a lot of computer graphics used in the animation of the missiles, cars, cellphones, etc., but it all blended together well with the regular animation. As for the music, it’s good as well. The opening song is sung by the English rock band Oasis and the animation features a lot of English words and stylized imagery, adding to the universal, modernized feel of the show. The ending song is also catchy and features very stylized animation.

As for the ending of the series – the TV series at least since the story will continue in subsequent movies – I felt it was pretty good, though I can’t really make a proper judgment until the story finishes in the movies. Making Akira the “King of Japan” sounds kind of far-fetched even for the Selecao game, but I suppose this will be explained in full during the movies. And yes, I agree that it’s similar to the end of Code Geass but not enough to be called a total rip-off, since Akira and Lelouch’s personalities, situations, and the worlds they live in are quite different.

Of course, I had a few questions after I finished the series. If anybody wants to help me out with them, that would be great. I apologize in advance if they’ve already been answered in the episodes; I have trouble remembering details =P First, exactly who was Akira back when he organized the NEETs and everything? How was he able to get them together and have the power to (secretly?) send them to Dubai? Akira erased his memories (how?) but wouldn’t someone in Japan or wherever (did he have family or friends?) remember him and seek him out?

Anyway, in summary, Eden of the East is without a doubt a good-quality series with a unique, unpredictable story and great animation. It’s anime like this that remind me why I love anime so much despite a lot of it being cliche and blatantly fan-pandering. While it’s annoying that we have to wait over 6 months for the movies to completely wrap up the story, I’m looking forward to it =)