Eden of the East - Reviews

<div>Don't get me wrong: Eden of the East is good anime. It's from the writer/director of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, so the storyline is intelligent and solid. The characters are charming and don't stink of cliché anime archetypes. The concept is interesting and I was driven to see the conclusion. So why couldn't this climb to four or five stars? Let's get to it:

***PROS***

ANIMATION
Smooth, no shortcuts or gimmicks. The backgrounds are a high point and stand out from standard anime. The battle animation and choreography look great, although battles are almost nonexistent.

CHARACTERS
The main character is funny, confident, and completely at home in his confusion. His self-assurance gives the series a lighthearted attitude that helps to keep it entertaining but also causes a problem down the road, which I'll get to. There's a hacker called "Panties" who'll come into play in the second half, and he is fantastic. The rest of the players are mildly interesting and not annoying, which seems to be hard to achieve nowadays in anime.

STORY
It's hard to touch on the story without throwing up *SPOILERS* because the whole point of the show is that the main character (Akira) has amnesia--and thus the audience should be amnesiacs, as well. We learn of this world as we go along. Akira wakes up naked outside the Capitol in Washington, DC. He has a gun, a cellphone, and no memory. The token female lead appears, and it's time to figure out what's going on. His cellphone has a ton of yen on it and an operator on call that can make pretty much anything happen. It's intriguing and enjoyable to unravel the facts of this unique world.

***CONS***

PACING
Eden of the East suffers from some pacing issues that begin around episode five. The story slows to service a romance and some curious side characters, and the casual attitude that makes Akira so likable begins to erode the seriousness that the plot is trying to form. The lag isn't terrible, but I felt myself getting bored. Worry set in that this show was going to lose its narrative or that the creators didn't have a conclusion planned at all (which anime is famous for). This story DOES HAVE A CONCLUSION, but it drifts between epic and disappointing--an odd feeling. While I can say I liked the resolution, I also felt the show deserved more.

MUSIC
The soundtrack is light, funky, and has some jazzy vocals. This quirkiness works during cute moments or when Akira is being slick, but during the intense scenes the lightness of the music undermines the gravity of the content. The missile attack finale is ruled by this music, dampening a great scene and making the end of the show feel like every other episode: charming and mildly entertaining.

Don't let my gripes dissuade you from watching this series; it's a good story and worth your time. I just expected more from the team behind this, because I knew they had the potential to create something fantastic. They created an interesting world and characters, and then moved them forward mildly. I will watch the movies and hope that they include the much-needed drama and intensity that the series is missing. Please enjoy, but don't expect action or anything more than what you start with. The story is interesting and well-conceived, but that is all.</div> <div> </div>

SUMMARY: Fascinating premise, but the execution fell short of what it could have been.

STORY
I would call Eden of the East a plot-driven anime. The premise is fascinating: Taki, the protagonist, finds himself naked in front of the White House with only a handgun and a cellphone and he has zero memory of who he is or why he is there. He discovers that the cellphone grants him near unlimited power--for the purpose of being Japan's "savior."

That interesting nugget is the engine that drives the Eden ship, the hook that keeps the audience wondering who gave Taki the phone, who Taki really is, who the other selecao are and what their motivations are.

The story that ended up unfolding was, for me, a wee bit of a letdown, but your mileage may vary. I do appreciate, though, Eden's engaging and thoughtful premise, which cleverly taps into modern-day themes like youthful malaise and activism through technology.

ANIMATION
The animation in this show was good, from the colors to the characters. What impressed me most were the cityscapes and backgrounds, which provided remarkably realistic backdrops for the show.

SOUND
The music in this show made very little impression on me one way or the other. For the most part, it was unobtrusive; it was also not striking in any way. As for the voice acting, I watched the English dub and for the most part, the voices are fine. No super annoying girls, thank god. Also, I should say that I have liked every single dub of Jason Liebrecht's that I have heard (Taki in Eden of the East, Luck Gandor in Baccano--despite the hammed up accent, and most notably Hei in Darker Than Black).

CHARACTERS
The lack of compelling characters and/or character development really held this anime back. Had the same plot been executed with well developed, interesting characters, Eden of the East would have hit a home run.

Let's start with Taki, the protagonist. While perfectly affable (and hence tremendously likeable), Taki doesn't seem to have much substance as a character. Sure, he likes movies, and he's a quick thinker, but . . . there isn't much else to him. His past remains a mystery; he doesn't learn or grow; he just kind of... is. He's certainly someone the audience can get behind, but there doesn't seem to be anything else to him other than that he's likeable.

As for the rest of the ensemble crew, they suffer even more from lack of substance. Saki, while only about a 4/10 on the Annoying Anime Women Scale (10 being most annoying), is a whole lot of nothing. Same goes for the rest of the personality-less Eden crew, whose names I actually don't even remember.

Had Eden of the East spent some more time developing at least the two main leads into characters the audience knows and should care about, the anime would have been far better for it. As it was though, the show relied on the mysterious plot to drive it forward and neglected to fill out the characters on the ride.

OVERALL
Overall, I enjoyed Eden of the East, but I thought it had the potential to be so much more. I wished the show had given more substance to its characters, to give the audience a personal investment in the story. As it was, curiosity about the plot carried the show. It was still an enjoyable experience, but it could have been more...

Story: 6/10

On a trip to the United States, college student Morimi Saki stumbles upon an odd sight. Of all things, she meets a naked Japanese man, armed with a handgun. As she learns, this man has no idea who he is, or how he got there, and all that he can really remember are films, save for which one his personal favourite was. Soon, it becomes apparent that Takizawa Akira, as he is now going by, is a lot more than he first appears, as he finds out that he may have been part of a terrorist act committed in Japan. Then, he only gets even more shrouded in mystery with the presence of an odd phone; which he is told possesses ten million yen, and all that he is told to do with it, is to continue to be a Messiah.

Now, on the surface, this premise is interesting enough, albeit a little silly. The show starts strongly, but unfortunately, it doesn't stay that way. Although it's genuinely funny at first, the jokes quickly grow stale. The drama almost never works, usually due a bit of silly dialogue that makes you want to laugh rather than take it seriously, there are plot holes left and right, especially towards the end, and speaking of the ending, it's silly. It feels really rushed and doesn't make much sense at all. 

Really, this is just a perfect example of an interesting premise with poor execution. This could have been something great, but it falls sadly short. You can feel the potential this series had, but it really blew it. It's just too bad when this happens, it really is.

Animation: 9/10

There are good things about Eden of the east, though, and one of them is the animation. It's smooth, and well done, without any CGI affect that plague many recent anime to throw it off. The landscapes are all beautifully drawn, and full of life. The character designs are a mixed bag, some being incredibly detailed, and some being fairly simple, but it usually works.

Sound: 9/10

The music in Eden of the east is usually pretty unremarkable except for maybe one or two pieces. The rest are entirely forgettable. That cannot be said about the opening theme, though, or, at least the English version of the song. (To clarify, the Japanese version has an opening with English vocals, and probably due to licensing issues, the English version has the opening with Japanese vocals.) The English version of the song is sung by the British band "Oasis". It is incredibly catchy and fits very well with the animation. This, unfortunately, cannot be said about the Japanese version of the song. The Japanese version is sadly, uninspired and doesn't fit well with the opening animation at all.

The acting in Eden of the east is great in both languages, but the Japanese version really went the extra mile here by hiring English-speaking voice actors to play English-speaking characters. There isn't any cringe-worthy 'Engrish' here!

Characters: 6/10

The characters are, well, a bit shallow. Okay, really shallow. Takizawa's focused and cool attitude is intriguing, and he's fun to have around, but for most of the series, the man doesn't show any emotion. He isn't well developed, and when they try to develop him, it's very sloppy, and makes him come off as annoying. Saki never really goes through any changes in the series aside from the fact that she changes who she has a crush on. By the end of the series, she's still as helpless and ignorant as she was in the beginning. Some of the minor characters in the show, such as Satoshi, Ryou, and Yuusei appeared to be really interesting characters, but because of the series' short runtime, were never given the chance to develop properly, and the show really suffers from it.

Overall: 6.5/10

Eden of the east is a bag of sadly wasted potential. It has some interesting characters, and the plot can be exciting… when it wants to be. The payoff, though, is wholly unsatisfying. Great animation, and an awesome opening can't really make up for all the series, unfortunately, did not do right.

SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUPER GOOD ANIME!!!

Eden of the East is actually not bad. That being said, it is not good either. There is no particular fault in anything (except perhaps the female lead's nose which is annoying as hell), and yet there is no real impact to anything. The opening is brilliant, one of the greatest ones ever. Naked guy waving a gun around (who seems to be a rather friendly bloke), that's just about as awesome a hook as you can get. The problem is that there is no payoff. The ending is supposed to be an original and beautiful thing, encapsulating the deamer's spirit and whatnot. Call me a cynic, but I didn't really care for it. And dammit Saki, what is wrong with your nose?

It's not that the writing is bad. It isn't. Actually, the plot is rather interesting. The characters are a pretty well rounded bunch. Both the male and female leads have personality and character development. The artwork is perfectly serviceable, managing some art in between the standard animation and writing the plot. The concept is (while a bit tired) quite an interesting take on things. Yet somehow, it fails to come together to anything meaningful or captivating.

Writing (Story and Characters):

Writing is an art in and of itself, with both technical and creative aspects. The technical side is actually far more important than the creative one, because no amount of creativity can fix bad technique, while perfect technique can cover for lack of creativity. Unfortunately, Eden of the East falls into the latter case. Every piece that needs to be here is. It starts out with introducing the main character, something happens to disturb the peace, the secondary character appears in a shocking way and all hell breaks loose. Perfect technique, captivating without any need for a context. Unfortunately, if you want something to be truly impressive and immersive, there is no replacing creativity.

The plot is good. It is an interesting story to tell. The execution is downright flawless. The problem is that it just feels like something is lacking. This is first and foremost a story driven piece, and the characters are here to service the plot and not the other way around. There is mystery, there is intrigue, there is a flashy bunch of quirks to keep everything from being dull. What is not here is that bit of exceptional expansion on themes to make something, anything, stand out from the crowd.

Characters get a solid treatment in Eden of the East. They are well rounded, there is character development, and the interactions between characters are well done. There is of course nothing spectacular about any of them, and that's fine as the characters are made to serve the story. Still, there is not one of them that makes me feel for them (except pants). I want the characters to guide me through the story in something like this... but they manage only to be a part of it, and nothing outside of that.

I can't really fault anything here. The sole problem is not that there is a flaw, but that there is a lack of excellence to follow up on an interesting vision. Perhaps that is too much to ask, but my opinion on the matter is that people should want to watch something extraordinary, and Eden of the East offers no such thing. Oh, and the end tries too hard to be cool and ends up being rather stupid as well.

Art (Animation and Sound):

Dammit Saki, what is wrong with your nose? That has been my major problem with the artwork from start to finish. It's just one flaw, but in the main character's face. The art itself is solid all around, but unfortunately, nothing spectacular. There are some moments of brilliance (the censorship on naked guys is hilarious), but overall nothing leaves a particularly strong impression. Perhaps the scene at the end is supposed to give that, but it doesn't cover up for the rest of the show by a long shot.

While perfectly utilitarian for the most part, the animation lacks an artistic definition to it. The overall feeling it gives is not dark, not colorful, not dull, not interesting, not anything really. It's just... there. And dammit Saki, what is wrong with your nose?

The sound is a good fit, but overall uninspired. The voice acting is just on the right side of above average. There is nothing that will rock your world in the soundtrack or its use, nor in the effects department. If this had been more than an efficient use of sound production, if there was a drop of flair to it, it could have elevated the series so much. But in the end, it is all but completely forgetable.

There are no real problems with the artwork (except one). There is a bit of art to it. But overall, the visuals lack the symbolism or immersive qualities necessary to take a show and elevate it to the top, the sound is uninspired, and it is not a particularly good fit for the writing. And dammit Saki, what is wrong with your nose?

Overall:

Eden of the East is all about form rather than function. Everything is technically strong, but ultimately utilitarian and nothing more. It is still a well above average show. There is mystery, the characters are a well rounded bunch, the story has all the right elements, the artwork gets the job done. Unfortunately, good does not mean great. Also, dammit Saki, what is wrong with your nose?