[Weskalia]

Introduction

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.

Story & Characters

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, realizes 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 corrupt politicians.

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.

Art

Honey and Clover's author, Umino Chika, did the character designs. Nothing can go wrong if you're a fan of hers, gentle and whimsical innocence. Akira looks like 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.

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 seiyuus 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.

Conclusion

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.

Verdict

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: Excellent

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[ohrly]

Great review. And good catch on the letdown from the movies, I know a lot of people who are over their heads on this series and just dubbed the movies as "great", clearly out of their minds.

No regrets on watching this. I actually didn't catch Eden of the East when it first came out, but only after the series finished airing. Went through the entire thing in a day, something about it just makes me want to keep going, pulling no stops whatsoever.

[Npra]

Very good review. I can mostly agree to the pros and cons of the anime but it is so good that the cons of the anime dont really show. Highly recommend.

[AldNonymous]

wow... a complete good review...

are you a review writer on MAL...?

[airen_kun]

I agree with the review. The idea of the protagonist being the only one who's unaware of who's who in the game itself makes it all the more exciting to watch, as if you're discovering every new bit of information at the same time as Akira.

And that Air-King stint? Fantastic. I want that shirt!

[randall san]

Awesome review. Absolutely one of my most favorite animes of all time. The story was engaging, the characters were both earnest and honest, character development felt natural, and the animation was the perfect accent for bringing it all together. I wish more people would watch this anime.