Eden of the East: The Complete Series

We have an amnesiac would-be savior and his charming-if-slightly-naive sidekick, a phone with a magnificently effective concierge and 10 billion yen (roughly $98.5 million), the world's most intrusive social network, and 20,000 naked NEETS. How can this series possibly go wrong? And it's all set against a very real cultural anxiety over Japan's economic situation in the first decade of the new millennium.Eden of the East, first broadcast in 2009, is one of those rare works of art that succeeds in capturing the spirit of a time and place and commenting on it without singling out any particular group for ridicule. Pick any character in the series and you can easily criticize some aspect of that character as a person, but you can also, just as easily, identify positive and redeeming aspects of that character.All the more impressive is how genuinely likable the cast is. I'll admit: when I first started watching Eden, I thought I was going to hate Takizawa the moment he stepped into frame, impossibly upbeat despite being naked and waving a gun over his head in front of two police officers in the capitol of the United States. Clearly, there's something wrong with this dude, he's overmedicated or he's one of those new-age hippies who love everybody and everything, and I'm not going to watch past the first episode because he is going to drive me up the wall. But almost as soon as he started speaking with Saki, he won me over. It's tempting to say he's charismatic, but I'm not sure that's an accurate statement. He's calm, he's collected, he's soft-spoken, and he's nice. He's a gentleman in the truest of the world: he wants those around him to be comfortable and feel safe. Early on, when he's first getting to know Saki, he asks her about herself and won't accept long silence or empty answers. He keeps prompting for more substance. He genuinely wants to know who she is. Later on, it's revealed that he willingly accepted blame for a series of missile attacks, when the truth is that his actions ensured no one would be hurt in those missile attacks. And what's more, he doesn't ever ask for applause. He's not trying to be a national hero. He simply does what he can to mitigate bad situations.Likewise, Saki, who starts off as a silly, naive student, very quickly wins us over as we come to understand that she is not really naive but more a victim of a society that doesn't seem to have a place for young people and doesn't seem to really care all that much that it doesn't have a place for them. Early on, Saki goes to a job interview, and the man interviewing her asks a question, but before she can even begin to respond, he dismisses her answer: "No, that's disappointing. That's not at all what we're looking for. We want people who think outside the box. Let's go have lunch." Saki goes to the cafeteria, thinking she might have a chance while they eat to redeem herself, but after an hour, a man is sent to quote-unquote accidentally dump noodles all over Saki's skirt. It's a humiliating moment for her and it's heartbreaking for the audience because she didn't deserve that. No deserves to be treated like that. What did Saki do? She went in for a job interview, got nervous, and gave a fraction of an answer that her interviewer didn't like. It's bad enough that she was so rudely dismissed, but then to have food dumped on her! As if to say, you're garbage, go away. And what does Saki do as a result? She goes to work on a social network project with her university friends.And it's here that Eden's political dimension really shines. Throughout the series, we hear about the 20,000 NEETS, 20,000 young men not in education, employment, or training, and there is a glib dismissal of these young men as basically bums, as lazy bums. But Saki's job interview, which at first seems a bit out of place in the series, is an opportunity to implicitly question the view of NEETS as bums. How many of them are NEETS because they're just lazy, and how many of them are NEETS because they were treated like Saki and gave up in frustration?No answer is ever given, but an answer isn't really important. What's important is that the question is asked in the first place. And the series does not stop there. It goes on to ask an even bigger question: What would "fix" Japan? What would return Japan to a position of greatness? Is the answer removing all the deadbeats who aren't working? Or should the country live in constant of terrorism? That one should definitely connect with American audiences.From a technical perspective, the show impresses on almost every front, from character design and background art to the voice acting and the editing. Of particular note has to be the pacing. I recently watched Eden again and at the end of every single episode, I was startled by how quickly the episode was over. This is a series that moves along at a decent clip continuously. Even when the story seems to slow down for exposition, the pacing never feels like it slows. As a result, I was able to plow through all eleven episodes in a single night without feeling like I needed a break.There are only two specific aspects of Eden that I take issue with, and neither is all that significant, but both stand out because everything else is so impressive.The first is the end of episode 7. Takizawa confronts a woman who is about to maim a wanted rapist with a cigar cutter, and she escapes through what we learn in some kind of elaborate illusion. It plays out like this: she appears to sprout wings from her back and then flies away into the night sky from her hotel window. It's a jarring moment because it does not fit the realism of the rest of the series. Everything else that happens is plausible, certainly not likely but plausible. This moment simply does not work in the context of the rest of the series.My second issue is that the eleventh episode has no closure. It's a logical place for a break, but there is no wrap-up. There is a lot more of the story that still needs to be told, and in order to get that remaining, you have to watch the two films that came after the series, The King of Eden and Paradise Lost. It's not a deal-breaker, but it can be irritating if you don't know about the films.Overall, I strong recommended Eden of the East. It's technically impressive, it's narratively satisfying, it's thought-provoking... it's the complete package.Oh yeah, and there's a cute little dog with wings. So, yeah.

A young Japanese man finds himself in Washington D.C. with no memory, no clothes, nothing but a gun and a very complicated cell phone. Nearby is a young female Japanese college student (Saki) on vacation. The phone puts him in touch with Juiz, who is his concierge in a bizarre game. He, along with 11 others, has been chosen as a "Selecao," and has been given 10 billion Yen to "save Japan" however he sees fit. The game was created by someone calling himself "Mr. Outside," who will be the judge of who "wins" the game. The winner gets to live, all the losers, and anyone who breaks the game's rules, will be killed. Juiz leads him to a stash of weapons and fake ID. He picks a passport for "Akira Takizawa" ("Taki" for short), meets up again with Saki, and they head back to Japan. The game is afoot!*The word NEET (No Employment, Education, or Training) is used alot in this series. For more information on how this word is used in Japan, Wikipedia has a good article on it.I have a few problems with the series. The plot, particularly the ending, has some unbelievable points, and Saki is too cute both visually and (in the English dub) vocally. Plus, the font on the menu is practically illegible. But I'll leave it at 5 stars because the voice acting is well done, the plot is well-paced, and the animation is excellent. At the end of the series, the game isn't over yet, and the story continues with "The King of Eden," which I will probably buy. Eventually.Bluray Disc 1: Episodes 1-8Bluray Disc 2: Episodes 9-11 and special features:Interview with the director and character designerInterview with the Japanese voice actors for Takizawa and SakiInterview with directors Kamiyama and OshiiInterview with the art directorInterview with the composer(All interviews are in Japanese with English subtitles)Promotional video, TV spot, Textless closing song, and 8 trailers

What if you had all the money in the world? What if you had a phone that could give you anything you wanted and make anything happen? How would you use it to change the world? What if you didn't have a choice? Change the world for the better or die trying.A girl is standing in front of The White House. A buck naked man with a handgun and a cellphone walks up to her and he has no idea why. He has amnesia and needs help. And soon finds that he's being hunted. But the cellphone he carries has the power to make anything he wants happen and has quite a bit of spending change on it to do it too. The catch is he has to change the world with that money. If he runs out it's his life. There are other players in this game, too. All with the the power and money of the phone but with much different views of how the world should be changed. If they succeed first then he dies. He doesn't want to include the girl in this mess but they can't seem to avoid each other. He makes her life more interesting. She's his first and only memory. Together they sort out his puzzle of a past as he tries to make the world better. But was he always this charismatic and gentle man she knows? Was he dangerous before his amnesia?Eden of the East is nothing but brilliant plot and exciting adventure. You will watch it in it's entirety as fast as you can. It's that good. Just remember that there are two movies that finish the story, King of Eden and Paradise Lost. The story is incomplete without them. It's called an anime classic for a reason. You will be proud to own it. Enjoy.

This got a good rating and it is deserved, there is a lot to watch (DON'|T watch Air Communication, it's a boiled down version of the series - you'd lose a lot of back story and context). Reson for the 'late' review is that it takes a while to go through it - there's a dozen hours of viewing here!The characters are good, especially the lead, some of the others are slightly annoying in places - but no worse than any other anime. The concept is very intriguing, lots of money to effect change - if you want spoilers read elsewhereAs for the price, delivery, packaging - flawless, no problems at all.

Eden of the east: The Definitve Collection contains; the main series that is only 11 episodes long, has two sequel movies that take place after the series and 1 other dvd called air communications which as far as i understand is a re-telling of the series and a movie in it self.I give this dvd 3 stars as i thought that while there was not much action in it has lots of mystery, conspiracy and murder in it as well as some humour.I would recommed this series to anyone interested in anime as i thought that the animation and GCI were briliant.

I just loved this series. It is well drawn, the characters are appealing and interesting and the plot is really cool and unusual. I found it exciting until the end and wished it would go on much longer. In the bonus material the character designer revealed that she gave the main character the attributes of what she finds attractive and desireable in men, and I simply agree with her. So my message is: female anime fans, get this Box set and enjoy - he is a cool guy! I haven't seen a nicer anime in a while and will definitively watch it again.

I bought this Eden Of The East Definitive Collection BluRay on a whim not knowing much about the series or having seen any of the related media, movies etc.The package is good for the price in my opinion around £20 for 11 episodes and 2 Movies (the third movie a prequel apparently goes over what happened in the series)So far I've watched the series and the first movie, I was impressed by what I saw. Any fans of this series I'd definitely recommend this BluRay version for your collection. Anyone who hasn't seen this anime and is looking to further their BluRay collection I'd say add this to your basket!

It’s all here. A strangely persuasive anime that drew me in. Disturbing at times, but compelling all the same! An army of NEET’s is one of the weirder aspects of this story. Never has a mobile phone held such power!I’m looking forward to binging this is the hope of a clearer understanding after my long-winded on-line viewing some time ago!It’s full of conspiracy and the search for a new modern, well messiah!