Eden of the East Part 1 Episodes 1-6

Well, here we go, the first of my classic reviews.  Tuesday thru Thursday until I am completely caught up with this backlog, you may be lucky enough to get an entire series review depending on how long the coverage is.  Definitely expect movies to be included in some set like Eden of the East.

Speaking of which, enough rambling and let's get cracking.

(Originally written March 31, 2014)

Akira Takizawa awakens in Washington DC, without his memory, naked and carrying only a cellphone and a revolver…right in front of the White House.  As luck would have it, his unexpected and inappropriate state keeps the Cops eyes off a young girl named Saki Morimi, who just threw a coin over the White House fence trying to get it into the fountain.  Bound by an unexpected turn of events, Takizawa and Saki make their way back to Japan, where the search for Takizawa’s real identity begins.  As it turns out, Takizawa is one of Twelve Selecao, individuals chosen to bring about a great change for Japan using 10 billion Yen.  Only one of them can succeed and if the Selecao do not accomplish the task or set about to use the funds for themselves, or use up all their money without accomplishing anything, they will be eliminated.  The mystery is mindboggling and if it feels like all eyes are on Takizawa and Saki…it’s probably because they are.

Eden of the East is a series from the mind of Kenji Kamiyama, best known for the Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex series.  And since it’s Kamiyama and if you were able to follow a lot of SAC, you know Eden is going to be a pretty complex show (no pun intended).  And yeah, it is when it comes to some of the elements still being introduced even this early into the series.  But at the same time, there’s a strange charm about it you can’t get enough of.  Most of that comes from Takizawa himself.  He has a very Jason Bourne element to his tale.  He may not know Kung Fu (or does he?) but there are hints all around that what he doesn’t remember may be best forgotten lest they land him in all kind of trouble.  But he’s very eccentric and yet so calm (He’s totally cool when he is “going commando” in front of the White House or exposing himself to a cop (it’s pretty funny) and yet all over the place when he can’t piece together a Selecao clue he is given).  Takizawa is the driving force of this series.  Not to say that Saki isn’t important either but it’s clear that all of the energy come from Takizawa and like the audience watching, when he isn’t around, Saki’s left just kind of sulking and adrift.

The Selecao and thus Takizawa’s mystery is pretty intriguing.  If you could change the world somehow, would you and if so how?  It’s a pretty basic question with a dark twist.  Should any of the players in this strange game fail, they die.  Takizawa is right to ask who would play a game with such twisted rules.  Of the twelve supposed players in this game, we meet four others besides Takizawa, all of whom are different in terms of gender, status and motivation.  The most interesting of this bunch is a Model Agency President named Diana Shiratori, who runs the agency by day and at night, becomes the Johnny Killer, who kills men by severing their…well yeah their “johnnies” with a  cigar lighter…OOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!  Interesting way to change the world I guess.  One of the biggest enigmas of the game is they mysterious Juiz, who is constantly at the call of the Selacao and able to accomplish seemingly anything in no time flat if necessary. 

There are other characters shown to us in this first half of the series, the essential figures being the members of Saki’s titular Eden of the East group.  Apparently they started as a recycling group but grew beyond that, eventually designing their own facial recognition software that Takizawa takes an interest in, more than likely to help him find the man behind the Selecao.  And yes these guys who spout a bunch of technobabble but since this is written by someone who wrote for Ghost in the Shell, you know that this is material that will be both confusing yet attention stealing interesting at the same time.

Animation wise this series doesn’t look bad.  I’m assuming more than just Kamiyama worked on this show who worked with him on Stand Alone Complex, go figure, the studio is the legendary Production IG.  The show looks like it could fit into the universe of Stand Alone Complex, especially the first season of that show.  Again, the techno babble sounds like it belongs there.  And as if the GITS allusions weren’t many as is but we get a very mysterious and awesome score from acclaimed Japanese composer Kenji Kawaii, who scored the Ghost in the Shell movies.

All in all, not a bad start in the least.  The main protagonist is engaging if the main heroine is a bit on the dull side.  And while a lot of puzzle pieces are laid before us in the form of the Selecao, the Game, Juiz, the mysterious past of Akira Takizawa, curiosity should be peaked.  Whether or not the series can deliver some decent answers, that remains to be seen but can’t wait for the second half real soon.