Eden of the East

Plot

Anime series

On November 22, 2010, ten missiles strike Japan, but there are no casualties. The apparent terrorist attack is named "Careless Monday", and no one takes responsibility. Three months on, university graduate Saki Morimi visits New York City and then Washington D.C. for her graduation trip. Outside the White House, Saki encounters a naked Japanese man suffering from amnesia. The man, after receiving Saki's coat, follows the directions of a concierge, Juiz, on his unusual cell phone, to an apartment where he finds multiple fake passports, choosing the identity of Akira Takizawa. Saki appears to retrieve her passport, and they return to Japan, where a new missile has hit.

Takizawa discovers that his phone carries ¥8.2 billion in digital money, and that he is part of a game, where twelve individuals called Seleção are given ¥10 billion to save Japan in some way. The Seleção are able to contact Juiz, who can fulfill their orders for a price. However, if the money is used up completely or used for selfish purposes, the individual will be eliminated by the Supporter, the anonymous "twelfth man" of the group. During the search for answers, Takizawa learns he was involved in Careless Monday, transporting twenty-thousand NEETs to Dubai after they helped evacuate the missiles' targets before the attacks.

Takizawa also encounters other Seleção, including police officer Yūsei Kondō, neurosurgeon Dr. Hajime Hiura, and serial killer Kuroha Diana Shiratori, who targets rapists. Saki and her friends, who run a company called Eden of the East, eventually become involved in the conspiracies surrounding Takizawa. The company's name stems from a cell phone app that can recognize and provide details on items and people via social networking.

Takizawa meets Yutaka Itazu, a hikikomori and hacker, who studies Takizawa and the deceased Kondō's phones, able to access the Seleção requests. They discover Takizawa did not launch the missiles, but it was orchestrated by two other Seleção, Daiju Mononobe and Ryō Yūki. After Takizawa leaves, Itazu discovers sixty more missiles will be launched, but is run over by Mononobe before he can inform Takizawa. However, Itazu sends the Seleção database to Eden beforehand and recovers in a hospital.

Mononobe approaches Takizawa, inviting him to his endgame. He explains that the game's organizer, Mr. Outside, is actually Saizō Atō, an elderly businessman who helped rebuild post-war Japan; Mononobe believes Atō has since died. Traveling to Atō's business facility, Mononobe reveals to Takizawa that Juiz is an advanced artificial intelligence, housed in twelve supercomputers. Takizawa objects to Mononobe and Yūki's plan and leaves, but not before they reveal Takizawa's made himself a martyr to defend the NEETs from being accused as terrorists, erasing his memory to protect them.

The King of Eden

Six months after the events of the series, Takizawa has disappeared, while Saki searches for his whereabouts. Juiz sends Saki a message he recorded before erasing his memory again, Takizawa instructing her to meet in their "special place". Following the missile strike, Eden became a successful business, and Takizawa has become a folk hero named the "Air King", his image marketed by Seleção, Jintaro Tsuji, hoping to turn him into a martyr or terrorist. Eden also learns Takizawa's last name has been changed to Iinuma, the same as the recently deceased Prime Minister of Japan. Tsuji spreads rumours that Takizawa is Iinuma's illegitimate son.

Saki, realizing that Takizawa's message may be alluding to Ground Zero in New York, travels there. She discovers a gun has been smuggled into her luggage, her cab driver fleeing with Takizawa's phone in the back. Saki eventually finds Takizawa, who does not recognize her. They retrieve her purse and Takizawa's phone from the cabbie, Takizawa accepting his lost identity. Eden, who have access to the Seleção database, learn Yūki destroyed his phone, and Dr. Hiura is alive, his memory erased by the Supporter. They later discover that Mononobe has hacked their systems, forcing them to shut Eden down.

Takizawa hopes to find out what became of his mother, traveling with Saki to a carousel where they find a golden ring left there by his mother. They are attacked by men working for Iinuma, and film director Taishi Naomoto, a fellow Seleção, but he is arrested. Kuroha aids Takizawa, informing him that he must return to Japan to confirm his illegitimacy as the Prime Minister's son. Mononobe begins targeting a series of trucks, actually housing the individual Juiz supercomputers, with missiles. He destroys the Supporter and Tsuji's trucks, while Kuroha sacrifices her own to keep Takizawa in the game. She leaves while Takizawa and Saki fly to Japan.

Paradise Lost

Takizawa and Saki arrive in Japan, meeting Iinuma's widow Chigusa, who removes several strands of Takizawa's hair for a DNA test. Takizawa is separated from Saki, asking her to track down his mother by identifying his pet dog through Eden. Takizawa later escapes his escorts by swapping places with one of the NEETs. He contacts Eden, who have retreated to the university campus, informing him of the Juiz trucks.

Saki and her friend Satoshi Osugi track down Takizawa's mother, Aya, who runs a bar. She admits she lived in New York and had a fling with Iinuma, but does not confirm or deny the identity of Takizawa's father. Aya flees when Mononobe sends police to interrogate her. Takizawa tracks down his Juiz truck, meeting up with Eden members Micchon and Sis, who hijack Mononobe's truck. Eden's leader Kazuomi Hirasawa meets Saizō Atō, discovering he is alive and works as a cab driver, doubling also as the Supporter.

Takizawa and Eden arrive at Iinuma's house, where Mononobe meets Takizawa. Mononobe asks him to retire from the game so he can win and take control of the government. Takizawa agrees as long as Mononobe becomes Prime Minister, but the latter declines. Takizawa goes ahead with his own endgame, addressing Japan using the "Airship" phone app, roleplaying as a terrorist but encourages society to change their country for the better. In a final act, he gives all the recipients one yen each.

Impressed, Atō ends the game, declaring all of the Seleção as winners. As a farewell gift, he erases their memories of the game over the phones. However, Takizawa is unaffected, immune to its effects. Mononobe leaves, running into Yūki, who is unaware of what has happened, and tries to murder Mononobe for abandoning him. Mononobe crashes his car, running over Yūki in the process. Takizawa checks the DNA test, discovering he is unrelated to her husband. He departs, kissing Saki and promising to meet her again. In the epilogue, Saki narrates how Eden shut down for a while to support the NEETs. In a final scene, Takizawa meets Atō, and they drive off to speak about future plans.

Characters

Main

Akira Takizawa (滝沢 朗, Takizawa Akira)

Voiced by: Ryōhei Kimura (Japanese); Jason Liebrecht (English)

A young man who lost his memory because of a brainwashing program, Akira Takizawa meets Saki Morimi in Washington D.C., appearing naked and only carrying a handgun and an extremely advanced cell phone with the phrase "noblesse oblige" printed on it and 8.2 billion yen in digital money credit. When Saki is questioned by police after she throws a coin in the grounds of the White House, he helps her out and she gives him her coat to thank him. When he makes his first call, a female voice claiming to be "Juiz" answers. She sends him a map that marks an apartment building where he is apparently staying. In his apartment, he finds guns and many different passports which seem to all belong to him. Saki follows after realizing she left her passport in the coat she gave him and the two decide to return to Japan together. His real name and DOB are unknown; his current identity as Akira Takizawa was chosen from the passports he found, which lists that in Toyosu, Japan and that he was born on January 7, 1989, one day younger than Saki Morimi.

Saki Morimi (森美 咲, Morimi Saki)

Voiced by: Saori Hayami (Japanese); Leah Clark (English)

Saki Morimi is a young woman in her last year in university. After her parents died, she has been living with her married elder sister and her family, who have been supporting her through college. She visits New York City as part of her graduation trip but leaves her friends to visit Washington D.C. alone. At the start of the series, she throws a coin at the White House lawn and is approached by police, but Akira Takizawa bails her out of trouble. After realizing that her passport is in the coat she gives to Akira, she follows him, and later goes back with him to Tokyo, Japan. She tries to get a job so that she does not become reliant on her sister's family, but after her interview with her brother-in-law's former company goes badly, she follows Akira on his adventures and gets her old club, "Eden of the East", to partner with Akira on their business venture.

Eden of the East club

The Eden of the East club started out as a small recycling group, but has quickly turned into a springboard for a successful commercial website, thanks to Micchon's revolutionary image recognition engine that resides in the Eden website and Saki's ability to improve the value of any item, including junk. Soon, the site's ability to work on phones attracted many student subscribers. However, after the students abused the social matchmaking abilities where a girl dropped out and the university launched an investigation, the team slowed development on the project. In addition to Saki, who handles public relations, the members include:

Satoshi Ōsugi (大杉 智, Ōsugi Satoshi), a friend of Saki who holds unrequited love for her. He is the first among the club members to join the corporate world. He is voiced by Takuya Eguchi in Japanese and by Michael Sinterniklaas in English.

Kazuomi Hirasawa (平澤 一臣, Hirasawa Kazuomi), the de facto leader of Eden of the East. He has delayed his graduation with his ultimate goal to create a paradise for NEETs. He is voiced by Motoyuki Kawahara in Japanese and by J. Michael Tatum in English.

Mikuru Katsuhara (葛原 みくる, Katsuhara Mikuru), nicknamed Micchon (みっちょん), a shy but frank girl who programmed the Eden of the East's image recognition system. She is also Hirasawa's cousin. She is voiced by Ayaka Saitō in Japanese and by Stephanie Sheh in English.

Haruo Kasuga (春日 晴男, Kasuga Haruo), a club member who likes to sit inside the clubroom's rolltop desk. He notices Osugi had gone missing after he had dinner with him. He is voiced by Hayato Taioh in Japanese and by John Burgmeier in English.

Sis (おネエ, Onee), a club member who reviews the legal documents. Her real name and age is unknown. She is voiced by Kimiko Saitoh in Japanese and Lydia Mackay in English.

The club has also used a consultant, Yutaka Itazu (板津 豊, Itazu Yutaka), a prodigious yet reclusive hacker nicknamed Panties (Pantsu) based on an alternate reading of the Kanji in his name, and the fact that he has been a shut-in since he lost his pants two years before the start of the series. He is voiced by Nobuyuki Hiyama in Japanese and by Newton Pittman in English.

Seleção and related characters

The Seleção (Portuguese: "Selection") are the participants of the game. Each carries a special "Noblesse oblige" cell phone that is credited with 10 billion yen which they must use to "save Japan". They can spend the money in whatever manner they wish, using a concierge named Juiz (Portuguese: "Judge" or "Referee") to accomplish the goal, however, any Seleção who uses up their money before they can complete their mission, who acts purely for self-interest, or does nothing with the phone for an extended period of time will be eliminated by a person (one of the twelve) called "The Supporter". Similarly, if someone breaks the rules they will be eliminated. When someone is declared the winner of the game, the other eleven are eliminated. The person who created the game is named "Mr. Outside."

Daiju Mononobe (物部 大樹, Mononobe Daiju)

Voiced by: Atsushi Miyauchi (Japanese); John Gremillion (English)

Seleção No. 1.

Mononobe is one of the main antagonists in the series. A former bureaucrat, he has connections to many of the political leaders in Japan. He maneuvers to become an executive (CEO in the TV series English dub) of the ATO Institution. He brings Akira to the ATO headquarters and reveals more information about his past with the hopes of recruiting him to his side. His ambition is not only to win the game, but to replace Mr. Outside himself as he assumes Mr. Outside is dead. According to him, Japan is in a state of apathy caused by the economic prosperity it has obtained since the end of World War II, and the strong political influence from countries like the United States into their society, thus he plans to save the country by rallying the population with a wide scale terrorist attack. However, Akira and the NEETs recruited by him managed to foil his plans, first with Careless Monday, and then by countering the missiles at the end of the regular TV series. In the King of Eden movie, he uses the Japanese police Public Security Dept to investigate the Eden of the East group, which has been involved with Akira Takizawa's activities. Using his connections with the government, he intends to pass a "100% Inheritance Tax Bill" in order to combat Akira's plan with the NEETs. In Paradise Lost, he reveals that he plans to overthrow the current government and install a more powerful one at the cost of individual freedom. After his memory is wiped when Mr. Outside ends the game, Mononobe crashes his car after being shot at by a crazed Yūki. It is unknown whether he survives or not.

Production

The series was announced in 2008, denoting Kamiyama's involvement as creator, director and writer and Umino's involvement as character designer. It was also announced that two theatrical films were set to premiere on November 28, 2009, and March 2010 respectively, after the television series ended its original run. In March 2009, it was also announced that the series would premiere on Noitamina on April 9, 2009. On March 19, 2009, the official website to the series relaunched with a trailer, which announced that the opening theme would be "Falling Down" by English rock band Oasis, while the ending theme was "futuristic imagination" by Japanese band School Food Punishment.

On April 9, 2009, the series began its run of 11 episodes. On September 26, 2009, the studio released Eden of the East Compilation: Air Communication, a film retelling of the events of the series. The studio originally planned for a second season but decided instead that a pair of movies would be a better means of continuing the story; the films were released on November 28, 2009 and January 9, 2010 respectively.

In North America, the series was released on Blu-ray and DVD in 2010. The movies were released in 2011.

Reception

The Japanese release of the first DVD volume debuted on July 29, 2009, in 23rd place on the Oricon video charts with 4,394 copies sold for the week of July 27 - August 2, 2009. The first volume of the Blu-ray Disc release was also released on that day, and debuted in 7th place on the SoundScan Japan Blu-ray Disc charts. The series has won numerous awards since its release, including the TV Feature Award at the 2009 Animation Kobe festival and the best television series of the year award at the ninth annual Tokyo International Anime Fair.

The series received high marks for its first episode in the Anime News Network Spring 2009 Preview Guide. Reviewers Theron Martin, Carlo Santos, and Casey Brienza each gave the first episode a rating of 4.5 out of 5, while Carl Kimlinger rated it a 5 out of 5.

In his review, Martin wrote that "this is not your normal anime series. If you're looking for the new season's most unusual entry, something well departed from all of the game adaptations, shonen action series, and cutesy romances, this one is it." Additionally, he praised the artistic aspects of "outstanding background art, appealing character designs, highly likeable lead characters, and a unique closer." He concluded that "this one does everything it can to draw viewers in with its first episode and get them to want to keep watching, and many will."

Santos commented that "there's only one reason this episode falls short of perfect: it's not until the end that the story really takes off", but also pointed out the "slick, expressive animation."

Brienza started her review saying "Well, what the heck; might as well be blunt right from the get-go: I loved it," but criticized the "hackneyed plot" and claimed it "has been ripped whole cloth from a Robert Ludlum novel." Her praise related to "the scrupulous, realistic detail of the Washington D.C. setting" and the "gentle, whimsical innocence" of "Chica Umino's character designs", as well as "the scatalogical [sic] humor... and tender hopes of the heroine which reminds me a lot of Hayao Miyazaki."

Kimlinger, while admitting "I am not a fan of Kenji Kamiyama", stated the episode was "a weird and charming start to a weird and charming show." He wrote that "the first few minutes of Eden are some of the funniest in recent memory", and commented that "both leads have a conspicuous excess of likeability, and Kamiyama displays a mastery of smiling humanism that would have been unthinkable earlier in his career". Like Brienza, he pointed out that "the debt Eden owes to The Bourne Identity is considerable", but concludes that "the result is, in a word, superb".