Well, it’s a new year here at The Thought Corner and it’s time to kick things off right here in 2011, so to start the year off with a bang I’m going to review an anime series called Eden of the East. Do enjoy.
When I first saw the trailer for Eden of the East for the first time last summer I didn’t think that this was going to be a very good anime, it looked boring and it didn’t appear as if it offered much in the way of action, which is something I enjoy when I watch anime. I half heartedly watched the series in October and didn’t think much of it because I honestly wasn’t paying too much attention to the story and all that was going on, all I got from it is that there was a guy with a special cell phone and he was trying to make the world a better place. Great, not my cup of tea. Then, last month I was searching for something to watch after having finished off another anime series and I couldn’t make up my mind as to what I wanted to dedicate myself to, so after thinking about it I decided to give Eden of the East another viewing since it was a short series (11 episodes), I then decided to plunk down and watch it again for the lack of anything better to do. Boy am I glad I did. This time I paid full attention to the story and went into the show not expecting to be a part of something action packed and thrilling, because of this I found myself to be drawn in by the two main characters (Akira and Saki) and the way they melded with each other which captured me into really getting into their friendship and the way they interacted with each other within the story. Speaking of the story, it’s actually quite good! Without giving away too much, the plot basically revolves around Akira, the main character, who is unknowingly and unwillingly entered into a contest with 11 other people who’s main goal is to make the world a better place by using their cell phones to spend a large sum of money on their efforts, these people are called Selecao.
As the story unfolds we learn that Akira has previously erased his memory for some unknown reason and during the series he tries hard to gain back anything that he has forgotten. As he pieces everything together along with trying to cope with being a Selecao he’s helped out by a girl named Saki, who is a 21 year old college student who he meets while she is visiting Washington DC, during the course of the show they grow to be close friends and both have a general caring for each other, she and her friends try their hardest to help Akira along with his goals as the plot progresses. Later on in the series things begin to get serious, Akira runs into a couple of his fellow Selecao who have devised a plan to unleash a flurry of bombs upon Japan and it’s up to him, and him alone, to use his cell phone and allowed yen wisely to try to stop what could become a deadly situation for thousands of citizens.
As with all of my reviews, I'd like to take a look at the production side of things for a moment, mainly the music in the series along with the animation and the overall quality of how the behind the scenes crew crafted this anime. Let's start with the sound and music of Eden of the East, not that it was a huge feather in the cap of this series or anything, but it was pretty enjoyable and I felt the English dub was done really well, nothing from the music side of things really stuck out though and sometimes this series suffered due to the lack of appropriate music to set the mood for certain scenes. Overall I would say that the audio strengths in Eden of the East would reside with the voice overs and the sound effects used, again, nothing really screamed out at me or anything but all in all I would say that it was done fairly well not to complain a whole lot about it. Visual wise, it's kind of on the same boat with the audio, this series featured good animation that helped to portray the story but nothing really grabbed me and made me want to bow down and sacrifice myself to the animation gods, it mainly did what it needed to do and that is all you can really ask these days. Don't get me wrong, it isn't like the animation in Eden of the East was bad or anything, it was quite good, but it wasn't anything that you haven't seen already if you catch my drift.
People are probably wondering if Eden of the East is a fun series to watch, people want to know if they should go out and spend their hard earned money on a series that has under 20 episodes even though the price is right around that of a 26 episode boxed set. You want to know my answer? Yes. It's a fun series that's full of fun characters mixed with a little of what you already know and love about anime, depending on what kind of story you enjoy when picking out and watching anime you could end up liking this series a lot more than I did or you may think that this show was an epic failure, it's hard to judge based upon what kind of program this ended up being. I enjoyed it, I'd recommend it to those looking for a fun drama anime, but if Shonen is your thing or if you need constant action then this is definately not for you, it's riviting at times, but not action packed by any means. Eden of the East is a "Enter at your own risk" scenario if you ask me, but remember, sometimes the world of the unkown can be an exciting trip and something to remember. Stay real and do enjoy!
Art & Animation - 8.0/10
Music & Sound Effects - 7.5/10
Story & Writing - 7.75/10
Fun - 8.0/10
Overall - 7.75/10
As always I want to thank those who took the time to read my blog, it's much appreciated and you can always check me out at www.twitter.com/manga4life as well as TZ and FUNI.
Take care,
***Manga4life***
©2011 Cozy Cabin Publishing LLC
