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koabal85
Reviews
Higashi no Eden (2009)
Eden of the East, complete series
I will start off by saying, this series is an absolute must. It's thought-provoking and well animated. The story-line is complex, yet simple to follow.
A previous review of this series complained that it is short, and I would have to agree. At the end of the 11 episodes, I was a bit surprised as to how it cut off; while the season was understandably complete, the whole of the story was obviously unfinished, and it felt like intermission. Not to worry, though, the two feature-length movies helped to clear up a lot of the confusion left behind by the season, and while they're regarded as "spin-offs," the two movies are actually part one and two of the second season. That aside, I definitely feel this could have been longer.
Another complaint was that the supporting cast was too cookie-cutter, but if you stick with it, you can see that isn't so. The FUNimation dubbed versions give a lot more chattiness and slant to Saki's friends, so that helps, but you do have to keep going to the movies to get any sort of idea of who these people are; in the end, though, they don't develop too much, so I'd have to agree with this complaint as well. Still, I don't feel they're the focus, and they by no means detract from the main storyline. Though not much depth is developed for these supporting characters, they reassuringly do have distinct personalities and characteristics by the end.
My biggest complaint, and I hold this to be a spoiler, more of enjoyability - if you're like me - rather than plot: in the series, it's mentioned near the beginning of the series that the Noblesse Oblige phones work by fingerprint recognition. However, Saki uses Akira's phone to send herself a picture, and she continues to use the phone throughout the "King of Eden" movie. There are a couple comments about the fingerprint tech near the end of the first season, but there is no comment on Saki's use of Akira's phone. It may be important to note that all the comments concerning the fingerprint tech are in direct reference to Seleção IV's phone, and not Akira's, leaving room for interpretation that he had it disabled, or had Juis (Juiz) alter it for Saki to use.
Those things aside, I really enjoyed the series. I sorely wish for something more, but I think, while the ending is not what we as humans always want (a neatly tied-up happy ending), it was appropriate, and more importantly, it wasn't definite. There is room for more, and I'm just happy to have been able to come along for the ride. Not even something so huge as the continuity error of the phone was enough to keep me from finishing and thinking about it 24/7.
*When you watch the second movie, "Paradise Lost," watch past the credits!