Higashi no Eden (Eden of The East)

On November 22, 2010, Japan was hit by missile strikes, a terrorist act that fortunately did not harm anyone, becoming known as "Careless Monday." Quickly forgotten, society goes on about their lives as normal.

During her graduation trip to America three months later, friendly college student Saki Morimi's life is forever changed when she finds herself saved from unexpected trouble by Akira Takizawa. Takizawa is cheerful, but odd in many ways—he is stark naked and suffers from amnesia, believing himself to be a terrorist. In addition, he possesses a strange cell phone loaded with 8.2 billion yen in digital cash.

Despite Takizawa's suspicious traits, Saki quickly befriends the enigmatic young man. However, unbeknownst to her, this is the beginning of a thrilling death game involving money, cell phones, and the salvation of the world. Higashi no Eden chronicles Saki's struggle to unravel the mysteries behind her savior, while Takizawa himself battles other individuals armed with similar cell phones and returning memories which reveal his possible connection to the event from months ago.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

Higashi no Eden won the Animation Kobe Award in the Television category during the Animation Kobe festival in 2009 as well as the best television series of the year award at the ninth annual Tokyo International Anime Fair.

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Related Anime

Adaptation:	Shousetsu Higashi no Eden
Sequel:	Higashi no Eden Movie I: The King of Eden
Other:	Higashi no Eden: Falling Down
Summary:	Higashi no Eden: Air Communication

More characters

Characters & Voice Actors

Takizawa, Akira

Main

Kimura, Ryouhei
Japanese

Morimi, Saki

Main

Hayami, Saori
Japanese

Mameshiba

Supporting

Shiratori, Kuroha

Supporting

Igarashi, Rei
Japanese

Katsuhara, Mikuru

Supporting

Saitou, Ayaka
Japanese

Juiz

Supporting

Tamagawa, Sakiko
Japanese

Itazu, Yutaka

Supporting

Hiyama, Nobuyuki
Japanese

Kondou, Yuusei

Supporting

Shirokuma, Hiroshi
Japanese

Hirasawa, Kazuomi

Supporting

Kawahara, Motoyuki
Japanese

Ohsugi, Satoshi

Supporting

Eguchi, Takuya
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Cook, Justin

Producer

Yamamoto, Kouji

Producer

Nishimura, Satoshi

Producer

Ishii, Tomohiko

Producer

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Opening Theme

	1: "FALLING DOWN" by Oasis
	2: "Michael Ka Belial" by Saori Hayami (FUNimation OP)

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Ending Theme

"futuristic imagination" by school food punishment

More reviews

Reviews

Jun 22, 2009

game8910

Recommended

Higashi no Eden (or Eden of the East however you want to call it) is a new anime series produced by Production I.G, and it was one of the most anticipated series of the Spring 2009 season. After quite an impressive trailer before the anime aired, I just knew I had to watch this show which looked like it had a lot of promise. Did it live up to my expectation? Read ahead to find out.

Story:
+ This anime definitely brings a very interesting plot.
+ The level of mystery and suspense will leave the viewer wanting more every episode.
+ Definitely one of the most refreshing ...

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Mar 30, 2014

Link_of_Hyrule

Mixed Feelings

**SPOILER FREE REVIEW OF THE SERIES AND THE TWO MOVIES**

After watching the first few episodes of Eden of the East (a.k.a Higashi no Eden), I was extremely impressed and very excited. I thought I had found a compelling mystery anime with lovable characters, a great storyline, and fluent animation. I couldn't wait to see what Eden had in store, so I sat through the entire series and both of the movies in a huge marathon. You want to know what it all amounted to? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. The storyline of this anime goes absolutely, positively NOWHERE at any point in any of the movies or ...

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Jun 7, 2013

Evil_Mousou

Recommended

For as long as I can remember, anime of the mystery genre have proven creatively stale. As a rule, trying to find a gratifying mystery is an ordeal much like rummaging for haute couture in a dark, creaky charity shop that smells faintly of mothballs. Foremost amongst the dust-caked offerings, Darker than Black collapses into a morbid mess; low-grade Fantastic Children keeps things cheap and cheerless; and the snail-paced Ghost Hound dulled my senses to such an extent that I never saw its middle episodes.
How delightfully reassuring, then, to discover Eden of the East; this, unlike the aforementioned failures, begins on a much higher bar ... of quality. In fact, tapping into the hot topics of terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, information technology, marginalized geek subculture, and subversive conspiracy theories, it accomplishes an astronomical level of relevancy to its early twenty-first century audience that’s both rare and difficult to pull off. Like Akira emerging from a background of Cold War paranoia, Eden of the East manages to capture the Zeitgeist of disenfranchised youth of the millennium and repackage it into a fascinating adventure that anyone can enjoy. Instead of loudmouthed biker brats trying to prevent the apocalypse, there are spotty middle-class misfits with too much HP trying to save Japan from itself.
The sequence of events may be ambiguous, with the script hardly pausing to explain how they connect with each other, but the pace remains satisfyingly steady. Strangely enough, like watching a master illusionist at work, the confusion contributes to the enjoyment. The series withholds tantalising facts until the last possible moment and glosses over its meandering mystery with generous handfuls of charisma.
In truth, the first half of the show elicits the kind of spine-tingling rapture that only comes along once a decade when viewers inadvertently stumble upon a confident masterpiece. I could see it already – breathless fans hailing Eden of the East as the second coming of Death Note, the easy five-star ratings flying from reviewers’ fingertips, and a live-action movie so popular it even makes it as far as British cinemas by 2015!
All I can say is enjoy the magic while it lasts. Inevitably, Eden of the East overreaches and certain contortions of the plot midway stretch viewers’ suspension of disbelief to untenable limits. At first there is a clever chase sequence highly reminiscent of Light and L’s interplay in Death Note, where the mysterious hero Akira tries to save the day with the help of Juiz (a voice on his phone which grants his every wish). For whatever reason, just at that key juncture, the show follows up with a scene of such crippling farce that, despite later rationalization, it spells a stunning loss of momentum. After that, there’s a long period of rushed explanations, sluggish suspense, and one or two twists desperately in need of more coherent setup.
Fans expecting easy-to-grasp developments and a neat conclusion will end up disappointed. However, for conspiracy theorists and generally anal fans who like to pore over minute details and debate exact wordings for weeks after a show is over, this will prove quite the feast.

Even in that age (2009) of knock-off CGI and dime-a-dozen action sequences, Eden of the East’s visuals warrant some respect. The style may not be up to much, but cityscapes, monorails, museums, cars, and streets have rarely looked this good. The quirkiest aspect is the combination of hamster-cheeked characters with hyper-realistic, superbly detailed backgrounds. Although this sounds intuitively incompatible, the quality of animation is consistently high and melds everything together nicely.

Apart from a catchy opening theme sung by the established Brit-rock band, Oasis, and some excellent American voice acting during the early episodes, Eden of the East’s soundtrack remains effective but wholly unremarkable.

Out of all the characters, only Akira Takigawa leaps off the screen with his incredible effervescence. Turning up at the White House naked with a gun in his first scene certainly makes him memorable, but his charm extends beyond mere gimmicks. Akira’s development reveals a fascinating duality in his personality, which ensures he is at once easy to like and teasingly difficult to grasp. His whimsical nature belies an underlying quick mind and a surprising level of gravity, the latter of which manifests itself in the messianic themes surrounding him (obvious statements that he’s Saki’s ‘prince’, his supposed massacre of 20,000 NEETs, the occasional deadpan expression etc). He’ll delight and entrance in turn, and he’ll do it seemingly without much effort.
Everyone else, unfortunately, gets caught in the whirlwind of his mystery without any opportunity to make their own mark. The good news is that the supporting cast, being ordinary people with ordinary problems, generally behave within the familiar boundaries of reason. Regrettably, this means that, when thrown into Eden of the East’s extraordinary circumstances, they become like headless chickens – alarmingly useless. At some point, I began to wonder how many more times I’d have to watch Saki mope after Akira, worrying about his terrible secrets without being able to help uncover them. Her behavior is always understandable, of course, but also off-putting for being redundant.
Apart from that, the gaggle of weak antagonists impedes any attempt at emotional investment. The most carelessly developed individual has to be that purple-haired femme fatale whose morbid behavior is as caricatured as her looks. Being the only female of note other than the mediocre Saki, I found her constant prancing in underwear and high heels a horribly patronizing and silly portrayal. Truly, does being psychologically disturbed always have to mean being half naked? Other antagonists introduced later simply look boring, are underdeveloped, or generally don’t do much of note. Viewers will keep watching simply to find out the answers to the questions set at the beginning, and not because they will care about the conflict of interest.

I find this a very difficult anime to recommend without caveats. Objectively, I recognize Eden of the East’s great achievements; brandishing an arsenal of treats, including an innovative mystery that doubles as social commentary and Akira’s magnetic characterization, it will exceed expectations on first impressions. On the other hand, I feel underwhelmed by the experience. Somehow, the show misses its mark, becoming a rambling setup for the anticipated movies with convoluted themes and tenuous explanations. Nonetheless, the fact remains – for a fresh and nail-biting reinterpretation of the mystery genre (even if short-lived), Eden of the East rivals the monumental favorites on the market of that date.

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Poll: Higashi no Eden Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) Plate - Apr 9, 2009	404 replies	by prozyne »» Apr 9, 1:35 AM
Poll: Higashi no Eden Episode 2 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ) removed-user - Apr 16, 2009	245 replies	by Euroqean »» Mar 29, 6:51 PM
Poll: Higashi no Eden Episode 11 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) grapeofdeath - Jun 18, 2009	429 replies	by PotatoSpoon »» Mar 12, 11:53 PM
Poll: Higashi no Eden Episode 3 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ) Bakayaro - Apr 23, 2009	201 replies	by Skorobagatio »» Oct 6, 2022 12:53 PM
Poll: Higashi no Eden Episode 10 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 ) ShanaFlame - Jun 11, 2009	181 replies	by CosmoMcFloso »» Aug 9, 2022 5:44 PM

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Higashi no Eden

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Morimi, Saki

Mameshiba

Shiratori, Kuroha

Katsuhara, Mikuru

Juiz

Itazu, Yutaka

Kondou, Yuusei

Hirasawa, Kazuomi

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Higashi no Eden

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