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.

Episode Videos

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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

Shiratori, Kuroha

Supporting

Igarashi, Rei
Japanese

Mameshiba

Supporting

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

Reviews

Jun 30, 2022

Myrmiderp

Recommended

Spoiler-free (nothing that isn't in the MAL synopsis or revealed immediately) should-you-watch review:

Eden of the East is a fascinating anime, and I'm not talking about the plot. What it tries to do, and the place it sits between different genres is something I've thought back about plenty of times since watching. It wouldn't be unfair to call the anime and subsequent movies underwhelming, but at the same time, there is a sublime groundedness that permeates the whole work. It really is quite strange, but in a pleasant way. I struggled with rating this an 8 instead of 9, but it's that comfortable underwhelmingness that led ... me here.

The most important thing to know before starting: the series doesn't stand alone, the movies are clearly filling in for the second arc, and you should treat them as the remainder of the same season. This puts the first movie into a super weird position, but just imagine that it's a few episodes and not a movie and you'll be fine.

First, the dub is very good. The animation is cozy and pleasant; you might disagree at first but come to see what I mean over time. I love that Saki fell out of a Studio Ghibli movie. While the character designs vary in inspiration, none feel out of place, which is an accomplishment. Most characters are distinct and believable, making sometimes foolish but ultimately mature decisions, which is really refreshing for an anime. The expression on Saki's face in particular moments speaks volumes about how smart and aware she can be. Takizawa has a compelling air of mystery, and I like that you're often unsure what he's thinking or if he knows more than he lets on, despite being a main character. I understand the complaint that Saki doesn't develop very much over the series, but I find her nuances super compelling, and enjoyed what she brought.

The plot/ideas. I'll go into very minor spoilers in this paragraph, but for context I'm staunchly against spoilers, and these ideas are referenced in the Synopsis on MAL. Eden of the East is mostly a mystery and suspense anime, with a sprinkle of romance. I understand the Sci-Fi label, but this is where it gets interesting; it might as well be modern day, which helps keep the anime really grounded. Nothing technology-wise is *outlandish*; I would not be too surprised if any of the individual technologies already existed in some form, except for induced selective amnesia, yes, that's pretty Sci-fi. Instead, Eden acts more like a fantasy anime where "magic" can be used to accomplish tasks that are possible but unlikely, and your "mana" is money. It is such an intriguing blend of genres, I won't be forgetting it any time soon.

The real downside is the mysterious underwhelmingness that reviews mention. #1, I would really recommend my above advice of treating the movies like clumped episodes of the same season, that should help. But #2, yeah, sometimes the conflict resolution doesn't feel deserved, sometimes the answer to a mystery invites more questions, and sometimes it sacrifices satisfaction to make a point. I don't hate these moments, but I do wish they were different.

All-in-all, it's an attractive mystery anime with some compelling developments, believable characters, and a fantasy-esque power that's mostly founded in reality. It has something to say about money and the economic state of Japan, and is absolutely worth a watch if any of that sounds interesting to you.

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Jul 22, 2022

Keistere

Mixed Feelings

I've just finished watching, and I'm quite conflicted. If you don't want my mixed opinion to influence negatively your decision to watch the anime, skip the next two paragraphs. (Also let me note that the whole review carefuly avoids spoilers!)

I wish I could rate this higher, but the last 2 episodes threw the whole anime off the window for me. Like, it was building up something interesting at a nice slow pace that was quite enjoyable, developing the dynamics between the characters meanwhile, with comprehensible and entertaining situations. Then the 10th episode comes in and pushes the whole plot forward faster than the circumstances themselves ... can make room for. Then the final episode comes in like a real 'fast forward' to the 'end' of the story, which leaves you confused about what you just saw, and why and how is it all connected. After viewing the episode again and making sure you didn't miss any detail, you can confirm that things are simply not very well connected, and it leaves you with the feeling that the true plot of the series was not well developed, like a 10 year old that has an exciting wild idea for a movie and wants to give suspense to it and make good scenes, but doesn't care about connecting things very well and make it all make real sense.

On top of that, everything is (or more correctly, most things are) explained in those last two episodes, and it all happens just too fast and several things are not clear at all. Matching with the analogy of the 10 year old, a lot of the final explanations about the plot come across as implausible deus ex machina that would be logically prevented in real life as simply the easiest route of action. There are a some unrealistic, thoughtless and unexplained behaviors there, coming from all sides just to justify the plot and the ending.

That being said, the first episodes are a f****** delight. I think that the creators of this anime were talented, but they themselves didn't know what they excelled at while doing The Eden of the East. It is the main plot (or the justifications and details about it) which can be considered unsatisfying, while the best moments of this anime are within the parts that can usually be considered filler in other animes; the situations that simply develop the relationships between the characters, or the situations that show a little more of what they are about. That is done with craftful simplicity here, not trying to make it seem more complicated than it is, letting you immerse in the beauty and excitement of the situations themselves, and feel the charm of the characters. The relationship between the main two characters builds up in such a cool but somehow natural manner (even with all the strange elements involved) that it came across as almost magical to me, and at some points very relatable.

The two main characters are a treat indeed, each in their own way. I'm trying not to make spoilers here, so I'll just say that one of them is an awesome nutcase (in a way that I personally loved). The creators showed ability in giving such vibrant and believable personalities to those characters, but they neglected the rest in comparison; they are content in fulfilling their roles, although most do their play just fine. There are a couple of exceptions though, and here, again, I have to point to the last two episodes. Everything there is a mess, including the characters. It has to be mentioned that the anime is only 11 episodes long, and it feels like half of its potential was cut down right there. There are some characters that are presented earlier in an interesting way and showed a great potential to impact on the story, then they leave the screen for an episode or two -nothing wrong with that itself-, but suddenly the anime ends and nothing about them is developed further, nor they reach any kind of closure that the viewer can see or infer. It really feels like the pace at which the story was being presented up until the 9th episode was not actually the pace for a 11 episode anime. I don't know the story behind the development, so I have no clue if they just planned it like this or if they had to cut it down in the end, but to me it feels like it's the second case.

So, in conclusion, I think that they would have made a great, great anime out of this if they focused mainly on the love story. And I'm not a fan of love stories, I'm usually bored by them, but this one -with all the interpersonal details around, and the character personalities, and the intriguing or relatable scenes...- was getting really great and tasty in my opinion. They should have stripped down the main plot to something less grandiose (or maybe just the finale... [METAPHORICALLY-COVERED HALF-SPOILERS HERE] suddenly there's hordes of Johnnies in natural state, the sky booms, some sort of 21th century cyber-Napoleon-move happens in a second... like... WTF? [END OF HALF-SPOILERS]), instead of stripping down the number of episodes. Both things didn't combine well at all. So, I guess the movies will have a saying on all of this.

I still recommend watching The Eden of the East, because those who are not as critical with plot development will most probably find things to love here. I think that half the time it actually kicks ass in some way or another, and you just can't say it's boring or not entertaining. To me, it is saldy flawed in a very specific area, but one that is crucial for any kind of art dependent on story. That aside, the music is cool, the voice actors are very competent, and the art and animation, despite being a little simple to stand out as great, are very cute and effective.

Damn, it was an interesting anime (even with its quirks) until the 10th episode came in. The whole ending seems like an accident, honestly. It feels like another different anime (or a different crew behind it) intruded it and finished it without much care. I hope the movies didn't inherit the same weakness!

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Nov 20, 2020

memarwaa

Not Recommended

uhh what the hell is the hype for this show about? are we watching different stuff??

this is the first review i wrote and probably the last since i normally let other way better a r t i c u l a t e people express what im trying to say. breaking news: no articulate people wanted to voice their sheer despise for this garbage. so here i am :D

alright so, i n m y o p i n i o n, this is absolute trash. The stupidest show i've ever watched. I literally had to force myself to continue it ...

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Recent Forum Discussion

Poll: Higashi no Eden Episode 11 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) grapeofdeath - Jun 18, 2009	432 replies	by OneMoreFinal »» Oct 21, 4:06 PM
IS THERE ANY "HARD" EDEN OF THE EAST FANS hitsugaya111 - Mar 22, 2018	7 replies	by rent-free »» Jun 16, 9:43 PM
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 3 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ) Bakayaro - Apr 23, 2009	201 replies	by Skorobagatio »» Oct 6, 2022 12:53 PM

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Higashi no Eden

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Morimi, Saki

Shiratori, Kuroha

Mameshiba

Katsuhara, Mikuru

Juiz

Itazu, Yutaka

Kondou, Yuusei

Hirasawa, Kazuomi

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