After seeing a score of 8.22 and skimping through reviews lauding Higashi no Eden for its intricate and unique plot, I decided to give it a try. I was also looking for more anime with a theme similar to Zankyou no Terror and one of the recommendations was HnE.
So, an anime with tags like "Drama, Romance, Comedy, Sci-Fi, Mystery" and a "whopping" score of 8.22 for only 11 episodes? I was so excited at the prospect of watching a real gem of an anime, and thought I couldn't possibly not like this series. I would surely be in for one hell of a ride!
Dear Lord
...
was I wrong... Though it was one hell of a ride, I rode straight into a big pile of disappointment and feelings of betrayal. No doubt the first episode looked promising; the story looked like it could develop in so many interesting ways, but then it almost felt like the show's shot callers did a complete 180 and decided to ruin HnE in the utmost cruelest way. I had to check multiple times if I was indeed watching the right anime. Was I losing my sanity? How could that many people think so highly of this show and I can't even bring myself to watch the 3rd episode? Was I missing something? For sure I'm missing something! I'll just keep watching; the story is bound to get better soon, that's why it got so many rave reviews. I forced myself to watch the other episodes, but when I reached episode 8, I could no longer bear it. I felt like if I watched any longer, no amount of watching reruns of my favourite animes could ever erase the memory of having watched HnE.
The story (3/10) could have been amazing. But after episode 1, the show kept adding so many other elements to the story, that in the end I was still not sure what the central theme was. There were also some real head scratching scenes which made me doubt if this show shouldn't add the genre "magic" to it. As for comedy? Besides Akira's public display of nudity in episode 1 (which would catch anyone off guard imo), I couldn't even muster a meek smile for the supposedly "funny" scenes.
*****SPOILERS
1. A complete stranger comes up to you and asks for your pants? Sure, just hand them over. The police asking people to see their wieners in order to identify them? Sure, just drop your pants.
2. So 10 missiles strike Japan and not one single victim was killed? Uh, sure... I guess that... could've, might've happened?
3. A magic phone that grants your every request? ... I think I might've missed the "Magic" tag for this show somewhere.
4. White zombie like creatures that come out of broken electronic equipment and start hugging the MC? I guess I might've missed the "horror" tag somewhere as well.
5. A character who gets off by kidnapping rapists/sex-offenders and then cutting off their Johnnies? And she's almost killed over 20.000 men? Oh, and she was chosen as one of the 12 people who were supposed to lead the nation in the right path? But then the male MC decides that he could save this psychopath by having sex with her? Uh... I think I lost it. *****
However, besides the story being a complete disaster, the animation and sound of HnE weren't bad. The animation and most of the soundtrack (6/10) in my opinion, were more suited to a romance/slice of life themed story than the Sci-Fi heavy themed HnE. I believe that the relationship between story and art is dynamic: if a story is great, even if the accompanying art is not up to par, the story will find a way to shine. And vice versa: if the art is great, even a mediocre story will get praise. But in HnE's case, the disconnection between the art and story was too obvious.
And the animation for the OP was well-done: it really gave me this "anarchy, democracy" kind of feel. Traitor!!!! Biggest misleading OP animation I've ever encountered...
The VA's delivered solid performances; none of them sounded off and voiced their characters well.
As for the characters (3/10), of the main duo, Akira is the more interesting one. Who wouldn't think that after he made such a grand entrance? I thought he'd turn out to be the "always smiling and charismatic but actually a real dark personality"-type of character; boy was I disappointed. In the end, he was all charm and nothing else: no fighting skills (damn you for baiting me with the Jason Bourne reference), no amazing analytical skills, nope, none, nada.
Saki, our main female lead, only has one selling point: cuteness. But being cute can never be the only trait of a character when she's supposed to be the heroine of the story. I kept hoping she would do something, anything to contribute to the story (as awful as it was) other than gawk and blush at Akira. If you like heroines like her, than be my guest and enjoy HnE.
Oh, I forgot. There was one thing I really enjoyed from HnE though, and that was Akira's dog. If it wasn't for the dog, the score for enjoyment (3/10) would have definitely gone down.
To put it bluntly, HnE in the beginning was like a mouth watering steak; then someone decided that all elements of the food pyramid need to be included in the dish and they added bread, lettuce, bananas, strawberries etc and served it up. In the end, it gave me a bout of diarrhoea I won't forget so easily. Well, at least I enjoyed the OP (and to a lesser extent the ED) while I was relieving myself.
Alternative Titles
Synonyms: Higashi no Eden
Japanese: 東のエデン
More titlesInformation
Type:
TV
Episodes:
11
Status:
Finished Airing
Aired:
Apr 10, 2009 to Jun 19, 2009
Premiered:
Spring 2009
Broadcast:
Fridays at 00:45 (JST)
Licensors:
Funimation
Studios:
Production I.G
Source:
Original
Duration:
23 min. per ep.
Rating:
R - 17+ (violence & profanity)
Statistics
Ranked:
#11582
2
based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded.
Popularity:
#385
Members:
565,802
Favorites:
4,240
Available AtResourcesStreaming Platforms | Reviews
Filtered Results: 10 / 130
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Your Feelings Categories Jul 15, 2014
After seeing a score of 8.22 and skimping through reviews lauding Higashi no Eden for its intricate and unique plot, I decided to give it a try. I was also looking for more anime with a theme similar to Zankyou no Terror and one of the recommendations was HnE.
So, an anime with tags like "Drama, Romance, Comedy, Sci-Fi, Mystery" and a "whopping" score of 8.22 for only 11 episodes? I was so excited at the prospect of watching a real gem of an anime, and thought I couldn't possibly not like this series. I would surely be in for one hell of a ride! Dear Lord ... Apr 17, 2010
This show really... gets on my nerve. I had to watch all the way to the last episode (11th) to find out the "truth" behind all the mysteries set up across 10 episodes. That is when all my enjoyment vanishes as the "truth" is literally "naked," empty, and stupid. This anime is really a lame implementation from the inspiration of the American movie Paycheck (2003).
---------------------------- Story: (SPOILER) A powerful old guy, called Ato Saizou or "Outside" (this is a Japanese pun), after being diagnosed with terminal cancer set up a big game by selecting 12 youngsters, giving each 10 billion yen, and a "magic" cellphone to save ... Apr 3, 2012
Overall, it was pretty dreadful and one of the worst I've seen! I only decided to watch due to the good reviews..
Characters: No character development, no romance, all side characters are useless including the main girl. She does nothing the whole series. Story/PLOT: It makes hardly any sense. It reminds me of an episode of Pokemon where the bad guys are terribly stupid and give their plan away, literally. The main guy smiles too much so it pretty much means he's fail-proof in every episode.You'll see what I mean after EP. 1 Sounds: It was pretty good except for the intro, which is an English emo ... Jun 21, 2020
One of the worst, most nonsensical and contrived anime around. It's your typical mystery/political thriller setup with an annoying amnesiac Gary Stu caught in a political conspiracy. The conspiracy involves a game where 12 players are selected to "save Japan" using aproximately $100 million USD, which can be used to purchase intel, hire hitmen, or even fire state owned missiles, by calling a concierge on a magic phone and issuing orders. It's supposed to be somewhat grounded in reality, but the logistics and efficiency of fulfilling each order might as well be "magic", and the system untraceable and invulnerable to scrutiny or conflict. A 50-story
...
Sep 24, 2015
Eden of the East sucks. Now, don't get me wrong, there's definitely some clever ideas scattered throughout this anime, but as an anime it's all over the place. The premise, 12 individuals receive special phones, access to a huge sum of money, and the task of "saving Japan" is definitely interesting, as the vague goal allows for different people to reach different conclusions on what "saving Japan" means. The main character (Takizawa) is savior number 9, but he suffers from amnesia, which he quickly discovers is a result from his own decision to erase his memories. This to is a clever way to draw
...
Aug 30, 2017
-This review is in English and Spanish.
-Esta review esta en Inglés y Español. ENGLISH I had hopes in this anime, that with its plot and the hand of Production I.G would be interesting but i was mistaken. Has an interesting premise that has been wasted with bad characters and an approach more directed to become an anime slice of life than an anime focused on the premise that presents. The story at the beginning presents an interesting premise that could lead to a great anime, but is wasted straying from the plot trying to become a slice of life, which makes it quite an anticlimatic anime,when the anime tries ... Nov 20, 2018
I came to watch Eden of the East after seeing it on a number of "most underrated anime" lists. Several of my personal favorite series are a bit off the beaten path and likely fall into the "underrated" category so I'm definitely open minded with this kind of thing. Ultimately, while I certainly didn't dislike the show, I definitely wasn't ever wowed either and what I watched felt above average and nothing more.
Art- The art felt, like most of the show, above average to me. It wasn't ever ugly but it wasn't ever gorgeous either. The animation was smooth and never choppy and I have neither ... Jun 1, 2019
Do you want to see a worse mirai nikki?
Like, mirai nikki gets shit on constantly; but god damn, at least it has an interesting premise and some cool character scenes. This has nothing. Props where I can give them, I liked the animation quirks they put on at times where characters will seem real and act as humans would, straightening their hair or clothes for example. Don't normally see that type of stuff and I appreciate it. Also liked the character clothes, they changed them up a bit which also contributed to making me buy more the whole series. Everything else, can't say the same. These characters are either ... Jul 20, 2019
Story: Very confusing. Laughably bad at times. Felt like it had a good premise in the beginning but by the end nothing was explained, like the alien Johnny scene in the missile crater. I'm supposed to go watch some movies to finish it up apparently but they aren't offered on the platform I watched it on, so whatever. The pacing was just so weird I've lost interest by the end.
Art: Pretty good. Nothing that blew me away but it was enjoyable to watch, aside from the cheap-looking 3DCGI segments. Sound: I don't remember there being a soundtrack at all. I feel like there was one but ... Nov 20, 2020
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 ... |