Thankfully, the 11 episode Eden of the East series didn't disappoint as much as those works (low expectations and all), but it says something about a show's quality when the only way to get through episodes 8, 9, and 10 while maintaining a baseline level of interest is to artificially stimulate my brain by watching it on 1.5x speed with subtitles enabled. Show-making at its finest, everyone.
All right, though, let's be fair and talk about some obvious pluses. The artwork is consistently polished and entertaining throughout the entire series with some solid character designs and high background detail. Yes, there are a few goofy-looking CGI crowd shots (they were unavoidable even in 2009, apparently), but they honestly only served to accentuate how much I could laugh AT the show, so I managed to enjoy them.
Eden of the East can also be pretty funny at times. The main character in particular, Takizawa, has a lot going for him in terms of making the show marketable to people who enjoy fun, goofy, and entertaining characters. The rest of the cast... not as much, but they can get into some comedic hijinx, too, my favorite incidents of this being Kasuga's reveal from the rolltop desk, the "date" between Kasuga and Ohsugi, and the NEETs in the mall chasing everyone at the end.
The music is also not bad; it's not Kenji Kawai's best (I still think that title belongs to either Fate/Stay Night or the original GitS film, I can't decide), but it does have some intense moments that do well to serve some well-crafted and suspenseful scenes. Yes, in spite of my earlier remarks, I am complimenting Kenji Kamiyama for actually being a halfway decent director. His writing may not be good, but he can do quite a bit in terms of visual presentation, although maybe not as well as some other directors, such as Akiyuki Shinbo or Sayo Yamamoto.
There is another plus I can say: in contrast to other home media releases by Funimation, I was actually rather impressed by the DVD release Funimation put out for this show. Note that I got it from my local library; I would NEVER buy this, unlike Psycho-Pass, which, while it has some amazing extra content in the form of the all-too-rare audio commentary I so love, it doesn't allow on-the-fly switching between languages and enabling/disabling of subtitles, which is pretty lame since every other Funimation release I have seen allows this. Eden of the East is no exception, and it made comparing the two versions engaging and infinitely less tedious. The English dub is actually pretty great, featuring some actors whose work I really enjoy and unfortunately don't hear enough of, especially Jason Liebrecht, Michael Sinterniklaas, and Stephanie Sheh. I also thought that Christopher Sabat did an exceptional job here. Additionally, I am quite happy with the alternative opening theme that was chosen. Apparently, the story is that Oasis, the British band that made the series' opening, wanted too much money from Funimation, so the company just contracted series composer Kenji Kawai and female lead/singer Saori Hayami to make a different opening theme, one which I much prefer. It makes the opening feel like it's gearing the audience up for an actual mystery-thriller, so give it a listen if you haven't already. Also the ending sequence is pretty creative, and I really enjoy School Food Punishment (you broke up too soon!!!).
Okay, that's all for positives; on to why this series is a train-wreck of bad storytelling, stupid or nonexistent character motivations, and things that just don't make sense.
-------------- SPOILER WARNING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!------------------
1. Why does Takizawa erase his memory at the start and end of the series? He "lost hope"? Really? Isn't his defining character trait that he is always hopeful? Why would being branded the bad guy bother him to the point of not being able to deal with it if HE'S THE ONE WHO DID THAT OF HIS OWN ACCORD? Seriously, I can almost see Kiritsugu Emiya rising from his early grave to slap him in the face. ERASING HIS OWN MEMORY DOES NOT CHANGE THE PUBLIC SENTIMENT AT ALL, AS EVIDENCED BY THE RANDOM GUY WHO RECOGNIZED HIM. Oh, and follow-up: if that guy recognized him, why would Takizawa NOT TALK TO HIM!??!?!?!?! I was asking that the entire series.
2. How the hell does Saki know everything that she's rattling off in the last episode about what happened with Takizawa and the 20,000 NEETs? Nobody told any of that to her, and she would never have gotten information about the NEETs stealing some stuff after the Careless Monday incident from the Selecao phone records. If she had, then why would she be saying all of it to the Eden of the East members considering they also had access to that information?
3. How does Juiz work so damn fast when coordinating Takizawa's EMOTED MOVEMENTS (not spoken, EMOTED) with instructions for the JSDF in the ending scene?
4. Why does Yuki think firing missiles at Japan will solve insane working hours? Maybe use your 10 billion yen to introduce unionization and better work culture, at least starting with the public sector and moving toward private. This idiot emo thinks destroying stuff will make people unaffected by those attacks work less. That literally could not make less sense. I cannot believe somebody okayed this. (I UNDERSTAND SOME READERS ARE THINKING ABOUT NEETS BEING LEECHES ON SOCIETY. MORE ON THAT AFTER SPOILER SECTION)
5. For some reason, the serial-killer lady sprouts wings to escape using this "Grand Illusion" butt-pull that Juiz set her up with. How the literal flying hell did they get it all set up (in addition to patching up Takizawa) before Saki got there? She was already en route!
6. Do you mean to tell me that Ohsugi really wasn't kidnapped by the serial-killer lady, but that his bag was stolen by a serial rapist who just happened to be targeted by the lady even though said guy was nowhere to be seen (if memory serves) and she was clearly looking at OHSUGI in that scene!?!?!?!! And that same guy takes pictures with a (presumably) identical-looking phone and posts them online with the captions reading, "HELP ME I AM GOING TO DIE BY HAVING MY JUNK CUT OFF" to the same message forum that Ohsugi frequents?!?!?!!?!?!? I don't know if Kenji Kamiyama came up with this, but whoever it was should be demoted. This is just... I can't. I can't with this.
-------------------------- END SPOILERS ---------------------------
Okay, now that I am (mostly) done ranting about plot, let's think carefully about what this series is really trying to say and how if falls flat on its face.
From what I can interpret of this show (which isn't all that hard, considering the dialogue is basically DEVOID OF SUBTEXT), Kenji Kamiyama is trying to say that NEETs are every bit as capable of doing good and contributing to society as anyone else and that a combination of social norms and the subsequent stressors/mental pressures from society alienate these individuals and keep them from realizing their potential. In a sense, Mr. Outside, the facilitator of the game, choosing to purposefully sponsor Akira Takizawa (whom he apparently classifies as a NEET) is exactly what Kenji Kamiyama may be saying needs to happen; by sponsoring people, they are given the chance to spread their wings, and this truth extends to NEETs as well. This idea is further backed up by the sequel films, where Takizawa gives everyone a single yen and the game ends.
However, can Takizawa really be classified as a tried-and-true NEET? It is true that, aside from Yuki (ironically), Takizawa is apparently the only Selecao member not seen being employed, having any education, or being in training. Presumably, he was selected by Mr. Outside to be a Selecao member because he could represent the NEETs of Japan, perhaps hoping that his charisma, charm, and resourcefulness would make him a good leader that is able to benefit the nation. But if Takizawa really wants to contribute to society, does that not nullify his being a NEET? I mean, the guy is a real go-getter; in fact, everyone in the Eden of the East club is a go-getter and are all motivated to find a place in society by making their own company. So why are they all called NEETs if a NEET is someone who does not seek any meaningful, contributing position in society? This straight-up does not make sense.
Let's also circle back to Yuki, Selecao No. 10, for a second. His whole idea for launching missiles at Japan just seems futile and lame. Like I said earlier, he is not portrayed in the series as working a job, training for one, or going to school, so by Kamiyama's definition, he is a NEET, no? That makes it even weirder that he is on board with a plan to kill a whole bunch of NEETs in the most inefficient way possible: missiles. As suggested in the spoiler section, why not create unions or initiate some kind of protest or change within the system to facilitate growth within those individuals of the population that lack motivation, give them some opportunity, get them schooled, create more jobs, etc.? Some therapy may also be in order. Instead, "NO, THEY ALL MUST DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!".
Perhaps the point therein is that people like Yuki and his cohorts are irrational, that the things they do make no sense and we just have to accept that, correct them, and move on. But if we just write off the main antagonistic force as being stupid and crazy, then we aren't left with any central conflict that is intriguing or worth spending time thinking over.
What I am trying to say is that Eden of the East lacks nuance in how it presents its themes; it doesn't care enough to provide any meaningful characterization or thought-provoking subject matter or discussion, and this is a hallmark of poorly conceived writing by authors who have something potentially interesting to say but lack the creativity and open-mindedness to get others to think about it in a way that prompts discussion. If their intent is not to spark discussion, however, and just shove their ideas down the audience's collective throat, then their writing isn't really worth experiencing outside of entertainment value anyway.
Kenji Kamiyama is a hack writer. For every work of his that I have seen, there was never any real point or message to it, and upon actually attempting something meaningful, he botches it. I don't have high hopes for anything he creates later on; it's only with that mindset that I could ever squeeze some semblance of enjoyment out of his work.
Happy watching!
- LC
