(For more love-remembering et al. in the 12 Days project, see: otou-san, schneider, doctordazza, Gargron, Scamp, zaon47, kevo, rabbitpoets, drmchsr0, Pontifus, ghostlightning, 53RG10, Vii, Seinime, _ETERNAL, FuyuMaiden, Eater-of-All, Shinmaru, calaggie, yumeka, Nazarielle, Cuchlann, Jinx, Janette, stringedsonata, animewriter, and probably more in the days to come~)

“Man, if I had ten thousand million yen, I think I’d go out and buy a whole shopping mall to live in. And maybe a stick of gum.”

Akira Takizawa, you are one hell of a man.

“Oh, and then I’ll take a trip to the White House! Naked! Better bring my gun just in case.”

One hell of a crazy man, too. … Actually, just forget I said that, won’t you?

… No, not literally, but OK …

12 Memories of Anime 2009
#07: Eden of the East

It was love at first sight, probably, indicating a further slip in my depravity, from 3Dcon to 2Dcon to OPcon. But, this kind opening, don’t you also find incredibly attractive?

Well, maybe it was the overall ‘shiny factor’, for lack of a better word (at least I didn’t call it moe), with all the text flying all over the place and all the visual effects that probably took it to the brink of pretentiousness for many people. And naturally, for someone like me, that would be a place I would be plenty comfortable with it being.

Of course for some reason not everyone likes getting off to ef-like walls of text and Shaft-y art styles, so instead Eden of the East settled for using its intro as a sign of its uniqueness, because it’s just about one of the most inventive things I’ve seen around.

Or rather, it’s incredibly creative and immersive, while still managing to be accessible on many different levels.

You might like Eden for the mystery of the Selecao, the Mr. Outside pulling the strings (maybe) behind it all. You’d be intrigued by the backstory of all the different Selecao, their motives, their interactions, and their worldviews (money can really change people … sometimes).

Perhaps Eden fits you more for the story of Saki Morimi, the slightly clumsy, slightly shy, always out-of-the-loop (at least in a Selecao context) girl who gets swept off her feet and into a strange new world, guided only by the almost idealistically pure hand of Akira Takizawa. It’s a scene we’ve seen in many a shoujo manga, yet entirely not – mostly ordinary girl falls in love and / or otherwise gets involved with popular / flamboyant / incredibly exciting and Flowery Sparkly bishonen (your choice: tsundere or pure-hearted). Except here, the extent of the situation is so large and so surreal that even Akira can’t take it all in at times. And Akira is so likable you can’t help but be pulled along at his pace.

Or maybe you’re just in it because this show just knows how to make you -smile-. The comedic moments which it never loses grasp of – even though the show should be full of Super Seriousness and Angst and Drama and Oh God Where Are My Memories, Micchon still has the time, while escaping from a bunch of NEETs out for revenge, for quips like “They’re only interested in 2D anyway,” and “Don’t let it touch!!”.

But any way you slice it, Eden of the East is just incredible amounts of -fun- through and through. I found myself smiling through each episode, sometimes out of excitement, sometimes out of giddiness, sometimes just because the show was just ridiculous in the best of ways.

Mad props to Akira, and mad anticipation for the two upcoming movies.

CCY