I think this sums up how I feel. And how everyone else feels too.
Okay Adam. I watched the second Eden of the East movie. And if you were waiting for a long in-depth explanation….well I guess I will wait in line after you because that ain’t going to happen in this blog. XD Sorry!
But yeah people. My face is a bit of X_X and a lot of @_@ and a tiny bit of *_*. Then my husband walked in the room and was like whoa my wife only has keyboard keys as eyes. So Eden of the East may be responsible for the downfall of my marriage. I mean do you want to be married to someone who has @@ for eyes? I wouldn’t!
So yeah people. Spoilers for people who….I don’t know, got the movie and understand what is going on?
Exactly people. If anything we must walk away from this series thinking about the poor NEETS and their sausage fest at sea.
SO PEOPLE! To review the series and both the movies: 11 (or 12 even though I think Mr. Outside was number 12) were given 10 billion yen to change the country. 1 of them died in the process but that is because he was a cheating pile of scum. In the end NONE OF THEM changed Japan and they all had their memories wiped except Akira because he erased his at the beginning of episode 1. Saki may never see Akira again as Akira and Mr. Outside are teaming up to change Japan. THE END!
So….what was the point to this series you ask? You are asking this because I said so! Also because I am thinking it and if I am thinking it other people are thinking it too.
Or Eden of the East was about confusing everyone. You decide.
In the end I THINK this series was about making the people of Japan think and take charge of their lives. That even if someone had all the money in the world they wouldn’t be a wealthy girl….err I mean they still wouldn’t have the power to change things. Well maybe if they had EVERY SINGLE DOLLAR/YEN/WHATEVER in the world. But 11 people had 118 million dollars and not one of them was able to change Japan. You would think with that kinda cash something awesome would have happened. But instead we got one really awesome hospital, a shopping mall, and almost 20,000 people got jobs. That is it.
Eden of the East: You lack the love story!
So the moral of the story has to be that if we (well really THEM the people of Japan) all work together change can happen. Change cannot happen if only 11 people are trying to push for change. People whine and complain about things all the time but make no steps to change anything. They think that alone their one voice means nothing. But if every single person got together they could force change to happen. And yes I intend to use the word change 118,000,000 times in this entry.
In the end all Akira could do was push people in the direction of change. Well and stop Mononobe from bringing back whatever it was he was trying to bring back. I am sure actual Japanese people knew what he was talking about but since I am dumb and fail at Japanese history I don’t. But whatever he was planning on bringing back was going to limit people’s freedom in Japan which is a great big no in my book. Well and to give him credit he did save all those people in episode 1. Mononobe’s plan to make a stronger government would have been stronger had there been some dead people under his belt that he could paint as sad victims and thus insist a stronger government would have prevented such a tragedy.
Well I guess all those people getting jobs is a really good thing...
But as a whole most of the Selecaos wasted their money on stupid crap. Even Akira could have saved himself a buttload of money had he said his final speech on a major news network instead of a massive phone call. People got their Juizs blown up for no reason. The one Selecao who managed to hoard all their money got it all taken away which is pretty funny. So again all Japan has to show for this effort is a super nice hospital and a mall. We the viewers, the players, and Saki’s crew know that so much more money went into the craziness that was this series but this is the result and the result is sad.
These two are allowed to be worse for the wear since they sent missiles to kill people!
Also the players themselves are worse for the wear in my opinion. They have a huge chunk of their life gone which will probably cause problems for years to come with business and their personal lives. I don’t care about the dude who died because he deserved it. And I guess it was okay that Mononobe and Yuuki probably died as Yuuki was crazy enough to send off more missiles and Mononobe forgot the message Akira sent so he be pushing for the government to take over still. But Akira still feels the need to help Japan out and will have to live his life on the run. One of them is in jail. Things are not good for these players.
WHO WAS THE RANDOM OLD LADY?!?!? XO I WANT TO KNOW WHICH NUMBER AND WHAT SHE DID!!!!
You deserve to be smacked in the head and so much more...
And what was up with them ALL winning? Explain to me how money hoarder won? Or crazy Yuuki? Or even Akira if you think about it? In the end Saki says that she sees no real change in Japan and I tend to agree with her. But maybe Mr. Outside was a crazy old man and wanted to simply see what 11 random cab riders would do with that much cash to change Japan. Maybe he isn’t applying morals to the situation and that there was no right way or wrong way to spend the money. Just the fact that they all (well mostly) fought hard and believed sincerely in their vision means they are all winners. Just like in Little League, everyone walks away with a trophy.
We find Mr. Outside...and none of it even matters.
Except the viewers of course. We walk away wondering what any of this meant. The movies didn’t feel like movies but episodes. Episodes we had to wait a long time for. And for American viewers a lot of the dramatic issues in this series was lost on us. We don’t know how Japan was after War World 2, how NEETS are treated in society, or how complacent Japanese people had become with their everyday lives. All those issues are important in understand what the hell is going on and we can never understand them. So from that aspect we are going to fail no matter what.
THIS IS ALL WE GET?!?!? XO
But I think another point where the movies fail is …..well HELLO Saki and Akira didn’t end up together! I mean it is only 6 months after Akira’s phone call to the entire country. There is still hope that they might get together once Akira is done pretending he can save the country. That might be never but since it is left up in the air we can’t say for sure that they won’t be a couple one day. But for now all we got is one kiss and the crazy fact they only spent 11 days together. It makes me sad and unsatisfied with the series.
And you suck. The end.
The whole Akira’s mother part of the movie made no sense at all to me given the fact a DNA test was going to be done ANYWAY! Didn’t Akira plan on Mrs. Wife saying okay time to prove who you really are strange boy? So I don’t know what any of that actually accomplished except make Saki sad that Akira had a shitty ass mom. I mean I guess in the end she thought she was helping by running away but since Akira admitted he wasn’t the Prime Minister’s son it looked like she was helping herself. Thus I am pissed off at the storyline.
Usually someone sending missiles to blow up cities lack love my dear Akira.
The fact that Eden group got screwed in the end was pretty sad too. This group worked really hard and helped saved the country and they were used as a scapegoat as Akira was nowhere to be found. It seems that they will eventually pick themselves out of this craziness and make the company better but it is still frustrating.
I think we all lost the game at this point...
So in conclusion….I don’t even know. A lot of things went over my head, like the significance of certain Selecao purchases or how everyone was like a million times smarter than me. Like seriously Pantsu how did you figure all that out?! But yeah so much stuff went over my head and left me going okay let’s just roll with it. I think that Eden of the East had a lot of diehard fans following it and now we are left with a wtf feeling.
Instead of being sad about not seeing Akira since that day...she is able to smile and know he is making life better for everyone.
However…no matter how disappointed I am or confused Akira as a character made me smile. He was very human to me. He erased his memories because he couldn’t deal with the pain of everyone hating on him. But then he stepped up and tried his hardest to protect everyone and be the leader that everyone needed. And when that didn’t work he became the terrorist everyone needed to hate and still works behind the scene to make the country better. So even if Japan isn’t better NOW it will be because of people like Akira.
So…this series was about hope. And confusion. Mostly confusion. But hope that the next generation will help shape our world to a better and kinder place.
And the dog was cute. The end.
20 comments:
Christina, thank you, your blogg certainly helped develop my understanding of WTF WAS GOING ON. However, I'd like to ask you one last question; Why exactly did Akira pose as a terrorist those 2 times he did? Or that one time? or whatever...
Adam- In this movie I think he posed as a "terrorist" so the people could unite under a common enemy. Only people will hear his words and might not consider him a real terrorist.
The first time he was considered a terrorist (and thus people considered him to be a terrorist now) was by accident in my mind. He stood on top of merry go round and was trying to look like the hero but instead he looked like the cause of it.
At least that is what my take is. XD I am glad you found my words helpful because the more I think about everything the more confuse I become.
Thanks once again, pretty much got a good grasp of what's going on and why now.... wait, no I don't. :| Goddamnit, I hate thinking.
Adam- I think Eden of the East is one of those shows/movies that is trying to confuse you with all the different deals and characters running around. Maybe if we just understand half of what is going on and don't try to overthink the rest we can better understand it.
Or maybe we are just a pair of silly people. XD Also I think we would understand this all better if we watched all 11 episodes and 2 movies at once.
It's funny you should say that, I had planned to watch the lot in one go, but since I have just started back at sixth form I find myself with no time :| Oh, yeah and I would definitely go with the silly people option. Oh well, I'll just watch something even I can understand, K-on. And no that does not make me gay XD
Call me Akira!
Anonymous- I will call you Akira if they make another "movie" and reunite the couple! I don't like how Saki got left in the dust after Akira turned her life upside.
Anonymous comment that is not showing up:
"Hmm.. i disagree with your thoughts that Saki and Akira don't end up as a couple. I feel the 2nd movie strongly implies this when Akira promises that he will be back for her after he does one more thing, the promise that he had to hit Mr. Outside. He certainly accomplished that so I feel that she will be seeing him soon. "
I might be remembering it wrong but didn't Saki say she never saw Akira again? Of course she might be speaking only 6 months into the future and he is on his way back. But I do remember her saying "and these were the 11 days I spent with Akira...".
Hi a little late to the party, but in reference to Christina saying:
Of course she might be speaking only 6 months into the future and he is on his way back. But I do remember her saying "and these were the 11 days I spent with Akira...".
Since Saki narrated that bit about never seeing Akira again before the final scene in which Akira smacked Mr. Outside, I like to beleive that Akira, having accomplished that after the 6 months (possibly of looking for Mr. Outside) will now reunite with Saki. That perspective puts some more Rom in the RomCom, even if unfortunately it's not shown. :)
Hard to say if they get together. Akira caused quite a lot of commotion. So he would naturally keep Saki out of danger. And only way is to avoid her for time being. And slap Mr. Outside.
To me the end is too open. Like keeping doors open for another part. On other hand most of the gunpowder is burned. So it either got a bit out of control or they purposefully keep ending so open.
Christina the tough government is pointing to Bakufu (shogunate) before Meiji restoration. Japanese are really ambivalent to that period. On one hand everything has it proper place and order. So there were no surprises and too much of social changes. On other hand there was little freedom and scale of stagnation was so high that many people were thankful for commodore Perry arrival...
First, while reading I noticed a few discrepancies in the retelling. There were actually two kisses (Once after he met the NEET that had returned before the rest and met his wife/GF in Dubai) and they did reveal the old lady as number 3. They didn't reveal 7 or 8 explicitly unless it was in the mind erasing montage.
Second, I believe the NEETs are a universal problem. It stands for "Not in education, employment or training," according to google. They symbolize (or perhaps are) the entitled, unemployed youth of this generation. The story goes into great lengths to show this. Notice how the NEETs are described and shown throughout. Most rely on the older generation and have poor work ethic. Yet, they feel that they deserve glory, fame, etc. Maybe this is a term used in Japan more than America, but I have a feeling it's a problem that most countries can relate to.
Third, I feel like though the incidents (Careless Monday and the 60 missles) are unique to the story, the idea is much more universal. In fact, it was like a "what if a catastrophe like 9/11 or Hiroshima didn't kill anyone?" It basically is social commentary on the apathy and self-absorbed nature of modern society. The only things that really move us to action are tragedies and crises. Although the end was weird, it left a lingering hope for the future.
Anywho, the blog was written years ago and nobody will probably read this. I was looking for an explanation of the end, but I think it was left ambiguous on purpose. It means more that way -- or something. Cheers.
lol you really don't pay enough attention to something your writing a blog about yea outside was #12 and the random old lady was #3 they said it in the movies and akira erased his memory 2 times also they kissed 2 times but first time wasn't exactly romantic lol and #10 the guy at the end with the gun never had his memory erased that's why he said what he said remember he broke the phone well I think that's all I haven't read the whole blog just up to that you seem to be just as confused if not more confused than I am
I just watched the anime and two movies in the past 3 days and I was very confused up until reading up on it. I guess it is meant to be this way to leave us feeling hopeful or whatever but honestly I am concerned about the lack of romance and whether or not Saki and Akira end up together.
well, I must say this was a fucked up anime+movies, but even so for some odd reason I enjoyed it, probably because of the protagonist, maybe because of the love story(which actually didn`t take place XD), maybe because of the main reason of the actual ,,competition'' that being Japans situation, history, future ect.; or because of the human nature that was portraited perfectly in the anime+movies. I do see nr. 9 as Christina said as having human qualities but his human nature was far from reality, he was an idealistic kind of chararcter that was meant to change something from the start, you might say a sweet dream, a hero, which these days not only Japan misses but the hole globe. I have the feeling that this whole thing was rushed, or maybe it was meant as most anime to make only a comercial to the light novels...what the truth is I don`t know. I wonder if nr. 9 ever keeped his promise to nr. 11 about ,,Jhonny'' if yes that was the promise he remembered about? Is that why number eleven was waiting naked in the bed in the last scenes of the 2nd movie? Did nr. 9 know from the start the outcome of the game and that no one will be killled but their memory will be erased if so then did he erase his memory 2 time on purpose besides the other reasons? Or did the old fellow know surely that the last time the erase won't work? what are they gonna change? was this whole game just a test actually just for nr. 9? Was Saki faith or somethin planned ? What about the other players, that haven`t been introduced not only by their purches but even by the fact they were barely shown for few seconds not to mention the fact we don`t know their life storys. What abut that guy, Pants, wasn`t he supposed to be dead? What about the fact that nr. 9 kissed Saki in the anime, was it to comfort her? is it the same with his promise or plan for number 11 with giving the love? does he love one of them ? none? does nr. 11 love nr. 9 because of his kindness? does he love him? I mean that is why he helped him right ? What about Jintaro Tsuji? did he mean to help nr. 9? what about nr. 9 birth story? What about Yuuki why did he want to kill nr. 9 so badly, he actually fixed his stupid mistake before happening? And did Saki love Ryousuke at some point in her life? XD I don`t get it anymore?!!! XD THis questions and more left unawnsered. But GOD BLESS YOU Christina your post helped me confirm some of my thoughts. i`ve been searching the past hours after I finished with anime+movies a deeper understanding of the situation and awnsers for all my questions, and I did`t find any, maybe i`ll find them in the light novels or maybe there are no awnsers XD that is even worse this anime itself is a terrorist.
Well obviously Akira and saki don't end up together cause he had more than one promise to fulfill he had to hit mr outside and save the Johnny reaper . Also saki says that she never saw him again I hated the ending
Hi everyone.
I know I'm like...6 years late? In any case, sorry! X'D
My name is Christiana, which I find funny because it's one letter off from yours, Christina. Funny story, I always wanted your name when I was little but almost an adult now my own name has grown on me. ^u^
I wanted to say Thank you, Christina, if you're reading this for making this blog. I just watched all of Eden of the East within the past 3 days, and I am officially dead inside. :)
Haha, yeah, the ending was awful. But I'm pretty posistive it's not as bad as we're stuck believing. Sure, in the end Saki said she never saw him since and it had been 6 months, but I'm positive that that "one last thing" he said he had to do was hitting Mr. Outside. And helping Japan. He promised he'd come back, and it's pretty easy to believe it because they've always found each other in the past, despite the odds. Remember how he talked to her in the first movie how he had tried to rememeber a movie, but it was actually their story together? This just shows how signifigant she is to him. <3
He'll come back to her.We all saw how much he loved being with her, even if he'd not with her where the anime ends. Yeah, this anime needs more of a punch than Mr. Outside but Saki and Akira are a part of each other, and like before things had to die down before they could meet again like in the first movie, it'll happen again. And yes, Patricia. This anime is a terrorist. X____X
All in all, thanks for making your post, Christina. No doubt has it helped my thoughts and my actual shot-brain. Thanks for reading this far. I know it's a long post but it's nothing compared to these past three days my thoughts have devoted to Eden of the East. :P
Have a great day, eveyone. Or watch an anime with a better ending. I am all up for offers if anyone wants to repond to this in a year or so, based on how these comments are going. I'll get your responce, too. It's hooked up to my email. XD
Kisses, and lots of love. More love then Saki got in her screen time, at least. ;)
God bless.
Waaaay late, but I found this when trying to deal with Eden of the East’s ending, so maybe others will after me, and get something from this…
I just watched all of Eden of the East, and then Le Grand Bleu (not the US happy ending version) both for the first time in around 3 days.
Le Grand Bleu is the film Saki chooses to watch in Akira’s home cinema, the one she watched on her first date… and the movie her crush (brother-in-law) “really loves”.
The film was pretty, er, broken, a girl in love with a man obsessed or possessed by something else - something he lives. But flipping that maybe you could say it was about loving a man simply for himself, for all his is, not for whether he can be with you… annnnnnd losing him for it. (So yeah, not recommended folks. …*ahem* that sort of love, not the film.)
Maybe it’s a clue to the ending, maybe it’s a resonance… maybe it just reflects how the writer was thinking when putting together the story of Eden of the East and so it informs on the ending in some way. It felt like it helped me deal with Eden of the East’s ending anyway. Maybe I’m twisted. (Scratch that folks, I’m definitely twisted. XD)
Akira did seem really cool to me though (in both senses). An ideal prince/saviour - charismatic, naturally charming, approachable, good and true, someone always trying, someone to believe in; and yet someone unattainable, someone who could only be himself, not someone who could step far enough outside what he was or what he lived, far enough outside being really cool, to actually be part of someone else. (Or type a shorter sentence.)
And Saki, who wasn’t into movies much, did choose that movie, did have an unattainable crush, did make most of the “moves” (gosh, I hate that term/idealogy - can’t we just express our feels people? as they happen? and not make up a scoring system? *ahem* I’m too old of this #@$&, er, brackets), just like the girl in Le Grand Bleu who was consistently the one “moving” on her guy.
ANYWAY Akira definitely made the promise to Saki. So maybe, he definitely kept it. :D
But maybe - as in Le Grand Bleu - he couldn’t stop being utterly himself, just long enough, to get stuck on someone else. Or maybe the writer didn’t want to pick which it was.
At the very least, unlike in Le Grand Bleu, he would have spent himself for the sake of others.
(And that’s what the intro way back in the first episode suggests - that he became a sacrificial lamb, even though it wasn’t what he wanted out of life.)
I just re-watched the trilogy years later, and I must say your theory regarding le grande bleu is probably right on the money. I was thinking that after Akira slapped Mr. outside and said "we have a lot more to do", it's just obvious to me that he will never let himself live normally- he's always sort of been on the run, disconnected from family, hell, he didn't even seem to have friends from what we know. He always had a similar purpose, even before the game, so I think he may be doomed to forever try to change the country, perhaps never succeeding, but never the less, being self-less and selfish at the same time because of it. I do hope they end up together, but alas, it's an anime, not RL. Sigh, I'm guessing many of us have had someone "get away", which is why this resonates so much, even years later.
First of all thx for making this blog. I just finished the whole series and I was dead in the inside. I didn't know where to go searching for answers as this show is pretty underrated imo.
Anyways I really liked the show overall and my rating is 7/10 (good). The only thing I hated about the show is the lack of a romantic story. I wish there was a bit more romance and I wish Saki ACTUALLY blushed properly and Akira wasn't a god damn pervert who doesn't even give af about Saki. I feel bad for Ousugi... He didn't even get to confess to Saki.
The Johnny Hunter thing was pretty disgusting imo XD
ALSO the ending was pretty half-assed. I hope he kept his promise and went back to Saki after a year. I wish they made atleast an OVA to show what happened next. Damn...
I really do wish they made an OVA but since this anime was released 10 years ago I doubt anything will happen.
Anyways these are my personal thoughts and thx again for making the blog so I could share my thoughts 😊❤️
just finished watching all 11 episodes and 2 movies. And boy was I confused. As I read all you guys posts, it kinda answered some of my questions and made more room for more. I actually liked how it ended, but what Patricia said about Akira making a promise with Johnny Hunter about showing her true love got me more confused and I actually forgot about it lol. so does that mean he might do the deed with her?? what about Saki? I feel bad for Saki tho, if the love of my life just up and left me like that with no trace I would be so heartbroken. Anyhow, thanks for this blog. I noticed that this anime doesn't get enough recognition. and nowadays anime has really become big (mainly because TikTok and Instagram). I saw an edit about this show by chance and was interested with the art style since it's different from nowadays anime (like Demon slayer, Attack on Titan etc.) It fascinates me how this anime is 11 years old, I was 9 when it got released. I can't help but imagine if I were older back then then I would watch it and maybe have a more clear understanding about it.
Sorry for this long ass paragraph, it's currently 3AM (Canada) and I just can't sleep.
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