Eden of the East (Blu-ray) (2009)

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General		Extras
Category	Anime	Main Menu Audio & Animation Interviews-Cast & Crew TV Spots Trailer
Rating
Year Of Production	2009
Running Time	248:27 (Case: 275)
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered Dual Disc Set	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Kenji Kamiyama
Studio Distributor	FUNimation Ltd Madman Entertainment	Starring	None Given
Case	Amaray Variant
RPI	$64.95	Music	Kenji Kawai

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Japanese Dolby TrueHD 5.1
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	1080p
Original Aspect Ratio	1.78:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	Yes
Subtitles	English	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     An enigmatic young Japanese man, Akira Takizawa, finds himself buck naked outside the White House carrying a mobile phone and a gun, with no memory of who he is or why he is there. Befriending a young Japanese woman on holiday who has accidentally run afoul of the law, Saki Morimi, the pair head back to Japan. There Akira discovers that his phone carries over 8 Billion yen of spendable credit and that he paid to have his own memory erased. After some digging Akira finds out that he is one of 12 players in an elaborate game, each of whom has been given 10 Billion yen and a mission to change Japan for the better - or die. An unknown one of the players is the "sponsor"; the executioner of anyone who fails in their mission. Each player is able to keep track of each other's spending and none seem to know anything of whoever is running the game. After some initial general philanthropy, Akira invests into "Eden of the East", a fledgling company run by Saki and some university friends that is trying to create a new social network-type internet application that will empower the youth of the day.

     Eden of the East is an odd mish-mash of ideas, some of which work and others of which seem superfluous and don't really go anywhere. Not that the superfluous ideas are anything to grumble about as the show is a reasonably dynamic character piece at its heart and everything works to round out the characters, particularly through the way they react to events in their environment. The show works well as a light speculative fiction soap opera, ticking a lot of the boxes anime fans generally go looking for; a quirky emo-friendly storyline that capitalises on youthful fear and loathing of generations past, cutesy critters and characters, a bit of mystery and a grand global conspiracy. Eden of the East is inessential viewing but is a fun, short series for dramatic anime fans.

     This set includes all 11 episodes of the series spread over two discs (not three as the packaging states), though not the two films that followed the series.

Video

     The series is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio in 1080p. The image is clear and sharp. The animation is a smooth combination of hand painted 2D and 3D CGI. The colours are lush and well balanced between the CG and hand drawn components. There is no sign of compression artefacts or film artefacts in the video.

     The series features English subtitles which are a more literal translation of the Japanese dialogue than the English dub and reasonably well timed.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     The show features a choice of Japanese and English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 audio. Both audio tracks are of an excellent standard. The dialogue is clear and easy to discern. The lip sync is reasonable to the Japanese audio but fairly rough to the English. The surrounds are put to good use throughout, mainly for general background environmental audio. The subwoofer is used sparing and to good effect.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

     Each disc opens with a skippable trailer for another unrelated series. All the extras are presented in 1080i/60hz.

Cast and Crew Interviews

     The bulk of the special features on the disc comprise interviews with various crew members and the voice cast. The content of the interviews is largely technical and artistic in nature and will be of reasonable interest to fans of the series. The specific interviews are with the director and production designer (21:49), two of the voice cast (18:32), both directors (27:15), art director (15:36) and composer (10:47).

TV Spots

     A Japanese TV advertisement for the series.

Promo

     A press-kit promo for the series.

Textless Closing Credits

     The closing credits, without credits. Essentially an unnecessary music video.

    There is censorship information available for this title. Click here to read it (a new window will open). WARNING: Often these entries contain MAJOR plot spoilers.

    The Region 1 and Region 4 editions are identical save for regional branding.

     One of the more interesting dramatic anime to come along in a while, Eden of the East captures a very modern youth angst in an enjoyable conspiracy thriller.

     The video and audio are flawless, although perhaps not as spectacular as some other fare. The extras are a little dry, but will be particularly appealing to fans.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall