What led to the ultimate failure of Eden of the East?

Eden of the East depicts paradigms shifting in the context of economic structure in consecutive generations. In its heart, Eden of the East is a tale of social uprising. The youth is hungry to make something out of them in a world where they are not given any place, even though your work is a nationwide phenomenon, but making it into business proves burdensome. 12 individuals are given smartphones equipped with some sort of AI that could do possibly anything and a budget of 10 Bn yen ($100 Mn) and all they were asked to do was to save the world. Yup! Save the world. Takizawa Akira is the main driving force in terms of character in this anime.

Kenji Kamiyama, creator and director of the series, is well known for his work with the Ghost in the Shell complex series but not this time. It seems that he had lots of ideas that he wanted to work with but he ultimately failed at bringing all of these things together in one cohesive environment. As a result, he ends up with a really interesting plot alongside boring ones.

Along with the stark naked characters, we as viewers are left thinking about how much better the anime would be if it was just reworked a little.

The way this story is framed in a weirdly surrealistic way is what makes it implacably real. The cool concepts and social economics add to provide a real blast.

The beginning presents a proper episodic structure with one streamline narrative but when the storyline starts to wrap in a death game plot, it gets way more complicated than it ever needed to be and as a result makes an end without any sense.

The 12 different characters, all having different ideas of how to go about it and standing in exact opposition with one another was a great idea. Rather the creator decided not to provide the required screen time and putting Takizawa at the core of everything. When they do get the screen time they are presented either figuring out what other characters are trying to do with very little information or sitting around. Always the spontaneous actions of Takizawa ultimately solve the mystery and advance the plot rendering the actions of the Eden group completely meaningful less.

As viewers, we are bound to enjoy the senses that are driven by Takizawa’s impulsive actions and the surreal events that surround him. Moreover, it manages to sprinkle a social theme by showing us Saki’s problem and the whole economic gestures.

Some reworking and pre-planning might have turned Eden of the East into a masterpiece.