Eden Of the East

Eden of the East begins with a scene involving a frustrated female Japanese tourist throwing pennies at the White House(not the best idea), understandably she is accosted by the secret service but saved by the appearance of Takizawa, a young and very naked man holding a hi-tech cell phone in one hand and a handgun in the other. Fate (and a lost passport) brings the two together again and we learn Takizawa posses infinite funds through his mysterious phone and can make just about anything possible; and he belongs to a clandestine group of operatives who also posses such phones called cellasates. The problem is Takizawa has had is own memory erased prior to the escapade in D.C. The two return to japan, a country on edge due to a recent string of anonymous missile strikes and the disappearance of twenty thousands neets(shut ins). Has Takizawa and his new companion try to dig up information about his former life; its becomes clearer and clearer that the celasates, the missile strikes and the missing neets and even Takizawa himself are all connected.

Eden of the East is a interesting take on conspiracy thrillers with its political intrigue, well developed characters and a plot full of twists and turns. Unfortunately the strong plot is also the series greatest weakness; there are more than several major events that occur and are crucial to the story that require a hefty suspension of disbelief and in the end these moments come over as to far fetched and under explained, which is frustrating. Those looking for high octane action sequences are advised to look elsewhere, but viewers looking for an intelligent, fast paced, well written (despite some eyebrow raising occurrences) and often thought provoking thriller should look no further than Eden of the East.

Grade: B+

Reviewed: episodes 11/11 (complete) Format: English Dub, DVD.