30 May 2009: Eden of the East dropped
Hope you like being at the mercy of the big city, Saki.
I never really had much interest in Eden of the East. It has an interesting premise, but something about the execution just never held my attention as much as I thought it should have. After eight episodes, I've had enough. I would have dropped it at seven were it not for the weird event that occurs right at the end of the episode.
Akira and his dog.
There's not really anything wrong with the show, and it does try to be accessible to mainstream audiences, even if...
< rq> i seriously believe higashi no eden is some sort of huge troll on people who watch arty anime
Nevertheless, interesting stuff does happen, and it has some neat ideas. It just doesn't have enough charisma.
You kinda had it coming, Saki.
Or perhaps more accurately, its characters don't have enough charisma. I've believed from the start that Saki adds nothing of value to the show. I can't take her seriously as a college grad, since she looks like she belongs in junior high school. I understand she's supposed to be kinda useless because she's a NEET, but I kinda despise all the NEETs in Eden of the East, to tell you the truth. Someone should ship them off to Dubai or something....
Come with me if you want to live.
It's also somewhat shallow to say, but I find the character designs also detract from my ability to take Eden of the East seriously. They would be fine for some light comedy, but not for the serious fare Eden of the East aspires to be. It also doesn't help that they make the already meek Saki look completely helpless and mystery man Akira look like a slapstick goofball. If I see reports of crazy plot twists, I may be inspired to pick it back up, but otherwise I've seen enough.
