Eden of the East: The Complete Series [Blu-ray]

Eden of the East scored a big hit in Japan when the series aired in spring 2009: in less than a year, two follow-up features continued the story, The King of Eden and Paradise Lost. Twentysomething Akira Takizawa wakes up in Washington, DC, buck naked and stripped of his memories: all he has is a gun and a super-sophisticated mobile phone that delivers anything he requests. He meets Saki Morimi, a college senior on her graduation trip to America, and returns with her to Japan. Takizawa tries to recover his memories, which may be linked to a pair of missile attacks on Japan and the disappearance of 20,000 NEETS (young men with No Employment, Education or Training). From his phone--which provides the equivalent of more than ?￥8 million (about $100,000,000), Takizawa learns that he is a sele?§ao, one of 12 agents charged by the mysterious Mr. Outside with saving a faltering, apathetic Japan. As he resolves the mystery of his identity, Takizawa gets help from Saki, her friends, and a hikikomori superhacker. Eden of the East was written and directed by Kenji Kamiyama, writer-director of the popular Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. Kamiyama once again demonstrates his exceptional skill at building suspense and weaving an exciting fantasy. The cyber-terrorism elements of Eden recall the "Laughing Man" mystery in Stand Alone Complex, but this time Kamiyama is working with his own characters and world, and the results are more intriguing. The taut scripts and a winning performance by voice actor Jason Liebrecht make Takizawa an appealing hero, even in the most improbable circumstances. Eden of the East ranks among the very best anime of 2010. (Rated TV MA: violence, nudity, risqu?? humor, alcohol and tobacco use) --Charles Solomon

(1. I Picked Up a Prince, 2. Melancholy Monday, 3. On the Night of the Late Show, 4. Real Reality, Fabricated Reality, 5. This Is No Time to Be Thinking About Thata?| 6. Eden of the East, 7. Flight of the Black Swan, 8. Searching for the Path Already Lost, 9. A Man Too Ephemeral, 10. Who Killed Akira Takizawa? 11. The East That Continues On)

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