is a Japanese anime television series, which was broadcast on Fuji TV's Noitamina timeslot from April to June 2009. Created, directed and written by Kenji Kamiyama, it features character designs by Chica Umino and animation production by Production I.G. It is the first original animation series broadcast on Noitamina.
A compilation of the TV series, Eden of the East Compilation: Air Communication, had a limited theatrical release on September 26, 2009. Two other theatrical films have also been released. Eden of the East Movie I: The King of Eden (taking place six months after the series) was released in Japan on November 28, 2009, and the second movie, Eden of the East the Movie II: Paradise Lost (taking place hours after The King of Eden), was released on March 13, 2010. The TV series and both films have been licensed for release in North America by Funimation (later known as Crunchyroll, LLC). The series premiered in the United States at Anime Expo in 2010.
Plot
Anime series
On November 22, 2010, ten missiles strike Japan, but there are no casualties. The apparent terrorist attack is named "Careless Monday", and no one takes responsibility. Three months on, university graduate Saki Morimi visits New York City and then Washington D.C. for her graduation trip. Outside the White House, Saki encounters a naked Japanese man suffering from amnesia. The man, after receiving Saki's coat, follows the directions of a concierge, Juiz, on his unusual cell phone, to an apartment where he finds multiple fake passports, choosing the identity of Akira Takizawa. Saki appears to retrieve her passport, and they return to Japan, where a new missile has hit.
Takizawa discovers that his phone carries ¥8.2 billion in digital money, and that he is part of a game, where twelve individuals called Seleção are given ¥10 billion to save Japan in some way. The Seleção are able to contact Juiz, who can fulfill their orders for a price. However, if the money is used up completely or used for selfish purposes, the individual will be eliminated by the Supporter, the anonymous "twelfth man" of the group. During the search for answers, Takizawa learns he was involved in Careless Monday, transporting twenty-thousand NEETs to Dubai after they helped evacuate the missiles' targets before the attacks.
Takizawa also encounters other Seleção, including police officer Yūsei Kondō, neurosurgeon Dr. Hajime Hiura, and serial killer Kuroha Diana Shiratori, who targets rapists. Saki and her friends, who run a company called Eden of the East, eventually become involved in the conspiracies surrounding Takizawa. The company's name stems from a cell phone app that can recognize and provide details on items and people via social networking.
Takizawa meets Yutaka Itazu, a hikikomori and hacker, who studies Takizawa and the deceased Kondō's phones, able to access the Seleção requests. They discover Takizawa did not launch the missiles, but it was orchestrated by two other Seleção, Daiju Mononobe and Ryō Yūki. After Takizawa leaves, Itazu discovers sixty more missiles will be launched, but is run over by Mononobe before he can inform Takizawa. However, Itazu sends the Seleção database to Eden beforehand and recovers in a hospital.
Mononobe approaches Takizawa, inviting him to his endgame. He explains that the game's organizer, Mr. Outside, is actually Saizō Atō, an elderly businessman who helped rebuild post-war Japan; Mononobe believes Atō has since died. Traveling to Atō's business facility, Mononobe reveals to Takizawa that Juiz is an advanced artificial intelligence, housed in twelve supercomputers. Takizawa objects to Mononobe and Yūki's plan and leaves, but not before they reveal Takizawa's made himself a martyr to defend the NEETs from being accused as terrorists, erasing his memory to protect them.
Takizawa reunites with Saki and Eden at his home, a shopping mall in Toyosu, just as the twenty-thousand NEETs return from Dubai on a cargo ship. Takizawa draws everyone to the roof, ordering them to suggest a countermeasure for the approaching missiles. Juiz summons the JSDF to intercept the missiles. Takizawa, knowing he will be unable to pose as a terrorist, asks Juiz to make him the "King of Japan", erasing his memory once again, but he slips his cell phone into Saki's pocket beforehand.
The King of Eden Six months after the events of the series, Takizawa has disappeared, while Saki searches for his whereabouts. Juiz sends Saki a message he recorded before erasing his memory again, Takizawa instructing her to meet in their "special place". Following the missile strike, Eden became a successful business, and Takizawa has become a folk hero named the "Air King", his image marketed by Seleção, Jintaro Tsuji, hoping to turn him into a martyr or terrorist. Eden also learns Takizawa's last name has been changed to Iinuma, the same as the recently deceased Prime Minister of Japan. Tsuji spreads rumours that Takizawa is Iinuma's illegitimate son.
Saki, realizing that Takizawa's message may be alluding to Ground Zero in New York, travels there. She discovers a gun has been smuggled into her luggage, her cab driver fleeing with Takizawa's phone in the back. Saki eventually finds Takizawa, who does not recognize her. They retrieve her purse and Takizawa's phone from the cabbie, Takizawa accepting his lost identity. Eden, who have access to the Seleção database, learn Yūki destroyed his phone, and Dr. Hiura is alive, his memory erased by the Supporter. They later discover that Mononobe has hacked their systems, forcing them to shut Eden down.
Takizawa hopes to find out what became of his mother, traveling with Saki to a carousel where they find a golden ring left there by his mother. They are attacked by men working for Iinuma, and film director Taishi Naomoto, a fellow Seleção, but he is arrested. Kuroha aids Takizawa, informing him that he must return to Japan to confirm his illegitimacy as the Prime Minister's son. Mononobe begins targeting a series of trucks, actually housing the individual Juiz supercomputers, with missiles. He destroys the Supporter and Tsuji's trucks, while Kuroha sacrifices her own to keep Takizawa in the game. She leaves while Takizawa and Saki fly to Japan.
Paradise Lost Takizawa and Saki arrive in Japan, meeting Iinuma's widow Chigusa, who removes several strands of Takizawa's hair for a DNA test. Takizawa is separated from Saki, asking her to track down his mother by identifying his pet dog through Eden. Takizawa later escapes his escorts by swapping places with one of the NEETs. He contacts Eden, who have retreated to the university campus, informing him of the Juiz trucks.
Saki and her friend Satoshi Osugi track down Takizawa's mother, Aya, who runs a bar. She admits she lived in New York and had a fling with Iinuma, but does not confirm or deny the identity of Takizawa's father. Aya flees when Mononobe sends police to interrogate her. Takizawa tracks down his Juiz truck, meeting up with Eden members Micchon and Sis, who hijack Mononobe's truck. Eden's leader Kazuomi Hirasawa meets Saizō Atō, discovering he is alive and works as a cab driver, doubling also as the Supporter.
Takizawa and Eden arrive at Iinuma's house, where Mononobe meets Takizawa. Mononobe asks him to retire from the game so he can win and take control of the government. Takizawa agrees as long as Mononobe becomes Prime Minister, but the latter declines. Takizawa goes ahead with his own endgame, addressing Japan using the "Airship" phone app, roleplaying as a terrorist but encourages society to change their country for the better. In a final act, he gives all the recipients one yen each.
Impressed, Atō ends the game, declaring all of the Seleção as winners. As a farewell gift, he erases their memories of the game over the phones. However, Takizawa is unaffected, immune to its effects. Mononobe leaves, running into Yūki, who is unaware of what has happened, and tries to murder Mononobe for abandoning him. Mononobe crashes his car, running over Yūki in the process. Takizawa checks the DNA test, discovering he is unrelated to her husband. He departs, kissing Saki and promising to meet her again. In the epilogue, Saki narrates how Eden shut down for a while to support the NEETs. In a final scene, Takizawa meets Atō, and they drive off to speak about future plans.
Characters
Main
A young man who lost his memory because of a brainwashing program, Akira Takizawa meets Saki Morimi in Washington D.C., appearing naked and only carrying a handgun and an extremely advanced cell phone with the phrase "noblesse oblige" printed on it and 8.2 billion yen in digital money credit. When Saki is questioned by police after she throws a coin in the grounds of the White House, he helps her out and she gives him her coat to thank him. When he makes his first call, a female voice claiming to be "Juiz" answers. She sends him a map that marks an apartment building where he is apparently staying. In his apartment, he finds guns and many different passports which seem to all belong to him. Saki follows after realizing she left her passport in the coat she gave him and the two decide to return to Japan together. His real name and DOB are unknown; his current identity as Akira Takizawa was chosen from the passports he found, which lists that in Toyosu, Japan and that he was born on January 7, 1989, one day younger than Saki Morimi.
Saki Morimi is a young woman in her last year in university. After her parents died, she has been living with her married elder sister and her family, who have been supporting her through college. She visits New York City as part of her graduation trip but leaves her friends to visit Washington D.C. alone. At the start of the series, she throws a coin at the White House lawn and is approached by police, but Akira Takizawa bails her out of trouble. After realizing that her passport is in the coat she gives to Akira, she follows him, and later goes back with him to Tokyo, Japan. She tries to get a job so that she does not become reliant on her sister's family, but after her interview with her brother-in-law's former company goes badly, she follows Akira on his adventures and gets her old club, "Eden of the East", to partner with Akira on their business venture.
Eden of the East club The Eden of the East club started out as a small recycling group, but has quickly turned into a springboard for a successful commercial website, thanks to Micchon's revolutionary image recognition engine that resides in the Eden website and Saki's ability to improve the value of any item, including junk. Soon, the site's ability to work on phones attracted many student subscribers. However, after the students abused the social matchmaking abilities where a girl dropped out and the university launched an investigation, the team slowed development on the project. In addition to Saki, who handles public relations, the members include: , a friend of Saki who holds unrequited love for her. He is the first among the club members to join the corporate world. He is voiced by Takuya Eguchi in Japanese and by Michael Sinterniklaas in English. , the de facto leader of Eden of the East. He has delayed his graduation with his ultimate goal to create a paradise for NEETs. He is voiced by Motoyuki Kawahara in Japanese and by J. Michael Tatum in English. , nicknamed , a shy but frank girl who programmed the Eden of the Easts image recognition system. She is also Hirasawa's cousin. She is voiced by Ayaka Saitō in Japanese and by Stephanie Sheh in English. , a club member who likes to sit inside the clubroom's rolltop desk. He notices Osugi had gone missing after he had dinner with him. He is voiced by Hayato Taioh in Japanese and by John Burgmeier in English. , a club member who reviews the legal documents. Her real name and age is unknown. She is voiced by Kimiko Saitoh in Japanese and Lydia Mackay in English.Eden of the East episode 6.