HomeAnimeEden of the East: Paradise Lost - Review

Eden of the East: Paradise Lost – Review

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Eden of the East: Paradise Lost - Review 1Title: Eden of the East: Paradise Lost
Published by: Madman Entertainment (Australia / New Zealand), Funimation Entertainment (North America)
Based on: The Eden of the East anime series
Genre: Psychological, Romance, Mystery
Audio: English and Japanese Dubs
Subtitles: English
Aspect Ratio: 1080p High Definition
Runtime: 92 minutes
Cost: $29.95 (DVD), $34.95 (Blu-ray)
Classification: This title is rated PG for mild animated violence and coarse language.
Special Thanks: Special thanks goes to the Madman Entertainment PR Team for providing me with a review sample of this title.

On the 3rd of July this year, I posted a review of the anime season of Eden of the East which while having been out several months prior, I never got around to watching as it looked rather bland from the small episode fragments I had watched. However, the series walked out of the review with one of the coveted S-ranks and to this day has a strong chance of being one of my favourite anime releases for 2011. While the first movie didn’t fare so well with only a B+ rank, last month Madman Entertainment released the final installment in this series to Australia and it is now the time to let my thoughts out on how this series concluded. Did it live up to my expectations? To find out, read on in my review of Eden of the East: Paradise Lost!

Eden of the East: Paradise Lost - Review 2

Some Conspiracies are more than theories.

Who is Mr Outside? Who will win this twisted game? How did the Takizawa become a pawn in the mastermind’s hidden plan? The answers are revealed and the conspiracy unravels in Paradise Lost, the thrilling feature-length conclusion to Eden of the East. Takizawa returns to Japan and hits the ground running. As he makes his final moves against the remaining Selecao, he fights to uncover the secrets of his mysterious past. The deck is stacked against him: he faces accusations of terrorism, and the truth behind his ties to the Prime Minister could be his undoing. Takizawa’s not the only one feeling the heat. Saki’s high-tech crew is in the crosshairs, too-along with every citizen in the nation. Truly, this is it. Win or Lose, Live or Die. Either way, Mr. Outside’s game ends now.

To give a quick recap on the series, the anime series covered the introductory elements of the series, introducing the key characters and if they are “Good” or “Bad” with a plotline about Takizawa trying to recover his lost memories after appearing naked outside the White House, with him possibly being a terrorist and a number of missile attacks on places around Japan. The first movie, “The King of Eden” is more relevant to this plot, with Saki having hunted Takizawa down after having removed his memories a second time and under attack by other Selecao who want him out of the game and do not approve of his attempt to be “king”. Ending on the cliff-hanger where one selecao was forcibly ejected from the game and on a plane ride headed back to Japan, this is the final installment in the series where all (or at least they try to) is revealed and the victor of the game will be made known.

Eden of the East: Paradise Lost - Review 3

This second movie is very ambitious in terms of content, however in the attempt to bring something new to the table they included a number of side-storylines which would only have been justifiable if it were a second season or at least double the current length. The main storyline leaves you satisfied but does feel anti-climatic at points but I will detail that later. This is a movie about Takizawa and instantly drags you into the storyline of if he really is the Prime Ministers son and from there the Eden of the East team spreads out to find out why he was chosen to become a Selecao, the truth behind his childhood and protecting himself and his Juiz from becoming the target of missiles sent by Selecao #1.

When push came to shove, the most interesting element to the series came with the hunt for Mr Outside and the truth how he became a part of this crazy game and it is what kept the storyline going. On the other hand, the search for his parents was tedious to go through as after finding his mother, Saki and Osugi’s main role was to get information from her, but instead spent their time beating around the bush to get a confession out of her relating to his father (That and they tracked her down on an illogical whim). There is even a moment where Takizawa could have had some epic truck driving battles or the like, but his role is essentially to go from one place to another in a way that sounds promising, but is anti-climatic in the end (This is beating around the bush a little with spoilers). While these and a few other minor sidestories do get Takizawa and the Eden of the East team at least some role in the series, they fall short on what I was hoping for, with some storylines being left half finished, even if the final product resolves most things presented.

The finale to the series was cliche, but did leave the series on a positive note, making the viewer wonder what they would do with 10 billion yen to help their country and more importantly, even without this and a phone that gave you everything you asked for, is there anything that society and yourself can do to improve it. The storyline unfortunately leaves some matters unresolves, leaves some new matters half-done but at the end of the day, the core storyline was resolved and I felt satisfied that given the time they had, they did a good job at ending the series.

Eden of the East: Paradise Lost - Review 4

Rather than repost the same comments regarding the design and sound, I would advise you to read my original review for the Eden of the East anime series, as my comments still stand. I would highly advise skipping the DVD release and going to the Blu-ray release, as Production I.G has once again pulled off a visual masterpiece. Kenji Kawai also delivers an impressive soundtrack and a brilliant English voice cast that should permit even those most hesitant about English dubs to enjoy it. As with the first movie, this release has a brand new Opening and Ending theme provided by school food punishment and was of the same high standard as previous themes.

The blu-ray disc maintains the same menu system of the Noblesse phone which is a nice touch, and shows off how DVD menus can be improved using this new disc medium. The bonus content included is very impressive and outshines both other releases by far. These extras include:

  • US Cast Commentary
  • Visual Commentary on the Eden System with Director Kamiyama Interview
  • Movie 2 Preview
  • TV Spot
  • Eden of the East Series Trailer (English)
  • Eden of the East “Kind of Eden” Trailer (English)
  • Eden of the East “Paradise Lost” Trailer (English)
  • Trailers for Spice and Wolf, Noir, Peacemaker, RideBack, Casshern Sins, Black Blood Brothers, Dragon Ball Z and Funimation.com

Eden of the East: Paradise Lost - Review 5

Just as “The King of Eden” did, Paradise Lost never truly reached the level that the anime series did, and would have benefited from taking a bit more time to making this into a short OVA series or even a second season completely as it would have allowed storylines and new plot devices to expand out a bit further and giving the viewer a more completed conclusion. However, as the past cannot be changed I will say I was still satisfied with this release, and if you enjoyed Eden of the East you should find no reason to avoid this and The Kind of Eden. Now…. A question for you: If a stranger gave you ten billion yen then said improve this country.. what would you do?

Final Score
Storyline / Character Development: B
Design: 
A
Music/Voice Acting: A
Packaging/Extras: 
A
Personal Preference: 
B+

Overall Score: A-

Sam
Sam
Founder of The Otaku's Study. I have been exploring this labyrinth of fandom these last fifteen years, and still nowhere close to the exit yet. Probably searching for a long time to come.

2 COMMENTS

  1. If i had ten billion yen, I would set a pattern for everyday life to be expanded in such a way, where everyone could have a well managed job and take care of themselves. There would be nothing but an endless paradise, with an extensive amount of people from all over the world working together to make a difference.

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