Eden of the East: The King of Eden + Air Communication – Review

Title: Eden of the East ~The King of Eden + Air Communication~
Published by: Madman Entertainment (Australia / New Zealand) and Funimation (US)
Based on: Eden of the East Anime Series
Genre: Psychological, Romance, Mystery
Audio: English and Japanese Dubs
Subtitles: English
Aspect Ratio: Anamorphic Widescreen (16:9) / 1080p High Definition (16:9)
Runtime: 203 Minutes
Cost: $29.95 (DVD) / $34.95 (Blu-ray) from the Madman Online Store
Classification: This title is classified M for Animated Violence ,Coarse Language and brief nudity.
Blurb: Taking place six months after the events of the anime series, Takizawa has disappeared and the Eden of the East team, and more-so Saki are hunting down for any trace of him. Sporting the same high quality designs and music, this movie is the first of a two parter series which continues the game of Noblesse Oblige and how every player is trying to “Save Japan”.
Special Thanks: Special thanks goes to the Madman Entertainment PR Team for providing me with a review sample of this title.

To begin with, I would like to make it clear that despite the set comprising of both ‘The King of Eden’ and ‘Air Communication’ movies, I will only be reviewing the first one, as Air Communication is essentially an hourish long version of the anime series and completely useless to anyone who has watched the source series prior (Aka. almost everyone watching this). As this is technically a second season to the series, this review will be shorter then the first with a majority of the sound and design comments being found on my previous review HERE, however my thoughts on the storyline and other areas differ greatly. Interested? Read more in my review of Eden of the East: The King of Eden. 

The intrigue goes international in The King of Eden, a feature-length conspiracy thriller that continues the action of Eden of the East. The deadly game that began in Japan now intensifies on the streets of New York City. The rules are the same: do whatever it takes to win. Die if you lose. Takizawa prevented Japan’s destruction – and then he vanished. Six months later, clues lead Saki to the Big Apple in search of her missing friend. Meanwhile, the remaining Selecao are plotting their final move. Some of them would prefer Takizawa dead and out of the way. Some might even be willing to help him achieve his goals. Unfortunately, some are prepared to destroy everything if it means claiming checkmate in Mr. Outside’s puzzling game.

This is the first episode in the two part finale movie series for Eden of the East, which I reviewed a few days back and became the second S-Ranking anime series on this site. Six months have taken place since the events of the series, and apparently from what is implied from the start, Takizawa has once again wiped his memory and disappeared from site, leaving Saki and the rest of the Eden of the East team looking for him. Following a lead sent to Takizawa’s old phone, Saki tracks him down to New York and both groups, in the US and in Japan have struggles on their own end. In the US, several of the Selecao have followed him, attempting to kill or help him on his quest, whilst in Japan, the Eden of the East team struggle with the aftermath events from the missile disaster and their own implications due to Takizawa’s request to be King.

This movie is one and a half hours long, or approximately 4 standard episodes in length, and I would say that the pacing was overall suitable for a two parter, starting out strong and ending on a few rather interesting cliffhangers. The majority of the movie was focused on Takizawa and Saki and Saki’s attempts to make her friend remember who he is, after obtaining another identity from Juiz and not remembering who she is, whilst falling afoul to other players. Whilst I do like it for the most-part, I think some of the time used was wasted on pointless things that held little value to the storyline and felt like a rehash of the first episodes of the series. However, I think how they implemented the “game” system in the anime was appropriate for the darker theme of the series as all some characters go all out to ensure they are the top player standing so they aren’t ‘eliminated’.

There was realistically only one important character introduced in this series, being Number 6 who is stalking Saki and Takizawa in order to make a tragic movie, which would result in their evident death, which does shed some light onto the different personalities of the Juiz’s, but besides that, ends up a rather bland character overall. For the original characters, there wasnt that much in terms of character development, with the storyline primarily being used to present the unfolding story over developing the characters.

My thoughts on the overall design and music/voice-acting quality still stands from my previous review, and I would highly advise purchasing the Blu-ray version (For an extra $5) over the DVD version, as this is a series that really, anything else would not do the series justice in my opinion. There was one noticeable issue I did have with the design however, and that was with the 3D CGI design with the cars as especially in the first scene or two at the start of the movie, the quality really takes a sharp decrease and it honestly looked like some half-assed design in that respect. Everything else in terms of design was a solid performance.

There was a new Opening Sequence with the song Invisible by LEAH which may not have reached the same level as the primary opening theme for the series, but was still an enjoyable song sporting English lyrics that complemented the new ending animation well which delved into the after-events of the missile launch at the end of the series.

As I know we all love extras, there is enough of them considering the market price for this title is $30-$35 depending on the version. This means that there isn’t as much as the series collection did, but you will most probably not end up disappointed. One thing at the very least is that all the trailers are for Madman Entertainment titles instead of Funimation ones, therefore removing the disappointment being advertised titles that may not be out over here. However, these are the extras which are included:

• Air Communication Movie – Something around the 1 hour mark which more or less summarizes the events of the previous series (In Japanese).
• Movie 1 News Flash (In Japanese)
• Movie 1 Preview (In Japanese)
• TV Spots (In Japanese)
• Trailers for Summer Wars, Evangelion 1.11 and The Girl Who Lept Through Time