Review of Eden of The East the Movie II: Paradise Lost

First off, I am and will continue to be a fan of Eden of the East. That said... not a fan of this tripe. Calling it "Paradise Lost" is a misnomer. It's "Paradise Never Reached in the First *$%# Place". Typically when an anime has movie installments it's a bonus - a little more of what fans love, character development, even just some mindless but harmless fluff... but not a pivotal part of the story. If you are reading this you know Eden of the East is an exception. The movies are the obligatory half-baked conclusion to what was a good story and may have beenbetter left unfinished. Had that been the case, my imagination would have chosen many possible directions, but never one this unsatisfying.

If you saw the series (nevermind the pointless first movie) you know what potential it had. If you haven't seen it then you shouldn't be reading this. Go watch it, then read my review before deciding to watch the movies.

I can't really say a lot about this movie without referencing the first movie and of course the series itself so you've been warned.

The first half of the series presents a fascinating what-if scenario: What would you do to lift up your country if you were given not only a substantial fortune to accomplish it, but a phone that allowed you to contact a mysterious woman who could make literally anything humanly possible a reality instantly?

With her impossibly vast (and morally dubious) connections and a disturbing amount of power bestowed on her by the elusive Mr. Outside, Juiz is like a genie granting wishes using any means necessary. If there was anything I enjoyed about this series to the bitter end, it was Juiz's often opinionated (and in one case scalding) remarks meant to steer the "chosen ones" towards nobler paths without ever denying a request within the realm of physical possibility.

Some indirect semi-spoilers:

1. This won't end how you - how ANYONE - would want it to.

2. The more you know about Mr. Outside the less anything will make sense.

4. The fact that Juiz is not a computer (which is exposed prior to this movie) is ludicrous.

And finally a *DEFINITE SPOILER* - HOWEVER! I wish I had known this so I just consider it my dutiful warning!!!:

The "end" is clearly a set-up for a continuation that will never happen. Takizawa disappears with an allusion to his "one last task" and we're expected to apparently get creative with what he means. It's basically like the writers wanted to leave it open on the off chance they were granted a third movie, but probably knowing it was a snowball's chance in hell that it would happen.

In the end, the real question remains the same as at the beginning: What does Mr. Outside want from these people? If you are thinking "obviously he wants them to save Japan!" consider the fact that he intentionally pits them against eachother by making them believe they will be terminated if they are not the victor - and only one can win. So if he really wanted them to succeed why would he not want them to work together, but instead force them to waste their money and energy on devising ways to defeat eachother for the sake of survival?

It seems apparent he's just a sadist and in the end he punishes the unwilling participants in his psychotic game for having played it.

Whatever Takizawa needed to do, I'm just going to hope it involved his fist and Mr. Outside's face getting to know eachother personally.