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

Eden of the East has finally ended after a year of a series and two movies. Personally, I really liked this series. I liked it's style. It's form. The story. And the pacing it used. Each piece of the story got an 8. Plus, a great soundtrack to boot. The show still has that great music. That refined art style. And a good ending to a thoughtful and intriguing series that answered every question. So it's complete! You've seen the characters through about every situation "game" could bring them through and you're into what is happening. Nothing in the movie makes you doubt the characters. They all staytrue to themselves. You should watch this if you watched everything before.

The rest of the review is to argue the fact that this movie stayed true to the Eden of the East series and that there didn't have to be fast-paced action in order for this series to end well. It's a movie where naive ideals could work not one where missiles need to be shot down everyone five minutes. So there will be plenty of spoilers from this movie.

Which brings up the issue of Takizawa Akira. Everyone thinks Takizawa is a weak character because he forgot everything prior to the beginning of the series. We all see that Takizawa is a youthful idealist that succeeds in this "game" that Mr. Outside casted him in. He finds himself pitted against other Selecao before making his move at the end of the series. Then is brainwashed again at the end of the series.

Let's state the fact that Takizawa losing his memories over and over is not a bad move at all nor a character flaw. It's a way to wrap your head around the situation. Through introducing himself to the situation, again and again, he is able to approach new ideas. Also, to argue that Takizawa magically regains his memories is definitely not true. The first movie was him being introduced to everything again and the second movie is the result of that. You would think that brainwashing doesn't work 100%. I believe the doctor said that in the series as well (i ain't too sure on that so don't be challenging me). It's seen at the end of the movie that the forced brainwashing, as a result of the game, didn't even affect him. In other movies, animes, TV shows, all have shown that you can't erase memories 100% anyhow. Geez, you people really need to step up that argument.

This movie also includes the meeting of Mr. Outside. The meeting we've all been waiting for. People cry and whine about it being underwhelming. But everyone seems to have forgotten the two minutes of the movie prior to meeting Mr. Outside. The guy has been laying low for 30 years. If you expected him to see him somewhere like his mansion, or a giant corporate building, then I'm afraid you've all missed the point of "laying low". The guy drives a "taxi" around and round. This taxi is how he met his twelve players for his "game".

The meeting with Mr. Outside in the last hours of the night in his taxi that he's basically lived in the for the past 30 years fits this whole show perfectly. Everyone seems to forget that the Selecaos are eleven ordinary people that are guided by the master of the game. That meeting was ordinary. Just like how his eleven players met him. See how it fits?

Also, about the plot being slow. It's slow because of the remaining Selecaos and the big decisions that everyone has made. In the beginning, you had some working together. Then pitted against each other and people lost the game. When there are not a lot of players, things seem to slow down because the players wait for the others to make a move. Those that made the big moves usually got the biggest reward. Those biggest moves also could've made you lose the game if you didn't pull it off.

The ending for this movie was good, not the best, but good, and fitting. It wasn't rushed or incomplete. It's what our youthful protagonist wanted to create when he told Mr. Outside. A society where everyone would rather earn money than spend it. To push them, he give every caller 1 yen. "Oh, now I see his plan!" you say. There was no move Takizawa could make to shift all of society in one train of thought. Instead, he put his faith into all the "unknown heroes" behind the country. Mononobe could've made that move, but it would've cost everyone's personal freedoms. Takizawa put all of his faith into the people. Which is why Mr. Outside decided to call the game and declare the winner because someone used their money in the way that they saw best for society.