Eden of the East - noitaminA, Ur Doing It Right I’ve been thinking about this post by Danny Choo (shudder) lately and this subsequent analysis too. If all that business is tl;dr for you, effectively the gist is that the Japanese public is recognizing the fact that the anime industry is in a state of decline and that poor quality - specifically the proliferation of crap moe and eroge titles - is to blame. I think this is an issue that’s been on a lot of people’s minds lately. Maybe I’ve always taken it for granted, assuming that the majority of anime is not being produced for my demographic (24 years old and female) and being grateful for whatever gem I can dig up each season. I don’t have expectations of finding more than a handful of shows each year that satisfy my particular tastes (although my recent expansion into shounen sports anime has provided me with a bit more fodder, like the brilliant Cross Game and Hajime no Ippo). Like most women my age, I lean toward josei titles that treat love and relationships as well as issues of identity and career through a more mature lens. This doesn’t mean I don’t still enjoy great shows like ToraDora! that happen in a high school setting, but I do prefer watching characters closer to my own age in shows like Nodame, Honey and Clover, Hataraki Man, NANA and now Eden of the East. 4 out of 5 of the above shows aired in Fuji TV’s noitaminA block, which appears to have a mandate of appealing to audiences beyond the Danny Choo’s of this world. Along with Paradise Kiss, Genji and Moyashimon which I’ve been meaning to watch, I was slightly shocked to realize I’ve seen a disproportionate chunk of shows from this timeslot. I guess that means its format is really working. Although I felt Eden of the East, noitaminA’s current offering, was getting off to a bit of a slow start I have to admit by episode 5 that I’m completely hooked. It’s so rare to find a show with quality production vals (really loving the animation and soundtrack) that caters to my demographic and I really appreciate it. This episode had a compelling mixture of political intrigue and career/relationship dramas that I found utterly riveting. I really feel for Saki in her struggle to find a meaningful place for herself despite her unrequited love for her brother-in-law and her youth which puts her at a disadvantage in society. Her personal crises, Akira’s singular situation of arbitrary empowerment and the plight of all the NEETs marginalized by society resonate together in the question: with all odds against them, how can the young adults of Japan negotiate their place in a corrupt and rotting society that disenfranchises them and somehow save their own dieing world? The industry may be in decline, but I’m still grateful that through the decaying heaps of filler anime comes a thought-provoking show like this one.
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