Eden of the East - Episode 4 Discussion / Poll

[Kinny Riddle]

The little robot car that carried the Selecao phone reminded me of those robots (forgot what they're called) in GITS. It's hard not to see Production IG's signature all over this series.

I have no idea about those Johnnys creeps that Akira seems to be familiar with in his WTF dream-like vision.

Mostly plot exposition today, setting up Mr Outside neatly as the potential final boss, but there may yet be twist near the end as to who Mr Outside really is and what his motives are.

Saki didn't do much this episode, hopefully we'll see more of her next week.

I like the theory of the Supporter being a fanatic whose ideals are in line with Mr Outside, this reminds me of Death Note, where Light clandestinely chooses a suitable fanatic in Mikami, whose thinking is similar to Light's, as his proxy Kira.

As for Juiz, I think she's too easy going to be a human being to be so detached from the fact that these Selecaos will eventually have to be killed off. My gut instinct is she's an AI created by Mr Outside or someone related.

[hamstar]

Originally Posted by izmosmolnar

I'm just wondering what are the victory conditions of that "game". I mean "leading the country in the right direction" and "saving the country" is the two things I seem to remember hearing, but both of this two are incredibly wide, cloudy, ungraspable concepts. What do they need to save it from, and/or which direction is considered right? (And what objectives they have to meet in order to be the winner?)

good question, the answer is we dont know yet.

[izmosmolnar]

I just noticed there is a spoilers and speculations thread, I take it there as I don't really want to take episode 4 thread in an offtopic direction.

[Edgewalker]

I'm really sad that this only gets 11 episodes. So good...

[hai_san]

Quite Intriguing anime serie in a long time i have seen. Cant wait to see how it will developes.

[Ghostfriendly]

Have to agree the plot here is very interesting. Akira was pretty daft to take those pills, but he's seemed a bit dippy all the way through, and might thought the doctor would take a less public method if he wanted to off him.

The doctor's acceptance of death as his natural lot was quite impressive; it's a very Bushido-like concept that the aim of life is to do something significant, then die. It's been mentioned before that saving the country is a very nebulous achievement; maybe the one who impresses the surviving Selecaos most gets chosen by them to live. It seems the chance to do the best for your country you can is one you have to give up your life for; whether the selecaos were subconciously prepared for that is an open question

First thought with the fma-manga style zombies was that this was what happened to the Neets., but hoping for more development of that anyway. They remind me of the strange creatures from Welcome to the NHK as well.

[Kirarakim]

Originally Posted by Ghostfriendly

Have to agree the plot here is very interesting. Akira was pretty daft to take those pills, but he's seemed a bit dippy all the way through, and might thought the doctor would take a less public method if he wanted to off him.

I do sort of think Akira is a bit too trusting/naive but that sort of seems like something Saki and him have in common. Considering she just left her suitcase in the middle of DC and gave a complete stranger her coat not realizing her passport was inside.

Although in Akira's case I guess having no memories might play a part in his lax attitude.

[prototype_sky]

The big question is Save the country from what?

[MidNteJ]

Originally Posted by Kaoru Chujo

He was killed because he used up all his money, and the country wasn't saved, just a number of people.

As for whether the suit in ep1 is the same as here, I don't think it's the same suit. The earlier suit seemed reddish, with a blue tie; while the present suit seems beigey, with a reddish tie. Doesn't mean they aren't the same person, however. I like that thought.

he didn't use up the money tho.... just isn't used the way they wanted as someone noted :s

also the only reason i think the suit was the supporter is his line of "No.9 is now finished. or it's the end for No.9 something along the line."

unless it's another selecao trying to sabotage another selecao cause they did so well with just 2 billion :s

and really only 11 eppy? this seems like it would be more.....

[Kaoru Chujo]

Originally Posted by MidNteJ

he didn't use up the money tho.... just isn't used the way they wanted as someone noted....

Yes, he did. Here is a thumbnail of the shot of his cellphone showing that he cleaned it out with donations to a medical fund and a hospital:



But I still like the idea that we saw the Supporter in ep1. We saw another Selecao, anyway.

[Raiga]

Oh he did? Akira was scrolling through the entries pretty quickly and I didn't notice. Huh.

Hey, wasn't this supposed to be a day an episode? Don't this episode and ep. 3 take place on the same day, though?

[Jan-Poo]

Originally Posted by prototype_sky

The big question is Save the country from what?

From boredom... by overloading it with fun! XD

also the only reason i think the suit was the supporter is his line of "No.9 is now finished. or it's the end for No.9 something along the line."

He says: "koko de owari da" which is a typical villain line (it ends here).
There's a very high chance he's the supporter considering that only the supporter is supposed to observe the other seleçao. It is also possible that he is the same person that kills Hiura (number V), but so little is shown about him that it's impossible to tell with certainity.

[indicatoto101]

Originally Posted by Kaoru Chujo

Yes, he did. Here is a thumbnail of the shot of his cellphone showing that he cleaned it out with donations to a medical fund and a hospital:

Another clue the doctor ran out of money is Akira offering to transfer half of his funds to him, so he won't die.

[Reckoner]

Eden of the East continues to be the most impressive anime this season. Whether you look at the characters and how they are being developed, the pacing, or the story, it has all been great.

This episode is definitely not a filler, like some post said earlier in this thread. While we were given certain hints and clues regarding many of the topics discussed in this episode that may have led us to figure out some of these facts for us, it really provided clarity for our protagonist's situation. It is seemingly a lot more grave than originally anticipated as well.

I can see this series as being similar to Ergo Proxy in its plot build up. I have a feeling it will do much of the same, by meeting new Selecaos on this journey much like Vincent when he kept meeting new Proxies. Each time, there will be new revelations, and the character will learn a bit more about himself.

So unlike our friendly Selecao in this episode, I expect many of the ones in future episodes to be not so friendly, like Mr.Detective.

I give this episode a 9/10.

[Kaoru Chujo]

Originally Posted by prototype_sky

The big question is Save the country from what?

We don't have any real clues yet. But if Mr. Outside is a stereotypical Japanese conservative, it would be save it from things like lack of discipline, hedonism, lack of respect for tradition, excessive individualism, admiration of things foreign, etc. Getting rid of NEETs would suit this point of view.

If he were more liberal and modern, it would be from lack of individualism and excessive dependence on the opinion of others. Or from boredom, lol.

If he took demography seriously, it would be from a low birthrate.

If he was realistic (my opinion) about international affairs, it would be from foolish chauvinism and unwillingness to respect and make friends with China and Korea.

[feRfe]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_of_Eden

random find, technically not directly connected as it's Eden of the East but

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_of_Eden

also

im assuming show got name from the latter just cause it's making so much references to american culture

edit: West of Eden got its title as a pun off East of Eden

wonder what the whole johnny scene was about, intrigued it hasn't been discussed more. pretty much a completely random daydream with no breaks between reality. the johnny's practically seemed like his dogs at first then they jumped him iirc?

oh damn because i dont pay attention to american pop i didnt even realize but the op is actually not engrish and is from oasis

[Kazu-kun]

Originally Posted by Kaoru Chujo

We don't have any real clues yet. But if Mr. Outside is a stereotypical Japanese conservative, it would be save it from things like lack of discipline, hedonism, lack of respect for tradition, excessive individualism, admiration of things foreign, etc. Getting rid of NEETs would suit this point of view.

If he were more liberal and modern, it would be from lack of individualism and excessive dependence on the opinion of others. Or from boredom, lol.

If he took demography seriously, it would be from a low birthrate.

If he was realistic (my opinion) about international affairs, it would be from foolish chauvinism and unwillingness to respect and make friends with China and Korea.

I liked Jan-Poo's take on this: "decay", "moral degradation", "corruption", "economic crisis". Basically the same problems of the world as a whole.

Now, all this, although different issues, are really just different aspects of the same problem, a problem that can not be fixed with just money, because it's exactly this current money-centered culture what's causing it. That's what makes me think Eden wouldn't address that sort of themes. In fact, the only anime I remember dealing with this is Speed Grapher, but it sucked so bad that everything got buried under bad animation and mediocre writing.

[Schneizel]

Imo, they're supposed to save Japan from each other...

[Jan-Poo]

a problem that can not be fixed with just money

Yes i think this is the case. Whoever is this Outsider he certainly has a lot of money. If he really wanted to save the world and the world could be saved by money he would have done himself. The Outsider is probably looking for a "saviour" a "messiah" someone with extraordinary ideas and visions. The money is to be seen as his contribution to help such "messiah" in his endeavor, but money alone certainly won't do.
It is however debatable if such harsh game was needed. The various rules involving an almost certain death are probably meant to give the seleçao a very good reason to do their best. Well I can't hardly think of a better incentive XD. But the rules that only one of them will survive can be counterproductive. What if seleçaos start fighting each other in order to prevent their success? There is no rule that prevent them from killing another seleçao, and that's strange. Does the Outsider really want them to be enemies? Putting them on the clock and making them enemies can only lower their chance of success.

[fish eric]

Wow, you can tell this is going to be a short series. Things are moving really fast now. This is easily my favorite anime of this year.