2009-05-01, 14:50 | Link #1 | ||||
Just call me Ojisan
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: U.K. Hampshire
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Eden of the East - Spoilers & Speculation
The purpose of this thread is to allow free discussion of theories and speculation of the Eden of the East anime series, but be warned since it may contain unmarked spoilers. Having a central location may help focus the discussion instead of spreading speculation over the various episode discussion threads.
Acceptable post topics
Spoiler Policy
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2009-05-01, 15:52 | Link #3 |
別にいいけど
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: forever lost inside a logic error
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I don't know how much time it needs to pass to be considered one, but if she doesn't find a job quickly yes she is XD
But i hope you are not thinking that that's why Akira wanted to kill her °°;
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2009-05-02, 03:24 | Link #5 |
At the end of this world
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Hungary, Europe
Age: 39
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OK, I ask it here instead.
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?) Edit: Well I don't actually think Saki would be a NEET now. She went to NY and DC as an university trip, and she is about to go to Job interview now. Which kinda implies she probably freshly graduated from the university. I would classify her as a just graduated, yet currently unemployed person. However it might be possible she went to the US with ex-university friends, and she already finished (or stopped attending) university for some time now, but I don't believe that's the case. I have to add though, that the concept when is someone can be considered as a NEET, hikikomori, or freeter for that matter is rather vague to my understanding, so I might be wrong. Last edited by izmosmolnar; 2009-05-02 at 03:44. |
2009-05-02, 06:52 | Link #6 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2008
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'Why does he have to be naked?!'
Unless Akira had just escaped from someone who had stolen his clothes to break him or restrict his movements, the obvious reason would be that he was in some kind of trance of hypnotic state, connected to the mindwipe, or brought on by somebody who wanted him to assassinate Saki or get himself arrested. It's possible he could even have gone a little crazy after the NEETs incident. The mindwipe presumably snapped him out of whatever it was. My only other theory would be that lacking clothes during the actual process of the mindwipe is vital, so nothing you see carries association of your past history, although seeing something from your past after the mindwipe obviously doesn't do anything. This would give a clue to why the NEETs were all naked, but it's still odd that Akira would choose such a public place to have his memories knocked off. |
2009-05-02, 07:01 | Link #7 | |
別にいいけど
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: forever lost inside a logic error
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It's very hard to understand this, it's a very vague concept. Saving the country from what?
The first thing that came to mind is that the Outsider wants the seleçao to work for the improvement of Japanese society, so the enemy is "decay", "moral degradation", "corruption", "economic crisis". The idea that "crime" is the problem is laughable considering how Japan is one of the countries with the lower level of criminality in the world. Anyway as for the problems above, there's really no possible definitive solution. Is Japan really following the path of self-destruction? I personally think this is a naive perspective, although a very common theme in manga and anime. The Outsider seems to believe so and so do the seleçao, consciously or unconsciously. Whatever is the "problem" and whatever is seen as a "solution" it looks like number IX was the most promising between the seleçao. This has been stated in more than one situation. Since the only relevant thing that has been done by IX was the deportation of 20.000 NEETs i guess the "problem" is the society's decay. However how exactly that's supposed to help i really have no clue. Quote:
Your theory doesn't match with the fact he still has a phone and Juiz was instructed to tell him where he lived. What can better remind you your past history, clothes or your apartment, which includes other clothes and photos?
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Last edited by Jan-Poo; 2009-05-02 at 07:16. |
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2009-05-02, 08:14 | Link #8 |
At the end of this world
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Hungary, Europe
Age: 39
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(I know it's most definitely not related, but it kinda reminded me of the germans before the second world war. They were told their Führer is going to save the country, many years before the outbreak of WW2.)
About leading it to the right direction. My problem with that concept is, that it doesn't have a finite, limited, concrete "state" when one could expect the objective to be finished. If it's economic recession, it unreasonable to assume there are guarantees, it's going to be the last one. If it's the unemployment rate, it's unlikely everything will stay as they manage to achieve etc. Even if one of them points the country to the correct direction, I believe without some involvement it's unlikely to assume things would never change without some desired adjustments time to time. My problem with the whole game is, that it's not possible to decide when is someone "hitting the finish line". Additionally, I have no idea why would the Supporter thinks the brain surgeon guy did a poor job. He basically almost managed to tackle one of the aspects Japan actually suffers from (remember GITS: The Solid State Society from the SAME creators). I refer on the fact how he tries to give jobs for the elderly no one would give jobs anymore, especially to take care other incapable/disabled elderly. If that's not the right direction I have no clue what it could be really. Because he died when he still had money left, it's fair to assume the supporter may believe that's not the right way to win. Of course it's possible the Supporter doesn't support (haha pun) the proverb "the end justify means", and by bribing certain people (and spreading corruption by that, which is also a likely candidate to win by eliminating it, even if it's not so realistic) the Doctor crossed the undefined line in the eyes of the Supporter. Last edited by izmosmolnar; 2009-05-02 at 09:06. |
2009-05-02, 11:19 | Link #9 | ||
Me, An Intellectual
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: UK
Age: 33
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I also want to note that during the first episode, the guy in the red car said "Looks like No.9 is more unique than I had expected. But it ends here" I wonder what he meant by the last bit. Last edited by Haak; 2009-05-02 at 11:40. |
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2009-05-02, 11:37 | Link #10 |
Komrades of Kitamura Kou
Join Date: Jul 2004
Age: 39
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I still think that the critical junction for the story is not exactly the true identity of Akira, but rather the exact reason as to why he had to get his memory erased at that exact same moment he was supposed to shoot something or someone.
My gut still says he was aiming for Saki, but time will tell if I'm right.
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2009-05-02, 12:21 | Link #11 | |||
別にいいけど
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: forever lost inside a logic error
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In the case of number V his failure was either because he completely misunderstood the real objective (it wasn't anything economically related) or simply because he might have done a good thing for the local area, maybe for the whole prefecture, but Japan is a big ass archipelago. Also the people that mostly received a benefit from his doings where elders and that is probably not what the Outsider is concerned about. In the end we don't really have a clear idea about what Outsider wants. It could even be that Japan is going to face an apocalyptic crisis and seleçao are supposed to prevent that. Maybe there is a precise enemy to defeat, who knows. Or maybe the Outside himself doesn't know. He just know that there are people that want to change the country for the better so he give them a chance to try anything they want and then he decides if they really did something useful or not. Quote:
Juiz says that she is disappointed, and that means IX was very promising however he failed or was going to fail in the end. The disappointment could be either because Akira had a change of agenda, or because his agenda was stopped. But if the seleçao we see is the supporter (and it's highly probable he is) then the former case is more probable. And if he is the supporter i don't think he's there just to observe. Which again brings me to idea he was there to stop Akira. Therefore my theory: Akira was doing a good job, the NEET stuff was seen as something very promising. However Akira probably found out something and decided to enact a completely different plan, he was going to do something against the will of the Outsider, hence the disappointment. The Supporter became aware of this and followed Akira to the U.S. to stop him. The supporter stopped him by making him listen to the mindwipe sound in the worst possible moment hence he says: "koko de owari da" (he is specifying "here"). The things i can't explain is why Akira was naked and what is Saki's involvment in this whole story. Quote:
However i still have the feeling there's something amiss, so i don't know if he really wanted to kill her.
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2009-05-02, 20:56 | Link #13 | ||
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2008
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2009-05-02, 21:47 | Link #14 |
Komrades of Kitamura Kou
Join Date: Jul 2004
Age: 39
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For me the bigger puzzle for the Supporter is the manner in which Kondo was killed. Akira's "orientation" suggests there's only one supporter who's job is to kill any and all Selecao who fail to follow the rules of the game. Kondo's wife ended up stabbing him and leaving him to die, and it looks like the Supporter who killed the doctor was a man. Either the identity of the Supporter isn't a single person, Kondo's death wasn't done by a Supporter (and thus not according to plan) or, more implausible, that Kondo had yet to defy the rules themselves and that his death was not due to the game rules itself.
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2009-05-02, 22:58 | Link #15 |
Junior Member
Join Date: Apr 2009
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Like some other have mentioned, I don't think he actually meant to kill anyone.
Instead, he decided to have himself in a situation where he would be forced to be on the run knowing that if he would be caught, he might be put in jail for a long time since he did have a gun at the white house. So when he finally went back to his house, and he saw all those weapons and maps of "terrorist locations", and the passports (all of the passports were from Japan), he knew he had to run from the house and he couldn't turtle inside or he'd risk being caught and arrested. The most logical place where he could go would be back to Japan since all his passports lead him there. My guess would be that he might be trying to run some sort of experiment to see what would happen, maybe he is an unemployed bum like everyone else in that mall. Everyone seems to be a specialized profession: -Doctor -Police officer -(Serial Killer from the wikipedia), etc So I'm guessing his "profession" before might be a NEET. At first, I thought he might be a terrorist/agent or something, but someone who doesn't do anything all day but watch movies sounds like a bum to me. If he does things unconsciously like unlock the door, he wouldn't have been taken down by the detective so fast if he still had some of his motor memory. However, his theorycrafting (ie going to the embassy to get a ticket) is still very good, so he might have been an educated student before being unemployed, and uses a lot of his memory from movies to come up with schemes. Maybe he hired some people to make a documentary or something so he could show it off later? (the 80,000 dollar payment thing from a different thread, or it could just be payment for educating those NEETs too, who knows) So far good series, I'm really enjoying the speculation that is involved with the series. |
2009-05-02, 23:20 | Link #16 | ||
Yuuki Aoi
Join Date: Jul 2004
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I have a lot of trouble believing he was aiming at Saki. Saki just seems so innocent. It's certainly possible, though. But he was also pointing the gun at the White House, which would be sure to attract attention and get him arrested, without any ID. Maybe Akira was protecting himself from the other Selecao by doing something to get himself arrested? As for the guy in the car in DC, he could be the Supporter, although we can't be sure. He is definitely a Selecao, unless he's Mr. Outside. When he said things ended there, he could have been carrying out Akira's orders to mindwipe him. Or he could have been triggering the software he could see by the phone accounts that Akira had bought. That would tie in with the idea that we have a war going on among the Selecaos. Maybe #9 moved the NEETs out because he knew other Selecao were targeting them, perhaps with the missile strike? As for Saki's parents, all I've read is that they died in an "accident." The word used was the normal one for a traffic accident (jiko), but it isn't specific, so it could have been some other kind. I'm interested by the fact that Saki, her sister, and Ryousuke all have the same last name. That means either that he took the Morimi name because he was taking over the family business, or Saki was adopted by him and Asako. The former seems likely to me. Quote:
Maybe one Selecao was going to eliminate NEETs, considered by some an evil bane, and #9 either was that person or was moving to stop them by absconding with all those NEETs. I mean, it appears that he was a freeter himself, before selection. Not totally NEET, but working, probably part-time, as a magazine delivery boy. I'm still far from sure that #9 is Takizawa Akira. He just chose that passport because of the date, it appeared. If he chose the right one by chance, it would indicate that his memories are still in there and might start to surface. But Japan's biggest problem is declining population, isn't it? It's a race between development of robots and declining numbers in the workforce. There was even talk a while ago about allowing ten million foreigners in -- which was greeted with a chorus of condemnation. However, that quote from Saki about "atmosphere" and not being able to do anything by themselves was probably a good clue to Kamiyama's own point of view. It's all still thrillingly murky.
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2009-05-03, 08:00 | Link #17 | ||||||||
別にいいけど
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: forever lost inside a logic error
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There's another thing that makes me think Saki was his target. The photo attached on the map in his apartment all seem to show places that are visited by tourists. This leads me to think he was trying to figure out the best place to enact his plan between those that Saki was going to visit. I still don't get it why he had to buy all those weapons. It looks like he bought a katana too, that's what's probably inside that wrap. Quote:
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2009-05-03, 08:36 | Link #18 |
Komrades of Kitamura Kou
Join Date: Jul 2004
Age: 39
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Well when you think about it, while the sotry takes place in the modern day setting it doesn't exactly have to follow actual recent history. Truth be told, the story hasn't revealed what exactly are the problems facing Japan right now. What we DO know what there is big enough of a problem to warrant some rich mystery person to entrust assloads of money to 12 people and instruct them to use it to help the nation under the punishment of death.
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2009-05-03, 14:34 | Link #19 |
Yuuki Aoi
Join Date: Jul 2004
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Jan-Poo's point about American prisons not being safe, and ceasing to use the phone being a death sentence both make sense to me. So #9 (who I will try not to call "Akira") probably wasn't trying to get himself arrested. But a naked man with a gun pointed at the White House is certainly going to attract the attention of police. I still haven't heard or come up with a reasonable theory for why he was naked.
As for waiting until Saki got out of the way, once he was naked, the clock was ticking until police nabbed him, so he couldn't wait? I also looked at a couple of frames from ep1 and I'm not so sure he was pointing at her. From frame #2 it seems possible, but she's not visible in frame 1 (out of frame just to right? just arriving?). I think she was let off on Constitution Avenue, had to walk north around the Ellipse, then crossed Pennsylvania Avenue and approached the White House from the east (the right, in the screencaps). Not saying she definitely wasn't his target, just that I'm not convinced yet. And are you sure all those snapshots on the map are of tourist places? The ones below and to the right aren't that identifiable. I wish the notes were a little clearer. The only one I can really read is the one near the top that says "beautiful building?" However, Saki's cab driver is rather weird. He seems to be sniggering, and I fancy he glances over to where #9 might be as he puts down her bag. And Saki has an odd depressed and serious look when you first see the side of her face in the cab. I think these are clues, but I'm not sure to what. I still have trouble imagining that she has any knowledge of the Selecao system. She is so determined to throw that coin into the White House fountain. She is thinking of her classmates in NYC being angry with her. On her bed in ep4 she says "what am I doing?" just like anyone in love. Not like someone whose interest in #9 has anything to do with Selecao. Even if #9 had Saki in mind when he fabricated the Akira identity (if he did that), why did he choose the right passport? How could he have been so sure his mindwiped self would pick on the basis of birthdate, or even know her birthdate? And someone said they were all Japanese passports. I thought I saw one with a red cover. As for MeoTwister's point about the problems, this idea of Japan facing desperate social, economic, and/or cultural problems that absolutely need to be solved for the sake of the country is a common idea in Japan, at least over the past few years. The earliest person I can think of who talked about it was the right-wing (for lack of a better term) novelist Mishima Yukio, who I think wrote in the 1960s, and committed hara-kiri out of despair. So it's a pretty serious deal. Fun.
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Last edited by Kaoru Chujo; 2009-05-03 at 14:45. |
2009-05-03, 14:42 | Link #20 |
Lurkin' in ur threadz.
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: The Sunshine State
Age: 33
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I always wondered if Akira knew Saki before without her knowing it.
That or he just randomly tracked her down knowing that she was going to the White House by herself via through phone if she ever hinted it to her friends and family on it. While the Supporter or whatever can send messages elsewhere through people's phone ( Kondo's message going to his wife instead ) I wonder if they can hack on a cellphone randomly with a person having no relation to a Selecao who's from Japan? Like mentioned before, why her? Why aim a gun at Saki when walking straight out butt-naked with a gun in your hand infront of the White House can get you enough trouble as it is? And do alot of people walk by the White House? Maybe Akira was waiting for anyone to come on by and just shoot them but it baffles me still. Saki just so happened to create the perfect scenario for Akira to have an opportunity to create a commotion with the cops. And I' m leaning more on the edge that Akira's mind-wipe was done at the wrong moment on which he hadn't plan. |
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