Eden of the East generic discussion

[Tale]

Originally Posted by rainrix

It's probably aimed at teenage girls, if you like what Kamiyama used us to , just be on your way, theres's nothing interesting here. I guess they knews there was high risks of disapponitment hence the only 11 episodes.

I think, it is still too early to judge. The work is going to be made into a movie.

It's one of characteristics of Kamiyama's work that there is a considerable number of references to western movies and literature, with which usual anime audiences would be unfamiliar. In fact, initially, Ghost in the Shell was not well accepted by Japanese anime fans. It was not until the work was made into the movie that it reached its audiences who would appreciate it. For commercial success, if the same scheme is going to be applied, it would be better that some romance factor is involved since it would attract young females, thus, young couples. However, I don't think Kamiyama just ends up with making an ordinary romantic story since there are already a few glimpses of conspiracies, satires, and observation to societies.

[Kaoru Chujo]

Originally Posted by Kazu-kun

You're assuming a bit too much here. Noitamina's usual audience is not entirely female. Their old target is a general non-otaku audiences (male and female), so we don't know whether this down in ratings is due to a lost of female or male audience.

You may be right, but I wasn't assuming, I was inferring. Interest on 2channel (largely male) is up compared to other Noitamina shows. TV ratings are down compared to ep1 and compared to many other shows in the timeslot. And the show has more shounen elements (fights, blood, danger, intrigue, politics) than most other Noitamina shows. You're right that Noitamina has not had an exclusively female audience, but it does have one that is much more female than other late-night animes' audiences.

[Kazu-kun]

Originally Posted by Kaoru Chujo

You may be right, but I wasn't assuming, I was inferring. Interest on 2channel (largely male) is up compared to other Noitamina shows. TV ratings are down compared to ep1 and compared to many other shows in the timeslot. And the show has more shounen elements (fights, blood, danger, intrigue, politics) than most other Noitamina shows. You're right that Noitamina has not had an exclusively female audience, but it does have one that is much more female than other late-night animes' audiences.

I'm making a distinction between this new male audience (anime fans/otaku/2channers/whatever) and the more usual, non-otaku male audience of Noitamina. So the down in ratings could be due to a lost of attention from this latter male audience, who knows? My point is just that we don't have any means to know who stopped watching the show, unless such thing as a gender-detailed rating exist or something. Anything beyond that is IMO just assumptions.

In fact, since the show is doing just 3.0, maybe they lost all their old audience (male and female), and now the only ones watching the show are the otaku. How about that for a wild guess? lol.

[Tale]

Originally Posted by Kaoru Chujo

You may be right, but I wasn't assuming, I was inferring. Interest on 2channel (largely male) is up compared to other Noitamina shows. TV ratings are down compared to ep1 and compared to many other shows in the timeslot. And the show has more shounen elements (fights, blood, danger, intrigue, politics) than most other Noitamina shows. You're right that Noitamina has not had an exclusively female audience, but it does have one that is much more female than other late-night animes' audiences.

I'm inclined to agree with Kazu-kun, here. As you pointed out, the work is, a kind of chimera, so, it's really hard to guess what kind of audiences are watching. In fact, one of the reasons why my attention is attracted to the work is that I find it pretty experimental. I wonder who can possibly infer from the given information rather than just assume/guess.

[Kaoru Chujo]

Sometimes we do get ratings showing gender- and age-specific ratings, but usually only top ten, and anyway I don't know how to get at them. Video Research compiles them. Maybe someone will post them somewhere sometime.

I still think my inference is likely. Not provable, of course, just likely, based on what evidence we have, including ratings, postings here and on 2channel, history, the nature of the show, etc. Time will tell. I hope it's just a blip and the TV ratings start rising again.

[Deathkillz]

So after two episodes of this I still seem to be getting some H&C vibe from it and that isn't just because of the character designs. Actually I think this series is doing quite well to establish a strong sense of bonding between the two main characters on a somewhat serious yet lighthearted way. I can see the series turning serious later on but for now it is still introducing and forming those bonds with a dash of foreshadowing on the sidelines. There isn't anything here which makes me feel that it is the best this season but still a strong, solid series that hopefully will continue throughout.

[Kaoru Chujo]

I found a site with a number of photos of places in Washington DC that are shown in the anime. I guess some Japanese person in DC actually went around and photographed them:
http://f.hatena.ne.jp/cosmovita/090502%20WDC/

[Jan-Poo]

Ah i had no doubt since the beginning ^^ they make the background copying them from picture, someone from the studio or maybe all the staff must have been there taking pictures and gathering informations.
I know that this has been done in past like in the case of studio Bones and their Cowboy Bebop Movie.

[Kaoru Chujo]

Originally Posted by Jan-Poo

Ah i had no doubt since the beginning ^^ they make the background copying them from picture, someone from the studio or maybe all the staff must have been there taking pictures and gathering informations.
I know that this has been done in past like in the case of studio Bones and their Cowboy Bebop Movie.

The first time I ran into it was with Uta~Kata, which was set in and around Kamakura. But it's apparently very common. The photos for Lucky Star helped spawn a cottage industry of "tours of sacred places" in Saitama. And there are photos of the locations in and around Toyama used in true tears. There are also photos of the locations used for the photo-realistic backgrounds of Mahoutsukai ni Taisetsu na Mono - Natsu no Sora, and even for Clannad.

I have seen a few on 2channel from the area of the ferry and mall in this show, too.

[Jan-Poo]

Natsu no Sora... in that case i think they used directly the photos °° If those are drawings then they are hyperrealistic

[4Tran]

I'm really late in commenting about Eden of the East, but it's been an absolute blast so far. It's a real rarity to see a show combine a thriller structure with what's more or less a screwball comedy, but this has been very successful. Moreover, most anime flub it whenever they try to address politics and/or philosophy, but while they've been peripheral issues in Eden of the East, they've also been handled exceptionally well. In a way, I get the feeling that it plays out like an intelligent version of Code Geass, and I highly look forward to seeing more. We really need to see more clever shows like this.

On a side note, the male characters this season seem to be exceptionally good - Akira is one of the best in a long time, and I keep finding myself pleasantly surprised.

[Kaoru Chujo]

Originally Posted by Jan-Poo

Natsu no Sora... in that case i think they used directly the photos °° If those are drawings then they are hyperrealistic

Yes, quite. They either just Photoshopped photos or drew on photos. However, I myself think those are among the most esthetically effective backgrounds I've seen in any anime. They helped give that show its something special (I rated it among the best shows of 2008).

[Wargumm1i]

Will there be only 11 episodes this anime series?

[~BC~]

It'll be 11 episodes with a movie later.

[Cal-Reflector]

It would really suck if you got selected for this "game" wouldn't it?

If you don't spend money for a while you die.
If you spend all your money you die.
The only way you won't die is by "Saving Japan" before anyone else does, whatever that means.

I wonder what made Morita... I mean, Akira decide to wipe his own memories. At first I thought it was because he'd committed some terrible act and was trying to rid himself of the guilt. Then, after it was revealed he didn't kill the NEETs, I felt perhaps he was looking for a "fresh" start, after realizing that there was no way conventional wisdom could use 10 billion yen to save Japan. So he tried to think outside of the box.

[Mystique]

Originally Posted by Cal-Reflector

It would really suck if you got selected for this "game" wouldn't it?

If you don't spend money for a while you die.
If you spend all your money you die.
The only way you won't die is by "Saving Japan" before anyone else does, whatever that means.

I wonder what made Morita... I mean, Akira decide to wipe his own memories. At first I thought it was because he'd committed some terrible act and was trying to rid himself of the guilt. Then, after it was revealed he didn't kill the NEETs, I felt perhaps he was looking for a "fresh" start, after realizing that there was no way conventional wisdom could use 10 billion yen to save Japan. So he tried to think outside of the box.

Sounds like an ep 4 comment that.
But as you were saying:

Dammed if you do, dammed if you don't
So may as well be like Kondo or Diana and have a good time, or be like Hiura and use it for a good cause even if it is your personal desire rather than Mr Outside's.
The individuality of the selected 12 is what makes the series interesting.
How would one person use this "opportunity" - which Selecao is most akin to how you may have approached this.
Hell, I'm racking my brains each week to figure in what way does Mr Outside want the country saved?
(Is there even a way around it, I sense 'no' and to save the country is to do away with him personally, lol)
But that's just my intuition/feeling though.
Mass massacre of the "slackers" of society isn't gonna quite cut it. (Akira's doing)

- Make all the politicans use the money properly for the country?
- Split the wealth?
- Be like Light and condemn the criminals that fuel corruption?

What Ep 5 showed me was a very clever way to create national results using very little money, so it's really down to the imagination of the individual.
Something to ponder on in the "Noblesse oblige" front. ^^

[Tale]

Originally Posted by Mystique

Sounds like an ep 4 comment that.
Mass massacre of the "slackers" of society isn't gonna quite cut it. (Akira's doing)

You don't seem to have watched ep 6　5 although you could have guessed that it wouldn't likely to be the case since Hiura told "Akira" that he found him an attractive individual before the memory loss and showed "his decision" some respect.

Is anybody wondering if "Akira" is a comical version of Kuze in Ghost in the Shell:Solid State Society, with the word "hero" replaced by "prince"? The word and some implications of possible tragic end reminds me of the Happy Prince somehow, though.

[Mystique]

Originally Posted by Tale

You don't seem to have watched ep 6　5 although you could have guessed that it wouldn't likely to be the case since Hiura told "Akira" that he found him an attractive individual before the memory loss and showed "his decision" some respect.

You're quoting my 'sounds like an ep 4' line, which refers to the bunch of rules of the game that Cal mentioned, which last time I checked, was an ep 4 thing.
(When they were all clearly defined)

And then, also quoting my mention of the NEET deaths, which in context was adding to the list of things that hasn't quite hit the goal of saving the country hence the game is running.
Whether Akira is truly responsible is something I'll let the series reveal to me, but on current information including the phone call to his own Juiz, it all points to him, so that's all I'm playing off for now.

I'd rather you ask me to elaborate on something if it seems vague or off, rather than jumping to your own conclusions based on your own misinterpreation from reading my post....

[Tale]

@Mystique: Sorry if you felt that I tripped you up. I simply wondered why you still thought whether "Akira" could be responsible for "the death of slackers" after watching ep5, where it was revealed that there was no death of them. In fact, you must have noticed that I mistook the ep number first time around since I thought I watched one more episode than you had watched.

[Happy_Chip]

A question, has anyone experienced audio issues on episode 5? Specifically where Saki is in the washroom stall, she overhears two employees talking. At one point there are subtitles for the dialogue of the two people, but you can't hear them talking.

(I'm probably cross-posting this - apologies - I posted a query about this in the playback help thread, but so far it doesn't seem to be getting much attention ... I'm just wondering if anyone else has made this experience.)