Eden of the East / First Impressions

Summary:

Akira allows Saki and Micchon to board the train back to Tokyo, but he doesn’t go with them and instead meets with Mononobe. Realizing that Akira still doesn’t have his memories back, Mononobe explains that he’s going to the academic city of Harima with the intent of winning this game, and he invites Akira to come with him. Akira, however, first gets a call from a concerned Saki who wants to know what’s going on. Refusing to let Akira hang up on her, she reveals that she knows that his cell phone is special and that he was with a woman during the hotel incident. She wants him to tell her everything, including who he is, but he really doesn’t know and offers to not hang up the phone so that she can listen in on his conversation with Mononobe. He also tells her that if he ends up being a criminal, then she can forget about him, and he’ll disappear. Saki thus listens in as Akira boards a helicopter with Mononobe and starts talking to him.

Akira first wants to know why he erased his memories and used false names, so Mononobe starts by bringing up the ATO company and its president Atou Saizou who is none other than Mr. Outside. During the reconstruction period after World War II, Atou was a wealthy and influential businessman who got his start in the transportation industry. He was proud of having built the foundation of modern Japan, but he wondered if the current Japan that had reached its limit was the best and if he had done the right thing. Mononobe feels that they’re victims of Atou’s whims to change Japan, but he also knows that Atou didn’t have much time left because of his terminal cancer, and he thinks that Atou could already be dead. As for how Mononobe intends to win the game, he claims that he’s planning on replacing Mr. Outside.

Once the two arrive at the ATO Harima Neuroscience Institute, Mononobe explains that he quit his old job as a bureaucrat when he became aware of Mr. Outside’s true identity, and he got involved with the ATO company, eventually becoming a corporate officer. He’s identified nine other Selecao, including Akira, and is now working with two of them. One of those is Selecao No. 10, Yuuki, who is waiting for them inside the facility, and Mononobe introduces him as the person who launched the 11 missiles. Mononobe then places a call to Juiz asking her to get him a bottle of celebratory champagne, and this piques Akira’s interest in Juiz again. As the three head to the control room further inside the facility where Mononobe’s other accomplice Tsuji is waiting, Akira asks about Juiz, so Mononobe reveals that Juiz is actually the giant system underneath them.

Extending an invitation for Akira to participate with them in redoing post-WWII Japan, Mononobe further reveals that there’s another missile attack coming tomorrow at 8AM, this time with 60 missiles. Yuuki defends this action by citing the exploitation of false equality and his own struggles with working and getting ahead in society. The original 11 missiles were his message to the government that – much like he himself had been told – their self-responsibility wasn’t enough. Mononobe agrees with Yuuki and feels that getting rid of the problems caused by the elderly and the lazy would help downsize Japan and renew its global competitive edge. Despite this reasoning, Akira is still against what they’re doing, and he wants to smack all of them. Yuuki recalls that Akira said the same thing before his memory was erased and he was helping people escape from the missiles’ ground zero.

Since Yuuki feels that they should tell Akira why he erased his memory, Mononobe reveals that Akira was betrayed by both the people he saved and the friends he cooperated with. Back in Tokyo, Hirasawa and the others have noticed that Itazu uploaded a ton of data onto the Eden server, and reading this data reveals the information behind the missile attacks, though Hirasawa thinks that it was the doing of Akira. Before they can get too far into it though, the group hears a loud noise outside, and they find a large ship has docked beside the shopping mall. Onboard this ship are dozens of shipping containers, and from them emerge hundreds of naked men that Oosugi realizes are the missing NEETs. Since the NEETs appear to be enraged, Hirasawa and the others flee, leaving behind their computer.

Saki meanwhile has become depressed and started crying because she feels that she’s just like the people who betrayed Akira. She explains to Micchon that back when the missiles came down, she had felt that it’d be better if something more terrible had occurred. By this point, Akira has left the facility, and Mononobe lets him go. In the meantime, a receptionist whose voice sounds similar to Juiz’s brings them some champagne like Mononobe requested earlier, however it’s just an empty bottle because there won’t be a celebratory toast due to how the victor of the game won’t be decided tonight. This alarms Mononobe, and checking the purchase logs on his cell phone reveals to him that Selecao No. 12 acted recently to move Juiz to a secret location. This causes him to think that Selecao No. 12 is the Supporter or even Mr. Outside himself.

Preview

There’s a ton of information and explanation provided this episode, but still so much more that’s still mysterious, and I wonder if they’ll have time to get through it all in the finale next week. For starters, they sort of get into how Akira was betrayed, but it was very vague, and I really hope they show more specifically drove him to getting his memories erased. Mr. Outside’s background was also revealed, but Mononobe not being 100% sure about his death opens up the possibility that he’s still alive and manipulating them. Maybe Akira will get to meet him yet. More interesting than that is how Juiz got identified this episode as a sort of advanced AI system, but the odd thing is that the receptionist at the end clearly had Juiz’s voice and was listed in the credits as “Juiz?” The simplest explanation is that she was probably the one who provided the voice for the AI system, but there could still be some plot twist there. The involvement of Selecao No. 12 complicates things further, and it worries me from a story point of view because there’s always the danger that they’ll bring out a previously unintroduced character for the finale to magically explain everything.

In short, there’s no telling how this’ll all get finished in next week’s finale. Maybe the NEETs who came back will get to save the world and prove their worth. Saki also grew a little as a character this week, but I suspect she won’t get to end up with Akira given what she said in the opening monologue way back in episode one. Regardless of what happens there, I really just hope they don’t end on a cliffhanger or something to be continued in the movie.

54 Comments

  5. Heh, I suspected that Juiz was a computer. There was no way a human could handle so many requests with such efficiency.

    I really really hope they don’t end up on a cliffhanger.

    Dardklrd
    Reply

  7. Nice episode, can’t believe only 1 left and then have to wait for movie.
    Does Juiz remind anyone of Eagle Eye.
    And why are the NEETs still on the boat, didn’t Akira meet one in like episode 4 or something.

    Shin_Zero
    Reply

  13. Ooh, very nice episode.
    Akira seems a little down…that won’t stop him from being his amazing self. I’m sure he will do something amazing in the coming episode or the movie, hope Saki will too. They are perfect for each other, there is no denying that. /^_^/

    Does anyone know when te movie is coming out?

    Tuuli
    Reply

  14. @ewok

    I agree. The US firebombed 67 cities with payloads FAR greater than that of a single tomahawk missile. some Japanese cities were completely destroyed up to 99%, some larger cities like Tokyo were nearly 50% erased due to the attacks. and then on top of all of that, Hiroshima and Nagasaki were hit with A-bombs.

    60 tomahawks would just piss off the entire country.

    Jay
    Reply

  15. So, not much of a surprise that Juiz is a supercomputer. I bet that woman with her voice had a hand in creating it.

    I used to think that Daiju was the Supporter, due to him being all ominous in the series’s beginning and being Selecao I, but with the relevation that Selecao XII apparently has direct access to Juiz makes me think s/he is the Supporter instead. Though I wonder if Akira or someone couldn’t just call up Juiz and have her be moved.

    Apparently Selecao II, someone named Jintaro Tsuji, has been put up on the official site, but I don’t have access to it at the moment.

    Crossword
    Reply

  17. hmm cliffhanger…SUZAKU,,,,,,LELOOOOOUCHE!!!! *Bang* y the hell not!!!>?
    😛 in any caase i think this show could have been more then it seems i hope theres a second season!!!

    WingZerozxt
    Reply

  20. @WingZerozxt: you take those words back, if they make a code geass-ish cliff hanger ending here and make us wait for ages for the movie then I’m gonna have a little “chat” with the creators.

    Still I think that 11eps+a movie is WAY too few for this series, I mean the whole potential it holds is just overwhelming and it feel like the fun just started, yet it’s almost the end.

    Also for me it’s obvious that XII or the guy in the pink shirt is the supporter, but we’ll see.

    Zenzen
    Reply

  21. Um to clarify things. No.12 didn’t send Juiz to a secret location. Actually it just said on the phone that No.12 “ordered” for the real Juiz to go to the secret location, which in this case is the place they were at (The place they’re in which they thought was Juiz).

    ROFLWAFFLELAWL
    Reply

  22. I usually don’t comment, but this episode really deserves it, the Juiz Computer Looks Alot like a Six-Shooter (revolver). But i am not sure if the computer is the “real” Juiz, No.1 request was for her to deliver the champagne and that Juiz came, but if no.12’s request was for her to be moved she could not deliver the champagne after that request…Making this even more difficult to understand, A Error in production or the Real Juiz is neither of them. (Sorry about the bad english, At least this anime uses my home country language (is great to hear people saying Selecao(Soccer Team) and Juiz(Judge))

    Well, I hope this anime ends well, one of my favorites soo far right beside Evangelion.

    Noblesse Oblige, Please let this blog continue to be a messiah for anime info.

    HashiNxD
    Reply

  26. I bet you Juiz is number 12 and is the supporter.

    So we know who number 1 2 4 5 9 10 11 12 are leaving only 4 Selecao that hasn’t been mention yet.

    1 The crazy bureaucrat
    2 The cheap bastard who didn’t spend a dime, which is questionable because the supporter would have killed him
    4 The cop who goes “bang”
    5 Old guy who helped old people
    9 Some crazy guy who like to run around naked and flashing people in exchange for favors
    10 Crazy Missile guy
    11 The girl who was never loved by a johnny
    12 Juiz? Supporter?

    Now to guess
    #3 The black lady cop from episode 1?
    #6 The dog? The wings give it away!
    #7 Micchon, she is too cute, something has to be up.
    #8 The crazy lady who stabbed the cop

    LeftArrow
    Reply

  27. HashiNxD

    To clarify things, the computer that looks like a six shooter is Juiz according to number 1. The girl is to throw you off, maybe the girl that came is a robot?

    LeftArrow
    Reply

  28. Great episode,I’ve been loving this series. Poor Takizawa-kun.. :'<
    What I don’t get though is why do they have to make it SO short?One episode isn’t enough!
    This series had so much more potential which is what I don’t understand.They always do this with good series..cram it up with as little character development as possible. Also,why can’t there be a 2nd season instead of a movie? *huffs*

    Amu
    Reply

  29. I still figure that Akira is/was the supporter somehow connected to the beginning of the whole Selecao concept. The blank memory thing is too useful of a plot device to allow him to be previously unrelated.

    Alt
    Reply

  30. So I don’t know if anyone else was paying as close attention as I was, but Juiz was being moved as Mononobe and Akira were walking down the sidewalk to the enterence of ATO Harima Neuroscience Institute. As they’re walking outside, you see three flatbed trucks drive by carying Three huge cylindrical objects covered in a tarp.

    In the “AI” room, where Juiz supposedly was supposed to be, you see three cylindrical holes, or plugs, where the cylinders that were carried off by truck would have fit perfectly. Why Mononobe didn’t notice the absence of the cylinders is beyond me, but the trucks moving Juiz as they were approaching makes sense since it happened recently enough for Mononobe to not have read the history log for it.

    Andy
    Reply

  31. Also, sorry for the double post, but if you pause as the cylinder’s are being trucked off, you can see that the back of the cylinders have little circles on them that line up with the glowing circles in the empty plugs of the control room. (you don’t see all three trucks at once, but you do see two trucks go by, the headlights of the third following the 2nd truck, then the back of the third truck pass by.)

    Andy
    Reply

  32. Umm saying this for a 2nd time and going to hope someone reads it. That Juiz is the REAL one. No.1 looked at the phone to see what the newest “payment” was and it was for the real Juiz to go to the secret place, that secret place being where No.1 thought the “AI Juiz” was. Which would be the room they’re in. That’s why they were surprised when they heard her voice (along with her “catch phrase”). Also the “payment” wasn’t something that happened JUST then because you would have heard the sound. And she did in fact deliver the champagne. She just set it down. Why am I so sure? Well first off I’m fluent so I understand what they’re saying ( 😛 ) but the main reason is because, well do you think No.12 would have her go to a secret location and it only cost 5,000 yen (roughly 50 bucks).

    ROFLWAFFLELAWL
    Reply

  34. “I really just hope they don’t end on a cliffhanger or something to be continued in the movie”

    It’s inevitable. It will happen and we will be sad and pissed and will have to wait for the movie.

    Exia
    Reply

  36. @Andy and @ROFLWAFFLELAWL are right.
    If you look at the time of the “move Juiz transaction” it was issued at 23:17, and if you look at 20’th minute of the anime, you’ll see Selecao X checking his watch, which showed it is 23:45. Totally makes sense that Juiz AI was evacuated.

    Placinta
    Reply

  39. The ending of this episode shows that there still is more to this conspiracy than No.1 thinks he knows.

    Was it ever stated anywhere that a single person can be two Selecao? Or was it always one selecao to one individual person?

    Hiwatari
    Reply

  40. @HashiNxD

    “Juiz” actually means judge? Now there’s an argument for Juiz being the supporter. 🙂

    Also, the format of the series is a bit funny. There are 12 Selecao, the twelfth supposedly being the supporter. There are 11 episodes in the series with a movie coming.

    brx
    Reply

  41. @Nyfe 5:03 am on May 30th, 2009
    Eden of the East – 08 May 28

    “I think there may be more than one Juiz, or perhaps Juiz may be a computerized identity.”

    Lulz.

    “However, her (Juiz’s) disposition towards the different Selecaos is quite noticeable…”

    Juiz’s attitude based on the responsibility of the Selecao’s obviously reflects the way she carries out commands, i.e. the empty champagne bottle for Mononobe.

    As an afterthought,

    If you notice episode one, they guy talking to Juiz about how interesting Number 9 is, he is wearing the same ring Mononobe is wearing on his finger, indicating he is already concerned with Akira, and of course, is not Mr. Outside. Mononobe has obviously been watching Akira since at least the beginning of episode one.

    This series keeps getting better and better. I hope it ends with a brilliant bang.

    Nyfe
    Reply

  42. brx
    Yes, juiz = judge
    The series have many things related to soccer. Even the number of selecao (11 plus suporter) and episodes. (11)
    Well… any one know where the movie will be released?

    bvinicius
    Reply

  43. Now that I read these comments you’re right. They probable moved the AI Juiz with those trucks. But I’m not going to say that the other Juiz isn’t real as well. I’m guessing one of 2 things.

    Either 1) They based the AI system after the real Juiz. Either because she had a close relationship with Atou Saizou or was his partner in this whole “game”/project

    or 2) The Juiz we’ve been hearing all this time was in fact the pink haired lady. BUT they made an AI system to replace her because she either isn’t going to be alive for very long, is actually a Selecao and is planning to do something that may ultimately end her life, is the supporter Selecao and needed to have a “copy” of her, or the thing shipped isn’t actually an AI program but something else named after Juiz.

    That’s my guess.

    ROFLWAFFLELAWL
    Reply

  47. maybe juiz can be compared to veda in gundam 00 and the juiz receptionist is like an encoder capable of ordering the system around. remembering how no.4 (i think this was the doctor) said that akira’s older self betted on his new self, im curious now on how things will be put into place. the connection between the NEETS sent to dubai, the evacuation he did to counter careless monday, and his memory wipe. i wonder what happened back then that made akira tick. also, who ordered the NEETS to come back? was it a timed event set by akira? if so, there should’ve been records of it in the phone.

    for some reason i really didn’t like saki’s character throughout the series. maybe it’s because she clings on to prince charming so much that im pissed on how helpless she is throughout the series.

    baka~
    Reply

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