Eden of the East - Episode 1

I think it's fair to say that Saki Morimi is having one of those weird days. A trip to Washington DC to take a look at the White House looks set to turn into a disaster as she's spotted throwing something onto the Presidential lawn by a couple of cops, but the next thing she knows she's been rescued by a gun-toting naked man. If that doesn't qualify as weird, then I don't know what does.

In return for saving her, Saki lets said naked guy borrow her jacket, only to realise that she's left her passport in there, meaning that she has to chase after him to retrieve it. After catching up with him, she ends up (via the Japanese embassy) at the airport ready to fly home to their native country - But just what is going on back in Tokyo?


Meanwhile, our aforementioned naked guy is having a bit of a crisis of his own, suddenly finding himself naked with a gun but no memory. Thankfully the location of his home is programmed into his phone, but upon his arrival there it appears to be some kind of terrorist hideout. Well, the guy certainly thinks like a terrorist, disposing ingeniously of some fake passports and evading some police questioning in an... err.... irregular fashion.

So goes the first episode of Eden of the East, and I have to admit that it seems quite strangely compelling from this opener. Production values of the series seem high from this first glimpse (well, it is a Production I.G. show) from the use of Oasis on the opening theme through to the employment of proper American voice actors to portray the Americans within this episode. That aside, the story itself has plenty of room to be intriguing thanks to our mystery man, as we're already thick with questions surrounding who he is and who he was working for. Despite all the questions, this episode doesn't lose its light-hearted touch either though, with some nice little set pieces to give you a laugh away from the pure, simple absurdity of it all.

Overall then, like so many series Eden of the East (or Higashi no Eden if you want to use the Japanese title) could swing either way as far as its quality and interest level goes at this juncture, but from this opener it's looking like a keeper if you ask me - There's plenty to like from episode one.