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There are some other really great reviews of this fantastic series on here, so just some general comments:

The only way I can think of to describe this series is like Song of Ice and Fire (George RR Martin), but set about 100 years in a vaguely foreseeable future with a quicker pace, plus long digressions on theoretical physics; references to Noam Chomsky; fucked up bio-weapons; a strong treatment of ethnic conflict, homosexuality, and various political issues; a few moments of Evangelion-like strangeness; lots of characters (with impressively realistic characterization); meditations on gnostic philosophy; and an absurd amount of death, brutality, and suffering. It's maybe not ... the best manga I've read (there's one section in the center I especially didn't like), but it's probably the smartest, with a genuinely impressive scope/sophistication. The art wasn't great, but competent and occasionally striking. Like RR Martin, Endo has a tendency to frequently kill his characters, though I think Eden was maybe more gritty/unpleasant than Ice and Fire, as there were a few parts so brutal or sad I felt a little sick. I think I've been reading manga for about a month now and I've been lucky to stumble over a quite a few impressive works; this definitely rates pretty high next to them.

I don't know how Nisio Isin--who has a history of writing complex, sophisticated, and intensely original things like The Monogatari series, Katanagatari, and the Zaregoto books--could write something as idiotic and generic as this show. The first season was awful school life, with bad gags, a ridiculous plot, and none of the clever writing I sort of expect from Nisio Isin; this season had all the same problems except now it's a mediocre battle-anime. I don't know what went wrong, but considering how good this could have been, it's really a shame.

This show is an over caffeinated beast--sort of like a combination of high school girls playing tennis, plus a cocaine overdose and Heisenburg's Uncertainty Principle (minus any in-between animation whatsoever). It's also pretty brilliant.

this show was good when it was being funny, not so much when it was being serious. some of the SF elements were great, and vash was cool in general, but his ethics were pretty dumb and they made the end of the series difficult to watch. the characters were enjoyable enough though to make up for the week points of the show, even with some of the pacing issues i suppose i won't get into here