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What happens when you lose the one you love when your life together has barely even begun? Hajimari no Niina answers this question very simply - by coming back to see your loved one through reincarnation. Chitose comes back as a girl named Niina in order to be with Atsurou, despite the age barrier that now exists between them and despite the fact that he doesn't know who she really is.

The manga is great at weaving the emotions of the characters throughout the story, exploring the hard question of who suffers more: the one left behind, or the one who left? The story isn't ... very complicated and is pretty much what you would predict it to be in the summary, but that doesn't matter because the focus is on the characters. You can see that the love between Niina and Atsurou is heart-warmingly strong. She tries her best to be there for him while Atsurou is inexplicably drawn towards her even when he is constantly mourning the loss of Chitose.

Hajimari no Niina is like a cool breeze on a hot summer day - refreshing and liberating - and makes you believe in the power of human emotion again. It really touched me and I'll gladly give it a rating of 10.

Eden of the East is an anime in which I have never seen the likes of before. The plot is strange, the characters are strange, and the humour is strange - but somehow it all works. Brilliantly. But first of all, I should say this: if you're a really big fan of fan service, harems, hardcore romance, hardcore action, and/or gore, then this is not the series for you. If you like plot, character development, catchy music and brilliant animation/art then read on.

STORY- 9/10
For one thing, although the plot has a bit of a fantastical element to it, it reflects what is going on in ... the world today. It shows the dark and corrupt side of society, but at the same time shows it with a kind of hope for the future. It's a sad, yet warm series.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. I should explain just what is going on first. One thing about this series is that you don't know what is really going on; you can speculate, but innately, there's this sense that something bigger and more amazing is happening. It's this intrigue that first drew me.

----begin plot summary----
So, as you already know, this guy wakes up in Washington, in front of the white house, naked and carrying a pistol and a phone. A phone loaded with 8.2 billion yen in electronic cash. But...he has no memory of who he is. There he meets a girl about to go back to Japan after visiting as a grad trip, and decides to go back with her if only because he doesn't know what else to do.

What you don't know (if you haven't watched the series yet). When he turns his phone on, a mysterious woman named 'Juiz' calls him and says that she is his concierge, that he is the ninth Selecao (forgive the spelling if it's wrong). We'll fast forward here, but eventually he finds out that there are twelve people picked by a Mr. Outside to be 'messiahs'. They are each given 10 billion yen and the simple instruction to "save Japan"; added to that, apparently it was his idea to erase his memories in the first place and bet on a whole new persona.

If you run out of money and Japan still isn't 'saved', then one of the twelve, named the Supporter, will kill you. Likewise, if you keep spending the money uselessly or for selfish reasons the same will happen. Only Mr. Outside knows whom of the twelve is the Supporter. Basically, you can get away with anything - just ask Juiz and she'll do it for you somehow, anytime you want (as long as you tell her). Bribes, murder, you name it. Added to that, there are some crazy Selecao out there; they truly encompass the entire spectrum.

So far we've met Akira who doesn't know who he is but is involved with several bombings in Japan and who wants to win the game, a murderer, a doctor, a detective, another one who is also directly involved with the bombings, a businessman and one who hasn't touched his money and only wants the game to end. The last three believe that they have found out who Mr.Outside is and are working together. I won't give away anymore, but that's the gist of it. I've heard that this plot is similar to the Bourne series.

----end plot summary----

*Important Note* However, if you think this is a purely a political story from how it sounds so far (reminiscent of those famous Gundam series), think again. The atmosphere is distinctly different; not as callous and involves the audience, the common people, much more.

It's difficult to classify this series. It's mystery, romance, horror maybe, and a bit of slice-of-life. Maybe not so much with the horror; as I said earlier, this series has its serious moments but on the whole it looks on the bright side of things. Both moments blend together very well with the pacing to make you feel like you're there along with the characters, even if it is confusing at times. Suffice to say, the plot is great and keeps you guessing, unlike lots of other anime where you can just predict from the start what's going to happen for the rest of the show.

So, to sum it up, the plot makes you think, and it's definitely not self-absorbed because it deals with issues in the world today. Although the series has ended, it kind of seems incomplete (which disappointed me) because there's a movie on the way which likely concludes the entire thing more completely, so we have to wait for that now too.

CHARACTERS - 9/10
The characters. Hm. I will talk in depth about the two main characters. For me, I think Akira (the main character - the naked guy) is the one who has truly drawn me. He is very unique, but he's kind of dazzling - his personality is so vibrant and even though he's in a tough situation where anyone else would have completely broken down, he still makes jokes and just acts like himself. He does have a minor freak out, but it's more funny than anything else.

Saki, the girl, is the other main character. She's rather shy, but I think she and Akira work well together. She kind of stabilizes him I think and is the one who always seems to believe in him even when her friends start thinking he's a terrorist. It is really a compliment when I'm not annoyed with an anime girl - she seems realistic as in not too shy to the point of being ridiculous, not too naive to the point where I want to bash her head, and not too tough that she's difficult to approach.

Most anime portray girls as being on these opposite extremities, and thankfully Saki is in the middle, which is where most people are.

The characters themselves do seem very real and compelling. That and their interactions are one of the stronger elements in Eden of the East, and if you're all for character development, then go for it.

ART/ANIMATION- 9/10
As for the art or animation style, if you liked the character designs in Honey and Clover, they are very similar. I think the same person made them. There's one word I would use to describe it: sweet. Not sweet as in 'sick', but sweet in that it's very gentle and pretty. The only thing I dislike about it is the nose; there's just something weird about it, especially the shadow at the bridge of the nose which looks like a bandaid in some scenes (in the picture provided by this website for Akira, you can see it).

The animation quality itself is very smooth and consistent, with beautiful bright colours and wonderful scenery. Some backgrounds look like they're painted, and in particular the water is drawn beautifully. The most outstanding moments are at dusk or when it's just become night. Overall the animation is excellent and you can definitely tell it's a recent series. Of course, this is expected from Production I.G (one of my fav studios).

MUSIC/SOUND - 8/10
The music score is very unique - I would say it suits the anime because it's kind of funky, a lot of it has an English/Americanish feel which contributes to the whole wordly feeling to the anime because the series also retains many Japanese elements.

The opening is English and rock/jazz (band is called Oasis, if you like them), and the ending is similar but in Japanese. During the show it replays these songs sometimes, but there's a lot of classical music as well, of course. Admittedly, the ending song has grown on me because I think it suits the series well. Personally the rest of the music is not really my thing, but even I have to admit that it suits the moods and the scenes, lending a great backdrop to everything and fleshing out the feelings invoked by different scenes.

ENJOYMENT - 10/10
Overall, I enjoyed this series immensely despite the somewhat anti-climatic ending (which leads up to the movie). Definitely one of the best in 2009 so far. It's a breath of fresh air if you're tired of harems and cliches, but once again if you're really into action then this isn't the series for you. This is plot and character driven, and is thought-provoking. It's also very easy to follow, because the subs come out really fast after the raws come out (either the day of or the day after), and it can be found basically on any anime website and even youtube. I recommend because they update new episodes right away and it's easy to navigate, with only a few popups here and there. is also good.