Don’t you just hate it when your favorite tv show get’s cancelled or ends, and you are left with a lot of unanswered questions? It is something that happens very frequently and I think it is pretty much an insult to the fans of a show. At least resolve a storyline, and give fans closure. Last week I saw a briljant Anime series called Eden of the East (you can find my review of it here). I liked it very much, but at the end everything was left pretty much wide open. Luckily the story was continued in two movies, that resolve the story and should end the series on a satisfying not. The question is, do the movies succeed in that mission? I usually review movies one at a time, but since these two movies are pretty much one continuing story, I have decided to review them together.

The first movie, The King of Eden, kicks off about six months after the final events of the Anime series. Saki Morimo is back in the United States, where she is desperately trying to find Akira Takizawa. Is he still alive? Meanwhile the game continues between the remaining Selecao. The enigmatic Mister Outside, continues to be every bit as mysterious and is still pulling the strings behind the curtain. Will the game end in a positive way for Japan, and is the future of the country assured? And even more importantly, what will that future be, and who will be the Selecao that wins the game? The answers to this question, and many others, are given in movie 2, Paradise Lost.

So….are these movies as good as the Anime series? I unfortunately have to answer that question with a no. Let’s start with the positive things first though. The animation, especially in the second movie is very good, and even though it is not very different from what you were used to in the Anime series, I still found it to be better. The music is once again provided by Kenji Kawai, and I keep saying it, this man is just simply amazing. And now for the bad things. The movies do provide an answer to every remaining question, but the time it takes to reach the conclusion, is just too long. Where the series had a lot of humour and exciting stuff that took place, what we get here, is a very bleak and political story, that at certain points was just way too longwinded. At times I really felt my mind wander off, something that never happened during the Anime. I think it would have been better to make a second series of 11 episodes, where there would have been more room to add in some comedy and tension. Maybe my expectations were just too high, as I loved the Anime so very much. Still, even though the movies are not as strong as the Anime, they are a definite “must watch” for the fans of the show. It was still great to see all the familiar faces of the Anime again, and the storyline does get wrapped up in a very nice and satisfying way. Also, stick around for the after credits scene at the end of the second movie.

I give Eden of the East movies 1&2 a 7 out of 10 score.