Comments on: First Look Fair – Eden of the East

By: theillen

theillen — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 23:28:58 +0000

Everything I noticed about the ep has been nailed in this thread. The relative authenticity of the DC backdrop (I nearly pooped myself when I saw Cab Ass’n on the taxi), the inconsistency in the language of dialogue, the fact that the cop used his “Johnny” to identify him, and the references to Jason Bourne.

This is going to be one hell of a ride.

By: smashingtofu

smashingtofu — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 07:24:18 +0000

Heh, did I mention that the character designer is the original H&C manga author?

Eh, I’ve been burnt out on Oasis for a long time but the new song sounds like they have matured as a band… especially since it seems like they’re finally letting Noel sing some of the songs.

Also if you’re a fan of that brand of Brit Rock in general I think you might like these guys:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hD6-FVzWnwg
They’re a Japanese band that have broken up since 2002 though…

Also lol at the CAB ASS’N but I’ve heard that exists

By: Mike

Mike — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 05:35:27 +0000

Martin: Akira himself seems to be making the Bourne/Damon comparison anyway! And as for Oasis, I'm old enough to remember their heyday too with their album "What's the Story Morning Glory?" At the time, I wasn't too hot on it. I actually like "Falling Down" better than most of the songs I've heard from them. The few times an anime picks an actual English song--the Delgados in Gunslinger Girl, "Girls on Film" for Speed Grapher, the OP to Mushi-shi--they do seem to have good taste. Andrew F: you're absolutely right, there is an inconsistency there with the comprehension levels of various characters. I remember noticing it but for some reason forgetting to mention it. And well, unions would be a very plausible reason, though I don't know exactly how unionized the anime business is compared to Hollywood. I mean, the grunt animators only just got a union last year, and they still get paid below living wages for bringing us all this entertainment. smashingtofu: indeed, it's clearly a tribute of some kind. Let's hope the character designs and the ED are signs of H&C like quality, too! I think I still like the OP slightly better, but both are definitely cool. This is a "cool" show in general. fangzhao: I still think the guy is Sen. Larry Craig, famous for his various escapades in airport restrooms. And, well, yeah probably, though of course in this case it's a reflection of what the Japanese think of what Americans think of them...

By: fangzhao

fangzhao — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 02:30:28 +0000

“A guy taking off his pants in front of CVS for the naked Akira?”

I thought about that for a while, and I came to the conclusion that the stripper in question was given a large amount of money in exchange for his pants (from the summaries, we know that Akira has $80 million, so…).

“A cop being deflected by the sight of his “Johnny”?”

….shit. I can’t argue with the illogicity of that. Wasn’t it a bit racist when she looked at the photo and asked “are you Japanese?” o_o

By: smashingtofu

smashingtofu — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 21:28:41 +0000

Episode being great asides; it has the coolest ED I’ve seen a long time… much like the Honey and Clover OP.

Also its got School Food Punishment! An up and coming former indie band that seems to be rising in popularity lately…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PC1F9KqpF78

By: Andrew F.

Andrew F. — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 19:27:11 +0000

Now that I’ve actually watched the episode, I can see that it was done in more or less the same way Blood was, only there are no English-speaking major characters thus far. Twice, Akira asks a question in Japanese and gets a reply in English, which weirded me out–is his seiyuu’s English pronunciation just really bad? It doesn’t make a lot of sense for a random DC taxi driver to know Japanese, and even if he did, wouldn’t he reply in Japanese and not English? Other than that one quibble, the use of English is great.

By: Andrew F.

Andrew F. — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 17:39:23 +0000

I have to wonder why it’s so rare to see native (or at least fluent) English speakers cast in English-speaking anime roles; surely it can’t be that difficult to find an English-speaking actor for a throwaway part. Failing that, it seems like they could do pretty well just grabbing a random (English-speaking) gaikokujin off the street–I’ve heard of this happening with TV commercials and such. Maybe it’s a union issue?

I’d like to see more anime like Blood: The Last Vampire (also a Production I.G work), where Japanese-speaking roles are played by Japanese speakers and English-speaking roles are played by English speakers. Blood was special in that it was co-produced by an American company (Manga Entertainment) IIRC, and it’s true that big-budget OVAs can do things that TV series can’t, but the bilingual aspect was really neat even though I didn’t much care for the rest of the OVA.

By: Martin

Martin — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 15:24:14 +0000

Yes on all counts. I was all geared up for criticising the unrealistic aspects when everything around them is so lifelike but DAMN the chemistry between the two leads is so fantastic I couldn’t care less right now.

I’m worried about the length of the series (unless the planned Eden movie adds to the story rather than summarising the events of the TV run) and how the political backdrop – which looks pretty impressive at first glance – can be addressed in that time.

But then, who am I kidding? I found every minute of this episode to be tremendous fun – from the impressive Engrish, to the fact that Oasis seem to have got good again (I’m old enough to remember their mid 90s heyday!), right down to the Jason Bourne reference.

I’ve not seen much Honey and Clover though, so Akira’s character had me shouting “MATT DAMON~!” at the screen instead. :P