Created and Written by Justin Leach
Director: Yasuhiro Irie
Starring: Kyôko Hikami, Kentarô Itô, Marika Kôno, Tarusuke Shingaki, Kari Wahlgren and Kôichi Yamadera
A new four-part anime series called Eden has hit Netflix exploring the world that is inhabited by robots and humans are nowhere to be seen, except for one named Sara who is in grave danger. Here is our review of Eden Season 1.
Eden takes place 5000 years in the future and the planet is thriving, pollution no longer exists and nature has taken back control of the planet and is in harmony. Robots live peacefully over the planet, going about their same day-to-day chores in an endless programmed loop. Two robots stumble across a human girl, named Sara (Marika Kôno), and secretly raise her with other bots. We see Sara grow up and her curiosity grows: what is beyond the small settlement where she lives and why is she the only human left?
What looks like the perfect world is still hiding its dark secrets, in the form of a robot named Zero who takes control over all the bots and determines who must be reprogrammed or not. This is a very mysterious show, there are lots of secrets to be uncovered which makes all the twists and turns exciting. However, with only four episodes there isn’t much time to process what is happening and really delve into these characters. As a result, the story is very fast paced and we aren’t given much room to breathe, we are constantly hit with something important happening.
SARA TRIES TO FIND HER OWN IDENTITY AND FREEDOM IN EDEN SEASON 1
Credit: Netflix
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This is a very character driven story; this is Sara’s story as she searches for any other human survivors. Sara is such a complex character, she is looking for her own freedom and happiness, while searching for answers. She is constantly wondering why she was left behind or why she was chosen for this mission. However, the heart of the show is she is looking for who she is, at times she thinks she is robot and others she knows she is a human but doesn’t really understand what that means. Her own history and parents are a mystery, she only knows her robot parents and nothing about her human ones and they aren’t even really mentioned at all. It’s a shame we couldn’t find out more about them but we can assume that they have died.
We deal with themes of freedom and happiness in this show, although Sara is the only character that we deal with that has free will. Again, another idea that could have been used and delved into more is this idea that Sara has free will whilst all the bots don’t. It is slightly hinted with the bots who broke programming and believed humans were good but really that is also following some form of programming, they still must not harm anyone. Therefore if there were more episodes it would have been nice to see how this idea played out more.
ZERO’S BACKSTORY WAS A NICE SURPRISE
Credit: Netflix
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I really enjoyed the Zero (Kôichi Yamadera) backstory; it was something I really didn’t see coming and found it really enjoyable to watch unfold. I do wish this season was longer maybe six episodes not four so the mystery around this character and the intrigue could have been dragged out more. It felt as if this season was over before it had even started. There have been lots of missed opportunities which should have been used more but yet due to such a short run time they had to be left behind.
THERE IS SCOPE FOR A EDEN SEASON 2!
Credit: Netflix
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The final episode was a bit of a disappointment, in the sense of how quickly everything was wrapped up. I was hoping that we could have been left on more of a cliff-hanger; the final moments of this season are a bit underwhelming as everything felt so rushed. I hoped the ending would be left a bit more open ended so it would be more emotional, especially with Sara reintroducing herself to her robot parents. That moment should have had a big impact but fell a bit flat because of everything else that was happening around that moment, which is a shame because that could have been a really heartfelt moment.
I do hope that there is a second season to this show as there is scope to see what happens now the password has been found and the pods can be opened. Also, there could be scope to see other parts of this world and see how they differ to Sara’s bit of Earth/Eden. Eden Season 1’s animation is beautiful and the world looks really inviting but I just wish we got to see more of it.
EDEN IS A GREAT INTRODUCTION TO THE WORLD OF ANIME BUT IT ALSO MAKES YOU THINK!
Credit: Netflix
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At the heart of this show is the planet. It is trying to show us what the world would look like if we didn’t exist. As there has been so much emphasis on saving the planet recently due to climate change and pollution it can’t be surprising that projects are being inspired by these movements. Eden pulls at your heartstrings and makes you think, as it shows the relationship between human, robots and nature.
Eden is a great quick watch and a great way to introduce someone to the anime world as its quick run time and short number of episodes in the season make it easy watching. However, with such few episodes it means the plot is very rushed to fit everything the creators wanted to fit in. These four episodes follow Sara the believed to be only human left as she is given the task to find the password before the timer runs out to awaken the rest of humanity who are currently in pods awaiting to be awoken. Zero’s storyline is the most surprising and interesting part of this season but overall, I wish the whole season was longer and more developed.
This show was really fun to watch and this season was enjoyable to watch but it needs more episodes to help develop characters and relationships and build up the intensity of the timer running out. I hope that there a second season following on from the conclusion of the fourth episode. There is a lot of potential from these four episodes which I hope will be built upon because this show could become really popular! I am left wanting to see more of Eden and more of the history of this world.
What did you make of Eden Season 1?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
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