Netlflix Friday: Eden of the East Update

Last week I talked about a cool anime that I'm watching called Eden of the East.  I was about midway through the series at that point and since then, things have changed a bit -- and with it, my thoughts about whether this is anime for people who don't like anime.

Around episodes 6 and 7, we get a strange tangent storyline that is definitely not suitable for kids and is not family friendly. It also ends in a weird scene that, although explained, sort of blows the whole "fairly realistic" comment I made about this show last week.

Takizawa is searching for the other "Saviors," that is the people playing the "game" to save Japan. In order to find more information about his own past (did I mention last week that he found out that he has amnesia because he purposefully wiped his own memory?) that he has started tracking down the other players in the game. One of them was crooked, another was actually a doctor who set up a free community for the elderly (and then met his fate because he spent all his money without playing to win), and then we find the next one.

She's a beautiful business woman who is  powerful and, welllllllll, she's a bitch. A mega bi-atch. She treats her staff like dirt and has the emotional depth of a drop of rain water. Oh, and she's a serial killer who, apparently, has kidnapped one of Saki's friends and is about to use the cigar cutter (see the picture below) in a way that should make every man reading this cross his legs.

You see, she's the notorious (some say urban legend) Johnny Killer. So named because that's what she cuts off. Takizawa tracks her down and confronts her, the two revealing that they are both playing the game. This is where the "realism" seems to take flight... literally as the killer sprouts giant black wings and flies off with her victim.

When I saw this happen, I thought that this was some sort of unnecessary twist and a nod out to the guys who like more fantasy in their anime. But at the end we catch a glimpse of her cell phone and it shows an expense for creating an illusion. Yup, an intense illusion of her sprouting wings and flying away.

Now I'm left to ponder if this was some sort of fan service (i.e. something gratuitous for the fans) to show a dark angel in her underwear, or is this some sort of preview of the sort of power that can be harnessed by whoever is running the game? In other words, will Takizawa need some sort of illusion in the future? Only time (and a handful more episodes) will tell.

BTW: Last week I gave you guys some bad info. I said that Netflix does not have either of the two Eden of the East movies. I was wrong. They have the first one.

See ya back here next week for more fun and frolic.