As always, I want to try an keep reviews spoiler free. So I'm going to gloss over many parts of the story, as everything ties together quite nicely, and nothing gets left unexplained. If someone says something and you go "How did that happen?" it will become apparent before the end of the second movie. This is something I love. There was a moment where I went "I'm sure that person was alive", but as far as everyone else was concerned, he wasn't.
Along with this, there's the constant back and forth between Takizawa being a hero or a terrorist. Even at the end of the second movie, you can still argue it either way, though I would say a hero. This back and forth, makes for a great story too, as he's never regarded as either for too long. Just as you get into the mindset of "he's the saviour of Japan" the plot will throw it back in your face and tell you he's no hero.
Saki finds herself attracted to Takizawa the moment she sees him outside the Whitehouse. Why? Well, after she gets her passport there's no reason, so it can only be love. Right? To begin with, no. This is another part of the Higashi no Eden story which I quite like. It's no love at first sight, or anything like that. It's a love which is evolved from friendship.
Saki could have got her passport, and left. But she didn't, she went back to Japan with Takizawa. She could have waved him goodbye as he got on the ferry, but she got on with him instead. She could have left him in the cinema, when he failed to return, but she didn't. There were many occasions where Saki could have left this story, and made it all about Takizawa. But instead she sticks with him, and brings her friends along for the ride, making the story ever more deep and interesting.
The rest of the characters are all developed enough that you come to understand them, and their motives, but not enough that you could really care if they were there or not... apart from Micchon, of course. Which sounds like a bad thing, if a character could be removed and have no impact, then why have them? This isn't really the case. You could swap out any of the characters, make Kasuga the head of the Highashi no Eden system, or have Mr Outside also be the voice of Juiz, but as long as the roles are filled, it works just fine. You remove the roles, the story crumbles, but the characters themselves are just a voice and a face, to the characters which are needed to drive the story forward.
In terms of scores, I don't feel the need to talk about story or character at this point.
The sound is pretty good, and I can't deny the use of Falling Down, by Oasis, for the opening was a shock, but also felt like it was made for this anime. Though beyond that, there's very little that stands out in terms of sound. Everything fits just right, but nothing really stands out and makes you go wow.
The same could be said for the artwork too, although Saki's smile and the wonderful overly-expressive faces the characters make definitely bump up the score a bit more.
And with that, my backlog of stuff watched is cleared. This week I finished the first season of Shinryaku! Ika Musume, so that will probably be next up, but until then じゃね!