[i]Eden of the East[/i] certainly is different.

Let's start with America. It's a great hook, once the teaser is done confusing you and the novelty value of hearing Oasis' [i]Falling Down[/i] over the opening credits has worn off. While the culture shock is somewhat lessened from a Western perspective, seeing a Japanese animated series begin on foreign soil is definitely a draw. As scene-setting goes this is (predictably) not entirely convincing, arguably not even up to [i]Gunsmith Cats[/i]' rose-tinted vision of Chicago, but it's still a far cry from [i]Red Garden[/i] and its bizarro paisley-print alternate universe take on the Big Apple.

Morimi Saki is a relatively ordinary Japanese girl on a graduation trip to the United States, where she's decided to pass the last day or two with a visit to Washington DC to eyeball the White House. When she draws the ire of the nearby security guards after throwing coins into the grounds, the only thing that saves her from an embarrassing stopover in police custody is the distraction caused by the sudden appearance of a naked man sauntering through passing traffic. It turns out Takizawa Akira (her knight errant) seems to have completely lost his memories, alone in the city with nowhere to go save an apartment where he finds a suspiciously Jason Bourne-esque cache of weapons, munitions and numerous false identities.

This could be the springboard for any number of generic action franchises, animated or live-action but director Kenji Kamiyama has rather more in mind for [i]Eden of the East[/i] than making things explode. Kamiyama wrote the original story behind the series and with a background in Team Oshii as well as a six-year stint in various capacities on Production IG's [i]Ghost in the Shell[/i] television franchise, the political imagery and loaded themes in the first episode come as little surprise. On the other hand, [i]Eden[/i]... is far from the dreamlike pace and portentous solemnity of most of Mamoru Oshii's work to date. The soft, rounded character designs, pastel colour palette and frequent use of super-deformed comic interludes suggest something far more commercial.

Yet the genial air of impending lunacy that starts with the events detailed above can frequently come across as more than a little intimidating. [i]Eden[/i]... is very much one of those serial television shows where it's intended the viewer's ongoing struggle to piece together the different plot strands should become part of the attraction. Western audiences are perhaps used to this – [i]Lost[/i], [i]Battlestar Galactica[/i] et al – but mainstream Japanese animation is frequently about easy gratification to some degree, characters devoting entire monologues every episode to make sure the target demographic never loses track of who's punching who and why, and next to its real-world setting and comfortable, relatively realistic art direction [i]Eden[/i]'s overarching plot can sometimes seem frustratingly obtuse. Takizawa is one of a select group of people, plucked from obscurity and gifted with fabulous wealth, racing to find a way to save Japan. It strikes the viewer as disturbingly vague – 'save'? By whose definition? Under what guidelines? What checks and balances? – as if Kenji Kamiyama is merely writing his own variation on the adolescent fixation with rules and regulations for their own sake that seems to inform Japanese drama series such as [i]Liar Game[/i].

Still, Kamiyama evidently understands a good premise must be analysed, reflected on. After a shaky start (the series only spends one episode in America) [i]Eden[/i] begins to find its feet thanks in large part to Takizawa Akira's constant questioning of how he came to join the contest, what he did or intended to do to 'save' the nation and what caused him to lose his memory. It's a refreshingly natural process, a train of thought it seems plausible any rational human being would follow, and it's a pleasure seeing it develop from one episode to the next. Takizawa is a cocky, debonair yet always likeable hero, and it never feels especially jarring watching Morimi Saki indulge her curiosity as to where exactly the detective process is going to lead him next.

Unsurprisingly, perhaps, it leads him into conflict with the other contestants. They're a diverse lot, though again, far from the typical baroque eccentricities of your average action series. Takizawa sees the future in Japan's young people, as embodied by Saki, fresh out of college yet feeling lost, directionless, abandoned – yet as he examines his own philosophy so too must he weigh it (and his commitment to it) against everyone else's. Kamiyama aims for a fair degree of moral ambiguity here; some of these contestants have already abandoned any idea of winning, but have no intention of quietly rolling over when only he or she who finishes in first place stands to come out alive. Others will stop at nothing to reach the top.

It's a laudable aim, tried and tested – many great stories have centred around the hero questioning what it is he really believes in – and ultimately it becomes both the series' main strength [b]and[/b] weakness. [i]Eden of the East[/i] is always watchable, and the general attempt to temper an off-the-wall thriller with wry, cheery humanity and a healthy dose of the surreal is competently handled. It juggles a large cast with aplomb, with none of the subplots or diversions coming across as boring or superfluous. At its best it is both hysterically funny and brilliantly exciting by turns; one pivotal set-piece later in the series where Takizawa and a second contestant do battle by proxy is a thrillingly inventive sequence the equal of any Hollywood blockbuster in the last five years or more.

At the same time, as it stands (at a mere eleven episodes) [i]Eden[/i] also feels frustratingly over-confident. While it is effective [b]entertainment[/b] nonetheless, its many plot strands, themes, viewpoints and messages are an obvious attempt to goad the viewer into some kind of meaningful emotional response and yet the series is so brief too much is glossed over, ignored or left uncontested. Sometimes this feels almost insulting; at least one supporting character has a backstory that veers dangerously close to outright cliché, and the script attempts to fake a Big Reveal which it is crushingly obvious will never come to pass.

This is partly excusable, given (strictly speaking) [i]Eden of the East[/i] is still not complete. The eleven episodes broadcast on Japanese television provide some degree of closure but no overall conclusion. Many plot threads have been left conspicuously unresolved. Two feature-length episodes are planned to wrap up the narrative, but at the time of writing the first of these is not due for release until November 2009; it is a frustrating and somewhat puzzling approach for the studio to have taken. No Western license has been announced – much of Production IG's work has been snapped up for American or European distribution, so it remains to be seen if prospective buyers are waiting for everything to be released before making a move.

Despite this, [i]Eden[/i]... remains a standout among the last few years' worth of Japanese television. Free from overblown melodrama, over-sexualised (not to mention under-aged) female cast members, over-analysed plotting-by-numbers or any one of a hundred other tropes many other studios are reverting to in the current financial climate, it would be a breath of fresh air regardless of quality – that it manages to be an aesthetically distinctive, technically accomplished production from one of the greatest developers in the business [b]and[/b] a smart, funny, compelling and thought-provoking thriller is more than enough to shout about. [i]Eden of the East[/i] is far from perfect but it still comes highly recommended and though the waiting won't be easy, chances seem high that with the two feature films on the way, Kenji Kamiyama might still have all the answers we're after. If he can manage to provide them [i]Eden of the East[/i] could well finish up as something truly special.