To be perfectly honest, I went into Eden convinced I would absolutely hate it. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised - I actually enjoyed it quite a bit. The story itself was good - it certainly isn't original, but it was fun to watch, and sometimes that's all something has to be. Sara's interactions with her robot family are super charming, as well, and I think that's where I had the most fun with Eden. Her relationship with her parents is especially sweet, and honestly the reprogramming scene in episode 3 got a few tears out of me.
That isn't to say that Eden is perfect - far from it. My main issue is with Sara herself. For all the talk about humans and how creative and interesting they are, I found it ironic that Sara is probably the most boring character in the show. I never felt like she'd earned much of the praise heaped upon her by her robot family, and save for a few scenes, most of her screentime was spent reacting to things. Or, if she did take action, it was usually reckless and poorly thought out. It absolutely worked in some scenes, such as the episode 3 scene I mentioned, but the rest of the time, Sara just feels like a stock anime protagonist, with nothing really setting her apart. I absolutely loved the little quirks they gave her in episode 1, as a result of growing up with robots instead of humans, but it seems like they completely forget about those after that, except for one time in the final episode. It would have been really nice to let her keep them, because they gave her a lot of character and made her pretty fun to watch. That being said, she usually has plenty of other characters to bounce off of, so it's pretty easy to ignore.
I didn't really like the animation, either. I don't really like 3d anime as it is, but Eden felt especially janky and odd in certain places. It worked fine for the robots, but not so much for the humans. The humans' animation reminded me a little too much of MMD at some points. However, the fight scenes are fairly clean and well animated, so I'd imagine they put most of their budget into that.
Going back to things I liked, though - Dr. Fields. I really enjoyed the twist villain in this show. Well, I say twist, but honestly I really don't know why I didn't expect it, considering the hints that were shown before the reveal at the end of episode 3. Regardless, Dr. Fields is a very interesting character, and a great choice for the villain. His motives and morals are perfectly understandable, even if I personally don't align with them.
I loved the setting. Our current climate pushes us closer and closer to the post-apocalyptic movies and shows of yesterday, and the creators know this. In Eden, they show us what could too easily become our future - save for a few oasis-like pockets, the majority of what we see outside of any buildings is rocky desert. They aren't afraid to show us what caused the fall of humanity all that time ago, either. If you look at the newspapers and reports, which Eden shows off multiple times, you'll see: the biggest factors were climate change, and the wars that broke out as a result of it.
I've seen multiple reviews saying the ending was anticlimactic or disappointing - I have to disagree. I think it ended just fine. It didn't end with a bang, but it was satisfying and left room for the imagination to take over, which I can almost always get behind.
Overall, if you've got a little under two hours to kill, I'd absolutely recommend Eden. It has plenty of flaws, but its a very enjoyable experience, and personally I'm glad I watched it. I will advise, though, that It's much better watching it in one go, like a movie.
That isn't to say that Eden is perfect - far from it. My main issue is with Sara herself. For all the talk about humans and how creative and interesting they are, I found it ironic that Sara is probably the most boring character in the show. I never felt like she'd earned much of the praise heaped upon her by her robot family, and save for a few scenes, most of her screentime was spent reacting to things. Or, if she did take action, it was usually reckless and poorly thought out. It absolutely worked in some scenes, such as the episode 3 scene I mentioned, but the rest of the time, Sara just feels like a stock anime protagonist, with nothing really setting her apart. I absolutely loved the little quirks they gave her in episode 1, as a result of growing up with robots instead of humans, but it seems like they completely forget about those after that, except for one time in the final episode. It would have been really nice to let her keep them, because they gave her a lot of character and made her pretty fun to watch. That being said, she usually has plenty of other characters to bounce off of, so it's pretty easy to ignore.
I didn't really like the animation, either. I don't really like 3d anime as it is, but Eden felt especially janky and odd in certain places. It worked fine for the robots, but not so much for the humans. The humans' animation reminded me a little too much of MMD at some points. However, the fight scenes are fairly clean and well animated, so I'd imagine they put most of their budget into that.
Going back to things I liked, though - Dr. Fields. I really enjoyed the twist villain in this show. Well, I say twist, but honestly I really don't know why I didn't expect it, considering the hints that were shown before the reveal at the end of episode 3. Regardless, Dr. Fields is a very interesting character, and a great choice for the villain. His motives and morals are perfectly understandable, even if I personally don't align with them.
I loved the setting. Our current climate pushes us closer and closer to the post-apocalyptic movies and shows of yesterday, and the creators know this. In Eden, they show us what could too easily become our future - save for a few oasis-like pockets, the majority of what we see outside of any buildings is rocky desert. They aren't afraid to show us what caused the fall of humanity all that time ago, either. If you look at the newspapers and reports, which Eden shows off multiple times, you'll see: the biggest factors were climate change, and the wars that broke out as a result of it.
I've seen multiple reviews saying the ending was anticlimactic or disappointing - I have to disagree. I think it ended just fine. It didn't end with a bang, but it was satisfying and left room for the imagination to take over, which I can almost always get behind.
Overall, if you've got a little under two hours to kill, I'd absolutely recommend Eden. It has plenty of flaws, but its a very enjoyable experience, and personally I'm glad I watched it. I will advise, though, that It's much better watching it in one go, like a movie.