Edens Zero Chapter 54 Review/Recap

In the last chapter of Edens Zero, Rebecca was subjected to a humiliating prank by Labilia with the false promise of getting her to the slums to save Shiki and Homura. In the end, they did get the help of fellow B-Cuber, Nino. Meanwhile, Shiki fires the opening shots on a war against the Scarlet Woman’s rule when he defies her enforcer Garret to rescue Homura.

Recap

The fight between Garret and Shiki ends up being as one-sided as usual: Shiki wastes Garret and rescues Homura. Despite everything, the woman insists on staying in the slums to find Valkyrie. Garret then shocks them both by revealing that he knows Valkyrie.

Meanwhile, Nino leads Rebecca’s group to the entrance of the slums, telling them that he works for the Scarlet Woman. He had orders to bring in anyone who mentioned “Edens Zero,” but he can’t bring himself to do it after seeing Rebecca’s cosplay. So, he’s going to say he never found them.

Once in the slums, the trio encounters an extraordinary man in possession of an Ether Gear. His gear lets him move things a few inches, or teleport to his hands, which is why its called “Steal Hand.” The man’s name is Paul, and he’s Valkyrie’s student in the slums, and he knows about them and why they’re looking for Valkyrie. He has a message for Homura that explains why Valkyrie left her behind, and why she can’t come back.

Review

Two things happened in this chapter. First, we met another character who I have a feeling could become a potential member of the Edens Zero, and then we saw Mashima display his trademark love of fanservice. I get wanting to tease the audience, Mashima, but Paul stealing Rebecca’s panties seems too ecchi for a shonen manga. Have some standards.

Fanservice aside, I think that this chapter serves as an excellent way to set up a potentially big reveal about Valkyrie in the coming chapters. Whether it will deliver on that promise, though, is another thing entirely. I think Edens Zero should be doing more to make it stand out as its manga and not just a sci-fi version of Fairy Tail. Speaking of which, that girl that Nino mentioned was Angel from Fairy Tail.

The stage is set for a conflict between the Scarlet Woman and Edens Zero, and I only hope that we finally get to see Shiki sweat a little. In my opinion, most of his fights have been a little too easy to be entertaining.

I give “The Truth Is In the Cube” A 3.5/5

Click here to see more animanga stuff

Edens Zero Chapter 53 Review/Recap

When we last left off, snobby B-Cuber Labilia approached Rebecca with an offer she couldn’t refuse. In exchange for a favor, she’ll help Rebecca rescue Shiki and Homura. Can she be trusted, though? Let’s see with the power of anime!

Recap

Now that Rebecca’s famous following the events on Guilst, Labilia wants to do a collaboration video with her in exchange for helping her get to the Slums. The catch is that she has to cosplay as the magic girl Poyo-Poyo Ruby Chan, a top-rated children’s anime. The costume is designed to be deliberately too small, but everyone likes it. Including a famous B-Cuber and Otaku named Nino.

At first, it seems like Labilia’s trying to help Rebecca. Just as she does Ruby-Chan’s pose, though, Labilia dumps a pot of soup all over Rebecca, humiliating her; then she runs off. It’s not a total loss, though: Rebecca’s performance so touched Nino that he decides to help her get to the Slums.

Speaking of the Slums, just as Garret’s about have “fun” with Homura, Shiki shows up ready to declare war on the Scarlet Woman for hurting his friend.

Review

Instead of scolding Labilia, I would like to take this time to explain why I think she’s such a jerk. She picks on Rebecca to avoid the realization that, one day, she’ll wake up and realize she wasted her life while Rebecca will have tons of fans, go on all sorts of great adventures, and have actual friends. Am I in the ballpark? I’m more disappointed than mad that Labilia hasn’t changed her ways after Guilst, or learned to show Rebecca some respect. Something tells me that Rebecca’s new B-Cuber friends won’t let her get away with her cruel prank, though.

Speaking of B-Cubers, I like this new guy, Nino. As a man of anime myself, I love watching anime channels on YouTube, so it’s nice to see a fellow man of culture. It reminds me that our generation is the one that made anime mainstream.

This chapter was a step up from the previous one, even if it lacked any action. I got to see Rebecca play a significant role again and see her grow as a B-Cuber. That, and I like Nino. Anime will save the universe, indeed.

I give “Poyo-Poyo Ruby-Chan” a 4/5

Click here to see more animanga stuff

Edens Zero Chapter 52 Review/Recap

The last chapter we saw Shiki and Homura get arrested by the Scarlet Woman and her enforcers and sent to the slums to work off a ludicrous debt. It doesn’t take them long to pick trouble with one of her enforcers, Whip Punisher Garret. Let’s see how this goes.

Recap

Despite the other prisoners warning them not to, Shiki and Homura refuse to back down against Garret, so he uses his paralysis whip to force them to kneel. Taken by Homura’s beauty, he drags her off on her own to have his cruel fun with her. Shiki’s not going to take that lying down and prepares to go to war.

Elsewhere, after showing how evil she is, the Scarlet Woman reveals why she wants the Edens Zero. The ship’s ether drive can power the whole planet for the next ten years. Ergo, she plans on double-crossing Drakken Joe for it.

Back at the Casino, Rebecca, Happy, and Pino are unable to contact the ship, leaving them at a loss about what to do. Just then, a familiar face appears in the form of Labilia. She saw everything that happened and wants to help in exchange for a favor.

Review

I knew from the moment Shiki and Homura got arrested that Edens Zero was going to go to war with the Scarlet Woman. Now, thanks to Garret, Shiki’s about to go on a rampage. I didn’t see him trying to get out of jail by paying off that unfair debt.

More importantly, though, it appears that the SW (Scarlet Woman) has no clue that the Edens Zero’s already on her planet, or that its captain is her prisoner. If she did, she’d stop at nothing to get her hands on Shiki and the ship. Let’s hope it stays that way for a while.

Now, do I think Labilia can be trusted? No, I don’t. She’s still a selfish brat. She does, however, owe Shiki for saving her from being kidnapped and turned into Illega’s naked furniture. More likely, she’s trying to get in good with Rebecca now that she’s famous from the Guilst Incident. Either way, I don’t trust her.

This chapter was about average for me, and I was left wanting more than what we got — looking forward to the next chapter more.

I give “The Scarlet Gauntlet” a 3/5

Click here to see more animanga stuff

Star vs. Fan Week, Day 3

In the Season Two episode of Star vs., “Running With Scissors“, we saw Marco spend sixteen years in another dimension hunting down Hekapoo, the forger of dimensional scissors, all to prove himself worthy of his scissors. He got them in the end, but after learning from Star that he had only been gone from Earth for eight minutes, he returned home, and the show went back to its status quo. Today’s fanwork, Like Father, Like Daughter, asks two things: what if the status quo didn’t go back to normal, and what if Star came a few seconds later? That’s how we get Seraph.

Like Father, Like Daughter

First Released: Feb 17, 2017

Author: ADdude

Type of Fanwork: AU

Status: Ongoing

In this story, rather than quickly readjusting to life on Earth, Marco has a harder time doing so something everyone notices. Just when everyone tries to get Marco to open up to them, Hekapoo shows up with a teenage girl in tow. She then drops a massive bombshell on everyone:

Marco, this is my daughter. Our daughter.

Star took longer getting to Marco, and the flirting seen between him and Hekapoo became more than flirting. A few days after he left, she gave birth to their daughter, Seraph Diaz. Due to time moving faster in Hekapoo’s dimension, little Seraph aged into a teenager very quickly. So Hekapoo brought her to live with Marco and his parents. The series follows Marco and the cast as they help Seraph adjust to life on Earth and help Marco learn how to be a parent. All this on top of the adventures he has with Star, too; things get weirder than normal.

Review

When I first heard about this story, I didn’t think I’d like it that much. I like Hekapoo and the dynamic she had with Marco in the show, but I never saw them as an item. That, and I always liked Star and Marco as a couple more.

Once I got into reading it, though, I was hooked on it. I’ve always thought that Marco’s Neverzone adventures were a missed opportunity for the show. The fact that he so easily readjusted to life on Earth was necessary for the show, but in real life, that doesn’t happen. So, Like Father, Like Daughter puts him in a situation where he can’t go back to the way he was before his scissors quest. Thankfully, having Seraph in his life turns out to be the best thing this version of Marco could need.

Speaking of Seraph, let’s talk about her and how she ends up changing everyone’s lives.

Seraph Diaz

Half-human, half-magical being, this little spitfire’s Seraph Celiosa Diaz. Despite being the same age as Marco and Star, she’s only a month old when the Story first starts. The reason behind her accelerated age is confusing, but here’s the bottom line. One day in the Neverzone ages her 6 months, meaning she would die within a year. So Seraph was sent to Earth for her own safety.

Appearance-wise, people have noted how she looks like a cross between Hekapoo and her grandmother, Angie Diaz. The coolest thing, though, is she inherited Hekapoo’s superhuman strength and ability to wield fire.

Seraph and the Cast

Seraph reminds me a lot of Star when she first came to Earth. She’s extremely friendly and tries making friends with everyone she meets. Each of the show’s cast warms up to her, albeit some sooner than others. There are three characters in particular, though, whose reactions to Seraph I found most interesting: Star, Jackie, and Hekapoo herself.

This fan fix starts at crucial moments in Star and Jackie’s lives. Star was starting to realize she had feelings for Marco, and Jackie was already dating him. Needless to say, the revelation that Marco has a daughter makes things awkward. Star’s initial reaction was really bad:

Star’s usual heart marks on her cheeks had changed into two spinning rainbow balls, and Star herself just remained motionless, only staring off into the space before her with what appeared to be a death grip on her wand. Her right eye appeared to be twitching, a contrast to the rest of the blank expression on her face.

Like Father, Like Daughter Chapter 2

It’s even harder for Jackie, considering how Marco cheated on her, and the two break up, though agree to remain friends. Despite befriending Seraph, later chapters reveal that, deep down, they still feel a bit resentful and jealous of how she symbolizes Marco’s relationship with Hekapoo.

As for Hekapoo, having a daughter serves as a catalyst for the magical entity to mature significantly and become a lot more responsible. She’s still mischievous and likes teasing others, but having Seraph changes her for the better. I also like the fact that some of the more recent chapters have Hekapoo coming to terms with the consequences of her actions. I.E., not telling Marco of the time difference in the Neverzone and then sleeping with him when he has a girlfriend is a bit of a dick move.

Good Story Structure

One of the best parts of this fic is how ADdude structures the story. It has arcs that can span across several chapters, like a n actual show, or a Light Novel series. The writing’s top notch, engaging, and captures the show’s cast very well. One of the first arcs is a tournament arc, and if you know what to look for, you’ll see plenty of cameos and shout outs to great fighters in pop culture. The whole story’s a blast, and I love it

Read This Story.

ADdude took a potentially obscure pairing and made into a compelling story that has a sizable fan base. I’m not a Markapoo supporter, but this story does a good job of showing what could happen. The best part is that ADdude shows no signs of stopping the story, either. From what I can guess, it comes out every month, so it comes at a decent pace. If you like Star vs., then this would be a fun story for you to read.

Click here to see my other animation stuff.