Influencers Shouldn’t be Underestimated

Edens Zero Chapter 278 Review/Recap

Even though it looked like Shiki had doomed all existence by letting Mother fade away, it was revealed that he had a plan in place last week. By summoning a Chronophage to devour Mother, he could revert her to planet Earth, giving the Crew of Edens a chance to save it before its destruction. The bad news is they need to find out where a Chronophage is. The good news is that they know how to lure one to them. Even better, the plan involves the power of fellow influencers on B-Cube. That means that Labilia and Couchpo return to the story in time for the finale.

The bad news? Another person I didn’t want to see again came back to be an obstacle.

Recap

After hearing about Shiki’s plan to use a Chronophage to save Mother, the Crew of Edens wonders how they summon one. Fortunately, since they’ve all traveled through time, Hermit concludes that they can all use their ether to lure one to them. She plans to use the B-Cube network to broadcast their ether, but they’ll need the help of many B-Cube influencers to cast a big enough net. That gives Rebecca the idea of asking Labilia and Couchpo for help. 

Interrupting her live stream, Labilia initially acts dismissive of Rebecca until her memories of the previous timeline come flooding back. Moved to tears remembering her friend, Labilia readily agrees to help. Couchpo, who also remembered everything, pitches in, and the two get to work. Numerous big influencers on B-Cube are contacted, and the Crew’s plan starts to come together. However, their good fortune proves short-lived.

The Edens One resumes attacking the Zero, and two new opponents board the ship. They are the last members of the Oracion Seis Galactica, the infamous swordfighter Lady Freyja, and…Cure (*groan internally*). Unable to keep up the transmission with them aboard, the Crew must deal with the two. Thus, they split up. Jinn and Kleene will deal with Cure. Homura, meanwhile, will handle Lady Freyja. 

Review

Well, this was a surprise. Aside from the return of Cure, though, it’s not unwelcome.

For a while now, I have been afraid that Hiro Mashima had written Labilia and Couchpo out of the story. Granted, they didn’t do much to contribute to it, but seeing Labilia’s character development did feel satisfying to watch. So, while it did make sense not to bring her and Couchpo back, it didn’t make it any easier to watch. This way, though, they contribute to the overall plot and show off how influencers can be a force for good. 

While I liked the B-Cuber influencers’ return, my reaction to the surprise enemies felt mixed. Why didn’t they appear when the rest of the OSI and Dark Stars started their attack? That was the best time for Cure to make his return and Lady Freyja to make her big debut. Having them appear now makes them feel less of a threat and more like Mashima adding them in at the last minute because he forgot about them. In addition, I wanted to avoid seeing Cure come back in the first place. Next to the Muller, he’s the character I dislike the most in Edens Zero. The one saving grace to this is that he’s not bothering to hide the fact that he’s evil this time. 

My reception to this chapter feels overall mixed. I liked seeing the return of the B-Cubers, but Cure, and Lady Freyja should’ve appeared earlier. However, this ties up any lingering threads I felt would go unanswered. Hopefully, Homura and the others can deal with the two without wasting too much time.

I Give “B-Cubers” a 2.5/5

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