Mashima Ends ‘Edens Zero’ in a Way that Upsets Everyone

Edens Zero Chapter 293 Review/Recap

After six years (almost exactly) and two hundred ninety-three chapters, Edens Zero has finally drawn to a close. Since I followed the series from day one, it feels almost surreal to realize it’s over. Even more so since I’ve been covering it on this blog for almost that entire time! And when it started, I had such high hopes for it. We were coming off the (then) end of Fairy Tail, and the concept felt like a great idea. Time-travel,a quest to find a mysterious being, and of course, Mashima’s brand of fanservice. However, somewhere along the way, the series started losing that spark. The quality started to wax and wane, and most fans knew it. And despite me desperately wanting it to land on its feet, the last chapter of Edens Zero feels pretty…average. Too average for its own good. Don’t believe me? See for yourself as Xiao Mei thanks us for sticking with the story before beginning the final chapter.

Recap

An indeterminate amount of time has passed since the final battle ended. Shiki and Ziggy have returned to Granbell with Witch, Sister, Happy, and Rebecca. Weisz and Hermit are living together on Norma with Sibir. Homura lives back on Oedo with Valkyrie and her birth mother; the others are elsewhere. However, they all reunite on Granbell for a very important moment. In the time since we last saw them, not only have Shiki and Rebecca become a couple… they’re about to have their first child. And Shiki and Happy are freaking out. But as Rebecca finishes the process of childbirth, the scene changes. It switches to some astral plane with Mother and Pino as its inhabitants.

Mother explains to Pino that they’re in the world of the Planet’s Memory before thanking Pino. Because of her and her friends, Mother’s life has been saved. Because of that, the cosmos that she helped create will live. And because of that, Mother tells her that she will save her, in return. Telling her that Shiki and Rebecca’s child, a baby girl, is about to be born, Mother says that she will be reborn as that child.

Aboard the Edens Zero, the ship is filled with crying as something new enters the world. Everyone’s overjoyed and happy for the two, and the two already know what they’re going to name her. Before they can, though, a familiar voice says she refuses to let them use her name without her permission: Pino.

As it turns out, Pino turned down Mother’s offer. She wanted to return as a machine because that’s what she was throughout their adventures. And that being machine or human doesn’t matter. Not to her, not to Shiki, and not to her friends in the Crew of Edens Zero.

And that’s where the series ends…really?

Review

*SMH* That’s it? That’s the ending to Edens Zero? That wasn’t an ending, Mashima. At least it wasn’t a good one! I’m sorry, but there’s just so much that’s disappointing about this final chapter that I need to address.

Exhibit A: No Clue How Much Time Has Passed

This was a major problem right off the bat. The manga doesn’t explain at all how much time has passed since the final battle. The characters look like they’ve barely changed in terms of appearance, save for Weiz, who now has a new haircut that I don’t like. If not much time has passed, then that makes the notion that Shiki and Rebecca are about to have a child a little awkward. I’m no stranger to people in fiction having kids at a young age, and Shiki and Rebecca are adults who can make their own decisions. However, it’s still going to be a little jarring for some to look at.

Exhibit B: Where is Everyone and What Have they Been Up To?

For a story that has placed so much importance on the idea of friends, the final chapter has a startling lack of people present. Outside of the Crew of Edens, most of the series supporting cast is nowhere to be found. Nor does it go into any detail about what has happened to everyone since they saved the universe. The most we get is that Weisz and Hermit are working on ships and possibly a couple, and that Homura is helping her mom reform their homeworld. Even that is vague.

I don’t know if its because Mashima ran out of time or couldn’t think of ways to include them, but he really dropped the ball on showing what’s happened during this timeskip. None of the friends that Shiki and the others made appear outside of Sibir, Kurenai, and those resistance people. We have yet to find out what the reformed villains have been up to since then. They presumably returned to what they were doing beforehand. So many supporting characters fail to make an appearance in any capacity whatsoever.

Rebecca’s parents, Rachel and Connor, don’t even make an appearance. They’re about to become grandparents, and Mashima doesn’t even have them present? That’s so messed up!

Exhibit C: No Clue About Void’s Deal/We don’t even See Shicca kid

I know I said that we were probably never going to know why Void became evil or wanted to destroy everything, and I was fine with that. However, that was because I assumed that the finale would give us a timeskip 16 years into the future and show us the present-day Void as Shiki and Rebecca’s kid or something. Instead, we never get an explanation about that. That’s just a massive plot hole!

You want to know what’s even worse, though? After all that time Mashima spent teasing us about Shiki and Rebecca becoming a couple, this chapter confirms it. However, he then proceeds to ruin it by not even showing us what their newborn daughter looks like. We don’t see her, we don’t know her name. We don’t know anything! That is such a rip-off! Not only that, but it also dashed the fan theories that Pino would be reborn as Shiki and Rebecca’s daughter.

Speaking of which…

Exhibit D: I Don’t Like How Pino Came Back

As happy as I am about Pino coming back to life thanks to Mother, I have several problems with how Mashima executed it.

For the record, I know Mashima likes to have characters die only to reveal them to be a fake-out or reversed. He did that plenty of times in Fairy Tail, and pulled the same stunts in Edens Zero. But that doesn’t change the fact that it still made seeing those deaths take place any easier. Learning that Valkyrie was long dead and Homura would never see her adoptive mother again was tragic to watch. Seeing Shiki die at the hands of Drakken Joe was traumatizing. Watching Witch sacrifice herself was heartbreaking! And let’s not forget all the death that occurred in the Aoi War and Kaede arcs! And I was willing to roll with it when they all got reversed when they did.

Then we have Pino. After shutting down for no reason, the penultimate chapter gave us that time-skip 16 years into Earth’s future with a human Pino. If she really had gotten reincarnated as a human, I was willing to accept that and let this death stick. It was her dream. But to have her change her mind and come back as a machine?

I’m sorry, Mashima, but you played with our emotions one too many times to pull this deus ex machina stuff at the end. I know he’s done it plenty of times in all his series, but at least he tried to make it well-written and make sense. This feels more like an asspull at best, and him unable to decide how to end things at worst.

This Was Not a Good Way to End Edens Zero

I’m not sure who told me about it, but Mashima said in one of the Manga Volumes that he hit the reset button on Edens Zero come Universe Zero because he was tired of the story. Or rather, he was tired of how bleak the story had become and wanted to return it to its more light-hearted roots. I argued that it could be a way for him to fix any problems he had with the series and tried to be supportive of it. And I was…to an extent. However, in hindsight, it feels like Mashima didn’t really know what he was doing. And unlike Oda, Mashima could be better at making things up as he goes along. And this was the end result: a final chapter that feels rushed, offers no emotional resolution for the readers, and is going to leave a lot of people unhappy.

Even the fact that Shiki+Rebecca is canon rings hollow since we don’t see what their kid looks like. Or explain why it was a girl when Void was a boy.

Don’t get me wrong, I still love Edens Zero. I like the concept, I like most of the characters, and when he wanted to, Mashima was able to cook. That, and Rebecca being a cute gamer girl who liked making videos was the coolest thing ever for someone like me. And while I will still look back on the series as a whole with fond memories, this ending really didn’t do it any justice.

Honestly, I don’t think I’ve been this disappointed in an ending since the end to Game of Thrones.

Just because the ending to Edens Zero sucked doesn’t mean all is lost, though. If whatever studio that makes the anime decides to continue it, they can always fix the issues with the ending. In addition, it’s not like Mashima is done with manga. He might have a few in the works, and he’s also working on Dead Rock and Fairy Tail: 100 Year Quest.

Speaking of which…

Fairy Tail is Coming Back

After years of waiting, Fairy Tail: Hundred Year Quest, the sequel to the original manga, is finally getting its own anime. On July 7th, 2024 (nice touch,) Fairy Tail: Hundred Year Quest will premiere! I actually followed the manga for a while, but eventually, my focus shifted to that of Edens Zero so I fell off of it. Now is the perfect time for me to get back into the series that made me a fan of Hiro Mashima, though!

Am I going to review the anime? No, I am not! Nor am I likely going to review any of Mashima’s current or future works! I am much busier these days than when I first started reviewing Edens Zero almost five-six years ago, and I need the freedom! And I may be a little disillusioned with him after the ending to Edens Zero. However, I will not let that cloud my memories of reading the series, or the enjoyment I found from writing about it. This was one of the first long-term series that I ever wrote about on my blog, so it means a lot to me. And if you managed to follow me from the beginning, thank you!

On to the next adventure!!!

I Give “Friends” a 2/5

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