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Edens Zero Chapter 235 Review/Recap

Well, this whole thing was unexpected. After many twists and turns, the majority of the Crew of Edens has reunited save for a few members. They even managed to get Valkyrie back, reuniting the Four Shining Stars, making them stronger than ever! However, there’s still the threat of the Edens One, the AI trying to destroy Mother and life itself. And as we see at the end of this chapter, it’s no longer a ship. Edens One has gone full-on Ultron!

Recap

With Sun Jewel now safe, Kurenai and her followers stay behind to help with the new government forming. Thanks to that, Homura and Valkyrie return to the Edens Zero to a great reunion with everyone. In the Spa of Edens, all the girls bond while talking about how different Universe Zero is from the previous worlds. Not only is Paul a congressman on Sun Jewel, but Elsie remains a princess! 

Valkyrie then interrupts everything by having her and Homura spar, saying training while naked is the best time to stimulate Ether. This weirds Rebeca out a little, but then Sister decides she wants to train, too.

In the galley, the boys and Pino all go over who they still need to find: Laguna, Labilia, Couchpo, and Connor. Their best bet’s to head to the Aoi Cosmos and find Laguna, though Weisz says Shiki’s idea to befriend Shura’s a dumb one. That’s when Pino tells everyone aboard that she has a message for them. She recovered her memories enough to know her true purpose: she was built to destroy the Edens One. She has the AI’s destruction code embedded in her. Furthermore, she learned something interesting she wants to share.

Meanwhile, aboard the Edens One, Wizard speaks to a mysterious machine, calling it the strongest king of machines in the Universe. It’s name is Over Nu Etherion Void.

Review

Like I said before, the Edens One has gone Ultron! It’s gone from being an AI to a Machine-entity bent on destroying all life in the Universe. It’s even created a body for itself, which is good. Having a being to physically fight makes for a better antagonist than a ship with a runaway AI. 

As far as plot developments go, this chapter didn’t have much to give us. At the very least, Mashima did retroactively explain the reason for so much fanservice. While it explains why Rebecca got her power-ups every time she was bathing, I still think its a cheap excuse for extra fanservice. 

The main thing that I wanted to touch on, though, is that we learn more about characters we’ve met in previous Universes. I wondered where Paul was on Sun Jewel when we went to Sun Jewel, so at least we know what he’s doing now. More importantly, according to Hermit, Lendard never fell apart from civil war. As a result, Elsie never becomes a pirate and can still get her happy ending. While I wouldn’t mind seeing her again, it’s fine if she doesn’t appear anymore. She deserves to be happy.

As far as chapters go, this was middling. It spent a lot of time on exposition and fanservice, but it did set us up to see Edens One in its newest form. Hopefully, the next chapter will be a bit more interesting.

I Give “Over Nu Etherion” a 3/5

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Edens Zero Chapter 102 Review/Recap

Okay, let’s review what happened at the end of the last chapter. Shiki’s grandpa Ziggy came back to life, only to attack Shiki and the others. Then he claims that he no longer sees organics as worth being friends with. And with the newly arrived Edens One, he plans to conquer the cosmos and have machines rule over all. And I don’t buy it for a second! I don’t think Ziggy is evil, but only time will tell.

Recap

As everyone looks on shocked, Ziggy commands Pino to join him. He’s her creator and master; she serves him. The others still can’t believe that Ziggy has turned into what stands before them. As if to prove a point, though, Ziggy uses his powers to destroy the Granbell Kingdom.

Shiki’s able to save Rebecca, but Pino just stands stock still, unable to defy her programming. Shiki pleads with her to decide what she wants out of her life. Ziggy doesn’t control her, and he never will. Her life belongs to her. Regaining her senses, Pino tearfully says she wants to go with Shiki and be human.

Frustrated, Ziggy then chooses to leave on the Edens One, forcing the others to escape on the Edens Zero as Granbell crumbles around them. Face to face with the Edens One and Captain Connor, Shiki and the others get one more shock. Ziggy introduces them to the his successors to the Shining Stars: the Fours Dark Stars of the Demon King.

Review

Look, I’m well aware that Ziggy could be serious about his face-heel turn. He could, in fact, have become as evil as he’s acting. But given everything I know about Mashima’s style of writing, this just seems too far out of character for him. I don’t think he’s actually evil now.

Think about it. Based on everything we’ve seen, Ziggy did care about Shiki and wanted him to grow up strong. Every one of the Shining Stars took his ideals to heart when they parted ways. It just seems too out of character for Ziggy to do this! Unless, he was playing into his role as Demon King. That was his original purpose, after all: to be the last boss of the Granbell Kingdom. The only reason he could be doing this is to test Shiki. To see if he’s strong enough to make it outside the Sakura Cosmos.

Only time will tell if my theory is correct. Either way, though, I think that this will make for a heck of a finale to our time in the Sakura Cosmos.

I Give “Time to Say Goodbye” a 3/5

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Edens Zero, Chapter 72 Review/Recap

One of the trademarks of Hiro Mashima’s work is his tendency to reuse the things he likes. Whether its a character design, a name, or concept, if he likes it, he’ll reuse it. The reason I’m discussing this is because the latest chapter of Edens Zero brings a certain group from Fairy Tail: the Element 4.

Recap

Having lost the chance to capture the Edens Zero, Drakken Joe shifts his focus onto Shiki’s group. First, he reveals what Shiki’s team looks like to everyone in Belial Goer, and commands the people capture them alive. In addition, he tells everyone that the person who brings the team to him will have all their debt erased. As a result, Shiki’s team has to go on the run from everyone.

After catching a break, the group decides that the best thing to do is to confront Joe directly. Using an app Weisz designed to disguise themselves, the quartet plan to meet with Joe and take him out. However, before they can put their plan into action, they’re ambushed by one of the Element 4. Calling himself the Spirit of Water, Laguna, he uses his ether gear to turn Shiki into water. As everyone stands in shock, Laguna vows to make the group cry.

Review

I remember the Element 4 from their incarnation in Fairy Tail, and they were a tough group to beat. Unfortunately for them, they’re the kind of mooks who are eventually forgotten as the heroes face stronger foes. The sole exception to this is Juvia, who Laguna serves as a counterpart to. She joined Fairy Tail as a main supporting character, and was one of my favorite members of the cast.

However, I think this Laguna of Joe’s Element 4 may be even stronger than Juvia. She could turn herself into water, but I don’t remember being able to do the same to others. I took that as a sign that the new Element 4 will be stronger than the ones in Fairy Tail.

With Shiki out of commission, Pino, Weisz, and Homura are at a serious disadvantage; and I’m fine with that. I’ve kept saying that a lot of the fights in Edens Zero seem a little two one-sided. A good shonen manga has the heroes face progressively stronger enemies so that they themselves become stronger. It makes me hopeful that Joe and the Element 4 will make the Edens Zero crew stronger before this is out. In addition, I think Laguna’s introduction was pretty good.

I Give “The Element 4” a 3.75/5. Good Setup for the conflict.

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Edens Zero Chapter 43 Review/Recap

The manga was on break two weeks ago, so there was no new chapter for me to add. When we last left off, that loser Spider went crying to Drakken Joe about the crew of Edens Zero beat him up. That’s when we found Joe doing this:

So, yeah, let’s pick up where that left off.

Recap

So remember how Spider called Drakken Joe his “brother”? Joe has no idea who the heck he is, because Spider’s just a low-level cog in his operation. As for the man he’s torturing, he owes Joe 5 million Gree (money). But since he can’t pay up, he’s torturing the poor man. He doesn’t kill him, but he makes him work to pay off his debt with unspeakable jobs.

Joe cares, first and foremost, about money, and his big concern is the fact that with Guilst gone, most of his customers are too. And when he hears that Spider used his name when he fought the Edens Zero crew, he has his lieutenant, Seth, execute the man.

He shoots him so fast, we don’t even notice it. But now Joe sees money to be made off the Edens Zero.

Back on the ship, the Edens Zero’s almost at full strength. The only one of the Demon King’s four Star-Shines still missing is Homura’s master, Valkyrie.

As said before, though, Homura doesn’t know where she is. She had gone to Blue Garden to find some leads at the Guild, but then everything else happened. Hermit says that there’s a legendary fortune-teller who might be able to help them, though. It’s said that this person resides on Mildean, a planet said to be frozen in time.

Back at Blue Garden, the mysterious guild master of Shooting Starlight, Noah, gets a call from none other than Drakken Joe, asking about the Edens Zero.

Review

I had known for a while now that Shiki and Drakken Joe were going to cross paths, but I didn’t think that it would happen so soon. Now that Shiki’s in Joe’s line of sight, there’s no way that he’s going to get out of this fight.

What I liked most about this chapter, though, was the reveal that the Shooting Starlight guildmaster can’t be trusted. I thought it was suspicious that he managed to escape from fake-Sister’s men, but I was distracted by the fact that Rebecca got kidnapped.

Then there’s what Sister says: she got the mission that led to her imprisonment on Guilst from Noah himself. And the fact that of the B-Cubers kidnapped, Rebecca and Labilia were the only ones targeted. Did Noah sell them out to Guilst? It’s highly likely.

Regardless, the ship will need to be at full strength soon, because it may be headed into a full-scale war with the biggest criminal organization in the Sakura Cosmos. I can’t wait!

The plot behind this manga is doing great at connecting everything together, if you ask me. I can’t wait to see what happens next.

I give “The Smell of Money” a 4/5

Edens Zero Chapters 41 & 42 Review/Recap

Hello and welcome to another week’s installment of my Edens Zero review/recap. This week, we’re in for a real treat, because we got not one, but two chapters!! And they are good ones. Plus, they each come with their own handy charts and maps to help clarify about what’s happening in the manga.

Now then, let’s dive right in!

Recap

“Fireworks”

At the end of the last chapter, we saw how Hermit was tricked into building a giant ether gun to destroy a planet full of machines. Then those scientists captured her and started experimenting on her.

They broke her into pieces, rebuilt her, and then broke her already broken spirit even more. It was hell, until the day that the Star Federation Army put a stop to their vile research. But the damage was already done, and Hermit retreated into Digitalis

Back in the present, Hermit refuses to help the crew fend off Spider due to her hatred of humans. None of them can understand why she hates them so much, but Rebecca and Shiki do everything they can to get her to open her heart back up. All the emotions she had bottled up start pouring out, and she finally, tearfully, admits that she still wants to be friends with humans.

With her resolve rekindled, Hermit gets to work and shows everyone her true power.

Not only is she able to force Spider out like it’s nothing, but then she taunts him by finding his location and preparing to use the ship’s long-range weapons to blast him from the cosmos.

Turns out it was just fireworks, though. But Spider freaked out so badly that he passed out and wet himself.

As the crew celebrates and Hermit finally joins them, Weisz and Witch stand in the distance, with Witch remarking about how much it suits Hermit to smile.

“Pino’s Dream”

With Hermit now aboard as a member, she gives Rebecca and Happy a tour of the ship; or at least the parts of the ship that can be shown. And the Eden’s Zero is amazing!

Too bad the ship will take some time to fix after Spider almost wrecked it. Something that Sister is keen to remind Hermit that she could have prevented. Apparently, they teased each other a lot back in the day.

With Sister, Witch, and Hermit accounted for, the only one left to find is Valkyrie. According to Homura, her master up and vanished one day about five years ago. She’s been searching for her ever since then. As she tells Rebecca in the baths, she wants to show her how much stronger she’s gotten since then.

Meanwhile, Shiki, Weisz, and Pino are hanging out in the Eden’s Kitchen on the ship, eating burgers that make me want to drool.

Pino, meanwhile, hasn’t forgotten how she became human in Digitalis, and so she has developed a goal for herself in the future.

Shiki thinks she can do it, but Weisz is convinced its impossible, but doesn’t say anything.

On another planet made of desserts, that agent from the Galactic Intelligence hasn’t given up on her mission to infiltrate Drakken Joe’s group, while revealing to the readers how she got into the Eden’s Zero network: One of Elsie’s crew members handed her the info on the ship and used it to hack into their network.

Elsewhere, Spider’s left humiliated and fuming at Shiki and his friends, and tries to get Drakken Joe to do something about it. Joe’s… not in the mood to be talked to.

Review

I will admit, I thought that Hermit’s heel-face turn in “Fireworks” seemed a little bit rushed. I get that they want to move the plot forward and that the situation meant that time was limited, but I didn’t expect her to change her mind so quickly. Sometimes it takes several chapters for a Shonen hero to do that.

My concerns were shoved to one side as soon as I saw how amazing Hermit was, and how she made Spider wet himself.

The next chapter, though, was amazing. I never even considered looking at a map of the ship, but now that I’ve seen it, I’m glad! The best part is that there’s going to be even more of the ship that has yet to be revealed as it gets back to full strength.

I also enjoyed the crew dynamics in “Pino’s Dream” as well. Sister and Hermit may tease each other a lot, but I can tell that they really care about each other, even though they’d deny it. I found Homura’s bathside chats with Rebecca and Happy as nice as always; I can’t believe she asked Rebecca to fight her in the middle of the bath. And I loved Pino’s dream to be a real girl.

I don’t know why I didn’t see it at first, but that statement made me realize that Pino’s nickname is short for Pinocchio. If you guys figured it out before me, give yourself a pat on the back. I don’t care what Weisz says, though: she’ll find a way to become human.

There’s still trouble brewing though. Ever since Guilst was rewound by the Chronophage, Drakken Joe has been on the loose, and it looks like Shiki and him are on a collision course in the future. Plus that psychopathic spy girl is going to be a recurring problem. In short, they need to find Valkyrie fast if they want to be ready.

I Give “Fireworks” and “Pino’s Dream” a 3/5 and 4/5, respectively

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