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Edens Zero Chapter 162 Review/Recap

Last week on Edens Zero, the fight for fate of Aoi Cosmos began to reach its climax. On Planet Nero 66, Shura’s moments away from activating the All-Link System. Not only will it destroy all machines in the Aoi Cosmos, it will blow the capital world of the Temple to kingdom come! Meanwhile, at the Temple itself, Emperor Nero and Demon King Ziggy prepare to face off. The prize is nothing less than the future of Aoi Cosmos. But can a gambit by Emperor Nero allow him to defeat Ziggy?

If I’m being honest, probably not. However, it will make for an interesting fight!

Recap

Now that any distractions are out of the way, Ziggy and Nero prepare to fight in earnest. The two titans remain evenly matched, but Nero reveals something that Ziggy didn’t know. His Empire Dice are not a weapon; rather, they’re a relic made from Mother’s Ether, and possess mystical powers. As long as he follows them, Nero believes he will always win a gambit. However, the greater the gambit, the greater the sacrifice. In this case, he says killing Ziggy will cost him his empire, something he’s willing to pay as he activates his Ether Gear.

On Nero 66, the fight between Shiki and Shura continues, with Shiki horrified at how Shura has no empathy for his adoptive father or the people at the Temple. Shura continues to taunt Shiki with his boasts about what he did to Witch, which enrage him enough for the boy to enter Overdrive. However, Shura responds to this by revealing his own Overdrive, saying it turns their battle into a fight to the death.

Review

Firstly, I would like to admit that, somehow, I thought Nero’s Empire Dice were his Ether Gear. I’ve seen people in Mashima’s works have powers based around the use of certain items before, so it wasn’t out of the realm of plausibility. However, for them to be made from Mother’s Ether was something I never suspected. Which only makes me wonder what Nero’s Ether Gear is even more now.

Those Empire Dice may have helped him in the past, but from the sounds of it, he’s overly-reliant on them. When you rely too much on gambits in your life, that only sets you up to fail big time. And I think we know that somehow, Ziggy will emerge the winner in their fight. At the least, it will be a draw.

A more immediate question, though, is why Shura’s Overdrive makes him look like Nero. Does it reflect the user’s personality? Just something to think about as we wait for the next chapter. Nice blindside there, Mashima. Good gambit.

I Give “Ziggy vs. Nero” a 3.5/5

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Edens Zero Chapter 161 Review/Recap

Just when I was starting to ship Homura and Creed together, what does Mashima do? He apparently kills Creed, courtesy of his emotionally unstable underling, Jesse. What a little jerk! And to make things worse, the All-Link System is about to come online, giving Shura the chance to wipe out all machines in the Aoi Cosmos. And in the midst of all of this, Ziggy’s invaded the Temple and challenged Nero directly! The Aoi Cosmos is in chaos!

This is going to be good!

Recap

As Homura and Jesse process the horror of what Jesse did, Weisz shows up to witness the tragedy. Panicking, Jesse runs for it, leaving Homura to grieve. As she pays respect to Creed, Homura bitterly notes how everyone she cares about goes away or dies. Meanwhile, Rebecca’s group meets up with Laguna and Moscoy as they recover from saving Princess and hand Witch off to her while they look for the All-Link System. Back with Shiki and Shura, the prince of the Aoi Cosmos reveals his master plan. On Nero’s capital world of the Temple are more than 20,000 antimatter bombs. One of them is enough to wipe out a small planet, and Shura plans to use the ALS to detonate all of them at once, killing Nero and Ziggy in the process.

At the Temple, Ziggy orders Jaguar to step aside, as his business is with the Emperor. Jaguar refuses, so Ziggy’s servants, along with the Demon King and Nero, beat the snot out of him. With that out of the way, Ziggy demands that Nero hand over his empire so that he may build his paradise for machines. Naturally, Nero refuses to do so, leaving the two about to square off.

TAKING ALL BETS!!!

Review

Poor Homura; she honestly doesn’t deserve all the misery she has to endure. First Valkyrie died, and now Creed’s probably dead, as well. Hopefully, she realizes that the crew of Edens Zero won’t abandon her or die on her so easily.

As for Shura, I can now see that underneath his madness is an evil genius. He’s hinging on Ziggy and Nero distracting each other long enough for him to kill them both without any risk of fighting them. It’s cowardly, but effective. Also, it’s doomed to fail, as I doubt Ziggy would go down so easily.

This chapter was yet another set-up chapter for another important fight: the fight between Emperor Nero and Demon King Ziggy. We’ll finally get to see what Ziggy’s like when he fights seriously, and I have no doubt that he’ll beat Nero. This next chapter’s going to be good, but this one was average.

I Give “Life Continues to Fade” a 3/5

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