RJ Writing Ink

Edens Zero Chapter 129 Review/Recap

After about four months of fighting, more fighting, and confronting emotional trauma, the Foresta Arc seems to be coming to an end. Ziggy’s mad plans for Foresta have been thwarted, the machines have come to their senses, and the whole planet can begin to heal. And mourn the ones they lost. In the long-term, this will lead to potential strife and discord in the Aoi Cosmos. However, in the short-term, the Edens Zero gained an important victory with the defeat of Muller. Now, for the first time, we get to see Kleene truly smile. And it is beautiful!!

Recap

With Muller’s defeat and the destruction of Foresta halted, the heroes regroup on their respective ships. Shiki and the others express their gratitude to Elsie for saving them from Justice, while she apologizes for getting them wrapped up in her problems. She warns them to steer clear of that group, and declares her intentions to continue hunting Ziggy. In the mess hall, Witch goes to speak with the little girl Rebecca and the others saved, Aruna. She knows that her friend Mimi died, and she’s left in absolute tears from this. Moved by this, and remembering how she felt when Valkyrie died, Witch tells the girl that she shouldn’t keep crying forever. Otherwise, those in Heaven won’t be happy for them.

In Sister’s ward, Jinn and Weisz have a talk about what the former and Kleene went through, and how they beat the snot out of Muller for them. More importantly, though, Weisz apologizes for being hard on them. Finally, Sister leaves the room and lets Jinn know that Kleene’s awake. And what he sees, I cannot put into words, so I’m just going to use the images.

Her smile is so beautiful!

Review

I’m sorry, but I need a minute here. My feels like it’s about to burst from all the emotion!!

After seeing all the pain and suffering that Muller put Jinn and Kleene through, to know that they’re getting their happy ending! It’s moments like this that give me faith in humanity’s capacity for good! And when Kleene smiles, she looks so cute!

Joy aside, I loved Witch’s heart to heart with Aruna. She knows what it’s like to lose someone you love, and so she knows how to help the poor girl. Mimi wouldn’t want her friend to be sad because she was gone, so I hope Aruna takes that to heart. And I’m sure that Edens Zero would happily take her in and be her new family.

At any rate, though, something else big happened this chapter: Xeno awoke. Apparently, he uploaded his personality data onto the cloud to keep the virus out, but now that the threat’s gone, he’s back up and running!

I don’t know what Xeno’s role is in the story so far, but he seems dead set on making sure Ziggy’s stopped, and that Shiki can be the one to do so. It would be nice to have him join the crew as Shiki’s mentor, and I’m already thinking of headcanon voices for him. Regardless the Foresta Arc’s wrapping up, but the Aoi Cosmos Saga’s just getting started.

I Give “So We Can Smile Brighter” A 4.5/5

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Edens Zero Chapter 128 Review/Recap

Few things are as satisfying in life as seeing some scumbag in a work of fiction get what’s coming to them. And I was in ecstasy when I saw how the last chapter of Edens Zero ended with Muller getting it’s just desserts. But the karma didn’t stop there. As we see in this week’s chapter, Hermit puts Muller in its place and reaffirms what’s important to her.

Recap

Thanks to Muller’s self-destruct sequence, Foresta is close to becoming space dust. In addition, a bunch of drones keep chasing after Shiki and the others. Fortunately, the heroes manage to take care of the machines in an incredibly badass action-sequence.

On board the station, Hermit wastes no time in getting to work on removing the virus. However, she’s then met by a pitiful sight: what remains of Muller, begging for Hermit to save it. Muller spouts nonsense about seeing the error of its ways and saying whatever it has to to survive. Thankfully, no one buys the monster’s BS, and after using Muller for a retinal scan, Hermit kicks her former tormentor to the curb.

Thanks to Muller, she now understands what’s truly important to her in life: her real friends. And with that, Ziggy’s virus is erased, the self-destruct sequence is stopped, and Foresta’s saved. All that’s left now is for humans and machines to rebuild and reconcile.

Review

It’s over. The madness and hate that Ziggy unleashed on Foresta is finally over. But it came at a great cost. Thanks to Ziggy, so many humans and machines lost their lives. That’s not something that people will be willing to forgive or forget so easily. I’m not even sure if the machines will be able to forgive themselves for what they did!

I know that it’s going to sound totally cheesy, but the only solution to this kind of hatred is love and forgiveness. The humans will have to learn to forgive the machines for what they were forced to do. But I have hope that they will.

In the meantime, I’m glad to see Hermit reaffirm what’s important to her, and conquer her fear of Muller. And to top it off, Sister managed to save Kleene! She erased the memory of the torture that Muller inflicted on her brother. While I don’t approve of mind-wiping to heal emotional scars, I can’t think of any better solutions. It’s for the best, really.

It looks like the Foresta Arc’s finally wrapping up. Next week, we deal with the aftermath and the consequences of everybody’s actions. What’s important, though, is that Shiki has to stop his Grandpa before he causes an interstellar war between man and machine. Bring it on.

Big News: I Made a Hundred Followers

One last thing. I’m happy to announce that, earlier today, I officially gained 100 followers on WordPress, an achievement I’m very proud of. It’s been a long, hard road to get there, but I want to thank everyone who’s helped me do so. That, and I wanted to tell everyone that I’m now accepting donations. For just a dollar a month, you can help contribute to RJ Writing Ink and help me pursue my passion of writing full time. Hope you donate!

I Give “What’s Important” A 4/5

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Edens Zero Chapter 127 Review/Recap

Do I have any longtime anime and manga fans here? If the answer’s yes, then you might have heard of Planet Namek? That alien planet the heroes went to in Dragon Ball Z that Frieza blew up at the end of the saga. Why am I bringing this up now? Simple: because Muller’s trying to pull a Planet Namek in the new chapter of Edens Zero, and that makes me hate him so much, I refuse to call him a person. I will now refer to Muller as an “it”.

Recap

Back on the Edens Zero, Kleene’s barely holding on, and Sister has no clue as to what’s wrong with her. Left with no alternative, Sister resorts to diving into Kleene’s memories to uncover the source of her trauma. Meanwhile, on the space station, it’s revealed how Muller knows the Rutherford Siblings. Their parents were benefactor’s of it’s lab, and after it got arrested, they withdrew their support. Once Muller escaped prison, it murdered them and abducted the two. As part of its sadistic experiment, Muller tore apart Jinn’s body until Kleene emotionally broke.

Enraged beyond the point of any mercy, Weisz beats the absolute shit out of Muller.

However, as a last resort, Muller pulls a Planet Namek: it activates a self-destruct system that will destroy Foresta! It then shatters Weisz’s Arsenal suit and prepares to deliver a fatal blow. Thankfully, the timely arrival of Laguna prevents that. Better still, it gives Weisz the opening he needs to obliterate the monster once and for all.

Review

God, that was so cathartic!! From the moment that we met Muller and learned that it was a psychopathic monster, I’ve wanted to see it get what it deserves. Note how I’m using the word “it” instead of “him” to describe Muller now. That’s because I can’t even bring myself to call that monster a person anymore. It’s a sad, pathetic excuse for a sentient being, and seeing it die is cathartic! With that, whatever plans Ziggy had for Foresta may have finally been stopped.

It’s not over yet, though. Thanks to the Planet Namek that Muller pulled, the whole planet may explode! Countless beings will die if that happens. I pray that there’s still time for Hermit and Weisz to fix this mess before it’s unsalvageable. It wouldn’t be the first time that Mashima’s resorted to a last-minute save, but it’s always a pleasure to watch. As for me, I’m hoping that this means that Sister can heal the damage Muller did to Kleene. Great arc, overall. I love it!

I Give “The Doomsday System” a 4.5/5

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Edens Zero Chapter 119 Review/Recap

You know who I’ve been wanting to see get their butt handed to them on a silver platter for the last month? Mora, that sociopathic glue guy from the Nero Commandos. From his cavalier attitude as he casually murders machines, to his pesky glue powers, I hate the guy. I’ve been wanting to see him what he deserves. Then when the heroes and villains get split up for their obligatory one-on-one fights, Homura gets stuck with Glue Guy. Despite my worries, though, this chapter sees the swordswoman beat Mora into the ground. That, and Mashima makes a Marvel Comics reference!

Recap

Despite being at a signficant disadvantage, Homura doesn’t hesitate to face Mora head-on, and does a good job at fending him off despite the handicap. She even shows the extent of her Ether Gear’s power to transform into any kind of blade imaginable. They turn into Wolverine claws on her hands that she uses to tear through the Nero Commando. Alas, they fail to do any damage since he can turn himself to glue. All the while, Mora keeps sadistically talking about how he loves to see the looks of abject despair on people’s faces. As a result, Homura switches tactics, throwing clumps of dirt and debris onto his body to slow him down. It ends up working, all but immobilizing him.

So, Mora simply turns off his Glue Ether, making everything fall off of him. It was at this point that he knew…he messed up. Now vulnerable to her blades, Homura seizes the initiative, and proceeds to run him through.

Brains beats brawn, and Homura’s the winner!

Review

I was wondering how Homura was going to win in her fight against Mora? In most Shonen manga, the protagonist wins fights against tough opponent’s via one of two ways. They either dig deep and unlock a new power, or they find a way to outsmart their enemies. In this case, Homura went for the latter, and executed it flawlessly. Bravo, Homura! Very JoJo-esque.

With two of the three Commandos left, the only serious opposition is that smoke girl that Rebecca’s fighting against. Meanwhile, Weisz and Hermit are headed into orbit to stop undo the damage that Ziggy’s virus caused; if they can make it before the virus infects the Shining Stars, they should be good.

While Homura didn’t really show any major growth to her character, this chapter showed that she can think well under pressure, which is also good. Now she needs to overcome her weakness to heat so this won’t happen again.

I Give “Homura vs. Mora” a 3.5/5

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Edens Zero Chapter 113 Review/Recap

In the last chapter of Edens Zero, we got an exposition dump on how to find Mother: gather Relics that have her Ether, and it will lead the way. Which brings us to Shiki’s next stop, the planet Foresta. A planet that it seems Ziggy already made a mess of. This week, we see just what he did to the planet. And to be honest, it’s nothing like what I imagined. They’re in the doghouse now!

Recap

After arriving on Foresta, Shiki and the others head to the surface of Foresta, and are wowed by everything around them. The forest stretches across the entire planet, even the oceans! However, Witch notes that any forms of communication, like the net, are down planet-wide. Stranger still, when they come across a nearby town, everyone’s treated to this sight.

All of the machines are treating the humans like dogs, with some brutally hunting and hurting them, as well as any machines who show a shred of compassion for them.

After evading the local human-hunters, the group runs into fellow B-Cuber, Couchpo, who takes them back to her hideout where she explains what happened. About a week ago, Ziggy showed up and hacked into every electronic on the planet. In addition to shutting down all communications, he hacked into the machines and made them turn on the humans. As a result, it’s now a planet of the machines, and humans in the doghouse. Before the group can even process this information, though, they’re attacked by another robot that Shiki defeats. Even if they’re not doing this of their own accord, he won’t let them hurt his friends.

Review

Wow. When Ziggy rambled on about machines being on top, I thought he just meant he was going to kill all the organics. Turning them into slaves and pets, though, is even crazier!

I think I speculated in a previous post that the one that Shiki’s facing isn’t the Ziggy he knew. Rather, his body may be possessed by this evil, foreign entity that made him hate all humans. Considering how Ziggy was able to make every machine on Foresta go nuts, I think my theory may be correct. It’s like this evil virus of hatred or something, and it’s determined to put humanity in the metaphorical doghouse!

Well, I think we all saw the outcome to this chapter coming: Shiki going to war to undo what his Grandpa did. I can’t wait to see the mayhem that ensues in the next few weeks.

I Give “In the Doghouse” a 3/5

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