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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Eden’s Zero Chapter 40 Review/Recap

….Holy crap, that was dark. Is this what Xiao Mei meant when she said that this story was going to get sadistic? Because it crossed the line from sadistic to moral event horizon. In this chapter, we see how Hermit went from the happy young girl/machine to someone who despises humans.

Recap

Most of this chapter is told in flashback, but in the present, it’s the same old thing: Jamilov is tearing the ship apart. It’s the past that should be focused on.

That project that those scientists asked Hermit to be a part of was apparently a giant ether battery. Supposedly, it’s to provide ether to the neighboring Planet Hook (the thing with the hooks in the upper left corner). It’s a planet filled with machines without any purpose who are running short on ether. But this battery thing is supposed to fix that.

Hermit worked harder than anyone to make sure the plan would work, and then came the day of the test.

That “battery” thing was a giant ether cannon, and those scientists used it to blow Planet Hook and all the machines on it into space debris. They used Hermit so they could finish the project and fulfill their machine genocide. Then they decide to imprison Hermit and take her apart.

Review

Those who treat others so deplorably forfeit their own humanity. No wonder Hermit says that humans have no souls. If I went through what she did, I would think so, too! I have seen some messed up things in manga before, but this is one of the most sadistic, cold-hearted things I’ve ever read.

I honestly don’t know what’s worse: the fact that those scientists just blew up a planet, or how guilt-ridden Hermit must feel for being fooled into helping them. This was one of the darkest things Mashima has done in a long time, and I came away with a genuine sense of shock and sorrow. Anything that can make a person feel genuine emotion is a sign of good storytelling, and Mashima has that in spades.

I Give “Plan C7” a 5/5. Sadistic indeed

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Edens Zero Chapter 39 Review/Recap

What’s worse than a troll/griefer that abuses the power of technology to make other people’s lives miserable? One that doesn’t give up on anything. It would seem that the Digitalis Arc has not quite wrapped up, and since I am a week behind on this due to working on my Game of Thrones stuff, I will doing this back to back with the new chapter.

Recap

Years ago, Ziggy told the Four Shining stars that he was retiring to his hometown of Granbell to raise Shiki, and that they were free to decide their lives from then on. While Hermit initially wanted to join Ziggy, she decided that she wanted to become friends with people.

In the present, the crew of Eden’s Zero was able to bring back Hermit, but she’s still in her state of depression. Also, for some reason, being in those suits in stasis made them all really, really sweaty.

As Sister and Witch explain, she may be back physically, but she’s still not back to the cheerful self that she was in the past. Just as Shiki decides to go talk to her, alarms start blaring like crazy.

As it stands, they need Hermit and her computer skills to protect the Eden’s Zero from within cyberspace. Without it, it’s easy prey to hackers like this ugly mug.

According to Rebecca, he’s one of the top five hackers in the Sakura Cosmos. In Digitalis, he was Jamilov. Now he has hacked into the ship as payback for them ruining his plans. As a result, the ship is tearing itself apart. The only one who can stop Jamilov is Hermit, but she still refuses to do anything while being locked in the Clothes Factory

The chapter then ends with another flashback where it’s revealed that a group of scientists asked for her help in creating a device that can help machines. Hermit happily agreed to help at the time.

Review

I have been wondering since we first met her how Hermit got to be so sad and hate humanity so much. Now I’m starting to get a clearer picture. Whatever those scientists promised her turned out to be a lie that hurt a lot of machines. That’s why she hates humans so much.

This is just a theory, though. Until the next chapter comes out this week, I can’t be sure of anything. Given that this is a Shonen manga, though, Shiki will end up making her realize that some humans are worth trusting. I’ve read this “tragic backstory” scenario long enough to become genre-savvy at it. That said, I’m still looking forward to seeing what it has in store for us.

I Give “The Genius Spider Hacker” a 3/5

Some Stray Observations

• Anyone notice how bummed Pino was to be back in her robot body?

• BABY SHIKI!

• 

Eden’s Zero Chapter 38 Review/Recap

I didn’t think that the Digitalis Arc would rap up so quickly, but it looks like Hiro Mashima is steaming forward at full speed. Hermit shows off the true extent of her power in this new chapter of Eden’s Zero

Recap

Furious that someone is able to manipulate Digitalis on the same level as him, Jamilov does everything in his power to keep Hermit from helping Shiki. What follows is a battle of speed as Hermit equips armor onto Shiki while Jamilov tries to get rid of it.

And then, for some reason, Jamilov puts Rebecca in a bikini.

Realizing that he can’t beat Hermit, Jamilov decides to resort to:

Basically, he’s pressing ctrl+alt+delete on the entire town and everything in it.

I do mean everything, include the NPC’s. Worse, Hermit says that there’s no way for her to stop; in 3 minutes, everything will be destroyed.

Shiki then solves it like any other Shonen protagonist would: by beating the crap out of Jamilov. It works, despite Jamilov being overpowered in Digitalis because Hermit says Shiki is just that strong. Every hit he dishes out takes away 4,500 of his health points. Meaning, Shiki beats him out of the game in just 22 hits

And in true Shonen logic, this fixes everything. The town goes back to normal. As for Weisz, he ends up being banned from Digitalis since Hermit had to use his account to beat Jamilov. Not that he minds, though.

Meanwhile, Homura manages to return to her friends after beating that GIA woman. As for the monster, it turns out he’s alright, too. With the villain defeated, Shiki then asks Hermit once more to come back with him, to Eden’s Zero.

Review

I have to say, this is the first time that I have been flat-out disappointed by Eden’s Zero. The way they resolved the fight was too quick, and Shiki’s logic has been used by too many other heroes to stick anymore. What’s more, the terror of the Final Code is negated by how quick Shiki was able to beat Jamilov. Everyone was having such a hard time fighting him, and then Shiki just beats him so easily. He had Hermit’s help, but it still seemed to fast.

This chapter was a letdown for me, and I honestly hope that we do not see anymore like that in the future of this series. It still has a lot of potential, but I don’t want this to be a full repeat of Fairy Tail.

I Give Chapter 38 a 2/5

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Eden’s Zero Chapter 37 Review/Recap

There’s an old saying: sometimes, you have to fight fire with fire. When people are going to play dirty and cheat, there may be no other recourse but to cheat back. And in this chapter of Eden’s Zero, the crew decides to beat Jamilov at his own game.

Recap

As Amira said at the end of the last chapter, she’s a government agent whose mission was to go after Drakken Joe. She had planned on doing it by getting into Jamilov’s good graces, but she made one mistake: she put innocent people in harm’s way.

Homura demonstrates how great she is with a sword, though, and proceeds to send Amira running with her tail between her legs. Actually, if Amira didn’t log out fast enough, Homura could have ended up killing her. Also, this is Amira’s real face:

Back in town, the crew’s processing Hermit’s suggestion of beating Jamilov by using cheats. Rebecca’s dead set against it.

Weisz, though, doesn’t mind stooping to that level.

Sadly, Weisz has no real knowledge about coding, something that Hermit points out. She also points out that the reason that Jamilov hasn’t been banned is because he has other players banned by using their accounts. And just when I thought this guy wouldn’t sink any lower.

Compared to Jamilov, though, Hermit’s a programming goddess.

She then proceeds to take away all of Jamilov’s cheats, and then, just for the heck of it, turns Shiki into a giant monster.

Holy cow, she’s good.

Review

This chapter did not do much in the way of revealing the plot, other than what Amira told Homura. The government is making an active attempt to apprehend Drakken Joe. While we only have Amira to use as a lens, it’s possible that the GIA is using morally dubious means to accomplishing that. I.E. letting innocent people be killed in order to get in the graces of Joe’s men.

The big takeaway for this chapter is that we get a glimpse of what Hermit’s capable of. She’s a programming goddess who can rewrite data at her leisure. I can see why she was part of Ziggy’s crew back in the day. If they can convince her to join, then the Eden’s Zero would be even stronger. One thing’s for sure: I am looking forward to the next chapter

I Give Chapter 37 a 4.5/5

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Eden’s Zero Chapter 35 Review/Recap

My readers, I will be blunt about this: I don’t know what’s going on right now. By all intents, it looks like Homura’s turned on the crew of the Edens Zero, and we still don’t know why. At the same time, I have seen Mashima do this kind of thing before, so until I see actual proof, I won’t believe this to be an actual betrayal. For now, though, the recap

Recap

As the Edens Zero crew is fighting the monsters, Homura goes to the forest to speak with Jamiroff. He’s waiting for his army to kill the townsfolk and bring him the players so he can kill them, and begs to let her work with him.

Meanwhile, Shiki takes the unwilling Hermit back to the town, using is Gravity Ether Gear to fend off the monsters. Hermit’s convinced that Shiki somehow stole Ziggy’s powers, because she doesn’t trust humans. She even goes so far as to say they don’t have a soul. Shiki says that while some may not (i.e. heartless monsters), since Hermit was Ziggy’s friend, she’s his friend.

As for everyone else, they’re holding their own. Rebecca’s doing her Elie-gunslinger thing, but Pino and Weisz are at a major disadvantage since they can’t use their powers. There’s just too many monsters for them to deal with, though, and they start to move on the NPC’s.

That’s when a monster boss, the Shinobi Troll, that the crew met earlier jumps in to protect the people, saying its his job as an NPC. Shiki then returns, and then trounces the mosnters.

Jamiroff finally shows up on the battlefield, and orders his army to slaughter everyone. The Shinobi Troll (nicknamed Shino-Chan) uses himself as a living shield, but is filled full of arrows and falls unconcsious. Or dead. I can’t tell really.

Just then, another arrow’s aimed at the girl that Shino-Chan was protecting, and Shiki takes the shot into this arm. To everyone’s shock, it’s revealed that the person who shot him was Homura herself, who coldly declares that they aren’t friends.

Review

Okay, what the heck is going on here? What is Homura really after by betraying everyone? I know that it has something to do with wanting to meet Drakken Joe, but what could her motivation be?

We know that Homura has Valkyrie’s Ether Sword, so she either wasn’t lying about being her student, or she stole it from Valkyrie somehow. Either way, we still know too little about who Homura is.

As for her betrayal, the reason I’m not convinced it’s genuine is because Mashima pulled this stunt before in Fairy Tail. In one of the arcs near the end of its run, it looked one of the main heroes, Gray Fullbuster, had gone over to the dark side by joining a Dark Guild and severing his ties with his friends. Turns out, he was working undercover in order to stop said guild’s plot to slaugther an entire city.

Working on that logic, and considering how Mashima seems to be reusing a lot of his old material, he could be doing the same thing with Homura. Or it could be genuine. But if she ends up joining them for real because Shiki gives her some “power of friendship” speech, I will be so mad. It’s an overused trope!

What I did like about this chapter is Hermit’s remark about humans not having any souls. It’s both a reversal on the statement that robots don’t have souls or hearts, and a very real represenation of how some people can act. I’m not joking, humanity has done some pretty nasty stuff throughout recorded history. And there are jerks that act like they have no soul. But there are also plenty of people who care about each other and are good and kind.

I don’t know what Hermit went through, but I am very eager to learn about it. That could take a while, though! Something tells me that next chapter is about explaining Homura’s betrayal.

I Give This Chapter 3/5

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