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Edens Zero Chapter 167 Review/Recap

Death is an unshakeable aspect of the universe, and something we must all contend with. However, that doesn’t make dealing with it any easier, even when it’s the death of a fictional character. Last week, Hiro Mashima stunned his fans with the death of one of Witch, one of the main supporting characters for his manga, Edens Zero. This week, the fans, the Crew of Edens, and the story’s universe all have to cope with what happened. Needless to say, it’s a painful chapter.

Recap

At the Temple, word gets out that Emperor Nero’s dead and Nero 66 destroyed, bringing an end to his Empire. As chaos unfolds, Elsie sneaks inside the palace, where she confronts Ziggy for the first time since he reactivated. Ziggy tiredly admits that he now has no interest in the Empire. Shiki made a different decision than he wanted, and now the wheel of fate’s broken, bringing them to World 31. Ziggy goads Elsie to try and kill him now, but she refuses out of respect for who he once was. Taking her leave, Ziggy chides her as a fool for wasting her one chance to kill him.

Aboard the Edens Zero, everyone’s mourning the loss of Witch. Homura and the rest of the bots are in various stages of grieving. The Rutherford siblings hate what happened. However, Weisz and Laguna remember what the former said right before they went off to war. Weisz takes it back, though, since Laguna lost Ijuna. Meanwhile, Rebecca goes to Shiki’s room, where Shiki’s in a complete state of depression, not having eaten anything for the last two days, wondering how he can move on from the loss of Witch. In tears, Rebecca reveals that she’s been trying to use Cat Leaper to go back to the time before Witch died, to no avail. No matter how much they want it, though, they have to accept the fact that Witch is gone. All they can do to honor her loss is to keep on living as a family.

Review

I was almost in tears when I read this chapter. A huge part of me wanted to deny what happened, that this would be undone like the first time on Belial Gore, but it can’t. It looks like the loss of Witch will be permanent, and we can’t get her back. Moreover, her death hammers home how much darker Edens Zero is. Plot Armor won’t save everyone; anyone can die, which only makes things harder.

My friend, Demon God Tadd, said in his review of this chapter that the crew was going through the five stages of grief. I think that this was the best description for this chapter possible: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance were all shown by the crewmembers. But Shiki? I can’t even imagine how hard Shiki must be feeling. He probably blames himself and his grandpa for what happened to Witch. That poor boy needs a hug right now!

Regardless of the pain of loss, all the living can do is carry on in memory of the dead. It’s all we can do to honor them. I have to respect Mashima for sticking to this, no matter how painful it can be. I just hope he doesn’t find some BS way to bring Witch back, as that would cheapen the value of her life. The only manga that can do that is Dragon Ball, and that’s because they’ve done it so many times, death is irrelevant!

I Give “Proof in Our Hearts That She Lived” a 5/5

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Edens Zero Chapter 166 Review/Recap

In Avengers: Infinity War, Thanos spoke about how much it sucks to lose. To feel like you’re in the right, only to fail all the same. It’s a sickening feeling, yet also one we cannot avoid in life. And in this week’s chapter of Edens Zero, even though the heroes beat Shura, it feels like they still lost the war, and Witch is the one who has to make the final sacrifice.

Recap

Everyone aboard the Edens Zero is panicking with only one minute left before the anti-matter bombs go off. However, Witch calmly tells everyone that she will protect the ship no matter what. Down on Nero 66, Shura’s crawled away from his fight with Shiki, only to be confronted by Ijuna. Rather than take revenge, Princess claims the feelings of love between the two were real, and then the two embrace as the bombs go off. Stockholm. Syndrome.

As the bombs detonate, everyone on the ship watches as Witch goes outside and uses the full extent of her powers to shield the ship, even as the bombs begin to annihilate everything in their path. Even as a tearful Shiki orders her to stop, Witch refuses, vowing to protect Shiki and her family. In her last moments, Witch remembers when she and the Shining Stars first met Shiki as a baby and how she promised to look after the child. Thus, after giving everyone words of encouragement, Witch smiles as the explosion vaporizes her body, while Shiki can do nothing but cry.

Review

Hiro Mashima can be an absolute master of hitting his readers right in the feels. Every time he has an important character die, he doesn’t hold back, making sure it’s as big a tearjerker as possible. He did with Simon in Fairy Tail. He did it with Valkyrie earlier in this story. And now, he did it for Witch!

While there is the chance that Witch may not be dead, or Rebecca may deus ex machina her out of this, Mashima will probably anger people even more. After such a tear-jerking sacrifice, bringing her back will make it seem disingenuous, like it doesn’t matter. Either way, this is going to affect the plot going forward majorly.

As for Shura and Ijuna, the less said about what happened to them, the better. Everything I said about Ijuna having Stockholm Syndrome proved to be right, and that got her killed. People, if someone you know somehow goes through this, get them help. This isn’t love. It’s a perverted form of sympathy and pity. 

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I will go try not to cry about Witch’s death.

I Give “I Love You” A 4.5/5

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Edens Zero Chapter 165 Review/Recap

Three times. That is how many times we have now seen a planet that Shiki and the heroes have been on come under threat of destruction. Firstly, we saw the Chronophage wipe away the filth of Guilst. Then, we saw the Muller almost destroy Foresta. Now, Nero 66 is about to be on the chopping block thanks to Ziggy. Worse, there’s nothing that Shiki can do to stop his grandfather. His only option now: run.

Recap

As the heroes look on helplessly, Ziggy activates the antimatter bombs and prepares to have them detonate. In less than twenty minutes, they’ll destroy not just Nero 66, but the entire sector. With the All-Link terminal disabled, there’s no way to stop this. Nero 66 is doomed.

However, Shiki stubbornly refuses to give up. It’s only when Xiao Mei directly addresses him that he realizes that this is one fight they can’t win. With their goals accomplished, the Crew of Eden return to their ship and warn everyone of what’s about to happen. As a result, everyone hightails it away from the planet. Yet Ziggy’s not done; remotely hacking the Edens Zero, he freezes the ship in place, keeping them from fleeing as the bombs prepare to go off.

However, they’re not going down without a fight. Now fully healed, Witch prepares to live up to her reputation as the Shield of Edens and drive her former master out.

Review

Well, I definitely wasn’t expecting any of this to occur. It seems like a very bittersweet way to end the Nero 66 Arc. Shura’s defeated, but Nero 66 is about to blow, and Shiki can’t stop his Grandpa. Were this any other situation, I’d like him to stay and stop the bombs somehow. But there’s no way to do so! Thus, retreat is the only option.

One thing that I think is noteworthy is how the chapter emphasizes the importance of knowing when to fold’em. In this case, the Admiral in charge of Nero’s forces wanted to stay and keep fighting anyway. He wanted everyone under his command to die a pointless death. Thankfully, he gets relieved of command before that happens.

On the plus side, Witch is all better now, and ready to fight Ziggy. Rebecca called her the Mom of Edens Zero, and right now, mama bear is not happy! This is gonna be good!

Also, Shura’s gone missing, and I doubt we’ve seen the last of him. Or of Princess.

I Give “Fork in the Road” a 3.5/5

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