RJ Writing Ink

Edens Zero Chapter 234 Review/Recap

Everyone at home, I give up. I have tried fighting it so far, but I can’t do that anymore. It pains me to say this, but the Kurenai of Universe Zero isn’t the same as the sociopath we first met and got killed. As far as I’m concerned, this Kurenai did nothing wrong.

Recap

Having driven off the remaining stone bugs, Homura gets the reunion with her teacher she was once denied, while Valkyrie is finally able to meet the Crew of Edens. However, Homura’s still confused about how her master’s still alive since she saw her beheaded. As it turns out, Machines like her can survive decapitation. Creed took her somewhere safe to repair herself for a few weeks. By that point, though, Universe Zero Homura left to find her mother. Valkyrie went to Xiaomei like last time, and she’s been there ever since.

As for what happened to Kurenai in Universe Zero, Valkyrie explains that she came to Sun Jewel as a worker hoping to earn money to support herself and Homura. However, the planet’s ruler decided she was his woman, and when she kept rejecting him, he sent his army to destroy her hometown. After that, he blackmailed her into marrying him using the threat of the Sattelite Blaze to destroy Oedo. Thus, she stayed, formed the Protectors, and worked to be a mother Homura could be proud of.

Shiki and the Edens Zero take care of both problems in two seconds. Thus, Homura gets another moment that the past Universes denied her: a reunion with the mother she never had.

Well, two Moms if you consider Valkyrie.

Review

Well, that was unexpected, but it also makes sense. I should’ve realized that Valkyrie wouldn’t be dead from decapitation. Since she’s a Machine, she would survive so long as her CPU remained intact. What surprised me was how Universe Zero Homura could make such a dumb decision. Well, at least the two are finally reunited after two world’s of being kept apart. 

Now, onto the elephant in the room: Kurenai. If you guys remember from the original Sun Jewel Arc, I hated Kurenai’s guts and thought she got what she deserved in the end. However, given how the story of Edens Zero involves the Multiverse, and how there are likely to be both good and evil versions of everyone in at least one universe, I’m willing to give this a slide. As far as I concerned, this Kurenai and the monster we first met are two different people. What’s more, since everything happening in Universe Zero overrides the rest of the Multiverse, that means the Kurenai we knew is now retconned out of existence. In other words, she still got her karma!

The best part to all of this is the fact that now Homura not only has her Mom and mother figure back in her life, but the Shining Stars are truly reunited. The Edens Zero will be stronger than ever now! Hence why the title for the next chapter is called “Etherion.” That’s a recurring term in Mashima’s mangas, so you know that it’s important. Now all they need to do is get everyone else left, and the Crew of Edens will be back to full strength!

As a side note, it turns out Kurenai never owed anything to Drakken Joe.

I Give “Kurenai’s Tears” a 3/5

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Edens Zero Chapter 227 Review/Recap

Nerfing, or getting nerfed, is when something’s made weaker or worse than before. It’s a common term in video games used to describe a character or item that developers weakened because it broke the game. However, I feel it can apply to characters and things outside of video games with the proper context. My worst fears are confirmed in this case: the Crew of Edens got nerfed!

Recap

Shiki and Pino are surprised that Nero, not Laguna, is the water member of Joe’s Element 4. Despite this, Shiki refuses to back down against Nero. As the two begin to clash, Pino notes that Nero and Shiki are close to evenly matched. However, she realizes that, while he still has all his power from before coming to Universe 0, Shiki’s body can’t catch up, resulting in a severe imbalance. In other words, Shiki got nerfed!

Meanwhile, outside of Belial Gore, Pino’s fears about the others are coming true. Rebecca and Weisz have also gotten nerfed. Weisz can’t use his Arsenal suit to his full potential without Hermit, so Witch has to go and retrieve her from Digitalis. In addition, while Rebecca does have access to her Ether Gear (minus the time powers), her body can’t use it to its fullest extent. As a result, both of them are left on the ropes against Daichi and Fie. 

As for Shiki, he learns just how much has changed in Universe 0. Not only did Nero retire and pass on his title as Emperor to Shura, but in this Universe, Laguna’s the leader of Oasis!

Review

I knew that this was going to end up happening! When I saw Shiki accidentally warp into the bathhouse, I had a feeling that his powers got nerfed in some way. I was right: since their bodies have yet to adjust to the power they had post-time skip, the Crew of Edens is weaker than before. Now they have to fight the Element 4 under-leveled. Unless they do something soon, this could be a repeat of…the first time.

As far as the revelation about Laguna in Universe 0, I’m not surprised. Being the leader of Oasis likely means that many of his comrades are alive and well, which is what he wanted the most. However, the trade-off is that now Shura’s in charge of the Aoi Empire, and this means that the heroes will have to go to the Aoi Cosmos and deal with Shura all over again to get Laguna back. The silver lining is that we might be seeing Hermit sooner than we thought.

At this point, it’s safe to say that Edens Zero is in uncharted territory. Expect things to appear drastically different from the story we knew, making this less surprising. Hopefully, Sister can convince Jinn and Kleene to defect again, making things easier for the heroes. That, and they can get themselves un-nerfed!

I Give “Power and Body” a 3/5

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Edens Zero Chapter 226 Review/Recap

Remember last week and how I said that the title referred to Laguna? Well, I was wrong, and I’m big enough to admit that. As it turns out, we may have to wait a while to see Laguna again. In his place on the Element 4, we have someone else we know.

It still doesn’t matter, though. The Crew of Edens has to put Drakken Joe in his place. Again!

Recap

After hearing that Homura’s at Illega’s tower, Rebecca’s horrified since she remembers what that monster does to girls. Sister had planned on taking him down and cutting off one of Joe’s biggest backers in the process, but now…she tells Moscoy to go nuts. The Sumo Android happily obliges and leads Homura and the other girls on a prison break. 

Meanwhile, the Crew of Edens arrives at Belial Gore and gets ready to charge straight through the front door. They don’t have much of a choice, since Sister trolled them by calling ahead of time. Regardless, though, they each have a score to settle with one of the Element 4, so Rebecca, Happy, and Weisz break off to fight Fie and Daichi.

The others head inside, where they encounter Jinn and Kleene. This time, Sister decides to fight them until they remember except…Kleene still has all her emotions.

As for Shiki and Pino, they head deeper into Joe’s HQ, only to be met by the final member of the Element 4…EMPEROR NERO!?!?!

Well, I didn’t expect that to happen!

Review

Guys, I was a fool, and I overlooked a few key factors going into this. Remember how Rachel said that Universe 0 could give them the life they wanted most? Happy never became a cyborg; Weisz’s mom is alive; the robots of Granbell Park have enough power to last centuries. I forgot about how it would affect the Wind Siblings and Laguna.

Firstly, we have Jinn and Kleene. Given how Kleene already has all her emotions, I’m going to assume that in Universe 0, their parents never died and they were never tortured at the hands of the Muller (I still refuse to refer to that thing as a person.) That’s good for them, but it could complicate things. The big concern, though, is the fact that Laguna may not even be on Guilst. For all we know, he could be living in peace in the Aoi Cosmos with the members of the Resistance. Or worse, Shura could be in charge of the Empire!

With Shiki having to fight Emperor Nero, this could go one of two ways. If Nero and Ziggy were still good friends in Universe 0, he might switch sides and help Shiki. Otherwise, Shiki’s got a fight on his hands. Either way, this is going to be harder than we thought.

I just want to see the Crew of Edens reunited!

I Give “Sea God” a 3.5/5

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