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Edens Zero Chapter 198 Review/Recap

When we first met her, I knew I’d like Sister Ivry. Despite dressing like a Nun, she’s loud, crass, and probably the best example of BDSM in Shonen. And, as she’s proven time and again, she’s an utter badass. She takes any pain someone hands her and returns it ten-fold. And as Clown soon realizes, she’s his worst nightmare.

Recap

As Hermit lies powerless as Clown prepares to seize Etherion, all hope seems lost. At that moment, a very angry Sister shows up. She used her healing powers to heal Clown’s dog to death, and once she heals Hermit, she’s ready to do the same to Clown. Before she can, though, Clown traps her in his nightmare dimension where he held Rebecca before.

Chained and helpless, Sister’s subjected to torture that I can’t show here. However, instead of breaking her, she laughs it off. She knows it’s not real, and her medical practice ensures her sanity remains intact. Sister then turns the tables on Clown and…just see for yourself.

Say your prayers, Clown.

Review

This right here. This is why Sister’s my favorite of the Shining Stars. She doesn’t shit from anyone, and her dominatrix personality let’s her turn her healing powers into a deadly weapon. She healed Clown’s Ether dog until it overloaded and exploded! And then she used Clown as her new plaything. She’s one girl you never wanna anger!

That, and I found her reaction to hearing how Rebecca had been in her place earlier hilarious. She’s a pervert, but she’s happy with who she is.

That said, this whole arc so far has been very disappointing. All the Dark Stars seem down for the count. Ziggy almost lost to Elsie. The whole thing seems too easy! What is Mashima playing at? This whole arc seems meant to be the final battle, but all evidence points to the contrary. It doesn’t make sense!

I’m really hoping that Mashima gets better with this. Because right now, he has a hard time keeping my attention. At least Sister validated my initial thoughts about her. She is awesome.

I Give “Nightmare” a 3.5/5

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Edens Zero Chapter 68 Review/Recap

The battle for Sun Jewel’s over, and the Scarlet Women’s been sent to a fate worse than death. Even though Sun Jewel’s free, victory’s soured by the knowledge of Valkyrie’s death. Now Shiki must break the news of Valkyrie’s death. If anyone still doubts it now, I think this chapter proves for good that machines have hearts.

Recap

As Xiao Mei explains, with the fall of Kurenai, Sun Jewel will prosper by exporting its valuable ore. Combined with being a popular destination for treasure hunters, and the planet’s future remains bright. However, in the immediate time, Shiki and the others return to Edens Zero and inform the the machines of Valkyrie’s death.

Sister’s furious that Homura chose to leave Valkyrie’s body on Sun Jewel. With her powers, combined with the backup data of the Shining Stars, could restore her to life. Witch argues that this wouldn’t restore the feelings she felt for Homura, but Sister doesn’t budge. Ultimately, Shiki tells her of something Ziggy said once: that machines grow old and die like other beings. Therefore, machines have hearts. In other words, they have to accept Valkyrie’s passing, with Homura vowing to become the new Valkyrie.

Sister ends up storming off on her own to cope with her friend’s death. Witch meets up with her on the ship’s observation deck, and the two of them tearfully break down over the loss of their friend, comforting each other.

Review

I might be reading a little too deeply into it, but I think I understand the main theme of Edens Zero. At least, I think I understand what Mashima’s trying to say. In a world that’s rapidly developing advanced robots and AI, there are going to be questions of morality and rights. Can an AI learn to care about people and feel emotions? In other words, can machines have hearts? I think that Mashima’s answer is yes. It may seem silly to some, but if we develop super-advanced robots one day, they can learn how to have feelings. It’s either that or let them be run on cold-logic, and that can lead to Skynet or HAL.

Philosophy aside, I thought that this was a touching chapter. As I predicted, Homura has stepped up to become the new Valkyrie for Edens Zero. It’s not a moment too soon, either. Witch and the others were able to fool him using a holographic decoy, but Drakken Joe’s on the hunt for the ship. The confrontation between the Demon King Shiki and Drakken Joe is inevitable. I’m looking forward to how it turns out in the end, as this will likely be the crew’s biggest test yet. With Shiki and the Four Shining Stars in the fight, though, I don’t think Edens Zero has anything to worry about.

I Give “Valkyrie” a 4.5/5. Slow but emotional chapter

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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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