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Edens Zero Chapter 268 Review/Recap

I’m not sure if I’ve said this enough, but the sight of the Shining and Dark Stars fighting each other is really hard to watch. If the flashback’s the manga’s been giving us are of the eight androids in a past life, then they were all friend with each other. Witch and Wizard were happily married, to boot! Seeing them tearing each other apart in the present day is a cruel tragedy. That tragedy’s only compounded by the fact that Void is Ziggy/Shiki’s son from a possible future. Mashima seems determined to mess with the fans like this!

Recap

While Void confirms that Rebecca and Shiki are his parents, he also says that Rebecca isn’t his mom. At the same time, Shiki also says he doesn’t accept Void as his son. He thinks it’s not good for him to have a galaxy-class deliquent for a son. Resolving himself to the fact that neither belongs in this new world, Ziggy declares that he’s going to defeat his son. As the two titans of Ether gear clash, Void gains the upper hand with his time Ether. However, Ziggy’s experience allows him to remain equal to Void. Before long, Ziggy’s shattered Void’s mask, revealing the man who looks a lot like Shiki within.

Meanwhile, everyone aboard the Edens Zero is surprised to learn that Ziggy’s still alive. Despite this, and despite the fact that Ziggy created them all, Wizard refuses to give up the fight. Using the full extent of their powers, Wizard and Witch clash one last time, and despite Wizard’s best efforts, he’s no match for the Shield of Edens. 

As Witch mentally questions if there’s a world where they didn’t have to fight, the scene changes to 20,000 years in the past. There, on a starlit balcony at night, Leonard proposes to Regret, who happily accepts.

Review

Well, that was still a little unexpected. We still don’t know how Void came back in time, or what he hopes to gain from all of this. However, it’s clear that he doesn’t see Shiki or Rebecca as his actual parents. Which might be for the best, since it’s likely that Shiki or Ziggy will have to take him down. What was most surprising, though, was how Void looks like the spitting image of an older Shiki. His hair is slightly different, but he looks just like him.

This chapter did nothing to explain why Void’s so determined to destroy everything, but it did show us how tough an opponent he really is. Scientists believe that, at it’s strongest, the power of gravity can bend the laws of the universe around it. Combine that with Void’s time powers, and that’s a terrifying villain. 

The main draw of the chapter, though, was the conclusion of the fight between Witch and Wizard. I’ve said it several times by now, but seeing the Shining and Dark Stars fighting each like this is very tragic. If the flashbacks are of their lives before they became machines, then Witch just had to fight her husband. The worst part is, they don’t even know how they’re connected.

There are only five minutes left before the Edens Zero self-destructs. With the way things are going, the Shining Stars might be able to stop that. However, they may end up killing the people that they once called friends in the process. That’s a tragic outcome, and one I’m not looking forward to seeing. 

I Give “Ziggy vs. Void” a 3.5/5

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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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