With the first anime season now finished, and volume 12 of the manga being translated into English already, Eden’s Zero is looking like it’s here to stay. And it’s good! I just finished volume 12 of the manga myself, which included chapter 100. Time flies so fast. I wrote about the manga right before the anime started airing and back then I recommended it for sure. You can read my thought from back then here.
I wanted to come back to this series because a lot of people might be thinking about picking up the manga after season 1 of the anime, and they might be on the fence. So I wanted to give my quick thoughts for those on the fence.
If you liked Fairy Tail or Rave Master you’ll like Eden’s Zero, that’s a no-brainer. If you are unfamiliar with either series, or didn’t particularly enjoy them, should you still pick up Eden’s Zero? Yes, absolutely! It has its flaws, but it feels like Mashima has learned from his previous projects and is improving as an author. Not to mention, there are many parallels between Eden’s Zero and the ever popular One Piece, and Mashima is not only aware of this, but he leans into it. Without going deeply into spoiler territory, in volume 12 there was a scene that you can find in One Piece as well, panel for panel. It made me a little bit emotional.
I don’t have too much more to add, other than read Eden’s Zero if you can, it’s an absolute blast. The characters are fun, the story is fun and the world it’s set in is full of endless possibilities and it draws strength from that. I’m also curious as to what you all think about Eden’s Zero. Did you like the anime? Or perhaps you’re also reading the manga, and keeping up weekly, or on a volume by volume basis. Do you like it, and do you agree that it has potential? Let me know in the comments down below and as always, thanks for reading!
It’s a new season and it’s time for new anime to watch. There’s some good shows still going on, but there’s also a bunch of new shows airing. Today I’ll be looking at 5 shows I’m currently watching and giving you a quick opinion so you can decide if you want to watch them as well. These aren’t my favorite shows per se, I’m just picking out a few I like. I’m not going to talk about ongoing shows, nor am I going to talk about sequels. This includes the Tensura spin-off. If you want my full opinion on this you’ll have to wait for an upcoming post but the short of it is: It’s amazing. It’s my favorite thing ever and I love it. Either way, let’s dive into this season and see what’s airing.
5) Eden’s Zero
I’m writing this when we’re only three episodes in on these shows, so if you’re reading this later in the season know that my opinion might have changed. Having said that, the production on this show felt a bit weak. I’ve talked about Eden’s Zero before on this blog, you can check my review of the manga Here. I really wanted this anime to look and sound good, because I think Mashima deserves another shot at a popular anime. With Fairy Tail and Rave Master under his belt he’s now writing a space anime. I’ve referred to this show in the past as One Piece in space and I still think that’s accurate. Rebecca finds a young man named Shiki on an island full of robots. She then takes him with her on an adventure to go find mother, who is a massive floating woman at the end of space. (Not to be confused with One Piece, which is a treasure at the end of the ocean.) Needless to say there’s some parallels here and there but that’s fine. One Piece is fantastic, so you’d be right to take inspiration from it. All in all I’ve not been sold on this adaptation yet, but we’ll see where it brings us. If you’re a fan of Mashima’s other works you should check this one out, and if you’re craving decent shonen you should do the same. If neither of that is in your particular interest, maybe skip this one.
4) Shaman King (2021)
I vaguely remember Shaman King from TV when I was just a kid. I remember the English opening theme music and the core concepts of the show, but that’s really where it ends. A good friend of mine was quite excited for this show and since it’s a reboot of a classic I couldn’t just ignore it. One thing it has over Eden’s Zero is that the production on this looks a lot better. It feels well polished and sounds great. The character designs are very cool in this one. Definitely a step up from the average show. I specifically love Anna’s and Yoh’s design. Yoh looks like he doesn’t really care about anything half the time which fits his personality well. Anna doesn’t take shit from anyone and you can clearly see that in her design. Everything about her looks sharp and strong. She emanates a strength and I’m here for it. The story seems fine so far, it’s very much early days shonen in which it’s monster of the week, but it flows well. All in all I’d recommend this show even if you’re like me and haven’t seen much of the original show.
3) Shakunetsu Kabaddi
I think I speak for many of us when I say I didn’t have a clue how Kabaddi worked before starting this show. I’d heard about it before, I believe it was the anime Chio’s School Road that featured it in a few of its gags, but I didn’t quite grasp how the game worked. From what I’ve learned so far it’s actually quite complex in its simplicity. Is that an oxymoron? Screw it, I’m leaving it in, you know what I mean. I’m no English major. Wait, I am. Shit. Moving on.
The main character is a very successful soccer player who got let down by his team and now hates sports. He’s found his new passion in streaming. Except life doesn’t always go as we plan it. The vice-president of the Kabaddi club finds out he’s streaming and blackmails him into joining the club. You know, normal wholesome anime plotlines. Either way, with a few episodes our main character, Yoigoshi, has become a full-fledged member of the team. What I love about this show is how unapologetically silly it is. It knows when to take itself seriously and when to be comedic. My favorite joke so far being Azemichi showing a picture of him with his pretty girlfriend and Yoigoshi getting mad out of jealousy. It works so well because of the characters’ well established personality. If you like sports anime and good comedy this show is a great one to watch.
2) Seijo no Maryoku wa Bannou desu
Imagine this: It’s been a long day at work. Suddenly you are summoned to a strange land to be their savior saint. Then by accident two people are summoned and the person summoning you likes the other girl more so you’re just kind of told to do your own thing. The audacity. I would be angry but our main character doesn’t seem too bothered. Not having to deal with crunch time at work she’s going to enjoy her new life. And she’ll do so by making potions. The story follows Sei enjoying her new life being great at everything she touches while every man arounds her starts falling for her. Usual Isekai stuff. The characters seem fun in this show and Sei is extremely likable. It’s another one of those Slice of Life meets Isekai shows that just work really well. Maybe it’s just me, but I love this genre and I can’t get enough of it. To add one more recommendation here I also really recommend Slime Taoshite 300-nen, Shiranai Uchi ni Level Max ni Nattemashita. I’m not reviewing that one because I’d mostly be repeating myself.
1) Hige wo Soru. Shoshite Joshikousei wo Hirou.
Problematic as this kind of material might be, I have to admit I’m a sucker for these forbidden love situations. One of my favorite manga of all time is Love so Life. That is probably the best in the genre though. At least I would be surprised if there’s a better one, and I’d also love to hear about it. This anime though takes a slightly different angle. At least so far. The main character is not interested in the teenage girl but instead has fallen for his coworker. It seems to be about kindness and hopefully making it so this girl gets to a point where she’s happier, because it’s clear there’s something wrong here. Her behavior is definitely not that of a normal teenager, and I’m curious to see where this anime takes it.
I think that’s all for this one, let me know if I missed any good anime. I’m not watching nearly as much as last season because The Overwatch League has started up as well and that’s taking a large portion of my watch time each week. Let me know if there’s anything I absolutely have to watch, or if you disagree with my description and opinion of some of these picks. Until next time!
Quick Edit: Don’t forget to check out the book club starting next week, see the main menu for more information!
I first started watching anime in late 2009. Coincidentally, the Fairy Tail anime started airing in October of 2009. It was one of the first shows I picked up and started watching weekly. I loved every second of it, and I will defend early Fairy Tail to the end of my days. Only later did I learn that this was Hiro Mashima’s second big work, after Rave Master. I’ll admit I’ve never seen Rave Master, but when Fairy Tail ended and Mashima announced a new manga; Eden’s Zero, I couldn’t help but be interested. For all of Fairy Tail’s flaws, there was also something really good there. I truly believe that Mashima is a very talented author, even though the things he uses at crutches are not in my taste. I think he uses fanservice too often, and even though I’m not the main age group he’s writing for, I think he could do with less of it. His comedy can be hit or miss, but his action is always solid. Today I want to look back on 10 volumes of Eden’s Zero. Let’s talk about the good, the bad and the obvious.
Young Shiki
The Obvious.
Let’s start with the obvious. Eden’s Zero copies a lot from Fairy Tail. I’ve heard that Fairy Tail also copied a lot from Rave Master, so for diehard fans this isn’t the first time. Shiki and Rebecca are almost carbon copies of Natsu and Lucy. Homura looks like an older Wendy and Weisz is basically Gray wearing a T-shirt. But someone pumping out manga, spin-offs and side-stories at the rate Mashima is, can’t really afford designing
Dosukoi
new characters every single time. Also, Happy is a robot now, keep up.
The Good.
The first major improvement that I think Eden’s Zero has when compared to Fairy Tail, is that the long-term story seems to allow for more proper material to fill in the blanks. I like to call this One Piece in space, and I don’t believe that’s an unfair assessment to make. One of my major gripes with Fairy Tail was the massive amounts of power scaling that seemed to make absolutely no sense and flip on a whim, as well as introducing villains super late that should have been obvious from earlier on, yet somehow only appear when they’re relevant. All shonen does this, but I think Fairy Tail was way worse at this. In Eden’s Zero they introduce some villains super early on, and once they’re defeated, and the crew heads to a different part of the galaxy, it makes sense that there’s new villains waiting for them that we haven’t heard of yet. It also takes its time introducing the cast properly and getting you invested in the story. Mashima still knows how to spin an interesting narrative that draws you in.
The Bad.
The bad is important to talk about, because it’s definitely still flawed. One of the early villains is a rich man who’s buying young and pretty women to turn them into naked statues. Not exactly what I’m looking for in a story, a bit too misogynistic for my taste. I have gotten into a habit to accept more issues in anime/manga than I do in other media, but it does bother me, and I’m trying to pick better shows because of it. After that rather short arc ended it hasn’t been as offensive in its material so it’s hereby forgiven. It also, as mentioned in the obvious, reuses character designs from Fairy Tail. That’s a bit of a bummer, because I like some of Mashima’s character designs and would have liked it if he made new ones for Eden’s Zero.
The conclusion.
In conclusion, I like Eden’s Zero, but I think part of the reason I’m still buying the volumes is a combination of sunk-cost fallacy combined with a hope that it has room for improvement. If it improves from here on out, it can be a very competent shonen manga. The current market for shonen is in my opinion in a bit of an unbalanced place. Demon slayer and Promised Neverland were both very good, but they also ended. I’m no expert, so take all of that with a grain of salt. Right now the best shonen we have are Jujutsu Kaisen, Black Clover and the king One Piece. I feel like anything besides that isn’t quite hitting the same heights. Maybe if My Hero Academia gets itself together, but I don’t think it will. Perhaps Eden’s Zero can fill this void? What do you think? Do you like Mashima’s work? With an anime on the way (April 11th according to Wikipedia) it might be worth getting acquainted with the work, or perhaps watching the anime blind to base your decision on that. I recommend at least giving it a shot. The first arcs are hit or miss for sure, but sticking with it is probably worth it for most people. I bet it’ll be to some people’s liking!
Opal Kaharis 