Edens Zero


Edens Zero is a Japanese science fiction manga series written and illustrated by Hiro Mashima. It has been serialized in Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen Magazine since June 27, 2018, with its chapters collected into ten tankōbon volumes as of June 17, 2020. The manga is published digitally in six other languages as they are released in Japan, with Kodansha USA licensing the series for English publication in North America on Crunchyroll, Comixology, and Amazon Kindle. An anime television series adaptation has been announced.

Synopsis

Setting

Edens Zero takes place in a fictional spacefaring universe inhabited by humans, aliens, and sentient robots. The universe is divided into smaller "cosmoses", with the serving as the primary setting. Most planets and locations have futuristic elements, some of which are combined with classic fantasy. All technology in the series runs on a magical power source called Ether, which forms the basis of the story's "fantasy" aspect; one recurring device is the a video recorder that allows content creators, called "", to access a same-named video sharing website based on YouTube. Ether also causes a variety of planetary phenomena such as airborne rivers of water, clouds that produce crystal pillars, and the growth of gargantuan trees visible from space. Several characters directly harness the Ether in their bodies with a power from the universe's dark ages that grants its users superhuman abilities, which are further enhanced by a transformative state achieved by pushing their Ether past its critical point. The universe is also home to various cosmic entities, such as cybernetic dragons that swarm in a sector bordering the Sakura Cosmos called Dragonfall, and a that devours planets and permanently rewinds their time, creating alternate histories without causing time paradoxes.

Plot

is a human Ether Gear user who lives among robots on the planet Granbell, a deserted theme park world in the Sakura Cosmos. One day, the park is visited by two space traveling – Rebecca Bluegarden and her cybernetic cat companion Happy – whom Shiki befriends while they are there recording videos for their online account, Aoneko Channel. After the park's robots force them off the planet to save Shiki from being stranded before their batteries die, Shiki, Rebecca, and Happy set out to explore the universe by searching for Mother, the fabled goddess of the cosmos. In the process, Shiki obtains the interstellar warship Edens Zero – Edens being an acronym for "Ether Drive Eternal Navigation System" – which was captained by his grandfather figure, the mechanical Demon King Ziggy, during a previous search for Mother.

Production

Following the conclusion of his series Fairy Tail on July 26, 2017, Hiro Mashima posted a Tweet on December 31, 2017 promising to start a new series sometime in 2018. After his visit to the Angoulême International Comics Festival in France, Mashima revealed that the new series would be "a new form of fantasy", and that the character Plue from his earlier series Rave Master would appear in the manga. On May 14, 2018, Mashima commented on Twitter that he was becoming "a little confused" due to working simultaneously on this series, a Fairy Tail continuation, and another "secret" project. He also stated that he was coming up with new ideas for the series "one after another". On May 30, 2018, Weekly Shōnen Magazine revealed that the series was tentatively titled Eden's Zero.

Media

Manga

The series launched in 2018's 30th issue of Kodansha's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Magazine on June 27, 2018. The series is published simultaneously in six different languages: English, French, Chinese, Korean, Thai, and Brazilian Portuguese. North American publisher Kodansha USA has released chapters of the series on digital platforms such as Crunchyroll Manga, ComiXology, and Amazon Kindle. The first tankōbon volume was released on September 14, 2018.

Volume list

Chapters not yet in ''tankōbon'' format

These chapters have yet to be published in a tankōbon volume. They were originally serialized in Japanese in issues of Weekly Shōnen Magazine and in English in issues of Crunchyroll Manga from March to July 2020.

Anime

On June 12, 2020, Mashima announced on Twitter that the manga would be adapted into an anime television series.

Reception

In Japan, the first volume of Edens Zero reached 13th place on the weekly Oricon chart with 30,178 copies sold. The second volume ranked 16th with 41,506 copies sold, and the third volume at 18th place with 31,316 copies.
The first volume received a mixed response from critics on Anime News Network, where it was rated on a 1 to 5 scale. Amy McNulty gave the volume a 3.5 rating, calling it a "solid start" and praising the story's pacing, characters, and art, while adding that it "may not blow anyone away". McNulty also commented on Mashima's similar visual and design choices to Fairy Tail—which she noted could be taken negatively—but opined that the manga could benefit from readers' familiarity with Fairy Tail, and found it accessible to new readers of Mashima's work. Rebecca Silverman, who also rated it 3.5, considered the manga to be Mashima's darkest work, and praised him for using themes that "helped make his previous series Fairy Tail work so well", citing Shiki and Rebecca's complementary backgrounds as orphans as an example. However, she expressed slight concerns over the story potentially becoming confusing for readers with the volume's implications of time travel and flash-forward cliffhanger. Faye Hopper, who gave the volume a 3 rating, found that the shift from "high fantasy pastiche to Star Wars reminiscent sci-fi" helped enrich the story, but criticized Mashima's humor and adherence to shōnen manga conventions. Teresa Navarro gave it a 2 rating, finding the characters and art style to be nearly identical to those in Fairy Tail, but considering its potential to gain a cult following from fans of the shōnen genre.

Works cited