"Eden's Zero" Review

Evening, readers.  Here comes a quick review of the newest series from legendary "Fairy Tail" creator Hiro Mashima-the space opera "Eden's Zero".

This series was another "I-picked-it-up-at-the-library-but-not-at-the-bookstore" instance.  At the time, I assumed science fiction was more on its way out, and, to be fair, Mashima admits it in his afterword at the end of Vol. 1.

I myself am wary of trying to write sci-fi, mostly because I have no real background with it, but also because, these days, with modern science rapidly catching up to, if not surpassing, the likes of Star Trek and the like, it looks like it's becoming harder and harder to come up with better and more fascinating futuristic technology.

(That and everybody wants to see/know the actual science behind the fiction.  I mean, who am I-Dr. Michio Kaku?

...

Look him up.)

That being said, this very thinking has left the market wide open for something like Eden's Zero, where all the classic romantic fantasy adventure tropes are instead transported into space.  For example:

* Magic is technology
* The Great Demon King is/was a robot
* All of space is basically an ocean full of stars

One day, Youtubers (frame it however you want-they're still Youtubers) Rebecca and Happy the talking robot cat, land themselves on the robot-filled resort planet Granbell.  There they also meet the planet's sole human resident: the boy Shiki, inheritor of The Great Demon King's gravity magic/technology.

Following a fake rebellion by his robot friends in a sweet "cruel to be kind" tactic, Shiki leaves the (unbeknownst to him) dying planet to join Rebecca and Happy on their adventures.

Oh, and if certain people happen to look familiar, it's because Mashima basically lifted them (and not even basically in the case of Happy-he's the same darn guy!) from his earlier work, "Fairy Tail".

Now, I couldn't really get into "Fairy Tail" while it was coming out new in stores or airing on Toonami (because I didn't have cable at the time), but I personally find "Eden's Zero" much more charming and entertaining.

The art style is fun, the fighting isn't too complicated, the story goes along at an easy (almost too easy) pace and we're even thrown the occasional fanservice here and there.

(And I'm talking more than we get in One Piece, but not as much as we would get in, say, Daily Life with Monster Girls.)

Speaking of One Piece, Shiki is basically a more childish Luffy, and the great treasure at the end is not The Great Demon King's treasure, but the legendary cosmic goddess Mother, whom no one has ever seen.  But our heroes intend to make their way there...in order to get more viewers for Rebecca's Youtube channel.

I've heard worse reasons...

We are currently three volumes in in the English release, and the series is still holding strong, in my opinion.  Although the series is plagued by a lack of a single concrete over-arching villain, as well as the presence of a lot of different plot threads that still have to be woven together.

But, dear readers, this manga reviewer is fully set to hitch his wagon to this series' rocket ship and ride it to the stars!

(PS: I have found the last two manga that I intend to review for 2019.  They are, and I quote "Monster and the Beast" and "Kaiju Girl Carmelise".  Now that I know their release dates and they've already passed, we'll see if I can't get those reviews to you lickety-split!)

The One on the Right

When high school student Tasuku is discovered looking at gay porn in class, in his haste, he blames it all on a prank by his brother and claims that he could never be a "homo".  Being that he actually IS a "homo"-and in rural Japan, no less-this drives him into such a state of self-loathing that he contemplates suicide at the top of a tall hill.  He doesn't, obviously, but a sighting of a mysterious woman jumping down (safely) from somewhere on that hill leads Tasuku to discover something called a "drop-in center".

This woman is the mysterious "Someone-san" (and no: I'm not kidding), who tells him that the people at the drop-in center, some of whom are also gay, may be willing to listen to him and provide support with his, for lack of a better word, "gayngst" (my word, not theirs).

Look it up; It's a thing.

I hadn't intended to pick this up.  It wasn't on my schedule of new releases, but I just happened to stop by B&N today, on a bad day for new manga, and I had come in such a good mood to review stuff that I had thought would be on the shelves.

While I can appreciate this appeal to diversity, I'd have to say that I probably might not pick up Vol. 2.  The story moves forward at literally a snail's pace and Tasuku seems far too passive and wimpy and whiny to ever act like a proper protag.  Hell, even the first major storyline follows the backstory of the lesbian couple that he meets at the drop-in center!

The art is all drawn in standard black and white, obviously, but the paper it's written on is a particularly stark white that makes everything seems almost minimalist, no matter how much art the artist crams in.

And, brother, does the artist love to cram in the art!

You get the sense that this Yuhki Kamatani character may have a background in the fine arts, given all the scenery porn and visual metaphors they indulge themself in.  For example, when Tasuku sees the happy and loving lesbian couple enjoying the kind of life that he may never have, we're treated to a glowing something flying out of his chest and shattering into fragments like shards of glass.  And a cool breeze is always represented by a visible wind full of intricate snowflakes.

Long story short, I may not have intended to pick up "Our Dreams at Dusk", but I'm glad I did, even if only because it gave me the chance to write up an oddly satisfying and freeing negative review.

That's not weird, right?  Right?

(And, PS, I have no plans to ever review that "My Boy" manga.  One volume was enough for me.  Too boring.)