Edens Zero

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Not Good.

Hiro Mashima, known for his previous works such as Rave Master and Fairy Tail, returns for his third soon-to-be long running manga series, Edens Zero. In this story, Mashima decided to stray away from his all too familiar fantasy setting in favor of a space adventure. Yet,this change in setting, with a whole new cast of characters, has yet to show that Mashima has improved in his writing at all. In fact, Mashima already begins to fall into the same writing mistakes that were all too common in Fairy Tail and Rave Master. Unspecific power scaling,surface-level characters, and abysmal pacing are issues ... that are present chapter fucking one, and only continues to further sink this series into mediocrity with each passing chapter.
The story is not much to ride home about either, and comes off as another generic space adventure that doesn't provide anything interesting,such as non traditional character motivations or an ever looming conflict, that would make it stand out among the rest.

On another note, the amount of recycled material taken from it's predecessor is unacceptable. Whole character designs, such as Erza Scarlet (now known as Elcy Crimson), Lucy Heartfilia (Rebecca), Wendy Marvell (Lavilla Christi), and Happy (No change), are shamelessly reused not only in order to appeal to Fairy Tail's lingering fanbase, but for Mashima to either have an excuse to bring back characters he can't let go of, or to not be bothered to make actual new character designs. But the similarities don't stop there. The theme of friendship is also ever present, and will surely play a large role in its central narrative, much like Fairy Tail. And though the manga's in-universe source of power has been changed to "Ether", by Chapter 4 it's blatantly called magic when Shiki states, "In unscientific terms, one could call it magic. MAGIC.."

The only thing that you could really complement this manga for would be its art, which admittedly has its own certain charm. However, compared to its current contemporaries in the shonen genre (One Piece, My Hero Academia, The Promised Neverland), Edens Zero falls short due to its lack luster and bland paneling, and lack of significant stylization that would set it apart from Fairy Tail.

The fact of the matter is that Edens Zero is lazy. Some people try defending the fact that the reused character designs are not a problem, without realizing the lack of creativity this manga, as well as Mashima, displays as a result of these designs. Its biggest flaw as a series is its failure to set itself apart from Fairy Tail by falling into the same narrative mistakes and not learning from them. Evidently,Hiro Mashima does not really give a shit about making a good manga at this point. He knows fans of his previous work will support him, and by sticking to the same formula that Fairy Tail had will lead to eventual success. This mentality of his, as shown through his work, will never allow him to improve, and as a result he will never make a series worth significant merit.

However, despite my grievances, I will continue to read Edens Zero. Not because I genuinely enjoy reading it, but to masochistically (and sadistically) watch Mashima commit the same errors all over again.

(An up-to-date follow up to this review is pending......eventually.--)

A lot of people are saying that this is just rip-off of Fairy Tail.. but wait, is it really true? Nope.

STORY 8/10

This Manga have uniqe story, with totaly different setting.
I wont spoil you because it will just make your experience with this manga worse but for comparison - while Fairy Tail was fantasy/adventure styled, this is more sci-fi/mystery/adventure styled..this manga will make you ask questions, think about depth and enjoy fights from the very first chapter.
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ART 9/10

Art is really great, you can instantly see whats going on even in panels that have many things drawn in, facial expressions are one of the best I ... ever seen and pages are greatly detailed.
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CHARACTERS 7.7/10

Characters are great, each one is really interesting and both main characters somehow destroys stereotypical Female/Male duo that is in the 90% of shounen manga.
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[Next information might contain mini spoilers but will not or only slightly effect your enjoyment of manga]

Main male character is totaly innocent while main female character is badass on the inside and have some really uniqe traits that female characters have really rarely + some of them are that unique that I never seen them before . Both characters are strong in fighting and have good chemistry between them.
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ENJOYMENT(?) 9/10

[In short] - Chemistry between characters, great comedy and nicely incorporated fanservice with nice story depth and mystery from the very first chapter. - This things makes Edens Zero very enjoyable series in which I couldnt find one forced or rushed scene.

[Comparison, you can skip this part if you havent read Fairy Tail]
- Now to the point about Mashimas old manga - FT... this is total opposit of what Fairy Tail was. You dont need to read more then 1 chapter to get this.
And similarities? Oh yea, character designs are really similar and for the first sight they look really similar, some almost same as fairytail characters..
But is this really a reason to hate or somehow lower rating of this manga? No, its not.
Why? Because even if you got totaly same character designs its still a different story with different personalities and different setting. This manga is actually more interesting even in its first 2 chapters then Fairy Tail was most of the time. (atleast for me)

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OVERALL 8/10

There isnt much to rate from 130 pages but I can sense big quality and potential in this. That is what makes Edens Zero worth 8 points of 10... in future I might give it even 10 or if potential is wasted only 6 or 5. But Iam writing about quality that Edens Zero have currently and thats what is most important.

/Sorry for grammatical mistakes/

Edit: After chapter 6, manga is even better, Iam progressively questioning more questions and it becomes more interesting by every chapter. I might rise the score of story or even overall if this goes on.

Gosh, people. Stop trashing and hating it so much,... oh yeah, because you expected something totally different from author whose works are always about friendship and action. Sure, the nakama talk can be irritating, but at the same time, for someone like me who hates people, it can be refreshing to see purity xD But that's not why I am writing this,.. Im sick of seeing how people are hating on this and writing bad reviews because they are disappointed with the story how its similar to Fairy Tail and such... in what? Srsly, the only thing that is the same is the author, and ... that's the point. How can you expect him to create something out of his style? I'm reading it because it is his work, and not someone elses, and that's what u should expect in the first place, and then you won't be disappointed.. if you wanted somethin else, then go read the genre and style of another mangaka.

There are only 5 chapters so far, and it was already emotional and funny, and so I like it. The story is different from his previous works and that's the point, isn't it? You are not reading the same things all over again, maybe just with the same taste becuase it's just how Hiro draws and writes.

The bad thing about this manga is the characters. He showed us he can draw different hairstyles and eye-shapes, so why are the main characters and a lot of side chars so similar to those of FT?! I have already seen head to toe Erza, Max, Warren, Levy, Droy and Jet. Also there's just another Mira and Lucy, just with different hairstyles, and kind of black haired Natsu.
Just why can't he be more creative? I guess its some kind of fan service like it was with Jellal, but still I'm a little disappointed with that, there should be some limit. But overall I'm enjoying it so far.

// EDIT: And with every new chapter its getting better and better. By the ch 27 there's plenty of different and VERY interesting new characters, which makes you to dont give a f* about the similarity of the 2 main characters anymore

Eden zero new shounen sci/fi / adventure / mystery work
by hiro mashima
First the story
a journey that we see a naive boy who travel into space
with badass girl who record cube tube videos
to get high views
.. and without spoilers i think story will take great slope
.. Every chapter we see a lot of mysterious things
Events are evolve rapidly
so i think it Well worth 8/10 until now under expectations
... and i hopeful that hiro can and he will make a lot of great stories
with great plots in the future
______________________________________________________________
Art :
Art is good as hiro care about dimensions and the details
panels divisions are good make a sense of movement
I liked it
______________________________________________________________
Characters are funny they makes a beautiful mood
and its suitable for mystery genre to be the hero is naive
.. he will see a lot of things he will learn and we will enjoy different things
also we saw d. waiez and we are waiting to see how evolution of a relationship will evolve
______________________________________________________________
Enjoyment is 10
because of
the events are brief and simple
you will not read nonsense .. the manga has short and enjoyable conversations
at the end i think Eden zero will be the best of new generation of shounen manga

I'm writing this review because I am sick of people trashing this series. This series is NOT "just Fairy Tail in space," it is NOT bad, and it is NOT driven by friendship-power; this series is actually AMAZING, it's shaping up to be Mashima's best work yet as so far it's better than Rave at this point.

Summary before getting into the details: Despite the main character talking about friendship a lot in the first few chapters, this series does NOT "run on friendship-power," and nobody is ever handed some kind of BS power-ups on a silver platter after making cool speeches about friendship. In fact, ... it's the opposite, as the universe consistently shows the main character that his views are naive and unrealistic. Below I will go into details.

Okay, so here's the issue: It would seem that Fairy Tail made people lose all their faith in Mashima, as most readers/watchers of the series with actual brains and good taste only stuck with it to the end because they were invested enough to want to see what would happen. But as a result, now that FT is over (not counting 100YQ) people no longer want to give Mashima a fair chance, so after reading just the first few chapters of this manga and seeing how much "friendship" gets brought up they decided "oh it's just FT in space and it sucks and Mashima sucks blah blah blah."

Here's the thing: This series is a lot more similar to Rave than it is to FT, and if people gave it more of a chance than just the first couple volumes they would see that clearly. The universe of this series is very GRITTY and GRIMDARK, and it DOES NOT CATER to the naive ideals of friendship that the main character believes in. In FT, we got the whole "Love is the One Magic" thing, so that friendship-power basically ran the whole series. That isn't the case here. The universe of Edens Zero is one in which people literally get murdered in cold blood immediately after making a cool speech about friendship and bonds (true story, that really happens) and in which people who are suffering and beg for help are unable to be saved and die horribly before the protagonists' eyes. This series is actually DARKER than Rave was.

It does NOT have friendship-power. The main character Shiki is able to make his ideals of friendship and bonds work, but only by WORKING REALLY HARD FOR IT WITH HIS FRIENDS: Nothing is handed to them by the universe or the plot as some kind of dumb reward for Shiki's naive viewpoints. They truly have to WORK to make their ideals stick in a universe where the vast majority of people are much better off if they only look out for themselves, a universe full to the brim with horrible things like slavery, racism, the use of sapient beings as experimental subjects against their will, and human trafficking at the level of forced-prostitution (as I said, this series is even darker than Rave was).

Some people WORRY that this series will eventually "go downhill" as Fairy Tail did, but they DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT THAT, and here's why: Mashima had a complete outline for Rave's story and all the major arcs (and the story's length) from the start while just making up details (battles, character interactions) along the way. And he's said that he's DOING THE SAME WITH EDEN'S ZERO. He's outright stated that in FT he only had the first few arcs outlined and a few plot points (he hasn't said which but I'm assuming the time-travel, Zeref, and E.N.D. stuff) planned; but since the series got way more popular than expected he extended it LONGER than he planned and made whole arcs up as he went along, not knowing how long he would end up making it, and that's when the series went downhill with crappy friendship-power writing.

AS FOR EDEN'S ZERO: Mashima has stated online and in interviews that he's writing EZ the way he wrote Rave rather than like FT. He's had all the major plot and arcs planned from the start, even knowing HOW LONG HE WANTS TO MAKE IT (between Rave's and FT's length), while just coming up with details along the way. That's why EZ is as well-written as Rave was and is way better than FT! Also incidentally that means the series is now about 25 to 30 percent done at about 100 chapters.

Interesting stuff, right? What it shows is that Mashima learned from his mistakes with FT and plans to not repeat them by making sure to plan/outline all the arcs of this story from the beginning like he did with Rave. I have complete faith in Mashima that this series will continue to be excellent, because he has a full outline/plan that he's following and he showed with Rave that he can write wonderfully when he has a plan; it's when he makes up arcs as he goes along that his writing sucks like what happened in FT.

About the character-designs that people complain about: Sure, some of the character-designs are reused/recycled from Mashima's previous series, but it annoys me how people get angry at Mashima for that while giving Akira Toriyama a pass for how every male character in the Dragon Quest games looks like either Android 17 or Goku, or giving Rumiko Takahashi (Inuyasha, Ranma, etc) a pass for only ever drawing four or five distinct female faces. Why is it okay when they do it but people suddenly get all angry at Mashima for reusing his character designs? Also, the art-style evolves as the series progresses, for example later in the series Rebecca looks much more different from Lucy than she did at the start.

As for the story/characters/art themselves: This series rules. As I said, the setting is a compelling, vast universe that is very gritty and grimdark, even darker than Rave's setting was. As always, Mashima's art is wonderful in both the more static scenes as well as in fight-scenes, as well as character-designs (there are plenty of new characters, including major ones, who don't resemble those from his previous series). The plot is very compelling with a nice mix of over-arching plot-lines as well as arc-specific stories, and strong elements of mystery throughout. It gets me very emotionally invested, a lot of characters have very tragic or otherwise emotionally compelling backstories that at times have made me actually cry. The character interactions are wonderful (even in FT that was always a big strength) and the characters themselves are absolutely fascinating people. The series explores themes of civil rights, slavery, objectification, trauma at the level of C-PTSD, and much more, it's honestly even DEEPER than Rave was in terms of the level of themes it explores that are relevant to the real world. Finally, the mechanics of battle and the power-sets (Ether Gears) are really cool in this series, and the battles themselves are just a treat to look at. Something specific to note is that the main character Shiki has much more interesting powers than Natsu's "I can shoot flames" powers were. Mashima also does a very good job with the progression of the power/hax scaling in the series so that it feels natural.

Alright so Eden's Zero is a series that gets a lot of unfortunate hate, anyone who has actually read the Manga will realize its much more than just a rip off. Character designs are practically reused, certain characters dating back to Rave Master appear here, and that's totally acceptable, an artist should be allowed to use their own designs however they want.

Eden's Zero has a great setup saga, spanning nearly 80 chapters, and while this is a huge let down for some, it seems people have come to expect perfection crammed into a minuscule amount of chapters or episodes, which simply isn't possible. Everything, and ... I mean everything you have seen or read from the beginning of the series has a purpose, and it keeps proving it again and again the further you read. Eden's Zero does not waste its potential, and delivers in moments you least expect it. The pacing of the story is comparable to One Piece, but not as long of course, I think its a great manga to pick up if you don't want to read the longer ones out there!

The art for this manga is fantastic, it is definitely some of Mashima's best work out there, and although it could be better in places, its still extremely impressive.

The characters all have pretty interesting backstories, and they tie in pretty heavily to the plot of the overall series, while I do wish there was more going on with that, I'm sure it will come with time, after all the series is about uncovering a grand mystery.

Overall, i am extremely satisfied with this series, and I believe going through the slow and steady build up introductory arcs was worth the time. Before giving into the criticisms about designs, give it a shot and see if you like the story, if you don't that's completely fine!

First of all I come to present myself as someone who has seen all the sleeves of Hiro Mashima, but this doesn't mean that he's 100% in favor of his way of making stories.

You don't have to be an idiot to realize that this manga has a quite favorable potential to become a good manga, after all the "shonen nekketsu" despite its lack of originality over the years is still a pretty good, entertaining and preferred by many.

This manga has all that, probably it is very uncreative and with well-known designs, but after seeing more than 30 chapters I've realized that it's its differences and ... this makes it particular.

In history to which it goes, I can say that it's a 10/10, since it begins with a purpose so that the history can advance of certain form, and until now it has stayed in the correct way, without plot devices, without deux ex machina, and without those kinds of things that ruin a story in some way.

Of the characters cannot talk much about them except for the protagonist who is Shiki, because he's the only one who has revealed more his story and construction of the character, despite being very similar to Natsu of FT, is very well done.

Finally the art of this story is 10/10, since Mashima has been drawing very well the settings, the space, the planets, and the whole environment is quite wonderful lately.

This story has a lot of future, the one that comments that it's a mediocrity because it's very similar to its predecessors is a fool, since it's the style of the creator and it's his primordial formula for the creation of the manga.

Manga 10/10

10/10, changed to 8/10, update at the bottom since many of my thoughts are still the same.

I keep up to date with the manga, and as much as I love Fairy Tail, I think Edens Zero is Mashima's best work to date. There's a lot of people in the reviews who read less than 30 chapters, and that's why they dislike it. In the beginning it's very reminiscent of Fairy Tail, but he does that so he can break the mold as the series goes on. The main character, Shiki, has to learn that he can't be friends with everyone just because he wants the ... universe to be a kind place.

You CANNOT go into this expecting it to be like Fairy Tail. Like I mentioned, it starts that way, but it doesn't really stick with it. It gets significantly darker, and there are moments of existential horror that Fairy Tail could never manage to pull off. I personally don't know of a series that I would say has a lot of similarities, but I would say it reminds me more of One Piece than Fairy Tail. Since most people are comparing it to Fairy Tail though, I am going to keep with that theme.

Freindship isn't the main theme of the story. It's an important facet of it, yes, but it's not the theme nor the only driving force. Because it's only a small piece of what's considered important by each character, I think it does the found family troupe even better than Fairy Tail did. Fairy Tail's focus on nothing but found family and friendship caused it to overpower the character's other goals, but because of the depth of Eden's Zero's characters, it feels more realistic. Each of the main characters have their own agency and goals, and those goals are constantly being spoken about and aimed for, which makes them much more well rounded than many of the characters in Mashima's previous series. They don't start off being friends either. That friendship has to be earned.

Even most of the villains have deep and interesting backstories and reasons for how they behave, which is not something he did very often or he would only half ass in Fairy Tail. There are still villains who are just scum in general, but those are always the small fry.

He does reuse some character designs, but any fan of his works knows that it's just a thing he does either as a tribute to former characters or as a running gag. For example, Plue appears in Rave, Fairy Tail, and briefly as an alien species in Edens Zero. Happy is here too, though if you read a lot of this, you'll find him to be quite a bit different from his exceed counterpart. The last example I will being up is Justice, who is drawn similarly to one of Mashima's oldest characters. Since he primarily does this with side characters, and it's only their appearance that he reuses, it's never bothered me much.

He's also not the only artist to do it, not by a long shot, so I don't understand the hate he gets for it.

The art is phenomenal. Period. The panels of outer space are mesmerizing, and the details in all the ships are beautiful. The characters and the robotic designs are visually interesting and caught my attention.

There are a lot of heavy topics in Edens Zero, and while some appear in fairy Tail, Mashima mostly skipped past them with his previous work. Rather than shove grief to the side, it's spoken about and dealt with in Edens Zero in a relatively healthy way. Victims stand up to their abusers far more often than in Fairy Tail, and with the friendships and found family that they have beside them, they win against those threats. It's dealt with so much more in depth, and that helps create so much character growth for these characters to go through.

Speaking of growth, not a single character in the series is exactly like they were when you first meet them by volume 17. They're not even the same people by volume 10. They grow and change with the story and as they adapt to the situations they end up in, and that's a big part of why I think it's Mashima's best series so far.

UPDATE to this post as of 2/15/2023:
There's a lot of ups and downs and arcs that I was not personally a fan of, but we're back in another upswing in the most recent chapters. I have since changed the rating I gave the series due to my personal opinion on specific arcs, but I still think you should read it and decide for yourself how you feel instead of relying solely on another person's opinion.

why so many 10s because this manga needs its score to be inflated up to at least an 8-8.5~ range. Narratively its alot better than fairy tail. But I knew what i was getting into with fairy tail and it pleased me. Edens Zero doesn't deserve to be prejudged based off prior works.

Edens Zero 98 chapters in is a solid adventure manga that follows the tropes many enjoy with a bit of a twist. Many of the prior reviewers loved to trash on hiro mashima for the same face syndrome and call him lazy for carrying over happy. But you cant do that while ... defending other mangakas that haven't had multiple mangas serialized and wouldn't have people checking out their mangas due to familiarity with prior works. He adds nods to his other popular characters throughout the manga but nothing overwhelming its just nice easter-eggs.

Actual story score is an 8.5, I came in not expecting much but i've binged it all within 3 days and i've enjoyed every minute of it. He is trying something new and its working. Ofcourse power of friendship and flashback triggered powers are in here but if were deducting points for that then all shounen manga will be at 5s.

Art stays at a 10 because if you love his art style of thicc women youre at home, his former assitant miki yoshikawa (yamada kun and the 7 witches) she also draws very thicc waman.
~also the fights scenes are very cleanly drawn but some of the movement is sacrificed to get the clean look

Characters-Hiro likes strong women, sometimes damsels but not like lucy, rebecca is strong in her own right. the rest are the stypical supporting cast who you'll love like any other manga

Enjoyment is an ez 10, I binged it I regret nothing this shouldnt real be a score for me because if i enjoy any bit of it its a 10 if i dont like the manga I drop it

Overall 8.5 I'd recommend it, I personally really love it, it fits in with one piece, they are alike and if you like one piece you'll most likely enjoy this one aswell. Don't be an elitist and say nothing compare to one pieces because we all know nothing beats BERSERK

Also you shounen snobs, if you're tired of the same tropes try reading a fucking seinen.

Yu Yu Hakushu is better than HunterxHunter Fight me

heavily underrated and so misunderstood. it is no way, shaper or form "fairy tail 2.0'. it has stabilised itself to be its own story pretty early. some of the character designs do indeed resemble fairy tail a lot, but people choose to ignore the LARGE amount of original character designs. the story elevates with every arc, the characters are extremely fun and world building is really good. people need to give it a chance.

drakken was an absolute amazing villain, the shining stars are amazing and homura's character development is incredible. shiki is a great protagonist so far with great character development. incredible concepts (chronophage, ... cat leaper, god's eye). edens zero actually has very dark elements which is something you would not expect. overall extremely underrated.

Very good.
This is hands down one of the best ongoing mangas in the world right now.
The art is top notch.
The stakes are high and people die, and our protagonists are in very very dangerous situations.
The fights are cool.
Interesting characters, character interactions and beautiful character designs.
The world is absolutely interesting and unique(it takes place in an entire whole UNIVERSE).
And its in SPACE!
Also, Its getting two games and an anime very soon, so it will only get more popular from here on out.
Kudos to hiro mashima for giving us a master piece of a manga.

Edens Zero just ended, so I thought it'd be good to have a review that covers the entire series, rather than a preliminary one.

If you want the quick and simple review, I'll put it this way: Edens Zero is a decent series, but its flaws are significant and it's far from an amazing series; I can only really call it a worthwhile read if you're a fan of Hiro Mashima's other works or if you just want a long-running shounen to read without caring too much about how great it is.

Strengths:
- The worldbuilding is creative and intriguing. Lots of really cool planets are explored, ... the powers have lots of variety, and it feels exciting to see Edens Zero's world.
- The art, while not generally the most standout, is consistently solid, and if you're like me and tend to have difficulty following action scenes in manga, this series shouldn't be much of a problem for you.

Mixed:
- Fights can be very clever and exciting at times. Drakken Joe is probably the highlight in that regard. However, there are also plenty of fights that don't really leave much impression, as well as a few that are just... bad.
- The storytelling is certainly a mixed bag. On the one hand, the series does a fantastic job of foreshadowing major events. There are also some really interesting ways Mashima uses to bring the story across at times, Xiao Mei being the biggest example. However, the story sometimes gets very convoluted and tries to take on too much, and the pacing gets awkward at some parts of the story. There are also a few specific plot decisions that just don't sit right with me (and many other readers), so the story is full of ups and downs.

Weaknesses:
- The characters can at times be pretty compelling, but for the most part I would say the cast falls a bit flat. That's a big blow for an adventure story about a spaceship crew exploring the universe. That isn't to say that they are actively BAD, but for most characters I just didn't really care much about them.
- This series is really bad with fanservice, and not just in how often it happens. Even for those who don't mind it, you might still find yourself frustrated, as Mashima seems to want it placed in the worst possible scenes. Luckily it does become more reasonable for some of the more serious arcs, but it still comes off as being way overboard.
- The ending and final arc as a whole were not the strongest. It isn't the worst final arc I've ever seen, but calling that arc good would be a serious stretch.

So as a whole, Edens Zero still strays onto the side of being a good series, but is it good enough to warrant reading 33 volumes? For most people, I would say probably not. I don't regret reading it, and I had a lot of fun with it, but if you do jump into the series, don't go in expecting a masterpiece, because it just isn't that.

Hey, I've got this great new series for you! It's a generic battle shonen, but instead has honed the genre to perfection, and cut away all the nonsense, honing it to a fine point with lightning fast pacing!

That show is not Edens Zero. That show is the thing I got sick of three series' ago. Edens Zero is the one that took over a hundred chapters to get out of the starter zone. Edens Zero is a shonen with all the stuff that actually got me to like shonen.

If you just want a nice fun adventure that is going to last forever, here's a good ... one that doesn't have the baggage of already being a thousand chapters long.

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Story: Some idiots go to space looking for a thing. There they fight a bunch of bad guys and a few good guys who didn't get out of their way fast enough. The worldbuilding is nice, there are a bunch of mysteries which seem like the sort that actually will have answers, and there's a good number of plot twists I never saw coming.

Art: Good. Character designs is a little too same-facey. That is the only thing I don't like about this series, and even then i got used to it eventually.

Characters; While it will take a while to get used to the... err.. familiar faces, pretty much everyone is fun to watch. The heroes are lovably stupid, the villains are some of the most punchable evil I can remember, and the blatant fairy tail redo's are different enough that I don't care about the reuse anymore.

Enjoyment: This is one of the very few series i consider a genuine, unambiguous 10/10.

TL;DR: As long as you go into this series wiping clean all your reservations about Fairy Tail, you'll have a positive experience. Edens Zero shapes up to be your average shonen packed full with well-done moments.

L;DR:
By all means Edens Zero is not my typical preferred reading material, nor is it a series I would take the time out of my day to review. But I definitely feel that it’s getting a lot of undeserved slander in the other reviews that have barely read past the first ten chapters. This manga is actually… pretty good, and I’ll express why that is now.

As of right now (that ... is, 108 chapters in), I’ve gotten a good feel over Edens Zero, its plot, and characters. When I first picked up the series, I thought I would only read a few chapters before an inevitable drop—Hiro Mashima is, after all, the author of Fairy Tail, which is a series I could never really get into. My assumption, like many others, was that it would just be another Fairy Tail clone that harps on about friendship every thirty seconds.

I suppose that analysis is not entirely incorrect. Shiki, our male protagonist, takes the word “nakama” and runs with it—like many other shonen, Edens Zero runs on the power of friendship. And the character designs, while still rather pretty, often seem like rehashes of the few Fairy Tail characters I can remember (And I suppose from Rave Master even before that). Then again, it’s not like I’m against this sort of character recycling, and Mashima is certainly not the only one to employ such a technique.

So what exactly is the story of Edens Zero? The easiest way I can explain it is as One Piece but in space. Perhaps not as complex as One Piece, but it has the same, general set up. Boy who values friendship goes on a grand journey to find the One Piece—or in Edens Zero, an elusive figure known as “Mother.” Being set in outer space or something of the sort, Mashima has lots of fun world building to play around with, similar to One Piece. Each cosmos is filled with unique planets that are used to set up new plot points, characters, villains, etc. Really, it’s quite clever—put a group of friends on a ship and send them out into the world, and boom, perfect shonen material. I’ll eat that stuff up any day.

What I’m trying to say here is that Edens Zero is technically quite average. Plot, while having some interesting tidbits (ie. The power system of ether gear which I find unique) is not something totally brand new and revolutionary. The characters, while mostly developed, aren’t too crazy special (especially if you’re one of those Fairy Tail fans who can only see Fairy Tail characters in their spots). But… it’s very, very entertaining.

No, really. I had a lot of fun reading this series, and I’m going to keep up with it weekly from now on. There’s always the possibility that something major happens in the series later on to skew my opinion, but as of right now, I’m genuinely excited to see where this series goes. Some of the fight scenes and moments I’ve read will be absolutely awesome when the series gets its anime adaptation, and I think if people would just remove the Fairy Tail predecessor from their minds Edens Zero would be pretty highly received.

It’s a manga that’s quite easy to get invested in. Several moments have genuinely made me tear up with how heartfelt they were, and I found that flashbacks were worked in pretty well to accommodate the pacing. Even if Shiki yammers on about how much he loves his nakama every five or ten seconds, it’s not really that big of a deal—it makes sense. The story wouldn’t exist without the friendship-power, and you can tell that they’re really, well, friends.

A few other things of note, though. For one, if you’re a fan of ecchi, you can start slobbering at the mouth, because Mashima is too. If there’s a female in this series, you can guarantee Mashima’s got some highly detailed, curvaceous art of that character, in practically every other panel. Female characters are often underdressed, and there’s a few too many tentacle monsters referenced in the manga for my personal taste. But even if I’m not a fan of all the fan service, the female (and male) characters actually seem to be really well-thought out. Each have their own motivations, strengths, and weaknesses. And the girls are pretty badass, Rebecca holds her own in a fight easily, Homura claps literally everyone, and so on. Mashima’s done a great job of making everyone likeable, at the very least.

I’ll be eagerly awaiting the Edens Zero anime adaptation, and I’d definitely encourage reading if you’re in the mood for some solid shonen.

A lot of people already had an opinion, a bias, a preconceived notion about Edens Zero before they even began diving deeper into the series. A lot of people seemed to have prematurely judged this manga because of their sheer distaste towards Mashima since it was heavily and positively reinforced at the time (even until today) instead of actually experiencing the story themselves. If the series isn't your cup of tea, it's fine. However, I do believe it's rather unfair to scrutinize the series and the author so monumentally just because of the author without even attempting to read a generous number of chapters (unless ... such author has done something messed up in real life or any similar situation)

I think that Mashima's writing really improved. Moreover, a lot of character designs have become more unique, and the word "friend" is pretty much a running joke. Edens Zero pretty much subverts and even goes as far as take jabs on a lot of the negative aspects of his previous work. Arcs are tightly tied together, characters have interesting personalities and are entertaining, the implications of friendship are of a higher degree than of Fairy Tail, it has slightly dark undertones, stakes are existent, the storyline is compelling, the art is undeniably stunning and easy to follow, and the worldbuilding is amazing. When you look past the character designs, EZ is really good. It's been living under Fairy Tail's shadow for quite some time now and is being branded as FT 2.0 when in reality, they're pretty different.

Although, I do believe that Mashima dropped the ball with the final arc of FT, I still don't really understand the drive of people to hate on an author and his series because it's a popular opinion and that big personalities such as anitubers think so as well. What I do understand, however, is that Edens Zero is a major improvement from Fairy Tail. Genuinely hoping that it continues and/or even improve its already good trajectory.

First Impressions: This is generally my thoughts on the first chapter and all I can say is that it's not entirely bad as I thought it'll be. I can see some Fairy Tail inspirations... Happy, the talk of friendships, the main character looking like Gray, and the concept of dragons but as a story on its own it definitely does look interesting and some what unique, characters still have that charm Fairy Tail and Rave Master had, the Art is nice to look at but it's really hard not to think once again Fairy Tail lol. (even though the art from Fairy Tails is essentially ... identical to One Piece) The enjoyment of reading it is definitely a high for me and I hope it gets better from here.

I made this first impression on 8/22/2020, lets hope for the best and see if I still have the same reaction as I did with the first chapter...


--Real Review-- (Up to chapter 108 8/29/2020)(Will Update every 100 chapters)
Story - 9: I generally went in reading this manga thinking it'll be completely trash due to the amount of bad reviews and bad rating it had... I can tell you it's not bad at all, in fact it's no where near that! It really shocks me how creative the world building is in here like how it really delves in to the lore of the space surrounding the characters. I get people are going to compare Fairy Tail to this series and trust me I was so salty over the last arc and was just ready to criticize this but this series has its own originality and heart and again I get it that there's a lot of similarities like some of the characters looking the same, how friendship is still a trope here, the guild, and of course the biggest one Happy but stop right there, look at this series as it own without comparing it to that heaping trash and you'll truly be surprised. Before I go on with the other aspects, I should tell you what to aspect from Eden Zero, it aspect some of the lovable humor that Hiro is known for, some honestly surprising dark moments, generally sad moments that even made me cry and it's really hard to make me tear up, realistic battles that actually requires strategy and brain power and not stupid ass pulls, actual threats with some great building leading up to it, and the urgency of wanting to know more.

Art - 10: I love the art, I know it's the same as Fairy Tail and the characters have the same character models but other than that, their surroundings just looks amazing and the planets are just so original and imaginative. It also seems the drawings are telling a story for themselves also, instinctively telling you when the characters is in a very dire situation or if they just having a good time.

Characters - 9: I don't like how some of the characters look similar to the ones in Fairy Tail and it seems a few of them have the same personality also... Other than that every one else are unique and have their own quirks that generally make them lovable. I get some people are going to compare Shiki with Natsu but after a few chapters I started to see him as his own character, the similarities are still there but he's just adorable and I can't find myself to dislike him one bit and on the plus side, he doesn't pull shit out of his ass. One more thing the villains are actually built wonderful in this series and all of them are actually threats! Not one time where they defeated by 'friendship' but actual skills and smarts! I give this series +1 for that.

Enjoyment - 10: After One Piece, I am really excited to read the next chapter! I just hope it doesn't fall so hard like... again Fairy Tail, I really hoping this series the best and I do once again hope that people change their minds on this series, it's really a sleeper hit and the anime will indeed get some eyes on Eden Zero if done right!

Overall - 9: It's Not Fairy Tail And It's Not Rave Master, it's Eden Zero and I will continue to support this series and I hope you do the same too <3.

(I'll probably fix the typos and re-edit some parts of this review later, for the mean time I'm going to sleep lol)

This is probably one of my favorite space and sci-fi-related manga. After reading this Mashima has become one of my favorite mangakas of all time. In this story we see a boy named Shiki who ends up leaving his planet along with a girl named Rebecca, they obtain a ship called the Edens Zero. The Edens Zero originally needed 4 workers to function it properly, however, while traveling through space Shiki ends up recruiting several unique and quirky members to join his crew. Each member has their reason why they decided to join Shiki along on his journey. The main goal is to find the ... all-wish granting being called Mother. Mashima makes us think that this will be a happy and fun adventure with friends until a series of dark events happen throughout the story. Mashima has made the villains in this narrative brutal and cold-hearted and he is also not afraid to kill off characters in such manners. The lore of the world-building makes it exciting and interesting when it comes to seeing which planet the gang ends up on next. The art is really good, although there are a lot of scenes with fan service but that was not a problem for me. The characters have their own personalities that make them unique and distinct. Mashima brings in the philosophy of what makes a robot different compared to a human. Along with the themes of racism and discrimination.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this manga, if you liked Mashima's previous work of 'Fairy Tail' then you should give this a try. If you enjoy anime that look light-hearted but are way darker than you expected then this is a must-read!

I might not exaggerate if I said that this series is one of the greatest shonen chains that I have read in my life, Aidens Zero, or according to what some fossilized people say (Fairy Tale version 2) has a realistic depiction of what the world is going through through the course of events such as human trafficking, rape or Government corruption and bribery Story 9/10: The story revolves around the Cheeky boy who was living with the Demon King Zigi, and where he meets by chance with Rebecca, who landed on the planet motivated by exploration, and then they go on adventures in order ... to find the mother who fulfills the wishes, it may seem from the look The first is very similar to Fairy Tail, but the truth is the opposite of this. The story has a different course of events than Fairy Tail, as it tends to be ambiguous and dark, and we do not forget the exciting plot and the complexity of the events that we see is increasing chapter by chapter,And the best thing is that it does not contain any of the nonsense of friendship, there is no nonsense in it Fairy Tale where if Natsu gets close to defeat, he remembers his friends and wins the battle. No, any dialogue about friendship ends up killing you, this is what I mean by the realism of work and its respect for The mind of the viewer characters 6/10: I know that writing characters should not be judged from the beginning, Edens is a long work and 125 is only a beginning, but this is a first impression and may change in the future. The writing of the main characters and their development is amazing in the sense of the word. For example, because he had never seen humans, he wanted to form friendships in any way, and after he found Rebecca and they left the world, he found humans in front of him, but Rebecca warned him that most humans are scum After many adventures, he became aware of who the good n the bad guy is, but this did not prevent him from forming friendships in any way, this is excellent writing, and Rebecca was lazy and liked video games, but after what she went through with Cheeky, she became of interest, unlike most of the shounen heroes with weak writing, but As for the secondary characters, it is weak or superficial to some of them, not all. Drawing 10/10: A drawing that relaxes the eye, Hiro is one of the best manga in terms of manga drawing, we have seen its accuracy in drawing details and drawing movement and combat frames, it is an amazing thing generally that this work One of the deepest and best works of Shounen that has been invented is that it does not focus on superficial action, but rather has what is called a social philosophy. It shows you the problems of society by narrating events. Sorry, there may be spelling errors, because English is not my mother tongue, thanks for your reading for my review and If you want to take my advice, do not care about what people say and continue this work, you will like it as long as you are thoughtful and tasteful

Most reviews for this series came out back when it was only recently starting up and I feel like it's a shame to have most peoples experience based on that alone. Being a person who only recently got into the series but has read up to the current chapter as of now (104) , I can say without a doubt that the series is highly enjoyable and worth a watch

Story: 8
Mashima hasn't done as much of a heavily story based series since Rave Master back in the early 2000s, but Edens has proved he's still as willing as ever to get back into the swing ... of things. from the beginning, small relevant plot threads are woven into the story that come back later on as massive parts of the overarching narrative. Obviously, I won't spoil anything, but the twists coming both make sense and give a whole new perspective on the series with a second read through. It starts off slightly mundane in the beginning but around the start of the digitalis arc, things really start getting going with fast paced action and genuine character moments, speaking of which:

Character: 8
It is true some characters bare a heavy resemblance to the Mangakas past work, Fairy Tail, but it clearly doesn't dampen on their newer personalities and large set of new characters that are charming in their own way. Shiki and Rebecca do very much have different personalities from Natsu and Lucy. Shiki is an adventurous, slightly perverted but kind user with an affinity for making friends at every moment to a sickening degree (on purpose) and Rebecca is an intelligent, peppy, marksman that actually contributes a ton consistently to the story and can hold her own with the rest of the group. I could go on about the rest of the charming cast, but it'd be better to just read for yourself as they're a fun bunch

Art: 10
Mashima has never done better, especially for his first ever fully digital affair. The shot composition in some panels is so detailed and extravagant you have to wonder how the man pulls it off every week. At this point, Mashima being a hardworking artist has been a staple for a long time, so you'll know what you're getting into. Not to mention in this series he has no trouble going into darker themes and imagery than he ever would've done for FT.

Enjoyment: 9
I had a blast reading this series and have been on the edge of my seat for the 45 or so chapters with good reason. The entire thing is really engaging for the reader with the colorful cast of characters we get to see partake in the adventure (who have great chemistry), the imaginative worldbuilding that was so lacking in Mashima's past work, some intriguing villains unlike anything he's written, and amazing art.

Overall: 8

Check this out if nothing else. You'll be doing a disservice otherwise.

[Might contain minor spoilers before chapter 17]

I didn't like Fairy Tail (tried the manga and the anime) but I love this. Maybe it helps that I didn't spend ages watching and/or reading his previous works which makes this still feel fresh to me, but I find myself being most excited for Edens Zero releases out of all manga I am currently reading.

Story: I enjoy it a lot so far, especially Norma was great in my opinion. Seems like there will be plenty of twists and turns in this.

Art: It's good, I wouldn't say it's stellar but I like the design of the locations and ... the characters more than enough.

Character: I would say that Rebecca might be a bit too stale and fan-service-y (even though I liked the twist where she and Happy ------- all of a sudden!). But the machines in Granbell! The characters on Norma! It all feels so fresh! I love it

Enjoyment: I go through these in a single breath. Seriously, I get excited and inhale, read everything, and before I know it I'm waiting for another week to read the next one. Great manga in my opinion, wish more shounen would break free of the same old beaten paths.