Edens Zero

I may not have seen or been the biggest fan of Rave Master nor Fairy Tail (the latter being a lot more referenced), but it's clear that what Hiro Mashima is doing, he's doing it well. And Edens Zero may just be the culmination of the best of the best of his works, that say whatever you want about it being a Fairy Tail rip-off (which is true). In hindsight, Edens Zero's lore overall is much more interesting than the cluster-eff of botched executions that was Fairy Tail, and I'm glad I gave it a chance because while I'm not so much a Shonen fan,since Yuki Tabata's Black Clover made me think otherwise, I guess I've gotta go for it, and came out pleasantly surprised. BTW, it's not a perfect "10" score like any fandom giving scores of that just to prove their point (I know I did for Black Clover, which is purely justified), but it's best said that you judge it for yourself. Where Edens Zero set apart itself from the predecessors of both Rave Master and Fairy Tail, it falls heavily on the story and plot (which is pretty much a character case study more than anything), which I feel is much more consumer-friendly and more grounded that puts it in line with most Shonen shows out there (other than starting out really badly because of the easily contrived plots similar to Fairy Tail). Where Fairy Tail took off with a fantasy-cum-adventure style, Edens Zero is more of the same, except now with the famous/infamous moniker of "Edens Zero is basically Fairy Tail in space". Believe me, try to convince anyone that they've seen the character designs of Fairy Tail from the likes of B-Cuber Rebecca Bluegarden (which is just Lucy Heartfilia in a sci-fi spin of a shell) and Happy (which of course the character design hasn't changed), and they'll just reek with a "EWWW" kind of magnifique facial expression. It's pure fantasy hilariousness if you ask me. Nonetheless, as you would expect of Hiro Mashima, the infamous "Power of Friendship" trope is still here, and despise it all you want, but it has worked for this prolific mangaka circa. 1999 with Rave Master, and it continues to be the driving force of his written story in all 3 works with variable execution fails or success. Similar to legendary managaka Eiichiro Oda's plot of One Piece where Monkey D. Luffy goes on a pirate adventure with the many now iconic mercenaries, Edens Zero copies that blatantly, but gives it a sci-fi spin of a mystery to find the coveted One Piece, er *ahem* sorry, the elusive goddess Mother in the space universe realm of the Sakura Cosmos. But that story starts with the character foundations, and this I feel is where Edens Zero really shines at its best. From Shiki Granbell, the boy who was left on a planet full of robots that were disposed to become a total scrapyard, to Rebecca and her companion Happy, whom the latter is an amateur but growing B-Cuber and the latter providing comic relief as usual, it really starts out being the conventional wisdom of the Average Joe that Edens Zero does nothing to change the viewer's mindset, since basically they're rehashed straight out from Fairy Tail. It's only the overtime effect that really changes how one sees Edens Zero at least trying to be something different from the accursed predecessors of a love-hate relationship, and the payoff is with the same tried-and-true in-heart talk bickering of "just one more episode" that only applies to the more persevering and persistent ones (like myself). And when I say that Hiro Mashina truly goes deep with the characters and their backstories, he's not joking that it evokes happiness that turns into sadness and anger, as replicated from the diverse character cast like the Demon King's Four Shining Stars (that pilot the Edens Zero ship with Ether) to the crew of Shiki, Rebecca, Happy, Weisz Steiner, E.M. Pino and Homura Kogetsu. Every character backstory is just as important to gear the story to its intended place, and for the most part, it really resonated with me the same way when I've watched Black Clover before (because it's the same goddamn thing). It makes you want to feel for the characters who bore their side of the grunt in their own way through the pain and suffering, and that might easily come as a plot device, but it always works in the Shonen space, whether you like it or not. If there was a director that I could feel that he/she could do no wrong, it's Shinji Ishihira, whom more than his veteran experience of directing the OG Fairy Tail along with a few others (few notables being Heybot, Log Horizon, Munou na Nana and this season's Tsukimichi), he's a proven veteran taskmaster at what he does to keep the original source material fully adapted, with nothing left cut out (save for those that are mostly due to time constraints). This director knows what he's doing and doesn't beat around the bush in order to appease the audience with as much of the source material as possible so to judge shows based on the authors' writing calibres. Another wonderful job done Ishihira-san with J.C.Staff, which really doesn't feel like crap quality and mimics the old 2-cour style consistency from years past. The music aspect, the VAs have done a good job voicing their respective characters, especially Shiki's VA Takuma Terashima and Homura's transgender VA Shiki Aoki, just to list a few because they provide color to the characters. No complaints about the OST when you have the awesome artistes like TNNK (Takanori Nishikawa) himself, CHiCO with HoneyWorks, L'Arc-en-Ciel and Sayuri performing their OPs and EDs. I would've pretty much preferred TNNK and CHiCO's 1st Cour set over L'Arc-en-Ciel and Sayuri's 2nd Cour set because of the change in the tonal change of the story stratosphere, but they're good songs nonetheless. To enjoy Edens Zero is to have an open mind about not thinking that it's gonna be like Fairy Tail. Because as much as the resemblances are uncanny, it's the journey of the characters that make up the story that'd make or break the experience of watching a standard tropey Shonen (that you'd wish to unsee one too much). It's very Hiro Mashima-like, but finally in a good way to break the mould of the reputation he had for the predecessors with the narrative change. Quite enjoyed this one a bit, and you'd be doing a disservice to pass this up like said series.

This anime has the potential to become even better than Fairy Tail. Edens Zero is known as the "Fairy Tail" ripoff, but just because the art is too similar doesn't mean the series itself won't be good. Going through a space setting for this anime, Edens Zero contains aspects that differentiate from Fairy Tail in terms of how it's created by Mashima that gives the series its individuality. There are tons of differences in the Edens Zero anime adaptation that pales in comparison to Mashima's previous works. The plot itself is simple, with a goal that may take forever. But along the way has the maincast visit various planets in hopes of accomplishing that goal. The world-building is an improvement from previous works from Mashima. Not only did it show what each planet was like, but it further showed how important each of them was for the cast to grow as characters, and that was well done. The power system is unique but intriguing to learn more about how Ether functions towards certain users. I love the creativeness in abilities, such as gravity, swords, and other types of skills. It doesn't focus on one specific superpower used by multiple users, and it gives the characters their uniqueness. Another aspect that I liked is the darkness this series has shown so far. Not only was it well-written, but it foreshadowed how Edens Zero will not be light-hearted all the time, and it will get intense as the series goes on. Mashima doesn't use the usual power of friendship trope that often, so that's also a respectful choice to make as that trope can be overused. The story isn't anything too special, but I liked the build-up each of the arcs had towards the series's future. It starts with the main female of the show arrives at the main character's home planet and meets him. Eventually, he leaves with her to go and reach their goal. This first part focused on time travel and a rescue mission while gaining new crewmates in the process. The anime may overuse the fanservice in this adaptation, focusing on the fight scenes and progression to the story, and that aspect was well done. The second half was more focused on the introduction of new characters and the development between the ones that appeared for longer. Most of their backstories were emotionally driven, and it showed how those characters have been through much pain in the past but can overcome it with the present. Combined with the occasional darkness, the story will progress even more with actual character development for the main crew. Despite the same face syndrome shown in the characters, they were still enjoyable to watch, not to mention there have been differences in their abilities and importance in the series. First off, Shiki may look like Natsu from Fairy Tail, his backstory shown how he won't be relying on the power of friendship trope but has a different goal in mind. Similar to another series that will release its anime adaptation this month, he wants to make over one hundred friends across the galaxy. From there, it makes Shiki relatable to those that want to make friends as he does, and I liked that in his character along with his Ether Gear ability. As for the main female character, Rebecca herself has the potential to avoid becoming useless, and her development as a character deserves respect. All of the other crewmates of Edens Zero were fun to watch, but a recurring character, Happy the cat, bothered me a bit. At first, I was disappointed how Mashima reused a character from a previous manga to a new one, but his ability to turn into guns took away that factor. The main antagonist has yet to be revealed in the story. But in the future, the minor villains may be explained some more and eventually lead to some plot twists within the series if executed properly. As much as I liked Fairy Tail, the animation in Edens Zero was way better than the second half of the former series. Actual movements were going on, and it rarely used slideshow animation for a majority of the fight scenes. Shiki's gravity ether gear, in particular, was well animated. It showed how it functioned while making the manga panels for those scenes come to life. However, the reuse of certain scenes wasn't the best part, and it took up too much time for the episode it's featured. Although the animation still has its flaws, choosing JC Staff as the studio for Edens Zero was the right call. The soundtrack was pretty exciting during the first half. The opening and ending sound amazing. It gave the impression of the journey's beginning and how it will be exciting to watch while getting a glimpse at the Edens Zero crew's personalities. The second half of the series had calmed down a bit in terms of how the music sounded. The opening itself showed how we're beginning to get adjusted to the series, and that there will be more to come later on in future adapted episodes. The ending for the second cour was bittersweet, focusing on the characters' past while showing how far they've come since those events occurred offscreen. The sound design is incredible, especially during the use of Ether Gear. The sound effects are satisfying to hear and bring on the impact of each ability shown throughout the series. Overall, Edens Zero improves on the mistakes Fairy Tail made and turns them into improvements that make the anime better. It would be wise not to refer to Mashima's same face syndrome that's shown in the characters and focus on how the story will progress as it continues. I hope the anime will be able to properly execute the further chapters at this level of quality. Once again, if Edens Zero fixes the flaws that Fairy Tail had, then it has the potential to surpass Fairy Tail and previous works from Mashima as the best adaptation of his manga.

Utter Trash I have no idea what I thought when picking up this show but it has been 6 months of pure fuckin pain. I have not found anything funny except the entire character named Nino who not only thinks anime will save the universe but he also thinks the manga was better. Both are correct statements Let's hop on to some other shit. The characters are honestly bland who have no reason to even exist. Shiki is very generic shounen MC with bullshit powers in his case it is gravity manipulation. He just wants to sail the universe and find this cosmic being called "Mother"Rebecca is your average E-Girl who will thot her way to B-cube Stardom. She hangs around with her partner and her gun named Happy, who is just the fairy tail character. We have Homura who is quite advanced samurai. She is honestly pretty decent. She also can't stop thinking out loud cause why not. Weisz is kinda edgy man from the past who went to the future just because the time has broken in a certain city. Pino is just a talking Electro Magnetic Pulse Bomb aka EMP. That's her name. Some others who I don't even bother with but the god and saviour Nino. Story is pretty much the same janky mess as everything else in this show. Shiki gets picked up from the god knows where and goes to follow his dream. Along this said trip he meets new people and starts to remember who he is exactly. We visit the past, the cosmos, a literal mmorpg and even your average slave economy. Who could have thought that the universe has fuck all to give us mere mortals. The Animation sometimes is pretty decent but nothing ground breaking. Sometimes it is just not nice to look at. Just like a slideshow at some points. Maybe it has to do with the character models looking a bit odd at times but who knows The comedy has been absolute garbage. I have not laughed at all except when Nino arrives and talks about how manga is better and such. Otherwise it has something to do with the character quirks they have or sometimes even related to the ridiculous amount of Fan Service which in turn makes the show just worse Of course the Fan Service has been a thorn in my side since this show started. So many stupid thing here and there and even some weird ass fetishes such as Human Furniture combined with the change of state. So some rich ass ugly bastard wanted to turn hot girls into stony chairs. Of course there was the basic lewd outfits, pantyshots and even bunny outfits. The opening and ost I have nothing to complain about. So in short this show is just pure garbage and need to be stopped. 1/10. I would give a 0/10 if it was possible.

I just want to clarify one thing ,This is not Fairy Tail ripoff and it won't be any more It is not a fun adventure ,sure starts as casual shounen but differs arc by arc believe me it gonna get bloody and gore dark adventure ,if you don't believe me go and read manga I see some idiots in comments without even watching watching full 25 episodes started to talk trash, as if they have seen and know everything ,please don't mind them , I admit Season 1 is general start as most shounen , but Season 2 will show the true Theme and potential of Edens zero, Thisshow doesn't care about either hero's or Villains everyone has to face consequences you will find it season 2 onwards. People don't mind biased people they can't get happy and won't let other stay happy Every show has a turning point and it won't be in starting episodes, for eg: take one piece when did it pick on nearly after 60+ episodes ,it would not have a big hit if it was trash talked for beginning episodes so does other shounen series If you don't believe me go reviews from non biased youtubers who trash talked FT are even acknowledging edens zero or just read manga you find it yourself why it has potential to be future shounen. Coming to characters some idiots complain they don't have depth ,sure every character is not introduced with back story as in one piece, not every anime does that,but characters get deep arc by arc in EZ as revealing process, Please don't decide basing biased people comments they trash talk if the show turns out be great they won't even be honest to admit it,just give it a fair change a few episodes can't reveal the true theme of any shounen in the world From S2 Fan service :Low Death/Consequences: Critical Battles: Won with intellect Consequences for a single decision: Heavy Battles: Tons of battles and wars Complexity : Increases heavily arc by arc Mainly "No Power Of Freindship" Yeah shiki is obsessed with friendship theme that doesn't mean he gets power from it I have read 162 chapters and Haven't seen POF and challenge anyone to prove me wrong He uses gravity ether even he says " Fight for friends" he uses ether gear brilliantly to win not by POF some idiots only Caught friendship statement and goes on trashing they are dumb enough to understand the intellect he is using with ether gear