Eden: It's an Endless World!

Eden: It's An Endless World is a very aptly-named manga, in that its definitive feature is how utterly, endlessly sprawling it is. Eden covers several decades (to the degree that it begins a long time before the protagonist was even born), numerous locales, and more characters and plot points than you can possibly hope to keep track of all of. It begins in a post-apocalyptic society that is being devastated by a pandemic. This new virus known as "Closure" causes people's skin to harden into an outer shell as their internal organs gradually liquify - an agonizing process which often takes years. The series begins withtwo children, Enoa Ballard and Hana Mayer, who currently live separated from society alongside their heavily-religious guardian who is slowly dying of Closure. In of itself, their story is excellent, but this is merely the one-volume prologue. Many years later, the story moves to their son, Elijah Ballard. Initially he is making his way in the post-apocalyptic society, alongside his father's robot, Cherubim. However, he rapidly gets involved with a band of guerrillas. From here, the story begins properly, but this barely scratches the surface of it. To call Eden "ambitious" would be an understatement - think of any major, lofty theme found in fiction and Eden probably has it. This can be something of a double-edged sword; some people complain about Eden being "unfocused". This is understandable, as Eden is so utterly dense with plot threads and characters that it sometimes collapses under its own weight. However, it's a necessary evil - if it restrained itself even a little, Eden would most likely lack the sheer scale it has. This definitely isn't a manga for the faint of heart - it's incredibly explicit, in terms of both sex and violence. It's unflinchingly brutal, and absolutely no character has plot immunity; anyone can die at almost any time. Similarly, it has no reservations when it comes to sex - as the post-apocalyptic society has caused sexual trafficking and prostitution to become all the more common, it's only logical. Hell, a reasonable chunk of the story is set in a brothel and revolves around prostitutes, amongst whom one of the best characters in the whole series can count herself. Unsurprisingly for something as thematically heavy as Eden, "good" and "bad" are near-meaningless. Don't expect morality to play any big part in it. Unfortunately, around the halfway mark, Eden dilutes itself with comedic elements that are uncharacteristic of it (and also aren't very funny). This also happens around the same time as a rather ill-advised timeskip that happened to ruin a great character who was soon after killed off unceremoniously. There is a stretch of a couple volumes that were littered with mistakes that unfortunately drags it down - which is a shame, because outside of that Eden is my absolute gold standard for manga. Of course, there's only so much damage that can do to something otherwise so very strong. Eden definitely sits among the best manga I've read. Final Words: Though it occasionally stumbles under its own weight, Eden is a manga so overwhelming that few can hope to compare to it. Story/Plot: 9/10. Characters: 8/10. Art: 10/10. Overall: 9/10. For fans of: Akira, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind

The story starts off really well. Up until a certain point, everything is really perfect. At the very beginning, our main cast, some kind of Adam and Eve of a new world, are introduced. Then we have a timeskip. Suddenly we follow the son of the first main character for almost the entirety of the story. We learn that the child from the first chapters grew up to become a Mafioso. The naiveté of the main character slowly crumbles away as he faces harsh reality. We see some really well executed death, despair, hopelessness. Eliah starts to learn to fight for himself and others. Ashe starts to gain control over his life, he becomes the same kind of person he had to combat up until now. Drugs, violence, revenge are what lead him to destroy the happiness of the very same people he fights for. But then, the story starts to saturate with fight scenes. Deaths no longer matter. Along the way, so do the characters. The MC becomes a guy with a gun fighting because... who knows? No-one explains his motives. His only driving force is the wish to save his sister. In the end, this arc was utterly useless and contributed absolutely nothing to both the story and the characters. The grand finale itself erased almost everything that happened. The acton is full of asspulls. The ideological talk is full of some simplistic ethnic division of the world. The fights start to follow a pattern: almost all freshly introduced minor characters die immediately, sliced like ham by evil drones. I would have liked to see the story continue in the direction it took in the beginning.

It isn't often that something can present a chaotic world filled with cruelty, yet still inspire a belief in humanity, but if anything Eden manages to do just that. This isn't to say the story rallies us behind a hero, but rather disregards the notion that mankind needs a hero. The people in Eden have to cling to something vaguer, and more desperate; they have to believe that even if they hate and kill, there's still meaning to be found in protecting those who are important. Eden's story is framed around the world hitting its reset button. Plague(s), natural disasters, climate shifts, universal contractions, universal assimilation,black holes, and more threaten everyone. The characters are understandably bitter about all that, but most spend only a moment pitying global issues. Much more focus is put on the human drama that stems from bleak circumstances. Nearly every person has a believable background that lends itself well to the story/situation, but the most interesting ones are revealed in the first half of the manga. The second half does continue introducing cast members, but some of the new additions – police officers and scientists – leave a lot to be desired. The scientists are noteworthy since the manga throws them an entire arc dedicated to pure exposition, only relieved by flashes to unrelated plots with different characters. Arcs rarely get boring though, because the cast is so huge that multiple stories happen at once, so the pacing can be balanced between them without sacrificing quality. That said, not all of the stories are equal. While reading the first few dozens chapters, I was very impressed by the depth and subtlety, but that feeling gradually faded. The biggest and easily worst change Eden undergoes is a slide into raw, explicit territory. By no means was it innocent ever, but at some point the humor became crude and the sex more prominent. One of the volumes could loosely be described as an orgy designed to help the main character 'become a man.' Very unfunny sex jokes get spread around for the rest of the manga, but the worst it gets is when those things infiltrate the core parts of the story. One of the final metaphors, during the otherwise poignant finale, has the ending state of the titular “garden” as an erect tower that shoots life into the moon's chamber. If there was something that held my interest through it all, it would be Enoa Ballard's life. Elijah may be the protagonist, and a good one for some time, but that status weighs him and the manga down as his plot-relevance diminishes. In Enoa we a man chosen by random genetics to survive Armageddon, and through him we see what kind of man a new Adam would have to (or did) become. He has the kind of life that shows a kind people grow up, removed from conflict, only to be senselessly dragged into feuds he started to maintain that removal. These kind people, who the readers also come to know, are repeatedly maimed and murdered just to demonstrate that such chaos exists. Enoa is left believing tomorrow will be a better day. Eden isn't easy, emotionally or intellectually, and I like it that way.

Eden is a perfect work of art that depicts the innocence and simplicity of adolescence. Problems that we all have had growing up and realizing the reality of the world. Practically all themes popular in modern literature are present in Eden. Eden analyzes the human psyche from all walks of life and depicts psychological problems in grotesque details. Including, accurate portrayals of depression, childhood disorders, and even an electra complex. Poverty stricken neighborhoods faced with drugs, gang violence, and prostitution. War's effects on innocent people and the cycle of hate that breeds more destruction. Governments that are full of corruption and scandal. All these problemsare depicted in Eden. Any of these problems seem similar in today's world? In many aspects, Eden is a satire of present day life and society. Simply put, Eden is a perfect work of art. ~ ~ ~ The character's in Eden were fantastic. The story introduces a large number of characters but each is unique and one never feels too overwhelmed keeping track of them. The plot had good pacing and was never boring. I found that the placing of comic relief in the manga was used perfectly. The romance was probably some of the best I have seen. Overall, Eden is one of the best manga ever made. Highly recommended. 10/10 (oh its violent and has nudity) I rushed this review because I just finished it about 10 min. ago and it 3 am in the morning.Waaay tired. Just felt the need to write this review! I guess thats what inspiration does for you! lol