Manga review: Eden: It's an Endless World

I’ve had my share of sci-fi across all mediums and very few came close to the thematic detail of Eden. First and foremost, it doesn’t treat its characters only as mouthpieces but bothers to develop them into interesting and memorable personalities. It’s not just philosophical mambo-jumbo either, as it also has action and some comedy which surprisingly do not make it dumber.

A bit ambiguous is the amount of gore and tragedy it is implementing as part of its thematic exploration. The worst possible thing constantly happens to the best of characters and a lot of people die unnecessary. Yes, it is part of the narrative, as the story is partially about the cruelty of humanity and how being alive means nothing when you see the big picture. Life has no meaning as far as the universe is concerned and thus death is also nothing to give two dimes about. It still feels too much at times since it goes for the worst possible scenario for purposes of overdramatization.

It’s never done to the point of ruining the experience so it’s not really a major drawback. It’s still doing things most sci-fi would never dare to touch, such as openly mentioning real world countries at war. It takes some really big balls to not have an obviously evil fictional organization and instead present most exisitng countries in a negative light. That is after all the reason it was never promoted much, or will ever be adapted without heavy censorship. We can’t have our modern oversensitive SJW losing their shit; do we now?

Anyways, if you’re one of those people who love science fiction that expands to religion, philosophy, and ethics, without being just people talking around a table, it’s one of the best there is. It’s very holistic since it eventually deals with pretty much all aspects of human civilization, and occasionally jumps genres for better focus on different topics. In one arc it can be a war drama, in another a mafia gang war, and then it can become a sex comedy.

This can be tiresome when you try to binge read it, since a lot of chapters do not progress the main storyline and are more like stand alone side stories. They flesh out the setting so they are not completely worthless, but they definitely drag out the length of the story and can be frustrating if you seek answers or closure to the main plot. In fact, the pacing was so slow at first, spending entire volumes on a single skirmish, that the mangaka eventually speeded up things by resolving most conflicts with headshots. Meaning, even he realized the plot was moving too slow and decided to take out the action scenes in favor of theme exploration.

It feels a bit awkward seeing 90% of deaths being the result of a headshot, but it’s something that had to be done so the manga wouldn’t be twice the already big size it is now. Despite that, the pacing is still slow and you still need to show patience. I can only reassure you that there will eventually be a conclusion, which is solid and satisfactory, something that cannot be said about most manga in existence.

The art is great when it comes to weaponry or machinery and fine when it comes to human figures. I know many who consider it to be bland since many of the characters look the same, but nobody can claim it is crude or minimalistic. It’s extremely detailed when it needs to be and fine when it doesn’t.

Speaking of the characters, there are hundreds of them, constantly being introduced and killed off (usually with a headshot). If your memory is not that good or you don’t keep notes there is a high probability you will be lost when it comes to who did what, when, and how. Yet, it’s exactly this complexity that makes it feel so elaborate and holistic. Even if you don’t remember half of them by the end of the story you will still feel like you were immersed in a living, breathing world because of its size and scope.

In all this is a great work of fiction recommended for anyone seeking something more mature and better planned than the typical teenager with superpowers who saves the world with asspulls and resurrects dead people as easy as changing a shirt. An easy entry to the top 10 manga of all times.