From the creator of Fairy Tail and Rave Master comes a new Space Adventure, Edens Zero. Edens Zero follows the main characters of Shiki and Rebecca as they embark on a whimsical space adventure in search of the fabled space goddess, Mother. In their way they come across various impediments yet still push forward to reach their goal.
STORY:
Positives:
If you're familiar with Hiro Mashima's past works, you'll notice the core values of Mashima's writing style being reflected in this particular work as well. His writing has always been polarizing but its strength lies in terms of building an entertaining world and having a cast of characters you can care for, and then having them go on an adventure filled with wonders and mysteries. Edens Zero works on the tried and true formula of adventure fantasies. Yes, it is more of a Space fantasy than a straight up Sci-fi despite the world being filled with robots and other such advanced beings. Season 1 of Edens Zero is in its building stage and is slow in its approach. The world, characters and the goals are gradually introduced. Edens Zero distinguishes itself from its contamporaries as Edens Zero unlike them isn't focused on bombastic introductions and dark subject matter, rather it's about going on a fun adventure and checking out the outer cosmos, which frankly has been lacking from a lot of current Shonen in the popular demographic. Each and every planet that Shiki and the crew visits has its own history, culture and environment. Some are discussed in details while some aren't, but regardless you're able to determine the vastness and the variety in the world that Mashima has created for Edens Zero. We follow a standard video game pattern of going through stages of building the team till the end of the season, and as a result the show also does become very predictable at times. But you're thrown with so much new stuff regarding the adventure itself and the lore of the world that it becomes impossible to not feel immersed in the story for even a bit. While most of the arcs range from being decent to good, the one that stood out the most was the last arc of the season; not because its anything extraordinary but rather it is where the writing shines the brightest in terms of emotional engagement between the story and the audience, and developing the characters. It is really well structured and shows the capabilities of the main cast while also setting up for future events. The first arc of the season, Norma, is a close second because it introduces you to the mechanics of the world in a rather fun way as the mystery grips you.
Talking about themes now, the major ones which are visited over and over are Friendship and Equality. Yes, the ever so polarizing theme of Friendship is still present in Edens Zero, but the theme is dealt in a more efficient manner. Shiki was a loner living in a world of bots all by himself, so its only given he would crave for more social contact and as such wants to make friends. Yes, he does want to make friends with everybody, while it may come across as annoying to some, I found it rather endearing at times. Besides, the rest of the characters do advice him on how to actually make friends and make fun of the troupe on their own. But where the series differs from rest of Mashima's works is in the fact that the story establishes that not everyone is good and is deserving of being one's friend. Equality between humans and the machines is always brought up, and the show does a good job in portraying how everyone deserves to be treated equally regardless of their race/origin. We also see oppressors and supremacists all along the way, it is so frustrating to deal with them but this also makes Edens Zero rather grounded as it deals with something we see in our daily lives, discrimination and injustices of the society. The second half of the season especially deals with the theme of equality in a rather delicate manner.
Negatives:
Up to this point I have highlighted the positive aspects of Edens Zero, but I would also like to share some aspects of the show I have problem with (I believe others might as well). First and foremost, the fan service. Fan service goes hand in hand with the media that anime is, but it is just way too much in Edens Zero. Bath scenes can be handled, but when you build a whole arc around having nude women running to save themselves it becomes too hard to pass off as something little, rather it takes away from the story itself. And as such that particular arc ended up being the worst in the whole season. Its not just nudity, so many people in this world are lecherous to the point you question if they have interest in anything else. And how one character's end of story is brought upon is rather disturbing. The action is another problem, while it isn't bad, most of the action sequences just aren't exciting enough. They lack in both emotional impact as well as choreography. They need to lengthen the fights, and have them become engaging like how one particular fight was in the last arc. Shiki being overly powerful in comparison to others also takes away from the stakes, while it is understandable why he is so powerful given his background it still diminishes the impact an action sequence should have.
CHARACTERS:
Now moving on to the characters, the cast is a fun one. I won't say so far anyone has shown much depth beyond a few exceptions. The character writing is pretty straight forward in nature, but still is able to make characters you can have lots of fun with. Shiki our mc, as I wrote before is a friendship enthusiast but is good when it comes to fights. He is able to make good use of his head and use his powers in varying ways to win a battle. He follows the archaic Shonen protagonist traits, but it is his nature of seeing everyone the same is what I appreciate the most about him. He is rather endearing in his acts, just like a precious little kitten. But beware the kitten has its fangs, one that he only bares for his crew. How he handled one particular delicate moment with Homura in the last arc, is what made me like him more. If I have to name my favorite characters, it would be Pino and Weisz. Pino is just absolutely precious, one that has a lot of comic scenes surprisingly. She is one of the few characters who has already has duties to fulfill and dreams to make true. Her wish is both a beautiful and sad one, if done correctly she can become one of the best written characters in the story, she has that much potential. Weisz is a pervert but a mild one, it never goes towards sexual harrassment so you can just enjoy the snarky comments he makes and have lots of fun watching him on screen. Rebecca is alright, she hasn't really shown anything that makes her standout, dare i say she is boring aside from the backstory we got on her. The rest of the crew members though, they are really fun to watch especially sister and witch. Homura is also quite fine especially her habit of speaking out loud. The show has villain problem though, most are one-dimensional and their actions and motivations don't match at times. They are evil for just being evil. Only one man has the potential to be great, but he has yet to take the centre stage (until season 2 arrives).
AUDIO-VISUALS:
The art and animation in Edens zero is actually quite decent, and at times becomes really great especially those done in-house and not outsourced. But I think it is wise to tackle the elephant in the room i.e. the character designs being too familiar to Mashima's previous works. With the exceptions of Rebecca, Shiki, Happy, Elsie and Justice, I don't think others look identical to those in Mashima's previous works. It is redundant to criticize Edens Zero and not give it a chance just for that, when so many other artists are doing the same, the art style is such that many faces look similar. But that being said, I can't overlook the lack of creativity while designing the MCs. And the copy pasting of Erza and calling her Elsie is just beyond ridiculous, I can understand the concept of taking the mascot of previous story and giving them a supporting role to build the brand but taking such a popular character such as Erza and then doing nothing interesting with her isn't right. On a more positive note, I really like the character designs of the supporting cast especially Witch, Sister and Jin. A lot of them look really cool. The animation looks really good at times like in episode 5 and 25, but also at times there are many unappealing scenes with too many freeze frames. Camera work for Shiki's gravity power has always been great. The background art is Edens Zero is really strong and very consistent. The environments look gorgeous, so many interesting looking planets. On the other hand, the character art isn't the best, it lacks details and the edge in design that Mashima's characters usually have. The shading on characters also need some work, so does the expressions. The expressions look really flat at times. The cgi work can be better too, though there are instances of some good cgi work here and there (but thankfully the show isn't heavy on cgi). As for the audio, the ost is decent. There are moments where it shines like during action sequences but at other times it falls flat like with the tracks created for emotional scenes. The title theme and some of the character themes are really great though. Both the opening and ending songs are pleasant, with special mention to the second ed by Sayuri which has become one of my favorite songs of 2021. I checked out the show in both japanese and english dubs, and they are pretty good. You can go either way and enjoy the show to its fullest.
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So, overall all I have to say is that give Edens Zero a chance if you want to embark on an adventure that will make you feel like a kid watching anime for the first time. It is not innovative sure, but who is to say that deriving something that has been tested right by many to be wrong? Edens Zero is a fun adventure that has good world building with a fun cast of characters. Personally, I enjoyed this a lot. Give Edens Zero a chance and it might end up being an entertaining ride for you as well.
