Edens Zero
Edens Zero (stylized as EDENS ZERO) is a Japanese science fantasy manga series written and illustrated by Hiro Mashima. It has been serialized in Kodansha's "Weekly Shōnen Magazine" since June 2018, with its chapters collected into twenty "tankōbon" volumes as of April 2022. The manga is published digitally in six other languages as they are released in Japan, with Kodansha USA licensing the series for English publication in North America on Crunchyroll, Comixology, and Amazon Kindle. An anime television series adaptation produced by J.C.Staff aired from April to October 2021. A second season has been announced. A  video game adaptation by Konami was also released. Synopsis. Setting. "Edens Zero" takes place in the a fictional space-faring universe inhabited by humans, aliens, and sentient robots. The universe is divided into four smaller "cosmoses" that correspond to the seasons: the which represents spring and serves as the initial setting of the series; the representing summer; the representing autumn; and the representing winter. Most planets and locations have futuristic elements, some of which are combined with classic fantasy. The universe is also home to various cosmic entities, such as cybernetic dragons that swarm in a sector bordering the Sakura  Cosmos called and a monster called the that devours planets and permanently rewinds their time, creating alternate histories without causing time paradoxes. All technology in the series runs on a magical power source called Ether, which forms the basis of the story's "space fantasy" aspect; one recurring device is the a video recorder that allows content creators, called "", to access a same-named video sharing website based on YouTube. Several characters directly harness the Ether in their bodies with a power from the universe's dark ages that grants its users superhuman abilities, which are further enhanced by a  transformative state achieved by pushing their Ether past its critical point. Later in the story, the universe is established to be part of a larger multiverse with its own range of alternate histories and outcomes to certain events. All but a select few characters are oblivious to the multiverse's existence; those who gain awareness of it do so through exceptionally powerful gravity, which causes memories of their alternate lives to "fall" into their minds. Premise. Shiki Granbell is a human Ether Gear user who lives among robots on the planet Granbell, a deserted theme park world in the Sakura  Cosmos. One day, the park is visited by two space traveling – Rebecca Bluegarden and her robotic cat companion Happy – whom Shiki befriends while they are recording videos for their online account, Aoneko Channel. After the park's robots force them off the planet to save Shiki from being stranded before their batteries die, the three set out to explore the universe by searching for Mother, the fabled goddess of the cosmos. In the process, Shiki acquires the interstellar warship "Edens Zero" as inheritance from his grandfather figure, the mechanical Demon King Ziggy, who captained the ship during a previous voyage  for Mother. Production. Following the conclusion of his series "Fairy Tail" on July 26, 2017, Hiro Mashima posted a Tweet on December 31, 2017 promising to start a new series sometime in 2018. After his visit to the Angoulême International Comics Festival in France, Mashima revealed that the new series would be "a new form of fantasy", and that the character Plue from his earlier series "Rave Master" would appear in the manga. On May 14, 2018, Mashima commented on Twitter that he was becoming "a little confused" due to working simultaneously on this series, a "Fairy Tail" continuation, and  another "secret" project. He also stated that he was coming up with new ideas for the series "one after another". On May 30, 2018, "Weekly Shōnen Magazine" revealed that the series was tentatively titled "Eden's Zero". When developing the idea for his next series, Mashima originally anticipated using another sword and sorcery setting similar to his previous manga, but decided on creating a "space fantasy" adventure series due to a lack of other such contemporary "shōnen" manga; he coined the term "space fantasy" from his own misinterpretation of "SF", the abbreviation of science fiction in Japan, as a child . He also cited the genre's unpopularity in "shōnen" as an influence, viewing it as a challenge he wanted to overcome. Mashima has described his approach to writing "Edens Zero" as being in between those of "Rave Master" and "Fairy Tail", combining predetermined story elements with ideas that he draws "just from momentum" while writing on a weekly basis to give the manga a "real time" feeling. In 2021, Mashima stated that "Edens Zero" would continue the themes of friendship, family, and battles from "Fairy Tail", but that it may change slightly by the end when the mystery of the  character Mother is revealed. Publication. "Edens Zero" is written and illustrated by Hiro Mashima. The series began in Kodansha's "shōnen" manga magazine "Weekly Shōnen Magazine" on June 27, 2018. Kodansha has collected its chapters into individual "tankōbon" volumes. The first volume was released on September 14, 2018. As of April 15, 2022, twenty volumes have been released. The series is published simultaneously in six languages: English, French, Chinese, Korean, Thai, and Brazilian Portuguese. North American publisher Kodansha USA has released chapters of the series on digital platforms such as Crunchyroll Manga and Amazon Kindle. Media. Anime. On June 12 , 2020, Mashima announced on Twitter that the manga would be adapted into an anime television series. At the Tokyo Game Show livestream on September 26, 2020, it was revealed that the anime would be produced by J.C.Staff and directed by Yūji Suzuki, with Shinji Ishihira serving as chief director, Mitsutaka Hirota overseeing scripts, Yurika Sako designing the characters, and Yoshihisa Hirano composing the music. The series aired on Nippon TV and other channels from April 11 to October 3, 2021. Netflix acquired streaming rights to the series, which was released globally on August 26, 2021. The opening theme is "Eden  Through the Rough" by Takanori Nishikawa, and the ending theme is by CHiCO with HoneyWorks. The second opening theme is "Forever" by L'Arc-en-Ciel, and the second ending theme is by Sayuri. Director Yūji Suzuki died on September 9, 2021, before the series' broadcast was completed. Although he had worked in the industry as a key animator and episode director since the mid-2000s, "Edens Zero" was the first and only full series Suzuki directed. On February 9, 2022, it was announced that the series is receiving a second season. Video games. On September 16, 2020, Konami announced that they  are developing an "Edens Zero" video game. It was later revealed at the Tokyo Game Show 2020 livestream that two separate action role-playing games were being developed, one being a 3D game for consoles, and the other being a top-down game for mobile devices. In February 2022, the latter was revealed as "Edens Zero Pocket Galaxy" and was released on February 24 for iOS and Android. On December 17, 2021, Mashima announced that he was developing an "Edens Zero" video game by himself using RPG Maker. Describing it as a "hobby project" that he worked on in his  free time, he released for free on PC on March 16, 2022. Reception. Sales. In Japan, the first volume of "Edens Zero" reached 13th place on the weekly Oricon chart with 30,178 copies sold. The second volume ranked 16th with 41,506 copies sold, and the third volume at 18th place with 31,316 copies. Critical response. The first volume received a mixed response from critics on Anime News Network, where it was rated on a 1 to 5 scale. Amy McNulty gave the volume a 3.5 rating, calling it a "solid start" and praising the story's pacing, characters, and art , while adding that it "may not blow anyone away". McNulty also commented on Mashima's similar visual and design choices to "Fairy Tail"—which she noted could be taken negatively—but opined that the manga could benefit from readers' familiarity with "Fairy Tail", and found it accessible to new readers of Mashima's work. Rebecca Silverman, who also rated it 3.5, considered the manga to be Mashima's darkest work, and praised him for using themes that "helped make his previous series "Fairy Tail" work so well", citing Shiki and Rebecca's complementary backgrounds as orphans as an example. However, she  expressed slight concerns over the story potentially becoming confusing for readers with the volume's implications of time travel and flash-forward cliffhanger. Faye Hopper, who gave the volume a 3 rating, found that the shift from "high fantasy pastiche to Star Wars reminiscent sci-fi" helped enrich the story, but criticized Mashima's humor and adherence to shōnen manga conventions. Teresa Navarro gave it a 2 rating, finding the characters and art style to be nearly identical to those in "Fairy Tail", but considering its potential to gain a cult following from fans of the shōnen genre. Edens Zero