Eden 1
Posted: May 1, 2009 Filed under: Eden 5 Comments »I bought the first three volumes of this for my roommate, who likes anything with a post-apocalyptic setting. Honestly, it really didn’t sound like the type of thing I would enjoy. I just can’t bring myself to get excited about seinen series set in the future where the characters wage war with cyborgs and robots and stuff, no matter how awesome they are. At least this series has a virus that turns people into crystals rather than, say, psychic powers.
The prologue, which takes up the first half of the volume, was kind of discouraging. It makes sure to let you know that the themes of the series will be “Do humans deserve to be the dominant race” and “What makes someone human and superior to animals and robots?” Now, these are pretty heavy-handed themes, and really, you have to have a really good, long story going in order to pull these messages off well. But to introduce them within the first hundred pages and have the characters debate the issues over and over again… it’s really too much. Kikaider was more subtle than this, and that’s saying something.
The story is interesting so far, though. A virus has wiped most of humanity off the face of the Earth. In the prologue, we find a partially infected scientist living with two children that he seems to think will repopulate the area with their offspring when they grow up. To make sure you get the gist of what’s going on, the children comment on Biblical passages and bring up Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden. Their lives are interrupted one day when soldiers from the UN storm their camp looking for the scientist. Through a series of flashbacks, we find out that the scientist and the boy’s father worked together to try and eradicate the virus, and eventually the scientist betrayed the father with a leaked phony cure because he thought humans deserved to die, that the virus was God’s way of hitting the reset button. After we learn most of the intricacies of the plot and character relationships, a robot kills everybody. The end.
After the prologue, the story jumps ahead 20 years to a boy that lives alone with the killer robot and among the overgrown ruins of an abandoned city. After a chapter or two showing how he lives, the boy is abducted by guerrilla soldiers that are accompanied by a female cyborg. Apparently they are headed over the Andes.
Yeah, I wasn’t exactly impressed with the first volume, but again, this type of series really isn’t my thing. The political intrigue was pretty bland, and the themes are heavy-handed and lack any subtlety whatsoever. The action parts are good, and I have to admit to liking the killer robot. I’m also pretty curious to find out what life is like after the apocalypse, though I have a feeling everything’s going to be under military/guerilla rule and it won’t be all that interesting. I’ve got two more volumes here, so let’s see what direction the plot takes.
Well, I’m a bit disappointed you did not enjoy this manga as much as me but I understand this series is by no means for everyone. And I’m afraid first three volumes are not exactly the strongest ones in the series and the story develops rather slowly. What I absolutely love about this manga is its unpredictability and, of course, uncesored gore and sex.
I started the series and sorta liked the beginning, but quit by 4-5 as it became increasingly obvious that it was mostly about people dying in bad ways in guerilla war and nothing was ever remotely hope-giving. Ever.
It’s well written for what it does but I was crushed under the bleak.
[...] (Read About Comics) Lori Henderson on vol. 1 of Divine Melody (Comics Village) Connie on vol. 1 of Eden (Slightly Biased Manga) Anna on vol. 1 of Gimmick! (2 screenshot limit) Connie on vol. 3 of I Hate [...]
I hope you keep reading. This is one of the best books out there right now and, as always, that makes it ripe for the chopping block (sorry, I’m still hung up on rumors from a few years ago). I’m interested to to see how you react to the South American drug lord story arch, which sent many critics back to the store for a refund. While not the best moment in the story, I thought it was a cool side chapter to a great series. You’ll like Eden if you like stories that lean toward the dark and disturbing. And this manga get’s dark; darker than Berserk in my opinion.
Mark: Those rumors from a few years ago are another reason I picked it up. The plot didn’t sound like much I’d be interested in, but I’d heard so many good things about it, and I can’t really bear the thought of a decent series getting cancelled, so I thought I’d give it a try and spend some money to help a good cause.
I actually do like dark and disturbing series full of sex and violence, though. Aside from the robot massacre, there wasn’t much of that in this volume, so I wondered if people liked it for the political drama or for the rather extensive character development it seemed to have going on. I’ll keep reading, but I am a little disappointed that things sound like they move along so slowly.