Edens Zero Volume 1 Recap & Review — Otaku Orbit

Hiro Mashima’s new space adventure

A sci-fi Fairy Tail

First I enjoyed this volume, but Edens Zero is really similar to Fairy Tail. Shiki and Rebecca are the title characters of this series, but they’re very similar to Natsu and Lucy from Fairy Tail. This is of course largely due to the art style of Mashima. However, the character of Happy not only is based on the character from Fairy Tail, they share the same name. I’m find if Mashima wants to link his universes by having the same character (Happy) but the familiar look of Rebecca and Shiki feels like he’s not that creative. I was lukewarm on Fairy Tail, a series that has sold over 60 million copies. I afraid that I will probably feel the same about this series. However, that is certainly a premature prediction, so I will have to read more chapters to be certain. I’m not yet willing to dismiss Eden by calling it, Fairy Tail with Sci Fi, instead of magic. The story of Edens Zero follow’s a “young boy named Shiki who is being told by his robot grandfather about making friends and leaving this place one day.” He quickly befriends Happy and Rebecca.

Mission to find Goddess Mother

Happy and Rebecca’s goal is to get 1 million subscribers to their “Aoneko Channel,” a channel on the video sharing site B-Cube. I won’t spoil the twists that occur in chapter 1, but I hope that Mashima will continue to subvert our expectations with this series. After Shiki is registered as an adventurer, Rebecca asks him to become her bodyguard. They arrive on Blue Garden, the planet of adventurers. Here we get some backstory on Happy and Rebecca’s friendship and how they met. We also get a look at the main mode of combat in this series, Ether Gear. Like most of the elements of this series so far it resembles Fairy Tail in some way. However, unlike Fairy Tail’s magic system, Ether Gear, is useless without the users hands. After joining the Shooting Starlight Guild, Shiki, Happy and Rebecca decide to pursue the “ Goddess Mother.” To accomplish this they need to get a better ship and a larger crew. So far Edens Zero fails to separate itself from Mashima’s previous series, Fairy Tail.

Is Edens Zero just Fairy Tail in space?

Ether Gear is basically a mechanical form of magic, most of the characters design look just like they’re from Fairy Tail. Or characters from Fairy Tail in different outfits. Volume 1 is just four chapters so there’s not too much story presented yet. Shiki’s desire to make friends is a bit of a trope, but considering his backstory it makes sense. Rebecca desire to be a intergalactic YouTube Star, feels like it’s a shallow reason to go on this adventure. However, I doubt that she will only care about that by the middle of this series, but she and Happy will likely become popular.

Happy’s backstory is really sad and was moving. So far the space setting hasn’t really had much impact. Mainly because Mashima doesn’t focus on anything other that traveling between planets. While, the similarities between Fairy Tail and Edens Zero can feel uninspired, I suspect that this will change. Mashima’s artwork is among the best, the depiction of action and expression are excellent. I like the designs of the technology and locations, even though most of the characters designs are reused. The use of fanservice is mild.

Originally published at https://otakuorbit.com on January 23, 2020.