Eden: It's an endless world

Review Date: 2007 July 03 16:58

Reviewed by: Azure

Released by: Titan Publishing

Publishing Country: UK

Author: Hiroki Endo

Age Rating: Mature

Page Count: 216

ISBN-13: 978184576488

ISBN-10: 1845764889

Summary

A large proportion of the world has been devastated by a virus. Elijah, a boy who is immune to the virus wanders the landscape accompanied by a strange robot named Cherubim and a violent group of militia led by Colonel Khan.

Review

After volume one which was largely a prologue volume two can finally get into the nitty gritty of the story and focus on Elijah as he struggles to survive. Rather than giving him any kind of protection the group whom Elijah have fallen in with are dragging him further and further intro trouble. In this case the group attack the base of a Propater friendly group of Guerrillas while most of it's occupants are busy abusing the local women. The scenes are extremely violent as Khan's team slaughter virtually everyone present, there's a good reason that this title is sold shrink wrapped for book shops. This of course brings the Propater forces down on them, and much of the rest of the volume is about preparing for and dealing with their arrival. There are also some more flashback scenes which explain more about why Elijah was wondering around on his own.

It's still extremely dialogue heavy, with much still given over to the author's philosophical debates. In a way Eden would work much better as a novel where the writer has more room to express such ideas. As a manga, the dialogue seems a little forced. There's a real feeling of hopelessness in Eden, much like the later episodes of Evangelion it can be a little oppressive and this is only volume two.

The artwork continues to be extremely detailed, and doesn't shy away from depicting the violence of the world Elijah lives in. The line work in particular is extremely strong with some great use of perspective.

Eden is certainly different to a lot of manga out there, but it reminds me instead of a lot of older science fiction novels. Since this volume focuses on Elijah it's much easier to sympathise but Eden still doesn't make it easy. Eden is really an extended essay on the authors views on morality and God. so it's difficult to know who it's really meant for.

Rating: 7/10