by Master_M2K on September 13th, 2009, 1:11pm

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User rating of this review - N/A out of 5
Story/Plot - 5 out of 5
Characters - 5 out of 5
Drawing Style - 4.5 out of 5
Enjoyment - 4.5 out of 5
Overall - 4.5 out of 5

Click here for series information

There’s always the worry that another pandemic like the bubonic plague or Swine Flu would strike, crippling the world that we live in today. Eden: It’s an Endless World is a Seinen, Sci-fi, Action, Drama that looks into the aftermath of such global events, in what is one of the most gripping tales.

Plot / Story
The story begins with a lengthy prologue giving readers an idea of how it all began and what occurred, without ever revealing too much. Following this the story then kicks off in the same style seen in the movie “I Am Legend”, with a kid all alone in a vast city with his pet mech Cherubim. Little is known at this point but that’s the beauty of it, since the story’s able to take hold on most readers with this mysterious side. As the story goes on more and more is revealed about the kid and how the root of the global problem is linked to his background, which will only fuel your desire to read on and discover more. As the reader you basically follow this kid on his journey, with a clear goal in mind. It’s really easy to immerse yourself in this epic story, though there are times when there’s too much to take in. You can blame that on the numerous time-skips and location jumps. Like an instance when: the kid is all grown and living a dangerous life, meanwhile there’s a lot of political movement by the major global faction (Propater) and at the same time some scientists have made a discovery. Having numerous things happening all at the same time is a common occurrence and sure keeps this manga from getting boring but it can be hard to follow, especially with the immense number of characters involve.

Characters
In this manga it’s really hard to define the main characters because all the characters introduced seem to be of great importance, no matter how little they are incorporated into the story. However the one that truly stands out is Elijah, the kid that the story is centered around. He’s certainly not your typical teenage kid and he may be the only one who goes through so much development throughout the entire story but there are also plenty of important characters, like Elijah’s parents and the numerous people he gets involved with, who are thoroughly developed by means of immense back-stories.

Drawing Style
When it comes to the artwork, at first glance the art style is definitely not the most appealing however the rough sketchy design suits this manga’s theme perfectly; as it goes for a gritty sci-fi look to portray this crippled future. The detail put into it is just as amazing, with everything being clearly drawn, allowing the easy-to-following action sequences to be truly engaging.

Overall / Enjoyment
Overall Eden: It’s an Endless World is an epic manga, not due to its length but for having such an immense storyline spanning many decades. It’s amazing how all the elements that were brought up were incorporated so well into the story, though the introduction of the “Colloid” does complicate matters. As the title indicates, Eden is full of religious overtones that can become a bit excessive at points but it does bring up a lot of interesting philosophical topics that never detract away from the main story. It also intrigued me how well this manga incorporated cybernetic augmentation, giving a believable outlook on future technology. Yet this manga also managed to contain a bit of something for everyone like: romance, mystery, even a bit of comedy here and there can be found in this amazing manga (though the comedy can feel out of place). So in the end Eden is one of the best manga I’ve read and should be read by anyone looking for something mature but be warned, there’s a lot of gore, sex and shocking deaths.

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