Edens Zero

Edens Zero takes place in the Grand Shiki Cosmos,[Jp. 1] 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 Sakura Cosmos,[Jp. 2] which represents spring and serves as the initial setting of the series; the Aoi Cosmos,[Jp. 3] representing summer; the Kaede Cosmos,[Jp. 4] representing autumn; and the Yukino Cosmos,[Jp. 5] representing winter.^{Ch. 179} Most planets and locations have futuristic elements, some of which are combined with classic fantasy.^{Ch. 1} The universe is also home to various cosmic entities, such as cybernetic dragons that swarm in a sector bordering the Sakura Cosmos called Dragonfall,[Jp. 6]^{Ch. 15} and a monster called the Chronophage[Jp. 7] that devours planets and permanently rewinds their time, creating alternate histories without causing time paradoxes.^{Ch. 11}

All technology in the series runs on a magical power source called Ether, which forms the basis of the story's "space fantasy" aspect;^{Vol. 1 afterword} one recurring device is the B-Cube,[Jp. 8] a video recorder that allows content creators, called "B-Cubers", to access a same-named video sharing website based on YouTube.[3] Several characters directly harness the Ether in their bodies with Ether Gear,[Jp. 9] a power from the universe's dark ages that grants its users superhuman abilities,^{Ch. 1} which are further enhanced by a transformative "Overdrive"[Jp. 10] state achieved by pushing their Ether past its critical point.^{Ch. 81}

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.^{Ch. 172} 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.^{Ch. 98}

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 B-Cubers – 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.

On June 12, 2020, Mashima announced on Twitter that the manga would be adapted into an anime television series.[17] 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.[18] The series aired on Nippon TV and other channels from April 11 to October 3, 2021.[19][20][lower-alpha 1] Netflix acquired streaming rights to the series, which was released globally on August 26, 2021.[21] The opening theme is "Eden Through the Rough" by Takanori Nishikawa, and the ending theme is "Bōken no Vlog"[Jp. 11] by CHiCO with HoneyWorks.[22] The second opening theme is "Forever" by L'Arc-en-Ciel, and the second ending theme is "Sekai no Himitsu"[Jp. 12] by Sayuri.[23]

Director Yūji Suzuki died on September 9, 2021, before the series' broadcast was completed.[24] 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.[25]

On February 9, 2022, it was announced that the series is receiving a second season.[26]

On September 16, 2020, Konami announced that they are developing an Edens Zero video game.[27] 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.[28] In February 2022, the latter was revealed as Edens Zero Pocket Galaxy and was released on February 24 for iOS and Android.[29]

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 the game, Rebecca to Kikai no Yōkan (レベッカと機械ノ洋館), for free on PC on March 16, 2022.[30][31][32]

In Japan, the first volume of Edens Zero reached 13th place on the weekly Oricon chart with 30,178 copies sold.[33] The second volume ranked 16th with 41,506 copies sold,[34] and the third volume at 18th place with 31,316 copies.[35]

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.[2]