Ranked #81

Eden: It's an Endless World! (Manga)

Eden is a geopolitical thriller with sci-fi elements, sort of like Syriana with killer viruses and long explanations of atomic physics. It reminds me of those airport novels, you know, by Tom Clancy or Michael Crichton. Hiroki Endo, the author, seems pretty inspired by American movies generally -- for instance some of the drug-dealing or hostage scenes are straight out of action movies -- and he is also very philosophical. The art is clean, detailed, and realistic.

The story is that a mysterious disease is poised to completely wipe out Earth’s population. Somehow, though, this doesn’t happen -- rather, when the dust settles, 15% of the population is dead, and the balance of world power has shifted. Now small groups are fighting against consolidation into a single world government, called PROPATRIA, which is primarily made up of countries whose official language is English. But the virus is still hanging around, and might be intelligent…

Post-apocalyptic stories always hypothesize a Crisis by projecting the worst parts of the present into the future, and Eden is very much a projection of the early nineties: it's all about ethnic conflict, nationalism, racism, the third world, and the drug trade. (Though these are all still important issues, these days we've shifted to global warming and natural disasters as the forces most likely to tear the world apart.) Endo has said in an afterword to one of the volumes that he got the idea of a powerful drug lord "terrorist" from Noam Chomsky, who theorized that only the drug trade would be lucrative enough, and illegal enough, to fund the resistance of third-world countries to first-world hegemony.

In other words: yes, this is THAT kind of story. Technical detail[1], philosophical and ethical quandaries, conspiracy, the Big Picture -- these things are everywhere. Eden is not light reading by anyone's definition. Fortunately, the manga's political themes don't overwhelm the characters. It's hard not to be fascinated by Ennoea, South America's most powerful drug lord, a man who advocates "infinite kindness to those you care about, infinite cruelty to everyone else." Or not to empathize with his son Elijah who, when the story opens, is struggling to survive alone in the wilderness. It's a testament to Endo's powers as a storyteller that as Elijah's actions became less defensible -- as he moves from "cute and innocent" to "unflinchingly brutal" -- he never once loses your sympathy. Instead, his actions seem simply logical -- a clear, considered, even admirable matter of prioritizing his own survival.

[1] Often only explained in footnotes. Though thorough, Endo's worldbuilding can be difficult to get a grip on, due to the large amount of information he brings in and the relative scarcity of explanatory notes. Another possible drawback to this series is that the author's interest in everything -- artificial intelligence, guerrilla tactics, street gangs, sociopathology, prostitution, the list goes on and on -- often diverts the story in tangential directions, making it difficult to say for certain what any of it is about. However, if you are deeply interested in geopolitics or political thrillers, or yearn for a story with serious ethical and philosophical weight, I would recommend Eden without reservations. read more

There’s always the worry that another pandemic like the bubonic plague or SARS 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.

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 to it. As the story goes on more and more is revealed about the kid and how most things stem from his parents, 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. 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.

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 since he’s forced to fend for himself and tries to do the right thing but it never turns out well in the end. 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, who are thoroughly developed by means of immense back-stories.

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 Eden: It’s an Endless World is an epic manga, not due to its length but for having such an immense storyline spanning many years. 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. Although I personally liked how this manga contained a bit of everything 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 seinen but be warned, there’s a lot of gore, sex and shocking deaths.

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