| I was very excited to read this manga. It was rated 8.5+/10 on many sites and had all my favorite genres (cyberpunk, sci-fi, politics) and seemed to have a mature tone. All of my enthusiasm faded away by the second volume. I picked this manga expecting an amazing manga series that aimed for the 18+ crowd with a fresh approach full of originality. What did I receive? All I got was some combination of 80's and 90's sci-fi mixed into a thriller manga aimed to entertain. There's no philosophy that makes you see how different the world could be like Ghost in the Shell. There's no shock factor since every Seinen action manga out there has covered it. I am thoroughly disappointed. However, the mangaka may not be the reason to blame. He has delivered a stellar product that combines Akira, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Ghost in the Shell and Terminator into one action packed manga series filled with plot twists. As a long time anime and manga, I always yearn for original work to fully immerse me into a story. However, that is not the feeling I got reading this manga. I felt like I was reading a very long movie overdrawn ridden with plot holes. The first volume, for example, shifts from an interesting chapter of two teenagers setting out into the unknown with nothing to them being separated with the "male lead" being some South American drug lord and an "I Am Legend" style introduction to the teenagers' son (with a large time skip). I am disappointed. I found myself yawning by the third volume and rolling my eyes with how the mangaka started using overused themes. Name a mature theme and you got it. Child prostitution? Check. Rape? Check. Genocide? Check. Psychological abuse? Check. Underage exposure to sex? Check. Theme of innocence being lost? Check. Existentialism in a sci-fi work? Check. Lead character depressed because his parents might be/are/will be dead? Check. Boring! Drugs? Check. Slavery? Check. Am I to expect that the Seinen genre is simply using gore, sex, and abuse as the standard equivalent of beat 'em ups in the Shounen genre? I realize that I am criticizing a 10 years of a man's work. There is no number that can justify such a breadth of art. The illustrations were great and always involving and that's all I can say. Background of me just for the sake of not wanting to my mini editorial piece as inflammatory: I have watched and read hundreds of seasons of anime and manga. I am a huge fan of cyberpunk. The concept of cybernetics makes me feel excited to be living this cusp of such a dramatic era of technological evolution. In fact, it is my field of study as a biomedical engineering student. Transhumanism, singularity and electronic revolution fascinate me. I keep myself up to date with all the mainstream science/tech news. TL;DR: 6/10 (Fine. Nothing original since every and any Seinen archetype has been used to construct this manga using the framework of other successful franchises.) Note: I'm using Seinen in the context of "mature audiences only". |
arimakenshinApr 29, 2010 9:45 PM
| Wow. I find your opinion really justificatory and I like that you have a different opinion than other people. I'm also amazed by the amount of manga you've read and I feel obliged to read more manga now :) (Y) |
| Good counterpoint opinion..... I was really shocked when I was reading volume 2 onwards.....coz I said to myself that I'll read volume 1 first...if I like it then I'll read it.....so after reading volume 1 I took a break and haven't touched it for some time then after finishing a manga that I was reading I said to myself that I'll start with eden....and I was like lolwut? uhmmmm this is not what I expected, I ecpected something obscure and cyberpunk-ish kinda like blame instead I found myself reading an action movie like manga.....and I also found myself laughing at how different volumes 1 and 2 onwards are........and the humour that was introduced at volume 8 made me facepalmed.......*sigh*....well it's not like it's that bad....it has a decent storyline and believe it or not some kickass action......ultimately it's a manga aimed for entertainment and mindless action....kinda like watching an action movie in the 90's :P |
| "In every age, in every place, the deeds of men remain the same." |
arimakenshin said: Am I to expect that the Seinen genre is simply using gore, sex, and abuse as the standard equivalent of beat 'em ups in the Shounen genre? JP_rNr said: ultimately it's a manga aimed for entertainment and mindless action.... Sorry (but not really) to revive this topic, but I don't know if I read the same manga you guys read... I was amazed by the amount of research the author had to do to create a coherent background to all ethnic conflicts he shows, for example, I see that @arimakenshin likes Planetes, that part about South America there they show names and a language that have nothing to with anything here (yea, I'm from South America) and it was very lame, but all ethnic conflicts and historical backgrounds on Eden were real and trully most are happening right now (I'm a history major and I really like geopolitics)... also there was a lot of philosophical babbling when Maya is around, and that part I really didn't like, I wish Maya creator was just insane and Maya's religious views were just part of his program... I didn't like the ending very much... (the part about physics, biology and chemistry were very well done too) Also there is a lot of characters development and plot twists (and you could say even the manga genre changes on some volumes), I thought the first volume was being kinda boring, like The Blue Lagoon (remember that movie?) but the ending of the first arc when Enoa asks Layne again what kind person was his father it was that answer, changing everything they had show so far, was what got me really interested in the story. Some arcs had nothing to do with post-apocalyptic and cyberpunk genres, like that Pedro's arc, but that one shows interesting character developments too (altho having some cheesy parts)... or for you it was really all predictable? Like that guy from Interior Ministry furious about corruption blowing his agent car to please Elijah, or how Elijah decided to kill Pedro... There is no arguing about taste, but I can't agree with you people :P |
PxHCOct 25, 2018 12:08 PM
 |
arimakenshin said: I was very excited to read this manga. It was rated 8.5+/10 on many sites and had all my favorite genres (cyberpunk, sci-fi, politics) and seemed to have a mature tone. All of my enthusiasm faded away by the second volume. I picked this manga expecting an amazing manga series that aimed for the 18+ crowd with a fresh approach full of originality. What did I receive? All I got was some combination of 80's and 90's sci-fi mixed into a thriller manga aimed to entertain. There's no philosophy that makes you see how different the world could be like Ghost in the Shell. There's no shock factor since every Seinen action manga out there has covered it. I am thoroughly disappointed. However, the mangaka may not be the reason to blame. He has delivered a stellar product that combines Akira, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Ghost in the Shell and Terminator into one action packed manga series filled with plot twists. As a long time anime and manga, I always yearn for original work to fully immerse me into a story. However, that is not the feeling I got reading this manga. I felt like I was reading a very long movie overdrawn ridden with plot holes. The first volume, for example, shifts from an interesting chapter of two teenagers setting out into the unknown with nothing to them being separated with the "male lead" being some South American drug lord and an "I Am Legend" style introduction to the teenagers' son (with a large time skip). I am disappointed. I found myself yawning by the third volume and rolling my eyes with how the mangaka started using overused themes. Name a mature theme and you got it. Child prostitution? Check. Rape? Check. Genocide? Check. Psychological abuse? Check. Underage exposure to sex? Check. Theme of innocence being lost? Check. Existentialism in a sci-fi work? Check. Lead character depressed because his parents might be/are/will be dead? Check. Boring! Drugs? Check. Slavery? Check. Am I to expect that the Seinen genre is simply using gore, sex, and abuse as the standard equivalent of beat 'em ups in the Shounen genre? I realize that I am criticizing a 10 years of a man's work. There is no number that can justify such a breadth of art. The illustrations were great and always involving and that's all I can say. Background of me just for the sake of not wanting to my mini editorial piece as inflammatory: I have watched and read hundreds of seasons of anime and manga. I am a huge fan of cyberpunk. The concept of cybernetics makes me feel excited to be living this cusp of such a dramatic era of technological evolution. In fact, it is my field of study as a biomedical engineering student. Transhumanism, singularity and electronic revolution fascinate me. I keep myself up to date with all the mainstream science/tech news. TL;DR: 6/10 (Fine. Nothing original since every and any Seinen archetype has been used to construct this manga using the framework of other successful franchises.) Note: I'm using Seinen in the context of "mature audiences only". Completely agree, i thought i was going to read the best sci-fi manga of the 90's, i was really disappointed. 5/10 |
SteelingMaxApr 16, 2020 3:40 AM
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| Dunno how I feel about this one honestly. There's an interesting story here but it never feels like it was given the opportunity to find a solid footing. Even when it feels like when the plot is becoming more concrete something abrupt happens and everything get refreshed and cycled around. It's still intriguing as is but I can't help to think how this might have turned out if the author just slowed down and nurtured it's through line a bit more. The story never feels as if it's heading towards any particular destination and sorta ends as enigmatic as it began. Still a good read, just wish there was a bit more cohesion in the plot and characters. 7/10 |
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