Eden no Ori

Just a few hours ago, Akira Sengoku was having fun with his classmates on their flight back to Japan from a school trip in Guam. Now, he finds himself all alone in a jungle after the plane mysteriously crashed. While searching for survivors, his surroundings become increasingly suspicious as he stumbles across various animal species he has never seen before. Finally, he manages to find two survivors—his classmate Shirou Mariya and cabin attendant Kanako Oomori—being attacked by a two-meter tall bird!

After barely managing to escape with their lives, Shirou uses his computer to pinpoint their exact location and shed some light on the strange creatures that they have encountered. What he discovers is beyond anything they expected—they have crashed on an island in the Pacific that should not exist, inhabited by animals that supposedly went extinct millions of years ago.

Eden no Ori tells the story of Akira and the other survivors' struggles on an island all too eager to see them disappear. With predators lurking around every corner, Akira and his friends must use all their wits to survive and unravel the mysteries of the island's origin.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Edit
Background

Eden no Ori was published in English as Cage of Eden by Kodansha Comics USA from August 23, 2011 to May 16, 2017. It has also been published in Italian by GP Manga since January 16, 2011.

More characters
Characters

Sengoku, Akira

Main

Yarai, Kouichi

Main

Akagami, Rion

Main

Mariya, Shirou

Main

Isurugi, Miina

Main

Oomori, Kanako

Main

Saji, Kazuma

Supporting

Miyauchi, Maya

Supporting

Tokiwa, Aya

Supporting

Sakuma, Yuki

Supporting

Reviews

Dec 1, 2013

bunny1ov3r

Recommended

I started reading Eden no Ori, or Cage of Eden 4 years ago. My first impression of this manga is that of mystery, excitement, and shounen-ness. I remember I was fascinated by discoveries that the main characters had, and was able to enjoy the story to its fullest.

Of course, that was when this manga only have 40 chapters and during a period when I was fond of an overabundance of fan-service.

4 years later, I have become a much more mature person, one that is able to critically judge the merits and weaknesses of a story. I again picked up Eden no Ori, finishing it ...

Open

Gift

Mar 20, 2015

Beobachter

Mixed Feelings

Cage of Eden is something you’d get by tossing Lost, Jurassic Park, and Battle Royale into a cheap blender, with heaps of fanservice seasoning on top of it. Reading the manga is kind of similar to devouring greasy junk food; instantly gratifying, but insubstantial and probably left you mostly unfulfilled by the end. That last bit is particularly significant.

The premise is an instant sell for lovers of roller-coaster suspense story: an airplane carrying a high-school class crash landed on a mysterious island in the middle of nowhere. But, that's not all: before long, the main protagonist has to round up his missing friends, ... encounter the island's less than friendly inhabitants in the form of various grotesque beast creatures, deal with various people's psychological breakdowns, and figure out the big mystery behind the exact circumstances of their predicament. It's an inelegant mish-mash of the franchises I've mentioned before, while the fanservice (both the violent and lewd nature) could get hilariously over the top: nothing depicted the manga's tone better than the panel where a big wolf thingy devours someone's crippled body, while on the foreground there's a huge pantyshot of a terrified girl.And yet, I'd be lying if I say Cage of Eden isn't an engrossing read. The psychological/emotional level is mostly skin-deep, but the main cast of characters is likable enough to root for, and Yoshinobu Yamada really excels in stringing a series of cliffhangers one after another and a pile of intriguing mysteries on top of each other...

This, unfortunately, brings us to by far the Cage of Eden's biggest flaw. Normally, I don't like spoiling or even hinting a mystery/suspense series too much, but in this case it felt absolutely imperative for a potential reader to know what they're getting into. So, here goes: Cage of Eden's ending is wildly unsatisfying, left a lot of plot threads unresolved, answered the central mystery in a baffling manner, and in general displayed a shocking lack of long-term planning.Some series could get away or even enhanced by an open and ambiguous ending, but something like CoE really has no business playing "the journey mattered more than the destination" card. A lack of proper resolution is a death knell to a series so reliant on clifhangers, and as it is, most readers would soldier through 21-volume worth of constant build-ups and excessive fanservice hoping for a big pay-off that doesn't exist.

A bit of a shame, really. Cage of Eden is trashy as hell, but most of the times it's a fun and exciting kind of trashy. It deserves a better closing, at the very least, and I could only wonder if perhaps too much energy is spent on drawing all the boobs instead of, you know, making a plot outline.

Open

Gift

Jul 2, 2013

Polyphemus

Not Recommended

Have you seen the show Lost? Most people agree that it had a good set up, atmosphere and mystery to it in the early seasons, but good mystery is rendered pointless by shitty conclusions and a lack of character development. Eden no Ori ended up far worse than Lost did, seeing as Lost actually compensated for its poor plot choices by focusing more on characters. (A strategy which got less and less effective as time went on, but I digress.) I mention Lost because this manga seems to have gotten much inspiration from it and failed in the worst way possible. Ultimately, nothing was answered ... and indisputable plot holes were everywhere. Who is Hades? Who the fuck knows. Who unleashed the bacteria/fungus? Who the fuck knows. How did they leap through time? Who. The. Fuck. Knows.

People were giving this “10” reviews when just a dozen chapters had come out, without considering the fact that it's easy to set up a "mystery island" plot; what matters is the ultimate delivery, and this manga had none to speak of. This manga is actually pretty good at tricking you in early chapters, but the fact that it’s spitting in your face becomes less and less subtle as it progresses. As both of the top reviews were written by people who hadn't even made it a third of the way through the series, their praise should be ignored.

The art was all centered around fanservice. That is the only notable thing about it, which isn't saying much seeing as it is a staple of most modern shounen manga. It's not particularly good or well-placed fanservice either. The girls are not well drawn and many of them look almost exactly the same, although they can sometimes be distinguished form one another by breast size. Also note that no dramatic scene is complete without a panty-shot, making these important scenes impossible to take seriously in any capacity. Basically, the art was generic and bad. The fight scenes got very repetitive, and while this was also due to a lack of creativity in general, it was usually because they were all drawn exactly the same way. I felt like I'd seen the same panel hundreds of times.

The characters were either "good" or "bad" and either "expendable" or "important." Did you get eaten by a three headed saber tooth lizard tiger? Don't worry, you're an important character. You'll be fine somehow. (No joke. It's that bad.) The main character is a Mary Sue who remains calm and brave in the face of any danger and becomes athletic and smart overnight, despite the fact that he's just a slacker. He has a love interest that has no personality other than "tits." He has a friendly rivalry with a delinquent with a heart of gold who, despite being a middle schooler, can crush professional boxers and overpower wild animals bare handed. The delinquent has a relationship with a woman who only exists for him to protect her and look cool while doing it. The main character also has a friend who is a plot device nerd and has a laptop with infinite battery plus an encyclopedia of extinct animals and other programs that are useless in day to day life, for god knows what purpose. How does he always find the animals just by their appearance anyways? There are a lot of extinct animals to sort through. Point is this: the characters are one dimensional and simply poorly written. Some of them had half-assed backstories thrown in, but these seemed, well, half-assed. There is also a big titted flight attendant and a trap-loli. Why? Because tits, traps, and lolis. Also more damsels in distress. Another thing: this series loves damsels in distress. A whole lot of them. There are a lot of damsels, and they are all frequently in distress.

All of the dialogue between the characters is clunky and unrealistic. It is never entertaining or compelling. Not even once did I crack a smile or think about what deep things they had to say.

The juvenile ideas and general factual errors were a minor issue in comparison to everything else, but still worth mention, in my opinion. The author made up historical, physiological, and scientific facts whenever it was convenient and decided that logic in general was a crock of shit. It also featured some very unintelligent (read: incorrect) psychological ideas mixed in with a bit of political commentary with a depth that I would expect from my 9 year old cousin. It threw in the supernatural out of nowhere and quickly broke those rules as well. Why do the predictions sometimes come true and sometimes not? Because the eternal power of friendship can overpower fate?

So what was the point of Edon no Ori? What can you get from it? It failed as a mystery, an action, and as a romance. It ultimately had no positive points or redeeming qualities to speak of.

The creator should learn to plan ahead in his next work. This manga seemed very thrown together and generally all over the place. It showed not a modicum of originality or intelligence and I would recommend it to nobody. Even those with poor taste must admit that the conclusion was no conclusion at all. This manga should only be read as an example of what not to do when telling a story.

Story: 0/10
Art: 3/10
Character: 1/10
Enjoyment: 0/10
Bonus: 0/10
Overall: 4/50 or 8% (.8/10)

Open

Gift

More stacks

Interest Stacks

Very violent Shounen manga

by RaviDavi

49 Entries · 161 Restacks

Best of Weekly Shounen Magazine

by ren999999

50 Entries · 5 Restacks

Survival Essentials

by MichaelJackson

26 Entries · 135 Restacks

More recommendations
Recommendations

View All

More news
Recent News

North American Anime & Manga Releases for May

Here are the North American anime & manga releases for May Week 1: May 2 - 8 Anime Releases Garo: Guren no Tsuki Part 2 Blu-ray & DVD Combo Hai to Gensou no ...read more

May 1, 2017 10:58 AM by Sakana-san | Discuss (6 comments)

North American Anime & Manga Releases for May

Here are the North American anime & manga releases for May Week 1: May 3 - May 9 Anime Releases A Little Snow Fairy Sugar Complete Collection Azumanga Daioh: The...read more

May 3, 2016 7:27 AM by Sakana-san | Discuss (14 comments)

More discussions
Recent Forum Discussion

Poll: Eden no Ori Chapter 161 Discussion gmgkng - Jul 13, 2012	24 replies	by DebiPS »» Jun 3, 2023 1:24 PM
Poll: Eden no Ori Chapter 159 Discussion Zhou - Jun 24, 2012	23 replies	by DebiPS »» Jun 3, 2023 1:17 PM
Poll: Eden no Ori Chapter 157 Discussion BackLashWave - Jun 10, 2012	19 replies	by DebiPS »» Jun 3, 2023 1:07 PM
Poll: Eden no Ori Chapter 112 Discussion Keiz - Dec 22, 2011	20 replies	by DebiPS »» May 30, 2023 3:22 PM
Poll: Eden no Ori Chapter 94 Discussion allenallenallen - Jun 22, 2011	26 replies	by DebiPS »» May 29, 2023 6:31 PM

Eden no Ori
Cage of Eden
Edit

What would you like to edit?

Alternative Titles

Information

Statistics

Resources

Edit
Synopsis

Edit
Background

Visit MALxJapan
MALxJapan -More than just anime-

More characters
Characters

Reviews

Interest Stacks

More recommendations
Recommendations

More news
Recent News

More discussions
Recent Forum Discussion

MoreTop Anime

MoreTop Airing Anime

MoreMost Popular Characters

Eden no OriCage of Eden Edit What would you like to edit? SynopsisBackgroundAlternative TitlesPictureChapters/VolumesPublishing DatesRelationsTypeExternal Links

Alternative Titles

Information

Statistics

Resources

EditSynopsis

EditBackground

Visit MALxJapan MALxJapan -More than just anime-

More charactersCharacters

Reviews

Interest Stacks

More recommendations Recommendations

More newsRecent News

More discussionsRecent Forum Discussion

MoreTop Anime

MoreTop Airing Anime

MoreMost Popular Characters

Eden no Ori
Cage of Eden
Edit

What would you like to edit?

Edit
Synopsis

Edit
Background

Visit MALxJapan
MALxJapan -More than just anime-

More characters
Characters

More recommendations
Recommendations

More news
Recent News

More discussions
Recent Forum Discussion