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)
