Story:
The narrative isn't really anything all that unique. I'd say it's in similar in nature to High-rise Invasion and Suicide Island. It's your classic people trapped in a strange environment. If you've read other reviews than you are familiar with the ending that was cut short. When I read Cage of Eden, I perceived it as very much a "It's about the journey not the destination" kind of story. In the first half of the story, it's very much a "Villain of the Week" with each volume dealing with a new group that either joins with our main characters or are all wiped out save for some random hottie. I feel I would be remiss if I didn't mention the fan service. I personally did not find it all that gratuitous and compared to other Ecchi out there this feels really tame. Admittedly I do have a habit of starting manga and only realizing halfway through that it's an Ecchi.
Art:
I'd argue the art is a baseline good. It doesn't have all too many sprawling shots or enormous detail. The environment and creatures are all drawn well to give a sense of atmosphere and tension to the reader. I think the character designs themselves are also pretty good though a lot of the minor student characters look very similar to one another.
Character:
Be prepared because this story has a ton of characters. I found that aside from the more prominent characters there wasn't a lot of development for our massive cast. They felt one dimensional for the most part, but I didn't really dislike it all that much myself. Something I like about this manga is that when characters are no longer vital to the plot, they don't just die off or disappear. They exist in various panels and sometimes even have dialogue. This makes the group dynamic a lot more entertaining, and I found myself reminiscing about the times we met each character and the ordeals everyone went through whenever they were on screen. I found that it really made moments throughout the series feel important, accomplished, and relevant due to the number of characters who were saved from each crisis, and it also give the reader evidence that Sengoku is really the great leader everyone says he is.
Enjoyment:
I found this manga to be quite the page turner. As I said the narrative itself isn't all that special, but I personally enjoyed how the author kept things relatively fresh with each encounter with survivors and creatures being unique. There was always so much drama and for much of the series it felt like the events transpiring for our survivors never got better, until people began to unify to survive, a common theme for the manga.
Overall:
If you enjoy the survival genre, a wide cast of characters, intense action and drama, or...enjoy fan service, this is the manga to read. Despite its abrupt and lackluster ending it's still an enjoyable series throughout its 21 Volume run. Check of Cage of Eden and find yourself transported into a world of dangerous creatures, vicious humans, and skirts a plenty.
