Eden: It's an Endless World!
Japanese manga series
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Eden: It's an Endless World!, also known simply as Eden (stylized in all caps), is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hiroki Endo. It was serialized in Kodansha's seinen manga magazine Monthly Afternoon from September 1997 to June 2008, with its chapters collected in 18 tankōbon volumes.
| Eden: It's an Endless World! | |
Seventh tankōbon volume cover, featuring Elijah Ballard; each volume uses its own font and styling | |
| Genre | |
|---|---|
| Manga | |
| Written by | Hiroki Endo |
| Published by | Kodansha |
| English publisher | |
| Imprint | Afternoon KC |
| Magazine | Monthly Afternoon |
| Original run | September 25, 1997 – June 25, 2008 |
| Volumes | 18 |
Premise
The story is set in the near future, following the "closure virus" pandemic has killed 15 percent of the world's population, crippled or disfigured many more, with catastrophic effect on global politics. Its themes and many character names are taken from Gnostic mythology.
Plot
The series begins with a long introduction, with the characters Ennoia and Hannah living a peaceful life on a remote and isolated island called Eden, with researcher Lane Morris, who is their guardian and a victim of the pandemic. The events that led to this situation are revealed in flashbacks, leading up to the return of Ennoia's father, along with the forces of the Propater Federation.
Following this, the story moves forwards twenty years, and focuses on Ennoia's son, Elijah, the main character, and his own conflict with the powerful and monopolistic Propater federation to save his sister, Mana Ballard, kidnapped by Propater when he was very young. She is being held to threaten Ennoia Ballard, father of the two characters, who has become a powerful drug lord in South America, feared and despised by many, including, to an extent, his own family. During a terrorist attack, Elijah, aged 15, is separated from his mother and his sister is kidnapped, along with his mother Hannah and now has to handle things on his own. Eden is about his coming-of-age as a man and trying to survive both bodily and morally in world that is too complex for mere "black and white". He encounters many other characters, both allies and enemies, all sharing the same struggle to survive in a post-apocalyptic dystopian world.
Many stories are included of the people Elijah meets, telling their past or following life, sometimes volumes later, furthering understanding of the characters and giving increased depth to the world of the book as a whole.
Later in the series, the story once again moves forwards in time, jumping four more years ahead. The Closure Virus, the cause of the original pandemic, mutates, this time assimilating non-organic matter as well as organic, known as "colloid" (or "Disclosure Virus"). The story rejoins Elijah, now 19 years old, as well as many other old characters, and some new, as the world begins to deal with this new threat that is swallowing many cities in the world, leaving lakes and craters, and many people. It is later discovered that the several colloids in the world, are linked with a net of underground auto-built "cables", and that the colloid itself, stores all the memories of the people it swallows.
Characters
- Elijah Ballard (エリヤ・バラード, Eriya Barādo)
- Elijah is introduced while on the run from Propater. He encounters some mercenaries also eluding Propater and is forced to join them. During his flight he is forced to become a hardened killer. After returning to Peru, Elijah becomes involved in his father's criminal activities, and undergoes a coming of age into adulthood.
- Ennoia Ballard (エンノイア・バラード, Ennoia Barādo)
- Elijah's father, raised on Eden. After he and Hannah left there, Ennoia became the most powerful drug lord in South America, and a staunch opponent of the Propater Federation.
- Hannah Mayall (ハナ・メイオール, Hana Meiōru)
- Elijah's mother, raised on Eden. She and Elijah's sister were captured by the Propater while trying to leave Ennoia with Elijah. A major focus of the series is Elijah's quest to rescue Hannah and Mana.
- Mana Ballard (マナ・バラード, Mana Barādo)
- Elijah's sister, who remains in Propater hands whilst her mother is rescued. Elijah's fight to free her is a focus of the later parts of the story.
- Nazarbaiev Khan (ナザルバイエフ・カーン, Nazarubaiefu Kān)
- Colonel Khan is an old soldier from Azerbaijan. He leads the Nomad group (including Kenji and Sophia) fleeing Propater at the start of the series. Khan became Kenji's mentor after killing his brother, and the two share a slightly strained, but trusting, relationship.
- Sophia Theódores (ソフィア・テオドレス, Sofia Teodoresu)
- A powerful Greek computer hacker, and full-body cyborg. Despite her youthful appearance, she is much older. Sophia acts as a mother figure to many characters in the series, most notably Kenji, although her relationship with him is somewhat more complicated. Sophia was very promiscuous in her youth, and had eight children. Her first, Andreas, whom she tried to kill, and who still bears the scars, is a high-ranking member of Nomad. Sophia later helps to activate Maya.
- Maya (マーヤ, Māya)
- A nearly godlike AI, which seems to roughly correspond to the savior of Gnostic mythology. He has the ability to connect human and colloid. Has the appearance of an androgynous, dark-skinned boy.
- Kenji Asai (ケンジ・アサイ)
- The brother of a low-level yakuza boss. Kenji is extremely skilled at hand-to-hand combat, being able to take down countless enemies using only his signature knife. While he initially appears to be a sociopath, killing both soldiers and non-combatants without any signs of remorse, flashbacks show him to be a psychologically complex character driven by basic human needs such as love and understanding.
- Cherubim (ケルビム, Kerubimu)
- A sophisticated robot built to protect the research facility on Eden, who was instead later used to destroy it. Cherubim later serves as Elijah's protector, and is a powerful combatant in his conflicts with Propater. However, Cherubim is not always able to distinguish friend from foe, and often causes collateral damage. Cherubim is named after Cherub.
- Helena Montoya (ヘレナ・モントーヤ, Herena Montōya)
- A prostitute now working in a brothel. Has a complex relationship with Elijah and acts as a surrogate big sister. She was forced to help the Colonel's mercenary group while on the run from Propater in exchange for her freedom.
Media
Manga
Eden: It's an Endless World! was written and illustrated by Hiroki Endo. The series ran in Kodansha's seinen manga magazine Monthly Afternoon from September 25, 1997,[a] to June 25, 2008.[b] Kodansha collected its chapters into 18 tankōbon volumes, released from April 23, 1998, to July 23, 2008.[7][5]
In July 2005, Dark Horse Comics announced in San Diego Comic-Con that it has licensed Eden for North American distribution, with publication to begin in November of that year.[8] By March 2014, 14 volumes were released in total.[9]
Volumes
| No. | Original release date | Original ISBN | English release date | English ISBN | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | April 23, 1998[7] | 978-4-06-314176-4 | November 2, 2005[10] | 978-1-59307-406-7 | ||
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| 2 | October 22, 1998[11] | 978-4-06-314191-7 | February 1, 2006[12] | 978-1-59307-454-8 | ||
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| 3 | May 21, 1999[13] | 978-4-06-314208-2 | May 3, 2006[14] | 978-1-59307-529-3 | ||
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| 4 | February 23, 2000[15] | 978-4-06-314233-4 | August 2, 2006[16] | 978-1-59307-544-6 | ||
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| 5 | July 21, 2000[17] | 978-4-06-314246-4 | November 1, 2006[18] | 978-1-59307-634-4 | ||
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| 6 | September 21, 2001[19] | 978-4-06-314274-7 | February 7, 2007[20] | 978-1-59307-702-0 | ||
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| 7 | May 23, 2002[21] | 978-4-06-314294-5 | May 2, 2007[22] | 978-1-59307-765-5 | ||
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| 8 | February 21, 2003[23] | 978-4-06-314307-2 | August 1, 2007[24] | 978-1-59307-787-7 | ||
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| 9 | July 23, 2003[25] | 978-4-06-314325-6 | November 7, 2007[26] | 978-1-59307-851-5 | ||
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| 10 | November 21, 2003[27] | 978-4-06-314334-8 | May 7, 2008[28] | 978-1-59307-957-4 | ||
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| 11 | July 23, 2004[29] | 978-4-06-314349-2 | February 4, 2009[30] | 978-1-59582-244-4 | ||
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| 12 | February 23, 2005[31] | 978-4-06-314370-6 | September 2, 2009[32] | 978-1-59582-296-3 | ||
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| 13 | September 21, 2005[33] | 978-4-06-314390-4 | August 31, 2011[34] | 978-1-59582-763-0 | ||
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| 14 | March 23, 2006[35] | 978-4-06-314407-9 | March 26, 2014[9] | 978-1-61655-288-6 | ||
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| 15 | October 23, 2006[36] | 978-4-06-314431-4 | — | — | ||
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| 16 | April 23, 2007[37] | 978-4-06-314454-3 | — | — | ||
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| 17 | December 21, 2007[38] | 978-4-06-314481-9 | — | — | ||
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| 18 | July 23, 2008[5] | 978-4-06-314515-1 | — | — | ||
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Reception
Eden was named Wizard magazine's best manga of 2007.[10] In his review of another work by Hiroki Endo titled Hiroki Endo's Tanpenshu, David F. Smith of Newtype USA called Eden one of the best manga American money can buy.[39] Reviewing the first two Dark Horse volumes, Carlo Santos of Anime News Network found its themes to be "ham-fisted ... [with] mechanical dialogues on religion and philosophy throughout the story." He reserved the most acclaim for its action sequences and art, giving it a "B".[40] In Manga: The Complete Guide, writer Jason Thompson was more critical and rated it two-and-a-half stars out of four, stating that once the manga shifts into a military action story after its "postapocalyptic survival" prologue, "the characters and themes are secondary to the combat, ultimately to the detriment of the story."[41]