Does anybody anywhere aside from me love Eden:It's an endless world??

AmiguAmigu Registered User regular
edited December 2007 in Graphic Violence
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Because I feel like I'm the only dude on the planet who appreciates this manga by Hiroki Endo. It has almost zero web coverage and I haven't been able to find any large fan base or merch.

For anybody who doesn't know about it, Eden is set in he near future after a massive international epedemic. Its main protagonist is Elijah Ballard, the son of a Yakuza who struggles to find his place in the world. His sister is abducted and in trying to get her back he is caught up in a massive international conflict involving the Vatican, Propatater (an international confederation) rebels, mercenaries, crime lords and a whole bunch of odds and ends. The whole conflict circles around the epidemic but it is as of yet still not clear how exactly it ties in. Parallel to his we have a major amount of character development surrounding Elijah and witness him transitioning from a sensitive child to a grown man.

Narratively the plot jumps all over the place, chapters follow different characters who are all somehow linked to Elijah and the epidemic either advancing the plot or giving us an insight into their inner workings but almost always more questions are raised than answered. Some people may find this annoying or confusing (you may need to back track to get what's going on) but to me it's what makes this series so intriguing, I love it how it is hard to see where the character development ends and the plot starts sometimes so in a way the epidemic, Elijah’s moral strife and the different characters life stories all intertwine in to a commentary on the human condition.

Stylistically the manga avoids the conventions of its genre; no huge eyes or unrealistic character designs and
silly antiques are kept to an absolute minimum (although recently they've increased a little which I don't rate) instead Hiroki Endo follows his own style with minimalist character design and super realistic depictions of machinery buildings and nature. Although there is allot of violence I wouldn't describe it as ultra violence, instead of people being split in two by broadswords and the like Endo chooses to realistically depict brutal effects of things such as landmines and disease and don’t expect loved characters to be spared!

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Every book comes with a little rant by the author at the end which is always very insightful and has made me really appreciate the guy and his idiocentric outlook on the world.

Darkhorse distributes it in the US

Yeah that's about it....

It's an endless world!

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Amigu on

Posts

  • DouglasDangerDouglasDanger PennsylvaniaRegistered User regular
    edited December 2007
    That looks neat. I can never get people to talk about manga here.

    DouglasDanger on
  • ServoServo Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited December 2007
    silly antiques?

    Servo on
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  • Anthony SwanAnthony Swan Registered User regular
    edited December 2007
    Wow, this looks right up my alley. Is it ongoing or has it been finished?

    Anthony Swan on
  • AmiguAmigu Registered User regular
    edited December 2007
    Servo wrote: »
    silly antiques?

    I'm not sure whether there is a blanket term for them but you know those little comic relief episodes (usually arguments between lead characters) where the artist takes alot of artistic freedom and does stuff like depicting the angry girl as a larger than life devil or draws someone as an SD or lets multiple characters fall over in shock. That kind of stuff is very sparsely used in Eden the mood tends to be kept serious and realistic 99% of the time.
    Is it ongoing or has it been finished?

    As far as I know it's ongoing. DH has 10 volumes out but I know that it's up to volume 15 in Japan. It has a prety massive scope so i don't see it ending soon unless there is a surprise turn around or a streamlining of the narrative.

    Amigu on
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  • MalkorMalkor Registered User regular
    edited December 2007
    I'll look for this next time I go to the shop.

    Malkor on
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  • matsurimatsuri Registered User regular
    edited December 2007
    I wasn't used to Manga untill now. It is very different approach and different vibe in Manga. I have some collections downloaded but don't know the BEST around.

    matsuri on
  • JoJoHoraHoraJoJoHoraHora ItalyRegistered User regular
    edited December 2007
    Amigu wrote: »
    ... and don’t expect loved characters to be spared!

    You can say that again...
    Later volume spoilers
    Poor Helena... :(

    At least Elia gets his revenge.

    JoJoHoraHora on
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  • AmiguAmigu Registered User regular
    edited December 2007
    Amigu wrote: »
    ... and don’t expect loved characters to be spared!

    You can say that again...
    Later volume spoilers
    Poor Helena... :(

    At least Elia gets his revenge.
    Tell me about it! Poor Helena just keeped coping shit and more shit (I mean come on someone cut out her fucking eye!). I'd say Eliah killing her killer is pretty much the turning point in the series where he matures and looses some of his inocence so I guess it was kind of necessary.

    Amigu on
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