Oct 4, 2008
Manga review of Eden Volume 2 by Hiroki Endo. Translated by Kumar Sivasubramanian. Originally published by Kodansha in Japan. Published in US by Dark Horse, $12.95, Rated 18+ for Mature Readers.
The first volume of Eden was a little ambiguous in terms of
setting and the reasons why Elijah was in the middle of nowhere
with the human-like security robot Cherubim. He was taken captive
by a group of fighters led by Colonel Kahn who wanted to use his
vehicle to get out of Propater controlled territory. As it turns
out in this second volume, most of South America is a battleground
between Propater and the United Nations and various assorted
warlords, drug kingpins, and bandits. It's pretty much like the
Wild West where the person with the most firepower usually wins an
argument. When Colonel Kahn's group wipes out a bandit emplacement,
they unwittingly pick up two new members, Kachua and Helena, two
women who were going to be sex slaves for the competing armies on
the frontlines. The problem is that Kahn and the others don't like
loose ends or baggage, so they might end up dead anyway, unless
Elijah can save them. And Propater soldiers are hot on their
tail!
I think Eden is great. The art is perfectly rendered and beautiful,
beyond anything Western comic book artists are doing. Hiroki Endo
captures the complexity of human beings, especially in their
out-loud thinking sililoquies on the state of the world one minute
showing gentleness and caring and then the next slicing through an
enemies neck with blood bursting all over the place. That's really
what Eden is all about, terrible moments of battle and violence and
then, in the quiet afterwards, the battle between staying human or
becoming a mindless killing machine. Cherubim doesn't have a choice
at this point, he can simply be programmed to murder, but the
humans have a choice. I look forward to great things from
this series.
My Grade: A+