| Eden: It's an Endless World! | |
| Eden vol. 7 cover featuring Elijah; each volume uses its own font and styling | |
| エデン (Eden) | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Cyberpunk, political thriller, post-apocalyptic [1] |
| 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 |
Eden:It's an Endless World!,known in Japan as Eden (stylized in all-caps),is a Japanese science fiction 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.
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.
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.
Eden:It's an Endless World! was written and illustrated by Hiroki Endo. The series ran in Kodansha's Monthly Afternoon magazine from September 25,1997, [a] to June 25,2008. [b] Kodansha collected its chapters into 18 tankōbon volumes,released from April 21,1998,to July 23,2008. [3] [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. [7] As of March 2014,14 volumes were released in total. [8]
| No. | Original release date | Original ISBN | English release date | English ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | April 21,1998 [3] | 978-4-06-314176-4 | November 2, 2005 [9] | 978-1-59307-406-7 |
| 2 | October 20, 1998 [10] | 978-4-06-314191-7 | February 1, 2006 [11] | 978-1-59307-454-8 |
| 3 | May 19, 1999 [12] | 978-4-06-314208-2 | May 3, 2006 [13] | 978-1-59307-529-3 |
| 4 | February 21, 2000 [14] | 978-4-06-314233-4 | August 2, 2006 [15] | 978-1-59307-544-6 |
| 5 | July 18, 2000 [16] | 978-4-06-314246-4 | November 1, 2006 [17] | 978-1-59307-634-4 |
| 6 | September 19, 2001 [18] | 978-4-06-314274-7 | February 7, 2007 [19] | 978-1-59307-702-0 |
| 7 | May 21, 2002 [20] | 978-4-06-314294-5 | May 2, 2007 [21] | 978-1-59307-765-5 |
| 8 | February 19, 2003 [22] | 978-4-06-314307-2 | August 1, 2007 [23] | 978-1-59307-787-7 |
| 9 | July 17, 2003 [24] | 978-4-06-314325-6 | November 7, 2007 [25] | 978-1-59307-851-5 |
| 10 | November 21, 2003 [26] | 978-4-06-314334-8 | May 7, 2008 [27] | 978-1-59307-957-4 |
| 11 | July 23, 2004 [28] | 978-4-06-314349-2 | February 4, 2009 [29] | 978-1-59582-244-4 |
| 12 | February 23, 2005 [30] | 978-4-06-314370-6 | September 2, 2009 [31] | 978-1-59582-296-3 |
| 13 | September 21, 2005 [32] | 978-4-06-314390-4 | August 31, 2011 [33] | 978-1-59582-763-0 |
| 14 | March 23, 2006 [34] | 978-4-06-314407-9 | March 26, 2014 [8] | 978-1-61655-288-6 |
| 15 | October 23, 2006 [35] | 978-4-06-314431-4 | — | — |
| 16 | April 23, 2007 [36] | 978-4-06-314454-3 | — | — |
| 17 | December 21, 2007 [37] | 978-4-06-314481-9 | — | — |
| 18 | July 23, 2008 [5] | 978-4-06-314515-1 | — | — |
Eden was named Wizard magazine's best manga of 2007. [9] David F. Smith of Newtype USA has called Eden one of the best manga American money can buy. [38]
Elijah's aided by a motley crew of mercs and cyborgs, which makes Eden - It's an Endless World! an excellent example of the post-apocalyptic cyberpunk true crime political thriller pulp action-comedy genre.
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