Eden's Zero has landed on Netflix, and as always I'm looking at the first episode to see if it's sufficiently entertaining to entice further viewing. I reviewed the manga for The UK Anime Network some time ago, and as such I'm quite familiar with this new world from Fairy Tail creator Hiro Mashima.
Set in the future, we meet the first of our heroes, Rebecca Bluegarden, a B-Cuber looking for entertaining footage for her channel. Rebecca travels with her robotic catlike companion Happy and together they visit the planet Granbell, a medieval resort planet populated entirely by robots, save a human boy named Shiki.
Raised by robots and completely unaccustomed to human interaction, Shiki's initial run-in with Rebecca goes pretty badly, with full on groping at one point (a tell-tale sign that this "Netflix Original Anime" wasn't commissioned by the streamer!) It's played for laughs, but it'll be interesting to see if the audience left on Netflix shares the lewd sense of humour prevalent in this first episode.
Once Rebecca arrives on the planet, the robots turn on the two humans and threaten to kill them both in a robot uprising. Shiki is completely taken aback as what he considered his family succumb to a murderous rage, but is able to fend them off thanks to his Ether Gear implants that grant him increased speed, stamina and gravity manipulation. Managing to fend off the mob, he escapes with Rebecca on her ship and the pair take off into a vast universe of adventure.
As he leaves, the robots wish Shiki a fond farewell, the uprising no more than a ruse to force him to leave. With their batteries almost depleted, the entire planet was close to shutdown, which would have left Shiki alone. Knowing he'd never abandon them, they staged the whole thing to give him the push he needed. It's actually very touching, and there are some really heart-breaking scenes of the robots shutting down, some in a permanent embrace with their fellow robots, others staring after Shiki painfully watching the child they loved leave them behind. This bait and switch reveals the somewhat darker tone Mashima has taken with this series, and it's a breath of fresh air that comedy and tragedy are mixed so deftly.
This first episode ends at the same point as the first tankoban volume, though the sting from the book is absent here, replaced with a monologue from a space goddess who ruminates on whether Shiki will become the hero he wishes to be.
Overall, this is a terrific first volume that shows not only that Mashima has real dramatic chops, but that he's learned to tell a compelling and - importantly - a fun story that promises adventure on a grand scale.
Is this worth a watch? Absolutely. Eden's Zero is hugely popular for good reason, and this anime adaptation captures the mood and kinetic energy of the manga effortlessly. Settle in and prepare to explore a galaxy of adventure.
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