Author: Endou Hiroki
Copyright © 1998 Endou Hiroki

AFTERNOON is a magazine that carries, among other titles, AH! MEGAMISAMA ("OH MY GODDESS!") and MUGEN NO JUUNIN ("BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL"). A premiere publication catering to young men, one of the things AFTERNOON offers (besides good art, ample violence and mature themes) is consistently high quality manga. One of its regular runs, EDEN, stands apart from the rest, while seeming to deliver, at first glance, a rather typical story fusing cybertechnology with the aftermath of a deadly world epidemic. As the first serialized work of a newly debuted author, EDEN displays a raw but sincere quality that sets it apart from many other popular manga of this genre.
EDEN takes place after a significant portion of the world's population has fallen to a virus that causes the victims' skin to turn hard, immobilizing and killing them by reducing them to empty shells. The survivors, be they patchwork cyborgs who have replaced their affected anatomy or children who are somehow immune, persevere by skirting, or courting, the resultant social and political anarchy.
At the beginning, we are shown only two children living on a deserted island with a crippled man as their guardian. A series of flashbacks serve to introduce the setting and the characters. We see that they are the only ones left from a collection of scientists that tried to ride out the epidemic in an airtight facility. We watch as the children discover Cherubim, a state-of-the-art military android. Killing the soldiers that later land upon the island, Cherubim is as intelligent as any man, yet for all its programming it can only answer "I do not know" when asked "Do you feel the burden of your sins?"
From statements such as the above, and also because of characters in the flashbacks who declare the epidemic a punishment from God, one might be led to think EDEN is a work of preachy morality. However, as the manga suddenly switches tracks and begins following a new set of characters, the author soon shows that he is not trying to force some simplistic moral philosophy upon the reader; rather, his interest is in how different characters view morality.
A boy hunts a pheasant for food, and after finally hitting his target, realizes that there is a nest of chicks that the bird had been trying to protect. Guilt runs through his mind, and he considers the possibilities, but in the end he abandons the chicks. What follows is a philosophical discussion that echoes our everyday insecurities. "Is there anything I could have done?" "I was too tired and hungry to think about taking them back." "To survive I have to hunt other animals for food. There is no way I can take responsibility for all their children too." Rarely do we find manga characters that have such a realistic mindset.
It is this different focus, coupled with imaginative storytelling and a well-developed, compelling cast, that draws the reader in. To be blunt, the actual plot is thin—the latter part of the manga consisting of the boy and Cherubim living off the land until they run afoul of a group of criminals on the run. Marked for extermination because they carry a mysterious data disk, the boy and android reluctantly join forces with the rogues and try to cross the Andes into safer territory, all the while shooting and slicing through mountain guerillas and mutant supersoldiers in copious showers of blood.
Herein lies the other appeal of EDEN. It is very well drawn, with excellent detail and superbly choreographed fight scenes guaranteed to please any fan of military or cybertech manga. In fact, even if you do not care for the philosophical side of EDEN, the action is more than enough to make it recommended reading. On the whole, EDEN avoids all the common clichés that seem to pepper popular anime and manga nowadays, so unless you consider a fast moving plot to be a must, there is little to find fault with this manga.
As a last word, each volume (there are four currently released) contains an author's note on the back insert flap. These have nothing to do with the story itself; rather they are the author's personal thoughts and opinions on self-expression, human creativity, emotions and insecurities, and childhood experiences. Completely unpretentious, I found these to be the most thought-provoking words I had read in a long time.

Publisher: Kodansha
Aproximately 210 pages; Black and White, ¥530
Volume 1: ISBN4-06-314176-4
Volume 2: ISBN4-06-314191-8
Volume 3: ISBN4-06-314208-6
Volume 4: ISBN4-06-314233-7
Where to buy