Book Review: Eden Volume 1

Title: Eden: Volume 1

Author/Artist: BASH

Publish Date: June 2, 2015

Rating: ☕ ☕ (2)

Let me be blunt. This was a mess. There are so many things wrong with this manga that I don’t even know where to start. The biggest problem is that the entire project is disjointed and lacks focus. I’m not even entirely sure what the premise is supposed to be.   

The story begins with a boy named Touru wandering the forest. Monster-like creatures called Red Crosses are watching him and trying to prevent him from finding the village of Jinrou. Which would be bad, according to an angel named Vanguard. After that, I’m not 100% sure what’s going on. There is too much happening and there is no explanation as to who anyone is or why things are happening. I get that the mangaka is trying to project an element of mystery around Touru and the people in Jinrou, but that only works if you give the reader a clue to the bigger picture. He tries to do this toward the end of the book when Touru is led to an epitaph that tells the story of Jinrou, yet even that serves to confuse the reader further. 

The art was the only thing about this book that kept it from getting a 1. The art isn’t spectacular, and it doesn’t really stand out from artists working in similar genres, but it wasn’t bad. The artist might benefit from working with a circle where someone else is creating the plot and doing the writing.

In manga the point of the first chapter, the first volume, is to hook the reader and make them interested in what is about to happen. That didn’t happen here. I didn’t connect with any of the characters enough to care about what happens to them, and I was so relieved when I finished reading this. I have no desire to read volume 2 when it is released in July. 

**NetGalley provided me with an advance reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.**