Genre: Sci-fi

Range: Mature 18+

Price: 12.95 USD

"Kenji, you should cry whenever you can...before budget restraints take that ability away from you!'

Stalwart fans of more mature sci-fi manga surely don't need an introduction to Eden, but I am still often surprised how few best-of lists Eden appears on at the end of the year and how many manga readers have heard of Eden, but have never actually read it. On the other side, I have met some non-manga fans who only read Eden, but no other titles from Japan.

The opening volume of Eden is mostly a prologue to the story to come. The future Earth has been ravaged by a deadly virus. Our vision is mostly limited to a small base converted into a self-sustained farm which is the home of immune teens Enoah and Hannah, and their gay caretaker Layne. He used to work with Enoah's father in the government, but is now wheelchair-bound as the virus begins its attack on his body. Much of this prologue itself is flashbacks, giving readers insight as to what has brought us this dark place in our planet's future history. How this prologue leads into the future generation of Earth's survival would spoil the fun.

Post-apocolypic future Earth full of cyborgs, and cover-ups alone is not particularly original, but what is original is the level of depth and emotion writer Hiroki Endo puts into this series. As eye-popping and detailed as Endo's art, the writing is even more incredible. Flash is not a replacement for substance. This is a mature and meaningful start to a carefully crafted and thought-provoking tale. Titles like Eden don't start every month, or even every year. The good thing is that a title this good is never out of date.  

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