War On the Scarlet Woman Kurenai

Edens Zero Chapter 55 and Chapter 56 Review/Recap

Hey, everyone, Jay here. I know I do Edens Zero every week on my blog, but for some reason I was feeling lazy last week. So rather than do two separate blogs, this time I’m just going to do the two latest chapters together. Besides, they weren’t that long, so I can get away with it. In these two chapters, the conflict with the Scarlet Woman Kurenai escalates to open hostilities.

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Review

Chapter 55

After beating the snot out of Garret, Shiki and Homura find themselves in even greater trouble than before. Since they went against the Scarlet Woman, Garret has the power to worsen their punishment. He ends up teleporting them to the most dangerous portion of the mines, the den of the Black Rock. No prisoner has ever been able to make it out of there alive.

The moment that the pair arrive at the mines, they’re set upon by the Black Rock, a massive creature made out of stone. Shiki and Homura charge right at it, but the beast’s “skin” is so tough it deflects their attacks like it’s nothing. To make matters worse, a swarm of bugs shows up, causing Shiki to freak out. Before they can be overwhelmed, though, the cavalry arrives. Rebecca, Happy, Pino, and Paul make short work of the insects and join the battle against the Black Rock.

Chapter 56

Even with the reinforcements, the crew of Edens Zero still can’t face the Black Rock head on. Luckily, Pino discovers a weak spot in its armor located on its back. By combining their powers to launch Rebecca into the air, she’s able to bring the beast down. Shiki holds it in place long enough for Homura to strike a killing blow.

As they thought, there was enough metal to clear off their debt. That is, until the collars reset. Lady Kurenai (the Scarlet Woman) never lets anyone go free, so Paul simply steals their collars.

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Now free, Paul delivers his message to Valkyrie. Elsewhere, the evil Kurenai learns that Valkyrie’s planning an uprising. So, she decides to simply destroy the Labor District with her orbital cannon.

Review

This review’s going to be for both chapters at once. While I didn’t like each on their own, as a whole, these chapter helped move the plot along. For one thing, we finally found an enemy that made Shiki and Homura have to break a sweat. I’ve been keeping track, and from what I’ve seen, the Edens Zero crew has had some pretty one-sided battles. A good shonen manga shouldn’t rely on that.

More importantly, these chapters cemented my opinion on Kurenai the Scarlet Woman. She’s running her planet as a dictator behind a benevolent facade and uses slave labor to fuel her empire. I hoped that they could get Shiki and Homura without causing any trouble, but since they cannot, the only solution is open rebellion.

Speaking of which, from what Garret and Kurenai said, it seems that Valkyrie’s leading some sort of rebellion against Kurenai’s rule. I think that’s why she can’t rejoin the Edens Zero. Speaking of Edens Zero, I bet that with the profit she’ll make if she acquires the ship, Kurenai decided she won’t need the Labor District.

Kurenai may not realize it, but by going after Valkyrie, she declared war on the Edens Zero. It’s going to be the last mistake she’ll ever make. Unfortunately, I think the manga’s on vacation next week, so you won’t hear from me about this manga. Besides, I have something special in store.

I Give “Black Rock” and “Reset” a 2/5 and 3/5, respectively.

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