Hermit Confronts Her Traumatic Past

Edens Zero Chapter 121 Review/Recap

I’ve been a fan of Hiro Mashima’s work as a mangaka for several years now. And when you follow a particular writer or artist for some time, you tend to notice recurring themes in their work. Firstly, Mashima seems to be a fan of giving the main heroes traumatic backstories. Secondly, those backstories end up coming back to haunt the heroes in the present day. In this case, we see Hermit come face-to-face with the hideous man who made her the emotional wreck she was when Shiki found her.

Recap

Picking up right where the last chapter left off, Rebecca decides to test the limits of her Cat Leaper powers. She has Pino write a word down while she tries to guess it. Then, she uses Cat Leaper to travel back in time.

Her little experiment works; to an extent. While she learns more about her powers, she also discovers that they’re very taxing on her body. Should she overuse them, she could get hurt. However, she does learn she can travel back a few seconds, and thus calls her new power Reverse.

Elsewhere, while Homura cools down after her fight with Mora, unaware that the danger’s not over. The Nero Commandos they fought were only one of several groups on the planet. Now the strongest unit sets their sights on Shiki.

High in orbit, Weisz and Hermit, with the help of the others, manage to fight their way through the blockade and make it to the station where Ziggy released the virus. However, the Demon King didn’t leave the server unguarded. Waiting for Weisz and Hermit is the monster who tortured Hermit for years, Dr. Muller, now a hideous cyborg.

Review

If you don’t remember who Dr. Muller is, here’s a refresher. He’s a mad scientist that pretended to be Hermit’s friend, only to use her genius to create a weapon to destroy a planet of machines. He then tortured and experimented on her for two years, and it’s implied that he may have molested her in the process. He got arrested by the authorities, and I hoped that we’d never see him again. However, Mashima had other ideas. And now Hermit has to confront that creepy robophile in the worst possible situation. I know that Mashima’s doing this for character development, but it’s still sickening. I hope that Weisz and Hermit beat him within an inch of his life.

The other big thing that I found interesting about about this chapter were the mechanics behind Rebecca’s new power. In gamers terms, they’re like quicksaving, but she can only use a limited number of times. I think this limitation’s a clever way to prevent Cat Leaper from being a story-breaking power.

This was a good chapter, but I’m more looking forward to seeing how Hermit will destroy Dr. Muller. It will be very cathartic.

I Give “Darling Little Piece of Junk” a 3/5

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