Before the Drain of the Void, Destiny Means Nothing!

Edens Zero Chapter 164 Review/Recap

I’m starting to see why Mashima decided to give Shiki the power of gravity manipulation. On the surface, that’s already a versatile power, allowing him to do amazing feats. However, as the series has progressed, we’ve seen Shiki and Ziggy show just what the power of the void can truly do. Among other things, the void has the power to drain the powers of others, and defy so-called destiny.

In other words, I called it with Nero’s reliance on his dice being his downfall.

Recap

Both in the space above and on the ground below, the ones fighting against Nero and Shura wage their own battles. Witch returns to the Edens Zero for treatment while Laguna’s shocked to learn that Princess somehow got away. Meanwhile, at the Temple, Ziggy gloats about how losing his head isn’t enough to kill him. When Nero retorts by saying its his destiny to win, Ziggy reveals he stole the Empire Dice, before crushing them within the void. Next, Ziggy decides to take Nero’s power for himself, using the void to draw it to him.

Back on Nero 66, Shiki tears into Shura and gives him the usual Shonen hero speech while also demonstrating what he learned from training with Xenolith. Thanks to that, he’s strengthened his resolve to fight, letting him unlock a new form of the void himself. As a result, he wipes the floor with Shura.

However, Ziggy interrupts things, revealing he’s taken Nero’s power, and uses it to prime the anti-matter bombs on Nero 66.

That is not good!

Review

I knew that that whole “destiny” stuff Nero was spewing wasn’t going to hold up. However, I did not expect Ziggy to outright destroy the Empire Dice. Those were relics left behind by Mother, making them very valuable. For Ziggy to destroy them so easily means that he’s on a level of power that few can hope to match. Now, he’s taken down Nero, and somehow, his void was able to absorb Nero’s Ether Gear. It’s like what Blackbeard can do in One Piece!

If Ziggy can somehow absorb the Ether Gear of others, then there’s no limit to what he’s capable of doing. If he got hold of Rebecca’s Cat Leaper…I don’t want to think about what he could do! He’d be unstoppable!

The big question that I got from this chapter, though, is about Shiki. Shiki’s a gravity user like his adoptive grandfather, so can he invoke that same kind of power? Let us hope he can and use it for good.

This was a good chapter, overall, as it continued the twists found in last week’s chapter. I can’t wait to see how this arc ends, as it could go many ways.

I Give “Downpour of the Black Heavens” a 3.5/5

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