Edens Zero’s Hardest Lesson: How to Deal With Loss

Edens Zero Chapter 167 Review/Recap

Death is an unshakeable aspect of the universe, and something we must all contend with. However, that doesn’t make dealing with it any easier, even when it’s the death of a fictional character. Last week, Hiro Mashima stunned his fans with the death of one of Witch, one of the main supporting characters for his manga, Edens Zero. This week, the fans, the Crew of Edens, and the story’s universe all have to cope with what happened. Needless to say, it’s a painful chapter.

Recap

At the Temple, word gets out that Emperor Nero’s dead and Nero 66 destroyed, bringing an end to his Empire. As chaos unfolds, Elsie sneaks inside the palace, where she confronts Ziggy for the first time since he reactivated. Ziggy tiredly admits that he now has no interest in the Empire. Shiki made a different decision than he wanted, and now the wheel of fate’s broken, bringing them to World 31. Ziggy goads Elsie to try and kill him now, but she refuses out of respect for who he once was. Taking her leave, Ziggy chides her as a fool for wasting her one chance to kill him.

Aboard the Edens Zero, everyone’s mourning the loss of Witch. Homura and the rest of the bots are in various stages of grieving. The Rutherford siblings hate what happened. However, Weisz and Laguna remember what the former said right before they went off to war. Weisz takes it back, though, since Laguna lost Ijuna. Meanwhile, Rebecca goes to Shiki’s room, where Shiki’s in a complete state of depression, not having eaten anything for the last two days, wondering how he can move on from the loss of Witch. In tears, Rebecca reveals that she’s been trying to use Cat Leaper to go back to the time before Witch died, to no avail. No matter how much they want it, though, they have to accept the fact that Witch is gone. All they can do to honor her loss is to keep on living as a family.

Review

I was almost in tears when I read this chapter. A huge part of me wanted to deny what happened, that this would be undone like the first time on Belial Gore, but it can’t. It looks like the loss of Witch will be permanent, and we can’t get her back. Moreover, her death hammers home how much darker Edens Zero is. Plot Armor won’t save everyone; anyone can die, which only makes things harder.

My friend, Demon God Tadd, said in his review of this chapter that the crew was going through the five stages of grief. I think that this was the best description for this chapter possible: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance were all shown by the crewmembers. But Shiki? I can’t even imagine how hard Shiki must be feeling. He probably blames himself and his grandpa for what happened to Witch. That poor boy needs a hug right now!

Regardless of the pain of loss, all the living can do is carry on in memory of the dead. It’s all we can do to honor them. I have to respect Mashima for sticking to this, no matter how painful it can be. I just hope he doesn’t find some BS way to bring Witch back, as that would cheapen the value of her life. The only manga that can do that is Dragon Ball, and that’s because they’ve done it so many times, death is irrelevant!

I Give “Proof in Our Hearts That She Lived” a 5/5

Click here to see more animanga stuff.