Back to Red Cave for Some Beach Time!

Edens Zero Chapter 246 Review/Recap

Those who follow the work of Hiro Mashima know that he is fond of the art of fanservice. Some would argue that it’s to a potentially unhealthy degree, but there are times when it’s appropriate. Case in point, the perennial favorite of many anime, the beach episode. The last time the Edens Zero was in the Aoi Cosmos, they stopped at the beautiful beach world of Red Cave. Now that they’re in Universe Zero, they’re ready to go back. 

It also turns out that two characters we know are expies from Mashima’s first manga series.

Recap

Having been told to meet up with the OSI on Red Tide, the Crew of Edens heads to the fire planet for the first time since arriving in Universe Zero. Since they’re early, though, they can’t resist the opportunity to have themselves a beach day. 

Moscoy and Sister have some… quality time.

Homura and Valkyrie take the chance to have some friendly sparring…and do pretty well. 

Rebecca and Hermit discuss the mysteries surrounding the OSG member Joker Helix, with Hermit revealing there’s no record of them on the Internet. At all. When the sun sets and the light ether starts to gather, though, Shiki gives Rebecca a chance to film like the first time around.

Eventually, though, Holy and Eraser arrive on planet, revealing their true names to be Reina and Hamrio. First things first, though, they take them to their Aoi Cosmos HQ, AKA Nadia’s temple, of which she is the director, much to their surprise. What’s more surprising, though, is who told them about the multiverse: the OSI’s director in the Sakura Cosmos, Noah Glenfield!

Review

This chapter was full of both fun moments and surprises, both of which were enjoyable. 

Firstly, the beach parts were enjoyable, if only because they gave us a good example of the slice-of-life stuff that Mashima enjoys adding into his manga. This was the first chance the majority of the Crew of Edens has gotten to really enjoy themselves since coming to Universe Zero, so it was important to see. Even if Sister used it to indulge her sadism. 

The big surprises, though, were what should’ve drawn the reader’s attention, though. It turns out that Holy and Eraser were expies of Reina and Hamrio Musica, characters from Mashima’s first manga series, Rave Master. Hamrio, in particular, was part of the main group of heroes from that series, so it’s a nice callback. However, it doesn’t bode well for Holy, though. It was also nice to see Mashima bring Nadia back. I almost forgot about her after the original Red Cave arc, so it was nice to see her again.

At the very least, this chapter did explain how the OSI knows about the multiverse. Noah Glenfield told them about it thanks to his powers. The downside is that this means I was wrong about it being Xiao Mei. You can’t win them all, I suppose.

I Give “Reina and Hamrio” a 3/5

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