Eden: It's an Endless World!

Eden: It's an Endless World!
Eden vol. 7 cover featuring Elijah; each volume uses its own font and styling
Genre
Manga
Written byHiroki Endo
Published byKodansha
English publisher
ImprintAfternoon KC
MagazineMonthly Afternoon
Original runSeptember 25, 1997 – June 25, 2008
Volumes18

Eden: It's an Endless World!, known in Japan as Eden (stylized in all caps), is a Japanese science fiction manga series written and illustrated by Hiroki Endo. It was serialized in Kodansha's seinen manga magazine Monthly Afternoon from September 1997 to June 2008, with its chapters collected in 18 tankōbon volumes.

Premise

The story is set in the near future, following the "closure virus" pandemic has killed 15 percent of the world's population, crippled or disfigured many more, with catastrophic effect on global politics. Its themes and many character names are taken from Gnostic mythology.

Plot

The series begins with a long introduction, with the characters Ennoia and Hannah living a peaceful life on a remote and isolated island called Eden, with researcher Lane Morris, who is their guardian and a victim of the pandemic. The events that led to this situation are revealed in flashbacks, leading up to the return of Ennoia's father, along with the forces of the Propater Federation.

Following this, the story moves forwards twenty years, and focuses on Ennoia's son, Elijah, the main character, and his own conflict with the powerful and monopolistic Propater federation to save his sister, Mana Ballard, kidnapped by Propater when he was very young. She is being held to threaten Ennoia Ballard, father of the two characters, who has become a powerful drug lord in South America, feared and despised by many, including, to an extent, his own family. During a terrorist attack, Elijah, aged 15, is separated from his mother and his sister is kidnapped, along with his mother Hannah and now has to handle things on his own. Eden is about his coming-of-age as a man and trying to survive both bodily and morally in world that is too complex for mere "black and white". He encounters many other characters, both allies and enemies, all sharing the same struggle to survive in a post-apocalyptic dystopian world.

Many stories are included of the people Elijah meets, telling their past or following life, sometimes volumes later, furthering understanding of the characters and giving increased depth to the world of the book as a whole.

Later in the series, the story once again moves forwards in time, jumping four more years ahead. The Closure Virus, the cause of the original pandemic, mutates, this time assimilating non-organic matter as well as organic, known as "colloid" (or "Disclosure Virus"). The story rejoins Elijah, now 19 years old, as well as many other old characters, and some new, as the world begins to deal with this new threat that is swallowing many cities in the world, leaving lakes and craters, and many people. It is later discovered that the several colloids in the world, are linked with a net of underground auto-built "cables," and that the colloid itself, stores all the memories of the people it swallows.

Characters

Elijah Ballard (エリヤ・バラード, Eriya Barādo)
Elijah is introduced while on the run from Propater. He becomes involved in his father's criminal activities, and undergoes a coming of age into adulthood.
Ennoia Ballard (エンノイア・バラード, Ennoia Barādo)
Elijah's father.
Hannah Mayall (ハナ・メイオール, Hana Meiōru)
Elijah's mother.
Mana Ballard (マナ・バラード, Mana Barādo)
Elijah's sister, who remains in Propater hands whilst her mother is rescued. Elijah's fight to free her is a focus of the later parts of the story.
Nazarbaiev Khan (ナザルバイエフ・カーン, Nazarubaiefu Kān)
Colonel Khan is an old soldier from Azerbaijan. He leads the Nomad group (including Kenji and Sophia) fleeing Propater at the start of the series. Khan became Kenji's mentor after killing his brother, and the two share a slightly strained, but at the same time, trusting, relationship.
Sophia Theódores (ソフィア・テオドレス, Sofia Teodoresu)
A powerful Greek computer hacker, and full-body cyborg.
Maya (マーヤ, Māya)
A nearly godlike AI, which seems to roughly correspond to the savior of Gnostic mythology.
Kenji Asai (ケンジ・アサイ)
The brother of a low-level yakuza boss.
Helena Montoya (ヘレナ・モントーヤ, Herena Montōya)
A prostitute now working in a brothel. Has a complex relationship with Elijah and acts as a surrogate big sister.

Media

Manga

Eden: It's an Endless World! was written and illustrated by Hiroki Endo. The series ran in Kodansha's Monthly Afternoon magazine from September 25, 1997,[a] to June 25, 2008.[b] Kodansha collected its chapters into 18 tankōbon volumes, released from April 21, 1998, to July 23, 2008.[3][5]

In July 2005, Dark Horse Comics announced in San Diego Comic-Con that it has licensed Eden for North American distribution, with publication to begin in November of that year.[7] As of March 2014, 14 volumes were released in total.[8]

Volumes

No. Original release date Original ISBN English release date English ISBN
1April 21, 1998[3]978-4-06-314176-4November 2, 2005[9]978-1-59307-406-7
2October 20, 1998[10]978-4-06-314191-7February 1, 2006[11]978-1-59307-454-8
3May 19, 1999[12]978-4-06-314208-2May 3, 2006[13]978-1-59307-529-3
4February 21, 2000[14]978-4-06-314233-4August 2, 2006[15]978-1-59307-544-6
5July 18, 2000[16]978-4-06-314246-4November 1, 2006[17]978-1-59307-634-4
6September 19, 2001[18]978-4-06-314274-7February 7, 2007[19]978-1-59307-702-0
7May 21, 2002[20]978-4-06-314294-5May 2, 2007[21]978-1-59307-765-5
8February 19, 2003[22]978-4-06-314307-2August 1, 2007[23]978-1-59307-787-7
9July 17, 2003[24]978-4-06-314325-6November 7, 2007[25]978-1-59307-851-5
10November 21, 2003[26]978-4-06-314334-8May 7, 2008[27]978-1-59307-957-4
11July 23, 2004[28]978-4-06-314349-2February 4, 2009[29]978-1-59582-244-4
12February 23, 2005[30]978-4-06-314370-6September 2, 2009[31]978-1-59582-296-3
13September 21, 2005[32]978-4-06-314390-4August 31, 2011[33]978-1-59582-763-0
14March 23, 2006[34]978-4-06-314407-9March 26, 2014[8]978-1-61655-288-6
15October 23, 2006[35]978-4-06-314431-4——
16April 23, 2007[36]978-4-06-314454-3——
17December 21, 2007[37]978-4-06-314481-9——
18July 23, 2008[5]978-4-06-314515-1——

Reception

Eden was named Wizard magazine's best manga of 2007.[9] In his review of another work by Hiroki Endo titled Hiroki Endo's Tanpenshu, David F. Smith of Newtype USA has called Eden one of the best manga American money can buy.[38]

Notes

  1. ^ Debuted in the magazine's November 1997 issue,[3] released on September 25, 1997.[4]
  2. ^ Finished in the magazine's August 2008 issue,[5] released on June 25, 2008.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c Toole, Mike (January 24, 2016). "Awesome Unadapted Manga - The Mike Toole Show". Anime News Network. Retrieved January 6, 2020. Elijah's aided by a motley crew of mercs and cyborgs, which makes Eden - It's an Endless World! an excellent example of the post-apocalyptic cyberpunk true crime political thriller pulp action-comedy genre.
  2. ^ Reviews > Reviews Archive
  3. ^ a b c ＥＤＥＮ（１） (in Japanese). Kodansha. Archived from the original on February 26, 2026. Retrieved February 26, 2026.
  4. ^ "Contents". Monthly Afternoon (in Japanese). No. September 1997 issue. Kodansha. Table of contents. Archived from the original on February 26, 2026. Retrieved February 25, 2026. […] アフタヌーン11月号(9月25日発売)誌上にて。
  5. ^ a b c ＥＤＥＮ（１８）　＜完＞ (in Japanese). Kodansha. Archived from the original on July 20, 2025. Retrieved February 26, 2026.
  6. ^ 月刊アフタヌーン 2008年8月号 (in Japanese). Kodansha. Archived from the original on November 1, 2008. Retrieved February 25, 2026.
  7. ^ Macdonald, Christopher (July 14, 2005). "Dark Horse Comic-Con Announcements". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on November 23, 2025. Retrieved February 26, 2026.
  8. ^ a b "Eden: It's an Endless World Volume 14 TPB". Dark Horse Comics. Archived from the original on February 22, 2026. Retrieved February 26, 2026.
  9. ^ a b "Eden Volume 1: It's an Endless World! TPB". Dark Horse Comics. Archived from the original on August 20, 2025. Retrieved February 26, 2026.
  10. ^ ＥＤＥＮ（２） (in Japanese). Kodansha. Archived from the original on February 26, 2026. Retrieved February 26, 2026.
  11. ^ "Eden Volume 2: It's an Endless World! TPB". Dark Horse Comics. Archived from the original on August 21, 2025. Retrieved February 26, 2026.
  12. ^ ＥＤＥＮ（３） (in Japanese). Kodansha. Archived from the original on February 26, 2026. Retrieved February 26, 2026.
  13. ^ "Eden Volume 3: It's an Endless World! TPB". Dark Horse Comics. Archived from the original on January 25, 2025. Retrieved February 26, 2026.
  14. ^ ＥＤＥＮ（４） (in Japanese). Kodansha. Archived from the original on February 26, 2026. Retrieved February 26, 2026.
  15. ^ "Eden Volume 4: It's an Endless World! TPB". Dark Horse Comics. Archived from the original on February 27, 2021. Retrieved February 26, 2026.
  16. ^ ＥＤＥＮ（５） (in Japanese). Kodansha. Archived from the original on February 26, 2026. Retrieved February 26, 2026.
  17. ^ "Eden Volume 5: It's an Endless World! TPB". Dark Horse Comics. Archived from the original on August 26, 2023. Retrieved February 26, 2026.
  18. ^ ＥＤＥＮ（６） (in Japanese). Kodansha. Archived from the original on February 26, 2026. Retrieved February 26, 2026.
  19. ^ "Eden: It's An Endless World! Volume 6 TPB". Dark Horse Comics. Archived from the original on August 26, 2023. Retrieved February 26, 2026.
  20. ^ ＥＤＥＮ（７） (in Japanese). Kodansha. Archived from the original on February 26, 2026. Retrieved February 26, 2026.
  21. ^ "Eden: It's An Endless World! Volume 7 TPB". Dark Horse Comics. Archived from the original on January 31, 2026. Retrieved February 26, 2026.
  22. ^ ＥＤＥＮ（８） (in Japanese). Kodansha. Archived from the original on February 26, 2026. Retrieved February 26, 2026.
  23. ^ "Eden: It's An Endless World! Volume 8 TPB". Dark Horse Comics. Archived from the original on December 28, 2025. Retrieved February 26, 2026.
  24. ^ ＥＤＥＮ（９） (in Japanese). Kodansha. Archived from the original on February 26, 2026. Retrieved February 26, 2026.
  25. ^ "Eden: It's An Endless World! Volume 9 TPB". Dark Horse Comics. Archived from the original on February 26, 2021. Retrieved February 26, 2026.
  26. ^ ＥＤＥＮ（１０） (in Japanese). Kodansha. Archived from the original on February 26, 2026. Retrieved February 26, 2026.
  27. ^ "Eden: It's An Endless World! Volume 10 TPB". Dark Horse Comics. Archived from the original on August 24, 2023. Retrieved February 26, 2026.
  28. ^ ＥＤＥＮ（１１） (in Japanese). Kodansha. Archived from the original on February 26, 2026. Retrieved February 26, 2026.
  29. ^ "Eden: It's An Endless World! Volume 11 TPB". Dark Horse Comics. Archived from the original on July 15, 2023. Retrieved February 26, 2026.
  30. ^ ＥＤＥＮ（１２） (in Japanese). Kodansha. Archived from the original on February 26, 2026. Retrieved February 26, 2026.
  31. ^ "Eden: It's An Endless World! Volume 12 TPB". Dark Horse Comics. Archived from the original on January 18, 2026. Retrieved February 26, 2026.
  32. ^ ＥＤＥＮ（１３） (in Japanese). Kodansha. Archived from the original on February 26, 2026. Retrieved February 26, 2026.
  33. ^ "Eden: It's an Endless World! Volume 13 (trade-paperback collection)". Dark Horse Comics. Archived from the original on February 18, 2026. Retrieved February 26, 2026.
  34. ^ ＥＤＥＮ（１４） (in Japanese). Kodansha. Archived from the original on February 26, 2026. Retrieved February 26, 2026.
  35. ^ ＥＤＥＮ（１５） (in Japanese). Kodansha. Archived from the original on February 26, 2026. Retrieved February 26, 2026.
  36. ^ ＥＤＥＮ（１６） (in Japanese). Kodansha. Archived from the original on July 10, 2025. Retrieved February 26, 2026.
  37. ^ ＥＤＥＮ（１７） (in Japanese). Kodansha. Archived from the original on July 17, 2025. Retrieved February 26, 2026.
  38. ^ "Tanpenshu Vol. 1 Review". Dark Horse Comics. Archived from the original on April 20, 2007. Retrieved March 10, 2026.
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