The FIRST Full Review of this series in a while and THAT’S what I come up with? Pathetic- UTTERLY Pathetic. You’ll either be seeing this at some point before or after the Short Review for One Piece chapter 1,097(SPOILER ALERT: That’s a a “Short Review”), but to make it short in case this comes out before that: I have a vague idea of the release window for this month’s Dead Rock, so I’m in a race against to clock to do this, One Piece, and Four Knights before that comes out. Though if I get too far and it DOES then I’m gonna be kicking myself because I can’t just SCRAP them at some point. Oh man this is making my head hurt. I just really wanted to talk about this chapter; I have something to say about Rebecca and how she’s fighting in Universe 0. Nothing bad, just something I think would have been cooler.
Ah………….. Oh yeah; she gets naked in this chapter. But it’s not played for Fan Service, surprisingly; it’s played straight and treated with a level of gravity to the situation(No Pun Intended). Let’s begin. Edens Zero Chapter 262: “Just One More Time.” Something tells me this won’t be the Last time…………..
Overview
Picking up where the present day of last chapter left off: Lightning Law of The Oracion Seis Galactica has stabbed Shiki in the chest. But before he can finish the job- Rebecca comes in her Starfighter, crashing into Law. But he forces the ship to break with his power. She chooses to go an check on Shiki, and finds that he’s………. “not gonna make it” we’ll say. She wishes she could turn back time like she used to, but Rachel told her she’d lose her powers to travel through time. But then she stops and thinks: She may not be able to move through the Multiverse anymore, but- Can she really not rewind time? Or was that just a guess on Rachel’s part. So- she goes for broke and tries to rewind time. And fails; she admits she doesn’t even feel close to reversing time. ‘NOTHER FLASHBACK: Witch told her in chapter 235 that it’s easier to activate one’s ether when they’re naked. Guess it’s a good thing she wasn’t wearing much to start with…………
Rebecca- after losing her clothes no less than twice per arc- strips naked willingly, and tries to get Cat Leaper working again. And it works………… with Consequences; the “cracking” that became present after just 3 “Reverses” has begun after just 1 do-over. So……….. keep that in mind. In whatever case; she activates her Ether Link and jets ahead to change the course of events. She manages to go back to when law had gotten the Skull Bots back up; Law is about to stab Shiki again, but she fires off a few rounds and grabs Shiki, taking him further into the ship. Shiki is surprised to learn that Rebecca was able to use “Reverse” again, while she’s just trying to push through the pain. But of course Law won’t let them escape that. But Rebecca was prepared for that: She called Laguna ahead of time, who comes in to take up the fight against Law. Shiki wants to stay and settle things with Law, but Laguna reminds him that he has friends for that………..
Law has the Skull army stand up once again to end Laguna, but then they stop moving. Laguna says that they’re all Crying, turning them all into water in his presents. He has taken on Shiki’s “Fury,” and plans to wash Law away!! 20,000 Years Ago: Human Killer- we’ll call him “Brain-“ and Mio(Human Hermit) are meeting with Dr Yuna(Human Valkyrie); Brain says that he’s read all of her essays and theories, and she tells them that they needn’t be so formal. But Mio is too sad to speak, and comes straight to the point: They want her help to Overdrive the Planet. Edens Zero Chapter 262 END!! Kind of “brisk,” but then- I usually am with this series. Maybe it’s because I’ve been talking about it for so long, but I’m always able to talk about these chapter’s in a few paragraphs- as opposed to another series like “One Piece.”
REVIEW
Something I want to say off rip: I am NOT mad at this. At least- not “very.” Did it rely on recontextualizing something Rachel spoke like it was a guarantee? Yeah; Rachel said that like it she was sure they wouldn’t be able to mess with time in Universe 0. But she still tried it, and it worked. Not mad about it; it’s not like she jumped to a new Universe or anything- just turned everything back a few seconds. The Multiverse kind of………. doesn’t functionally EXIST anymore? She said that whatever they do in Universe 0 will “Overwrite what happens in the other Universes and merge them into one.” So rather than creating a “New Timeline/World” altogether, she just………… made sure Shiki didn’t get stabbed. Shiki was NEVER stabbed by Lightning Law- in this world or any of the others left.
I don’t mind Rebecca using “Reverse” again; it looks like it’s going to have some major consequences going forward after just one use. And as someone on Twitter pointed out: Shiki seeing this- the consequences of Rebecca using her powers- might make him sit and think a little more about his actions before doing anything, knowing that getting a second chance could endanger a friend’s life. I’ve always liked how Mashima handled Shiki’s development- as a character and leader; he makes sure that Shiki knows that his choices are the choices of his crew- that he has to take the best course of action for himself and the family that he’s made- even if he doesn’t want to do it. Which might actually force him to ask Rebecca to use “Reverse” again in the future. “Heavy is the head that wears the crown…………..” Mashima did once tease some kind of “Tragedy” awaiting them, though he followed it up by saying “It won’t be too bad.”
Mayhaps Shiki is put in a situation where he has to put the mission before the crew, but unconsciously chose to save someone over stopping………….. whatever. And whatever it was- only his Gravity could have stopped it. So Shiki- knowing what he has to do- has Rebecca rewind time and make sure he knows what’s about to happen. In which– he chooses to stop the event, and must let that crewmate die. Which one? He also teased once that Weisz might be the one to bite it in the end. Which works in the case of Mashima series; Haru, Elie, and Musica- Natsu, Lucy, and Grey- Shiki, Rebecca, and Weisz. Weisz’ role in the story……………. wasn’t always that clear to me. I knew he was supposed to be the “Cool, Controls Something” type and second Male Lead like Musica and Grey(See “Hero’s” Chapter 6), but…………. his fights were never his “Draw.” I can’t really say that I like a lot of his fights passed……….well, since the Introduction of his Arsenal Suit. His Overdrive came at an awkward moment, and………….. has done nothing since. And his powers are so limiting that it’s……….. just kind of boring after a while. But I don’t think that’s what Mashima intended to be his “draw.”
Thinking back on it- looking at moments like changing Rebecca’s clothes on Lendard, or his talks with Laguna prior to and after Aoi war, and a few other moments in the story- I think I finally understand what Mashima means for him to be in the story: The Crew’s “Big Brother-“ in the same way that Witch is their “Mother.” He’s the………… Worldly, “Cooler” Older kid on the crew- someone who’s seen a lot of the “bad” the world has to offer and made a few mistakes growing up, but is trying to do the right thing for the younger folks who look at him for advice and the like. So Mashima might be planning to kill him off to show how much the crew has grown because of his presence- that he’s fulfilled his goal in the story, and now his siblings are grown up and no longer need him. Some stories subvert the trope and have that “Wisened Older Characters” continue to live; other’s choose to follow the script. No Pun Intended. I think Mashima’s gonna stick to the script on this one and have Weisz go out on a high note. Tearful goodbyes and all- especially to Hermit…………
Something I wrote down in my notes is is that Jewelry Bonney from One Piece is kind of Everything I Though Rebecca Would Be In Universe 0; someone that uses her Time abilities in combat. Have you seen what Bonney has been doing in Egghead? She can alter her own age to match different “outcomes” for hos she grows up; “push” the age out of people; make people have visions of their own deaths; and likely more. Doing all that would just be copying One Piece, and these 2 are similar enough as is. No, no; I mean in terms of how Rebecca fights– using her Time Ether as a weapon rather than a “Cheat Code.” I won’t say Chrono Witch route again, but maybe learning to make it an outward projectile regularly– something like Elie using Etherion Bullets in her Tonfa Blasters. Why didn’t I think of that before; Time Bullets- bullets that let her mess with another person’s time. Make them “rewind;” pause them; things like that. I think that would be a neat application for her powers.
Though………….. in her using her powers…………. it’s QUITE Possible………… that she just summoned aChronophage. What does that mean for this Battlefield? I don’t know. We know what happens to a planet when its time is eaten, but not………….. Intergalactic Warzones. Will it eat the Edens One since that’s where it happened? And would that even work? Or………….. Does an Ether Coating compensate for, too? ‘Cause seems like an Ether coating just does whatever. But whatever the case……………….. I just came up with a better idea than what I just had. My original thought was that there were too many Dragons to take out even with the Anti Dragon Ether she’s trying to configure. But I just REALIZED that Killer hacked the ship– she’s busy enough just trying to keep the Zero from exploding! So while it may ALSO do that; I’m NOW thinking that it won’t be Rebecca rewinding time to save the ship- Chronophage is going to eat everything’s “Time” and turn it all back. The Edens Zero will explode- it’ll just be undone!!
It may even result in…………….. The amount of time it eats is inconsistent; it may “rewind” everything to the point where…………. The Shining and Dark Stars were all Human Oh My GOD Mashima might just do that!! The Human’s might have some of their time eaten, while the Machines- possibly even Void THEMSELF- will have a LOT of their time eaten; something about “Their Time compensating for the Human’s so their time isn’t eaten as much” or something like that. They all become Human again– maybe even Void. Do I think Void is Evil Rebecca? I would believe that over another “Evil Shiki,” but honestly I’m not sure. Maybe Void isn’t anyone at ALL; just a being who was born from……….. The Birth Of Mother herself? He refers to her has “My mother,” as if she created them. And I’ll say “them” until I get concrete evidence on a Gender. But yeah; I won’t rule out the idea. Mayhaps…………. Void is Cat Leaper– a sentient Ether Gear bound to Rebecca’s body(maybe even piloting Rebecca’s lifeless body from the Planet Edens, thus making an “Evil Rebecca” variant), but was created when Mother was born.
There are still questions from that like “Why does it want to kill Mother?” or “How did it get bound to Rebecca’s body?” That I’m not sure of; I kind of just made that up because of the new chapter of Four Knights Of The Apocalypse. That and the way Drakken referred to it during Belial Goer. I honestly don’t know where Mashima intends on taking all of threads; it feels like it’s all connected between Shiki and Rebecca and what their powers can do together. Which is fine. And I can’t wait to see how it all plays out!!
Conclusion
That’s all I got for y’all today. I know I didn’t talk about the Match Up between Laguna and Law, but………….. I guess I didn’t care as much about that. It’ll likely be the main point of next week’s chapter- with the ending being another 20,000 year flashback. Oh, right, I didn’t talk about that either. I guess because there was really nothing to “dissect” from it; it’s pretty “straight forward” right now- telling us some events and where characters are at whenever The Thing happens. As for Laguna vs Law- even WITHOUT looking at spoilers on twitter- I can tell you: Laguna In Overdrive. Like; that’s what’s happening and I don’t think that should surprise anyone. Whether he’s like Shiki and Homura and uses it more than once, or whether or not it DOES something unlike Weisz’- THAT is the question we have to ponder. Not like it matters; it’s getting Dump Posted next week. One down- 2 to go. Let me know your own thoughts in the comments. ‘Til next time, everyone- Stay Safe; Stay Healthy; And Stay Magic. Laters!!
