Fairy Tail 100 Years Quest Chapter 64 and Eden's Zero Chapters 108 and 109 Review

 Written by Shiggins

Water everywhere.

I suppose the theme for this review is "everyone has water on them". I'd say "everyone gets wet" but... I don't think I should. What we have here is a very divisive collection, I'm sure, and it all depends on your personal tastes. Is the picture below going too far or not far enough? Is Eden's Zero not telling you enough, or too much at once? Your answers will define who you are for the rest of your life.

Relax, guys. It's not puke. It's just water.

Fairy Tail

The girls are bathing! And it's in a strange Aldoron-shaped bath, as Drameel is quite the tourist attraction for fans of Aldoron before he was brutally murdered for being evil. As they talk, Lucy suddenly shrinks down. Why? Well, because Brandish is here and she's always a lot of fun! Everyone asks her to do the same and get up to appreciating the bath from a lower angle. 

This person needs an intervention!

After some fun, Lucy asks Brandish to change them back but she left out of boredom. The girls split up to find her. Juvia finds Gray and... without going too in-depth, she lives out her fantasy. I can't even be negative about that. She's a hero who knows what she wants and goes for it. That's commendable. And you're damn right my heart melted at the Gajevy moment because every single one gets me in the soul.

Finally, Lucy finds Natsu and Happy. She convinces them to help her, they do so, and immediately find Brandish at the sweet shop. Lucy has Brandish change everyone back, but she does so without making sure they're all in decent places, so everyone pops up at different places. Brandish says her goodbye, smirking she'll find Aquarius' key first and Lucy accepting the challenge, before we see WW waking up and panicking over "Elentir" who has "swallowed the moon". 

FT Opinion: A bit of a wash?

It's strange when I get a chapter like this. On the one hand, I very much enjoy them. As I've said several times lately, I love a good chapter where you take a break from the drama and the story, to fart about and have some fun. One of my favourite MHA chapters is when they go around checking everyone's rooms and end up making a contest out of it. It builds character. It makes the drama hit harder when it does, because chapters like this help us see our players as more than just fighters. 

Gray should be dead.

On the other hand, there isn't a lot to say. I thought it was funny. Brandish is still making me laugh because she gives less shits than a constipated politician. The Juvia scene might have been a bit much for some people, but I still thought it was funny. Close to hentai, but funny. Honestly, it's just a shame that more wasn't done with the premise of being small. There's a lot you can do, but I suppose a second chapter devoted entirely to that might not have been everyone's cup of tea, especially since we're getting these every fortnight, not every week.

The cliffhanger is interesting, and the talk of the moon implies we're about to get more of Selene. Is Elentir a second personality that has taken over Selene's personality, hence "swallowing the moon"? I doubt WW was being literal when she met that... although it would be awesome.

Because I always feel guilty when I go too many chapters without bringing it up, thanks again to all the lovelies here that give us these chapters!

Rating: 3.5/5

Best Part: Shenanigans!

Worst Part: Little plot to speak of.

Eden's Zero

The group gaze in awe at the underwater city below them, and the carving of Mother on the temple. Obviously, they run on down to check it out, but not before we see Rebecca look into the pod and sees the words "Nadia, love of my life" carved in above the compass. As the group enter the city, they come across discarded robots. 

A robot is crying underwater while an octopus with a haircut grabs her. That is a sentence that exists now.

Of course, this reminds them of Granbell and Shiki's expression has changed to a more resolute one. This tension is broken sadly when a giant tentacle bursts out of the ground and attacks. A gigantic monster is now on the attack, and after some pages of trying to escape it from eating them, Shiki manages to deliver an effective hit and anger it. With no other option, they make a break for the temple. Inside, the monster refuses to follow them and there is a strange yet familiar ether inside. Also, the water is unable to enter the temple as well. This is when an android steps forward, introducing herself as the guardian Nadia. 

Our second chapter begins with them all reacting to Nadia in their own ways, and she guesses that they are here to ask about Mother. Nadia reveals she was created 200 years ago to guard something, which is now gone, but the beacon to find Mother remains. Also Nadia trips over because of a cord she's connected to, which is actually kinda cute. 

The gateway to 2020...

Anyway, Nadia points them to the door where she says the beacon is, but also warns them it's dangerous to go in. The doors open and they enter, without Nadia, into the chamber. A large cave, boiling hot, and now we discover that this is why the planet is known as the "Fire Planet, Red Cave". The fire gets hotter and larger, and even Shiki is unable to use his powers to progress. They retreat.

A quick analysis from Sister and Hermit later, and it's revealed Ziggy was once here 15 years ago, to collect the beacon. Sister says Witch has a plan however, and it turns out she went off to Blue Garden. We then see a giant theatre on Blue Garden, with two actors on stage singing their heart out, and Witch in the audience. After the performance, Witch, along with Kris and Kleene, meet the lead actor and out him as Laguna, the water specialist of the Element Four.

EZ Opinion: Hooray for returning characters.

The Element Four from Fairy Tail were fine, with the exception of Juvia who I love, but they did come across as underdeveloped. Sol of the Earth, Aria of the Wind and Totomaru of the Fire never made any appearances after their one arc, (unless you count Totamaru's cameo), so they were mostly one-note villains. Here, we have Kleene currently worming her way into becoming a recurring character, and now Laguna is back. That's two! Halfway there to a full reunion of the past villains which, honestly, I'd love to see. Laguna's water will help take down the fires, which is a neat way to bring him back into the plot, but I'd especially love for this to result in the other three returning too. They are about to deal with fire after all. Wouldn't Fie be really useful here too? Or am I hoping for too much?

The idea that our characters can just fast travel to previous locations will either be really fun or really problematic... I know too little to comment at this time, but it may come up in the future.

The low point of this chapter is definitely the giant tentacle beast. I'm sure the creature will be revealed to be some sort of guardian as well or it will come in useful when Nadia's master arrives or something, but it took up a lot of pages and nothing of consequence was achieved. Between this, Drakken Joe, that HERO's manga (review here), and the torture scene from Fairy Tail, Mashima-senpai's love for tentacles is thoroughly established. I'm growing bored.

I really wish more manga did the One Piece short stories for their covers. It'd be much more interesting than... whatever this is.

What is interesting however is all the little questions we have from these two chapters. We still don't know who the dead person was, and now we know that Nadia was the guardian of the temple while also being the pilot's love. Is this someone obsessed with Nadia, using the cord to keep her controlled and captive? Did she have a relationship with the treasure that was stolen away, which is also why every robot shut down, since they had lost their purpose to guard it? Is One Piece's best character, Brook, about to be revealed to be the skeleton?

Manga Rating:

108: 2/5

109: 3.5/5

Best Part: Gathering intrigue.

Worst Part: More tentacles.

Pfft. Those cat ears are so obviously fake.