Score: A-

This feels a bit odd since I didn’t do much for the first season when it first aired. It’s all the stranger since this time it’s a more accessible season for Edens Zero. I can just appreciate these first two episodes without immediately jumping onto a dozen more! And this was a pretty good return for the show. It had a small recap which isn’t unexpected, but then it jumped right back into it. Makes sense that Drakken Joe would be the threat right away to start this second season. He was right on them at the end of last season, and they couldn’t completely slip away from him.

Let’s see what this guy can do

It is hard to gauge how powerful Drakken Joe is individually, but I would guess that he’s plenty threatening. His power basically makes the ship’s armor completely worthless. They can’t take a hit if his power is behind the attack. So, in that sense I agree that going on the offensive is the best way to do this. If they can’t beat this guy head on, then they’ll be left running helplessly away from him. Plus, it really isn’t like Shiki to back off like that. Even though he doesn’t have much of a plan himself, his general perspective is probably right. Hopefully Joe isn’t more than he can handle. It’s hard to gauge since we haven’t really seen this guy fight anyone. At the same time, it’s been a while since I saw Shiki fight so it’s even in that sense XD.

Don’t mess with Witch

His grunts seem to have a decent range of power. The Juvia of the Space Elemental Four seems troublesome. While the idea of a guy trying to make his opponent’s cry sounds ridiculous, the threat level is legitimate. Since he did take down most of the team in quick succession. If not for Weisz being cautious this could have gone badly. I wasn’t paying that close to the OP yet so I wasn’t sure who his opponent would end up being. Homura seemed plausible since he did fight her quite a bit, but good on Weisz for pulling off his trick. Hopefully he really did drag out every trick that Laguna had up his sleeves. Otherwise, it would have been a better strategy to double team the guy while the chance was there. Hopefully Weisz can be the superhero that he wants to be.

The guys sent to Edens Zero seemed intimidating, but Witch handled them quickly. I guess the threat was more thanks to Drakken Joe’s ability to get them on the ship in the first place. That ship is well defended even if Shiki and a few others aren’t there. Witch’s abilities were cool to watch. She can switch things up nicely between different elements which would make her hard to handle. I’m sure there are limits and weaknesses to her ability. But in terms of an initial showing, it was a good action debut for her.

A bit unsettling to be sure

The big mystery was Rebecca’s dream sequence. That seemed a bit too real and yet she clearly woke back up on the ship. It was even more unsettling with Shiki looking so cold. It just gave the feeling of a person that had been through a lot. He was fighting fine, but there wasn’t any excitement within him towards it. And it makes me wonder what he expected Rebecca to fire if something had apparently happened to Happy. There’s just a lot of questions. At the very least it’s not an immediate concern since everything seems to be normal. But it’s absolutely something to keep an eye on as the show moves along.

I didn’t expect to see him again

Time is weird in this show. I think that sentence could sum up Edens Zero overall. The appearance of a very old Sibir covers that aspect of things well. He’s technically the same person, but not really. The version of him that tortured Pino was lost with the chronophage business. In that sense I almost feel for the old guy. A version of him that’s long gone left such an intense trauma that Pino couldn’t help but look at him in terror. Of course, it was him that did it. Those are acts he himself could have committed if not for timeline weirdness. It’s not unfair for her to be afraid. It just kind of works as a good reminder for Sibir that sins can follow you. On the positive side, it does remind him how much he’s changed. That he isn’t that kind of person anymore.

Maybe the EMP wasn’t a good idea…

It was nice to see the cast overall again. Pino was a sweet girl and it’s a bit too bad her momentarily illusion of being human was messed with thanks to being turned into a puddle. Characters like Witch remain as capable as ever. Hermit was plenty cute and had a few solid moments throughout the two episodes. She was on top of things whether she was criticizing the comparison between Weisz’s Arsenal and Rebecca’s Leaper, getting on Pino for using an EMP within the ship, or providing useful narration for Witch’s abilities. Will be curious to see if all the Shining Stars get into fights this season. Witch had her moment and Homura will certainly get into some fights. But we will have to wait and see for Sister and Hermit. This was a solid return for the show. I’m going to enjoy keeping an eye on it.