King of Eden, Vol. 1

King of Eden #1-2

by Takashi Nagasaki, Ignito (Artist)

Entire villages are going up in flames across the globe, with the same man left standing at the scene every time. Meanwhile, rumors abound of a highly contagious virus where those infected fly into a blind rage, killing anything and everything that crosses their path. As the death toll rises, agencies from nations around the world get together, looking for answers-How are these incidents connected? Who is that man? And most importantly...can the massacres be stopped before humanity is doomed?

Genres: Manga, Horror, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Comics, Zombies, Mystery

408 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2018

About the author

長崎 尚志

A manga author, editor and producer.
He's best known for his collaborations with Naoki Urasawa.

Writes under pen name Richard Woo
Alternate names: リチャード・ウー, Richard Woo, 空論, Kuuron, プランダ村, Prandamura, 江戸川 啓視, Keishi Edogawa, 東周斎 雅楽, Garaku Toushuusai, ビッグ・オー, Big Woo

Reviews

[The Artisan Geek]

28/10/20
Inoffensive and borderline boring if I dare say -- this just wasn't a story that really grabbed my attention.

25/10/20
I picked this one up, because it sounded good lol.

You can find me on
Youtube | Instagram | Twitter | Tumblr | Website | The Storygraph

[Lashaan Balasingam · Rating 3 out of 5]

You can find my review on my blog by clicking here.

The deadliness of a virus is not unknown to man. Their characteristic lethality has made them one of mankind’s greatest threat. For it to fundamentally change a human being into an unrecognizable monster would simply make life a living nightmare for many. But how do you stop such madness before it steers us rapidly to our end? How far would we go to expunge the world of its existence before we suffer a faith too fatal for our own good? Japanese mangaka Takashi Nagasaki (also known as the co-author to Naoki Urusawa, the very two creators behind Monster, 20th Century Boys, and Pluto) teams up with Korean artist SangCheol Lee (also known under his pseudonym Ignito) to form a collective creative force for a brand-new horror series filled with international conspiracies and terrifying zombies viruses.

What is King of Eden (Vol. 1) about? The story follows the sudden and odd occurrence of entire villages being engulfed in flames around the world. While most of it is burned to ashes, one enigmatic Korean man always stands tall, alive, and unaffected, and manages to escape the scene before anyone could catch him. While that takes place, rumours of an incredibly ruthless and contagious virus originating from the tales of Cain and Abel emerge among countless agencies from various nations as a fear grows amongst them that this virus might be weaponized by ill-intentioned terrorist organizations. As they try to piece together this mystery that seems to hint at a powerful virus from several millenniums ago, they quickly realize that what they might be looking for is of a supernatural order and that the faith of humanity might be doomed if they don’t unravel this mystery quickly.

The premise at the heart of this horror story gravitates around a mysterious phenomenon linked to many European mythologies, from the Persian Empire to Russia. While it shows that mangaka Takashi Nagasaki makes an effort to ground his creatures in some researched historical context, the mishmash deters the reader from being anchored in a plausible world. This patchwork also seems to run as a common theme as the good guys end up being an aggregation of various agencies from around the world that enjoy pointing fingers at each other’s organizational flaws too. While it’s fun to make this a globe-trotting tale, it quickly dilutes the story’s potential. The story also suffers from its lack of character development, on top of not seeming to know what it wants to tell. From an abundance of repetition to irrelevant sequences with obnoxiously expendable characters, the only intrigue that keeps this story afloat lies in the mystery behind the hive mind that might be at play.

While the story does suffer from the usual flaws found in the horror genre, it isn’t entirely without strengths. In fact, a lot of its narrative and characterization flaws are relatively compensated by its stunning artwork. Artist Ignito does a phenomenal job in bringing to life stunning character designs with a decently detailed backdrop that gives off a general depressive atmosphere where danger could be lurking anywhere, ready to pounce upon innocent and oblivious victims at a moment’s notice. While the first couple of pages benefit from colouring, most of the volume is in a traditional black-and-white artwork that naturally conveys the horror tone. Artist Ignito does, however, focus heavily on facial expressions, often allocating many panels to focus on their reactions. Despite this sometimes awkward fetish, he does an excellent job in drawing the horror elements without giving away too much, allowing it to be one of the rare hooks that will make readers want to stick around for this trilogy.

King of Eden (Vol. 1) is an intriguing yet flawed international horror-thriller elevated by poignant artwork.

Thank you to Yen Press for sending me a copy for review!

Yours truly,

Lashaan | Blogger and Book Reviewer
Official blog: https://bookidote.com/

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this on a whim, because it was on sale, and because it sounded like a similar approach to werewolves that The Strain gave to vampires. Considering that King of Eden gets the religious connection out in the open early on--and ties it into a more grounded anthropological angle, I'm actually liking this one a bit better so far. And I think it's a fair comparison, because the similarities really are pronounced: An ancient virus emerges in the modern era, turning people into murderous beasts. There's a race against time and impossible odds, involving people from various walks of life, to try and stop/contain it. There's an individual carrier who seems able to influence the other infected victims. Where the stories diverge is in the main protagonist (a difference I won't elaborate on because of spoilers), and the fact that it doesn't hide its pseudo-mystical elements. It's also a fair bit heavier on the historical data, which might feel slow to some readers, but I found the alternate history it's building up to be pretty fascinating. (Without spoiling anything, I'll say it interweaves everything from the story of Cain and Abel, to Eastern European folktales, to the idea that the ancient Persian Empire was significantly more expansive in its heyday.)

Some of the story here is pretty far-fetched, but I'm curious to see where it all goes. And both the horror and action elements shore up the shakiness of the story's finer details pretty well. There are a few gaffs though, that can't be glossed over by saying this is historical fiction--like the scene where a scientist claims that viruses don't contain any DNA or RNA. In reality, viruses can contain either/or, and it's a pretty glaring mistake to make. Especially since the exchange was entirely unnecessary and clunky (another character flat-out asks if viruses are the same as bacteria).

Still, clunkiness and inaccuracies like that are really the only problems I had with this volume. Otherwise, King of Eden strikes a good balance between horror, mystery, action, and historical intrigue, all presented through some fantastic artwork. I've always been fond of Korean horror movies, but after reading this, I may have to expand my horizons to include more horror manhwa. Great stuff, if you can suspend your disbelief.

[MJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it more than I was expecting.

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

King of Eden is a pretty suspenseful and engaging action, horror manga. There is an interesting angle to the particular horror. The art is capable, but artist Ignito (whose work looks a lot like Naoki Urasawa’s) often turns more subdued moments into portraiture panels albeit with great facial expressions. Backgrounds are fairly sterile when they exist at all, but we do get a lot of color pages as the volume begins. Hopefully, Takashi Nagasaki will do more character building in the next omnibus volume as most of the main government officials are flat and there is little to differentiate the scientist/adventurers outside of the visual design.

[Elettra Petricola · Rating 5 out of 5]

Le prime impressioni di questo manga sono molto positive, il manga è un misto tra un thriller, un horror e un distopico mischiato con della fantascienza e un pizzico di folclore e mitologia popolare. Il protagonista ovvero un uomo di origini asiatiche di nome Taeje Yu è spietato e non ha rimpianti nelle sue azioni. Altri personaggi che avranno un ruolo importante (almeno secondo me) sono la dottoressa Rue Itsuki, una giovane donna laureata sia in medicina che in archeologia e un uomo russo misterioso che viene definito Upyr.

[fikasbooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

꧁༺ 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐄𝐝𝐞𝐧 ༻꧂

- 𝗩𝗼𝗹 𝟭

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐫𝐭 : 5/5
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐥𝐨𝐭 : 5/5

Mygod the story is amazing 😮‍💨 I truly don’t regret getting this manga for my birthday despite the price being RM100+ 😂 If you love histories, zombies and horror and World Organisations Order, then this manga would be a spectacle to read! 🤌🏻✨

The story comes in together with many biblical story within the first murder of humanity, Abel and Cain, which is in Quran, Qabil and Habil plus with the Romanian and Persian history which is 🤯 Seriously the plot is deadly amazing.

[Sara woolley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved every second of it

[Cidney · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thought it was boring and too many characters. I kept forgetting everyone and then would get confused. Liked the art style and the horror elements but was not a huge fan story wise.

[Phenix Alessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

The storyline is well done and easy to follow. The artistry is next level. Great read for more mature audiences as there is quite a bit of graphic violence.

[CharlyyGentlePhoenix · Rating 4 out of 5]

King of Eden T.1- Takashi Nagasaki (Japon, 1956) & Ignito – 2018 – ed. Ki-oon
Andalousie, notre siècle, un virus, des cadavres très gores, des monstres, une contamination, des piles de cadavres … Racoon City ?! …
Le premier meurtre de l’histoire (Caïn et Abel) aurait été dû à un vampire ou un loup garou ?! …
Des petits airs de Death Notre, dans le sens où c’est une belle enquête couplée à du Resident Evil.
Ciao !
Phoenix

[Joshua Jonah · Rating 5 out of 5]

The entire time I read this, all I could think about was Resident Evil 8 and what it did for vampires. This honestly felt like that and I hope we get a big bad that’s as entertaining as the games, that aside on its own the narrative was compelling and Teze is mysterious enough where it works but also we need a lot more fleshing out for him. Rua is also a great character who is strong and even a talented fighter which i absolutely adore. Onto Book 2!

[Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I grabbed this at the library as our horror book club had the theme of Japanese horror this month knowing nothing about this manga. But I am so glad I did!

The story was intriguing with both horror elements and fantastic artwork bringing it to life. The intertwining of religion and a virus was interesting and I can not wait to continue reading this manga series.

[Nolan Stout · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fascinating manga. It like an action-adventure thriller but the protagonist is an archaeologist. And it’s big on ancient history. Really interesting and obscure read. Excited to see where it goes.

[444M · Rating 5 out of 5]

sous gros coup de cœur

[Tevin M · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was fine, wasn’t terrible but not interesting enough to continue to books

[Sanna Olofsson · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you love Nagasakis work written in collaboration with Naoki Urasawa then you would love this

[Jennifer Varnadore · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really can't wait to read the rest of this. It gives me The Strain (Chuck Hogan and Guillermo Del Toro. You should read and watch the series. Both are exceptional.) trilogy vibes. There's a story about a Giant becoming a Strigoi in The Strain of I remember correctly, and the one character in here reminds me of that.