Hiro Mashima Doesn’t Change Much

Hiro Mashima has a type. Kids who are fundamentally alone in some way, usually angry about it, usually desperate for connection. Crews of people who shouldn’t belong together but do. Wars that weren’t supposed to be their problem. And somehow, every single time, you believe these people would die for each other.

Fairy Tail proved this pattern. Lucy runs away from her comfortable life. She finds Natsu, a dragon slayer raised by the dragon he’s been searching for. Happy, a blue cat, is just there being weird and helpful. And the Fairy Tail guild becomes the thing they didn’t know they needed—a family of choice, which is the only kind that really matters. You watch them get pulled apart and smashed back together across seasons. The series ran long enough to test your patience more than once, but at least it ended on its own terms. When it was actually over, I felt like I’d been part of something, even if I’d spent half the time rolling my eyes at the plot.

Now there’s Edens Zero. Shiki grows up alone on a robot-filled planet with no human connection. Rebecca arrives with a spaceship and a cat. He leaves with them. The template is identical—lonely kid, makeshift crew, journey into the unknown. Fairy Tail in orbit. One Piece but with stars instead of water. He’s not even trying to disguise it anymore.

I’m not sure if that’s the mark of someone who’s mastered their craft or someone who’s stopped trying to surprise himself. Maybe it’s both.