Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny: The Edge

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Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny: The Edge
機動戦士ガンダムSEED DESTINY THE EDGE (Kidō Senshi Gundam SEED DESTINY THE EDGE)
Genre	Drama, Mecha, Romance, Science Fiction
Manga
Authored by	Chimaki Kuori
Publisher	Kadokawa Shoten Taiwan Kadokawa
Serialized in
Original run	2005 – 2006
No. of volumes	5

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny: The Edge is a manga series by Chimaki Kuori (久織ちまき Kuori Chimaki) based on the events in Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny. It's written from the point of view of ZAFT pilot Athrun Zala. (In the anime series, many events were seen from the POVs of Shinn Asuka and Kira Yamato.) Currently, all 5 volumes in Japanese have been published by Kadokawa Shoten, while the Chinese version is at volume 3 and published by Taiwan Kadokawa.

This series is noted for its more "mature" depiction of the characters in the main series. (They look older and have a greater expression of emotions. Kuori noted that this series had a shoujo ("young girl") flavour in his remarks at the end of volume 1.)

1 Notable Differences
2 Chapters
3 Trivia

[edit] Notable Differences

Although the series followed the events of the anime closely, there were still some differences.

Gilbert Durandal acknowledged to Athrun that Meer Campbell was an impostor. Even Meer herself admitted this fact to her "fiance". (She reasoned that she was able to use Lacus's "strength" for good purposes if she impersonated her idol.) Although Gilbert and Meer both admitted this in the anime as well, Meer was shown to be more mature here.
Heine Westenfluss's role was expanded: he was present at the battle of Gulnahan, and it was stated that he had his own team (which was disbanded after Gulnahan). Also, he went drinking with Athrun during their night's stay at Diocuia. (Athrun was using him as an excuse to get away from Meer. The drinking session was given as a probable reason why Athrun didn't know of Meer's sneaking into his room later.)
In this series, Shinn is portrayed in a more favourable light, and his relationship with Athrun is more cordial.

[edit] Chapters

Altogether, the series consists of 21 "phases" (with Phase 00 being a very short chapter) and 3 "Special Editions", which are chapters focusing on different characters closely related to Athrun.

[edit] Volume 1

Phase 00 -- Memory (prologue; explores the ending of Gundam Seed)
Phase 01 -- Suspend
Phase 02 -- Ignition
Phase 03 -- Shift

[edit] Volume 2

Phase 04 -- Recurrence
Phase 05 -- Feel Lost
Phase 06 -- Head On
Phase 07 -- Faith
Special Edition -- Please Give Me Wings (Cagalli Yula Athha)

[edit] Volume 3

Phase 08 -- Impact
Phase 09 -- Conflict
Phase 10 -- Cross
Phase 11 -- Complex
Special Edition -- Because I Will Protect You (Shinn Asuka)

[edit] Volume 4

Phase 12 -- Destruction
Phase 13 -- Lock-On
Phase 14 -- Nightmare
Phase 15 -- Take-Out
Special Edition -- Sisters (Lunamaria & Meyrin Hawke)

[edit] Volume 5

Phase 16 -- Regreting
Phase 17 -- Justice
Phase 18 -- Real
Phase 19 -- Destiny
Phase 20 -- Tomorrow

[edit] Trivia

With this series, the viewpoints of all 3 teenage male leads of the Cosmic Era have been expressed in at least one series. (The original Mobile Suit Gundam SEED was largely told from Kira Yamato's POV.)
The title comes from the phrase "View from the edge", apparently referring to Athrun as he was initially an outsider (a civilian of Orb) in the series.
The covers of the first and last volumes showed Athrun in his pilot suits, along with his first and final MS of Seed Destiny: the ZAKU Warrior in volume 1 and the Infinite Justice in volume 5.