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Fukamachi cherche toujours à en apprendre plus sur le fameux alpiniste Habu Jôji qui aurait retrouvé l'appareil photo de George Mallory sur l'Everest. Il fait la rencontre de Kishi Ryôko, la sœur d'un jeune alpiniste qui a côtoyé Habu et celle-ci lui déclare être en possession du journal de Habu-san. Sa lecture va plonger Fukamachi, et le lecteur à sa suite, dans une aventure aux limites de l'extrême.

338 pages, Paperback

First published August 18, 2001

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About the author

Jirō Taniguchi

205 books615 followers
Name (in native language): 谷口 ジロー
Zodiac: Leo

He began to work as assistant of the late mangaka Kyota Ishikawa.
He made his manga debut in 1970 with Kareta Heya (A Desiccated Summer), published in the magazine Young Comic.
From 1976 to 1979, he created several hard-boiled comics with the scenarist Natsuo Sekigawa, such as City Without Defense, The Wind of the West is White and Lindo 3.
From 1984 to 1991, Tanigushi and Natsuo Sekigawa produced the trilogy Bocchan No Jidai.
In the 1990s, he came up with several albums, among which Aruku Hito (歩くひと), Chichi no koyomi (The Almanac of My Father), and Keyaki no ki.
In 2001, he created the Icare (Icaro) series on texts by Mœbius.
Jirô Taniguchi gained several prizes for his work. Among others, the Osamu Tezuka Culture Award (1998) for the trilogy Bocchan No Jidai, the Shogakukan prize with Inu wo Kau, and in 2003, the Alph'Art of the best scenario at the Angoulême International Comics Festival (France) for Harukana Machi-E.
His work has been translated in many languages.

Far from the violent storylines often associated with the manga, Taniguchi has developed a very personal style, more adult. Along with other writers, like Tsukasa Hōjō, his comics focus more on the Japanese society and culture, with a subtle analysis of its customs and habits.

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
Profile Image for Greta G.
337 reviews321 followers
July 28, 2017

During the 1924 British Mount Everest expedition, Mallory and his climbing partner Andrew "Sandy" Irvine both disappeared on the North-East ridge during their attempt to make the first ascent of the world's highest mountain.
Mallory's ultimate fate was unknown for 75 years, until his body was discovered on 1 May 1999 by an expedition that had set out to search for the climbers' remains.
Name tags on the body's clothing bore the name of "G. Leigh Mallory".
The body was well preserved, due to the mountain's climate. A brass altimeter, stag-handled lambsfoot pocket knife with leather slip-case and an unbroken pair of snow-goggles were recovered from Mallory's corpse. The team could not, however, locate the camera that the two climbers took to document their final summit attempt.
Experts from Kodak have said that if a camera is ever found, there is some chance that its film could be developed to produce printable images.

The 5 part manga series "The summit of the Gods", is about this camera.
It follows Makoto Fukamachi, a photographer who finds a camera supposedly belonging to Mallory, and goes on a mountain-climbing adventure along with his friend Habu Joujii.

This series was exhilarating, adventurous, suspenseful. An absolutely wonderful mountaineering epic.
I was engrossed from start to finish, and I didn't want it to end.

The art was also marvelous. Many readers don't like Manga, because they associate it with big eyes and big mouths. But this wasn't like that at all. The art couldn't be more realistic. It felt like the most breathtaking, thrilling mountaineering movie I've ever seen.

I can't recommend it highly enough.

10/10

 photo CD876D63-E6D2-4236-92F7-3AFC1813FDE6.jpg
Profile Image for Rod Brown.
7,398 reviews284 followers
February 16, 2019
The mountain climbing adventure stays tense and thrilling as photojournalist Makoto Fukamachi learns about the rivalry between the enigmatic and blunt Jouji Habu and his polar opposite, mountaineering superstar Tsuneo Hase. This volume covers first a miraculous recovery following a high-altitude accident and then a fatal avalanche. The action serves to offset the fact that little progress that is made on the overarching mystery involving the disappearance of Mallory and Irvine.

And really, no matter how good the story, they could just strip out all the words and I'd be happy to just view Taniguchi's pictures of little men on big rocks.
Profile Image for Ej Szwagier.
28 reviews4 followers
June 15, 2025
Wspaniała. Z opowiadanych przy barowych stolikach historii z gór układa się historia godna Forsytha. Tylko górska 😉
Profile Image for Constantin Paul.
14 reviews1 follower
April 20, 2025
Wie auch im ersten Band ist der Zweite gefüllt mit einer Menge an Spannung. Die Protagonist taucht noch tiefer in die Karrieren der rivalisierenden Bergsteiger Habu und Hase ein und auch die Geschichte um George Mallorys Kamera entwickelt sich langsam aber sicher weiter. In diesem Band sind vor allem die gezeichneten Bergpanoramas von beeindruckender Schönheit und wie sie die gewaltigen Masse der Berge einfangen.
Profile Image for Giorgio Gabrieli.
145 reviews
August 9, 2025
"Freddo. La mia mente sgombra".

Disegni che ti fanno capire il freddo e il ghiaccio sulla pelle.
I capitoli delle ascese solitarie a -30 gradi, wow. La storiella d'amore del narratore un po' meno wow.
Profile Image for Géraldine.
692 reviews22 followers
October 12, 2010
Second épisode. L'intrigue est en place. Le personnage de Habu est affiné, l'autre protagoniste prend un peu plus de place. L'intrigue se base cette fois sur un accident dramatique et une compétition entre les deux alpinistes pour réaliser les premières hivernales en Europe. Cet épisode me semble préparer le suivant donc moins bien côté que le n° 1.
Profile Image for Jan.
1,255 reviews
March 26, 2012
Completely fascinating. You don't have to be in any way interested in mountaneering to be drawn into this both slowpaced and exciting story of quest and desire.
Profile Image for Mateen Mahboubi.
1,585 reviews19 followers
July 27, 2021
Second volume is just as visually stunning as the first with more of the backstory of some master climbers while still moving the main story ahead a bit.
Profile Image for Manish.
954 reviews54 followers
October 29, 2017
In the second installment, we have episodes of the rivalry between Haibu and his competitor Hase. The visual representation of what it means to scale ice walls, slabs and to spend nights in precarious positions made the plot secondary. It ends with some clues regarding Volume 3

I don't think I'll ever scale a 2000m plus mountain. But with this series, I've enough insight to imagine what scaling 8000m plus peaks must be! Must order the third volume now.
Profile Image for EL BC.
306 reviews8 followers
July 26, 2020
Les aventures vertigineuses d'Habu Joji sont toujours aussi passionnantes!
Profile Image for Doyle.
361 reviews50 followers
July 22, 2020
Impressionnant et émouvant. La solitude et l'amitié traversant la mort, décrites par Taniguchi comme jamais.
Profile Image for Vicenç Sanz.
444 reviews7 followers
August 28, 2017
Ya veremos si sigo el ritmo, pero intentaré comentar un tomo de ésta obra cada semana. Veremos.

El segundo volumen de la cumbre de los Dioses confirma que estamos ante un manga distinto, uno que nos cuenta la historia de una obsesión, en ésta ocasión centrada en el amor que siente alguien por la montaña y en la necesidad de otra persona de investigar a la primera, aunque sea para tener la mente ocupada en otra cosa que no sean sus problemas personales.

Aquí se añaden muchos elementos nuevos a la mezcla, como los intereses amorosos, mientras se siguen las pesquisas sobre la figura de Habu, ya sea en bares hablando o mediante otro tipo de investigación.

Y luego está la historia del propio Habu, un personaje muy potente cuya historia vamos conociendo desde el punto de vista de otros personajes, poco a poco nos estamos formando una imagen del personaje y de sus objetivos actuales. Dos tomos para ello, justo antes de volver a ponerle en primer plano.

Me parece una obra magistral, tanto en el formato de narración como en la forma que tiene de enganchar al lector a una historia pequeñita pero llena de épica y a la que no deja de darle un toque humano a cada página que avanzas.

No he leído Barrio Lejano, pero me extrañaría mucho que superara a ésta obra, en mi opinión, la cumbre de un mangaka reconocido.
Profile Image for Rick Ray.
3,545 reviews38 followers
September 21, 2023
Photojournalist Makoto Fukamachi continues his adventure in the Himalayas alongside mountaineering connoisseur Habu Joujii. The previous volume introduces the mystery behind the camera that Makoto finds in an antique shop that he believes belongs to the legendary Mallory and Irvine and could be the key to documenting their final ascent up Everest. This volume focuses on the harrowing journey up the summit and the ensuing isolation of such an expedition. Taniguchi's depiction of the climb is a brutal one, and the ensuing avalanche is depicted as jaw dropping spectacle. But life threating injuries mean nothing to these kinds of men, who only aspire to get back on to the mountain as soon as possible. The Summit of the Gods is a testament to mental foritude in the face of incredible odds, and there's no better cartoonist than Jirō Taniguchi to illustrate the near superhuman feats needed to accomplish the task of conquering Everest.

While a little slow paced in the back half of this volume, Taniguchi does a great job with characterization as the story switches focus towards the rivalry between Habu Joujii and Tsuneo Hase. They are perfect foils for each other, though it is evident that they have a level of respect for each others talents.
Profile Image for Mathou.
639 reviews4 followers
April 4, 2022
Deux loups solitaires

Dans ce deuxième tome, on comprend véritablement l’enjeu de cette série.
Le personnage d’Habu est un homme solitaire, habite par une force, une sorte de démon, qui le pousse à gravir les montagnes les plus hautes et les plus dangereuses du monde. C’est une plongée dans son passé et ses ascensions qui nous est magnifiquement offert sous les trains de Jiro Taniguchi.
La solitude et la grandeur de la nature rentre en rivalité avec la volonté de l’homme et c’est simplement magnifique à lire.
De plus, une magnifique dualité est mise en place avec un autre grimpeur que l’on découvre au fur et à mesures de l’histoire. Rivalité mais aussi entre aide indirecte sont présentes et l’on sent déjà que le tome trois sera le paroxysme de cette ascension.
L’art de Taniguchi ne déçoit jamais et c’est encore le cas avec ce deuxième tome. Les dessins sont détaillés et d’une beauté bouleversante.
Profile Image for Soobie has fog in her brain.
7,200 reviews134 followers
November 2, 2019
Beh, è la storia di una persona che vive per la montagna. Che non può respirare se non è vicino alle pareti rocciose. Vuole essere il migliore e per questo rischia la vita. E Fukumachi è ormai affascinato da questo scalatore che ha dedicato la sua vita a un unico obiettivo.

Ne scopre molti lati, perfino quello delle relazioni personali, e vuole sempre più incontrarlo. Dopotutto, la macchina fotografica è solo una scusa.

Paesaggi spettacolari e disegni all'altezza della situazione.
307 reviews1 follower
October 21, 2022
A beautiful story so beautifully illustrated. The stories in the mountains are magnificent. The pace is leisurely but not slow as the hunt for Habu and Mallory's camera unfolds. Looking forward to the 3rd volume!
Profile Image for Lxu.
35 reviews
March 2, 2023
Ce tome est tout aussi prenant que le précédent. On apprend l'histoire des personnages de façon extrêmement bien réalisée. Tout est bien articulé et on suit l'inspection du personnage quant à Habu. Je conseille à nouveau cette série.
Profile Image for Dagautier.
222 reviews
November 12, 2020
Digne suite du 1er. Plus journalistique, moins montagne. Mais ça parle de montagne quand même hein :) !
MagnifIquement illustré. Quel trait !
Vite le t. 3 !
Profile Image for Tom.
53 reviews2 followers
October 28, 2022
Hâte de lire le tome 3 ! Je reste sur ma faim…
Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews

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