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Habu, après avoir sauvé la vie de Fukamachi, continue son ascension clandestine de l'Everest.En levant les yeux, Fukamachi aperçoit la silhouette de Habu, minuscule, loin au-dessus de lui. Ses mouvements sont prodigieux... Pourtant, Fukamachi sent que pour lui, l'aventure s'arrête là, il a frôlé la mort. Les hallucinations se sont calmées mais la migraine ne le lâche pas, Il est redescendu en dessous des 7000 mètres où l'air est plus dense et Habu et son formidable exploit ne quitte pas son esprit... Voici l'épilogue de cette magnifique série qui atteint des sommets dans l'art du dessin et de la narration !

300 pages, Paperback

First published May 20, 2003

9 people are currently reading
256 people want to read

About the author

Jirō Taniguchi

205 books614 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 66 reviews
Profile Image for Greta G.
337 reviews319 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 Himanshu Karmacharya.
1,146 reviews113 followers
June 26, 2022
Although the series started out slow, it finally gained momentum and reached greater heights as it progressed.

The characters and their motives both became clearer and stronger. The art was consistently great throughout the series, perfectly capturing the essence of Nepal.

By the end, this was not just an adventure story, but a story of determination, perseverance and self discovery.
Profile Image for Rod Brown.
7,347 reviews281 followers
February 17, 2019
An adventure tale dripping with the same sort of macho posturing and introspection that makes one either hate or love Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea. Having trailed and watched Habu's assault on Everest and pondered the mysterious fate of Mallory and Irvine, photojournalist Fukamachi feels he can only find true understanding of the mountaineering spirit and ultimate closure by attempting the summit himself. Will he survive the attempt and what will he find out about himself and those who proceeded him?

The story wraps up with more thrilling mountain climbing sequences, a few too many hallucinations, and some satisfying if tragic revelations.
Profile Image for Candice .
240 reviews115 followers
May 5, 2019
I can't believe this is it, there's no more books in this series for me to buy.
There's no more mystery, breath-taking drawings.
That's it. The ending was perfect and didn't disappoint me at all.
Profile Image for Todd Glaeser.
787 reviews
May 16, 2021
It took me a while to finally track down a copy of this and it was definitely worth the wait. One of the most accomplished Manga I've read. It deserves to be spoken of as a high point of the Genre.

2/20/20 After completing the series, I determined that this was a series I wanted to own. I just reread the final volume and placed it on my bookshelf.
Profile Image for Hal Incandenza.
612 reviews
May 2, 2021
Splendido finale, ma tutta l’opera merita di essere letta: appassionante, non banale, scorrevole.
Stupendamente scritta e altrettanto splendidamente disegnata.
Da recuperare assolutamente , e non lasciatevi ingannare dall’argomento: anche se non sapete o non vi interessa nulla di alpinismo e montagna, rimarrete affascinati e incollati fino all’ultima pagina.
Profile Image for Ej Szwagier.
28 reviews4 followers
June 30, 2025
Co za niesamowita opowieść o tym, ile jest w stanie dać z siebie człowiek owładnięty Marzeniem, tym przez wielkie "M". Ludzie dzielą się na dwie grupy, jeśli chodzi o himalaizm: tych, którzy nie mogą zrozumieć "po co oni tam idą" i tych, którym nie trzeba tego tłumaczyć. Szczególnie polecam to arcydzieło osobom z tej drugiej grupy.
Profile Image for Tom.
50 reviews2 followers
December 11, 2022
Un final spectaculaire. Les 2 derniers tomes sont extraordinaires. Merci pour cette aventure…
Profile Image for Giorgio Gabrieli.
138 reviews
August 9, 2025
"Camminerò con i miei occhi. Avanzerò sulla rotta tracciata dal mio sguardo" (p.87)
Profile Image for Diane MT.
94 reviews1 follower
March 10, 2024
Probably the best thing with drawing I've ever read.
Profile Image for Batata.
4 reviews
September 13, 2025
Jedna z lepszych mang, jakie czytałam. Emocjonująca w odpowiednich momentach i pozostawiająca w zadumie jeszcze jakiś czas po przeczytaniu
Profile Image for Vicenç Sanz.
444 reviews7 followers
August 29, 2017
Ya está, la relectura de la Cumbre de los Dioses ha pasado por la mesilla de noche y termina con el quinto tomo.

En ésta ocasión la colección se pone no sólo más épica, sino que también tiene una carga de emotividad importante. Es de esos tomos que finalizan pronto lo que parecía la trama principal para centrarse luego en lo que siempre lo ha sido y no nos había quedado claro del todo.

La lucha contra la montaña, la historia de Habu, los misterios de Mallory, la personalidad del protagonista… todo termina en éste tomo, y lo hace apelando a lo más hondo del lector, metiéndole en una historia de superación que alcanza su clímax durante las páginas de éste volumen.

Hay tal amor por la montaña, está tan clara la idea del manga que viene arrastrando desde el principio y está tan bien contado todo… sufrimiento, dudas, realización, amor, obsesión… múltiples sentimientos en las páginas de un tomo que sirve como colofón para una obra imprescindible.

Sigo pensando que es lo mejor que he leído de Taniguchi, una obra imprescindible en cualquier biblioteca, sea amante del mundo del comic o no.
Profile Image for Graziano.
902 reviews4 followers
June 13, 2015
"... e se non
riusciro' a camminare
coi miei occhi..."

"... se non
riusciro' a
camminare
in nessun
modo..."

"... se davvero
non ci saro' piu'
niente da fare..."

"... se non riusciro' a
muovermi neanche
sfruttando tutta
la forza che mi e'
rimasta in corpo..."

"... continuero'
a crederci..."

"... provero'
con tutta
l'anima."

"Con tutta la
mia anima." (88-9)

"Ho fatto un
sogno."

"Ho sognato
la vetta." (114)

"Perche'
continuo a
marciare?"
...
"Perche' lo
faccio?" (211)

Profile Image for Sarah Luchins.
54 reviews
September 12, 2018
I never thought I would care so much about Mount Everest. This series is amazing. I might need to read the original novel. I might need to read books on Everest and mountaineering. Geez...
10 reviews
June 12, 2020
Fantastic finish to a great mountaineering saga.
"So even if you try with all your might, you can go no further, ... then believe you can! With every single thought ... Believe"
Profile Image for Flavio.
43 reviews
March 3, 2020
È la storia di un'inchiesta giornalistica, una spedizione del 1924 sul Monte Everest, una macchina fotografica che riemerge dall'oblio settant'anni dopo e mette in moto tutta la vicenda. È la storia di Fukamachi, fotografo e reporter, dei tasselli mancanti della sua vita, delle questioni personali in attesa di soluzione. È la storia di Habu Joji, delle sue rivalità, della sua incapacità di condurre una "vita normale", nella continua ricerca di un appagamento irraggiungibile. È ognuna di queste storie, che a mano a mano si dissolvono, vengono assorbite da quelle vette che si stagliano sullo sfondo per diventare sempre più imponenti, sempre più importanti, fino a diventare l'unica cosa che conta. Lo stile minimalista di Tanigouchi si fa straordinariamente minuzioso nel ritrarre crepacci, cascate di ghiaccio e pareti rocciose dove ogni sasso sembra avere un'anima propria. E l'Everest, che diventa un luogo liminale, dove gli dèi, fantasmi e alpinisti marciano insieme.
Cos'è la vetta? Una soluzione? La risposta a ogni domanda? No. E ognuno dei protagonisti lo sa bene. E allora perché continuare a salire? Perché vivere? Sono quesiti destinati a rimanere irrisolti. L'unica cosa che si può fare è andare avanti, con tutte le forze, con tutta l'anima.
E allora La Vetta degli Dei diventa Moby Dick, Habu un Achab disposto a sacrificare la propria vita pur di raggiungere la vetta, Fukamachi un Ismaele infatuato di Habu prima e poi della stessa ossessione che lo ha divorato per tutta la vita, e l'Everest ve lo lascio immaginare.
Profile Image for Alex.
48 reviews
March 22, 2023
Critique de la série dans son intégralité :

J'ai beaucoup apprécié les illustrations dont les décors et les plans variés des personnages. J'ai aussi appris pas mal de choses sur la montagne, et c'est à peu près à cela que tient mes 3 étoiles.

Pour le reste, l'histoire qui pourtant semblait vraiment s'élancer dès le départ...a pris du plomb dans l'aile et ce dès le tome 3.

Parce que bon, je pense qu'au bout d'un moment, oui, on aura bien compris la passion maladive d'Habu pour la montagne et sa volonté d'y mourir pour remplir son vœu le plus cher (à mon sens, la fin n'était pas une surprise). Je me suis aussi lassé du personnage de Fukamachi qui pourtant me paraissait bien plus intéressant (et moins chiant) qu'Habu. Sa fascination malsaine pour Habu reste un mystère pour moi.

On applaudit pas non plus le peu de personnages féminins qui ont, j'imagine, bien remplies leur mission dans leurs rôles de "belle plante désirée par les deux héros et qui attend sagement", ainsi que celle de la "reproductrice" qui permet d'assurer la relève à Habu.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Mathou.
629 reviews4 followers
April 13, 2022
L’ultime grand frisson

Quelle façon incroyable de terminer cette saga!
L’auteur et le dessinateur ont décidé de tous donner à leurs lecteurs pour ce dernier tome et on ne peut que les en remercier.
Tous les arcs narratifs sont tenus jusqu’au bout dans des péripéties et des tensions tout bonnement haletantes.
Le duo des deux alpinistes se retrouve séparé. L’un poursuit tandis que l’autre abandonne… mais ce n’est pas la fin pour autant. La montagne prend, elle redonne parfois, mais dans les deux cas, l’homme semble toujours avoir son mot à dire.
La fin de cette épopée est tout simplement à couper le souffle par l’intensité du récit et la beauté du dessin. Je ne regrette absolument pas de m’être lancée dans cette aventure et sachez que la fin vous laissera sans voix pour bien des raisons.
Profile Image for Lxu.
35 reviews
March 28, 2023
Un coup de cœur.
La saga dans sa globalité est exceptionnelle mais ce tome est encore plus puissant. Habu est une légende et marque tant par son mental que son évolution. Il apparaît même comme un modèle pour Fukamasu que pour nous. Sa force à toute épreuve laisse sans voix. Les planches sont toujours aussi belles et détaillées, c'est un régal!
Spoiler: j'avoue que je ne m'attendais pas à cette fin. Finalement, Habu aura réalisé son souhait et aura même gardé son "statut" jusqu'au bout
Profile Image for Sara.
132 reviews
January 6, 2022
Decided to read the manga after watching the movie in Netflix. Wish I could read the book. The movie omits a lot of stuff and straight up eliminates some plot threads (which I liked). I think the manga is both better and worse than the movie, but I'm pretty sure I have clearer idea of the novel in my head.

Will write more thoughts on all of this later.
Profile Image for Josip Majdić.
17 reviews
August 17, 2025
Nevjerojatna priča koja čitatelju postavlja više pitanja i kroz radnju mu pokazuje odgovore. Zašto penjati planine? Zašto ići i napraviti još jedan korak dalje? Koj je smisao?
To su samo neka od pitanja koja su nam postavljena i jednostavan odgovor je "zato što postoje".
Mogao bih reći još mnogo o ovom dijelu ali je uistinu najbolje da svak za sebe krene u ovu avanturu.
Profile Image for Sophie.
110 reviews2 followers
January 24, 2018
Incroyable histoire en cinq tomes, qui nous plonge dans la beauté des paysages de l'Himalaya et le courage des hommes qui gravissent ces montagnes. Une œuvre qui restera très longtemps dans mon esprit, je clot cette magnifique fresque avec un peu de tristesse.
Profile Image for Lili Aurelie.
424 reviews9 followers
August 10, 2018
Comme je suis triste d'avoir fini cette magnifique histoire et ces 2 personnages tellement intéressants. Une ode à la montagne et au dépassement de soi. Vraiment l'un des meilleurs mangas que j'ai pu lire.
Profile Image for Louna.
162 reviews
March 16, 2021
Extraordinaire, la série est et sera probablement un de mes plus grands coups de cœur de 2021. Découvert grâce à Stephan. Magnifique récit de montagne, passionnant et plein de suspense, avec de belles réflexions existentielles et des dessins sublimes.
Profile Image for Dagautier.
220 reviews
June 23, 2021
Dernier opus de cette incomparable série.
A couper le souffle, au propre et figuré, entre la somptueuse profondeur des dessins et le scénario tellement prenant.
Toute les belles choses doivent avoir une fin pour être élevées au rang de chef d’œuvre.
Chapeau 🎩 bas.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 66 reviews

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