Yojimbot: Звенящая тишина

Yojimbot #1

by Sylvain Repos

Самое оригинальное переосмысление «Телохранителя» Акиры Куросавы.
Япония, 2241 год. Глобальная катастрофа разрушила привычный мир, и теперь по заброшенным городам бродят лишь устаревшие андроиды, которые продолжают следовать заложенным в них самурайским протоколам.
Но однажды робот-самурай встречает мальчика по имени Хиро и в отчаянном бою спасает его от смерти. Отныне цель робота — защищать ребенка любой ценой, ведь на кону стоит судьба человечества.
История о дружбе человека и машины под яростный лязг катан.

Genres: Bande Dessinée, Comics, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Fiction, Comic Book, Dystopia

160 pages, Hardcover

First published January 29, 2021

Reviews

[Urbon Adamsson · Rating 5 out of 5]

PT Desde que vi este livro pela primeira vez, fiquei imediatamente interessado. As cores vibrantes e a arte limpa e detalhada saltam logo à vista. Ainda assim, acabei por hesitar na compra — já tenho imensa coisa para ler e, por vezes, é preciso fazer escolhas.

Dito isto, ainda bem que acabei por o adquirir, porque revelou-se uma leitura absolutamente deliciosa.

Há pessoas que são simplesmente talentosas — e é precisamente isso que Sylvain Repos demonstra aqui. Uma história original, divertida e envolvente, repleta de ação, com cores intensas e um traço fabuloso, cheio de detalhe e dinamismo. Simplesmente soberbo!

Adorei, e mal posso esperar pelo próximo volume!

--

EN From the moment I first saw this book, I was immediately intrigued. The vibrant colours and the clean, detailed artwork instantly catch the eye. Still, I hesitated to buy it — I already have so much to read, and sometimes you have to make choices.

That said, I’m really glad I ended up getting it, because it turned out to be an absolutely delightful read.

Some people are just naturally talented — and that’s exactly what Sylvain Repos proves to be here. An original, fun and engaging story, packed with action, vibrant colours, and stunning artwork full of detail and energy. Simply superb!

I loved it, and I can’t wait for the next volume!

[Peter Derk · Rating 3 out of 5]

It feels weird to enjoy something but only give it three stars because I wanted it to be longer. In a way, it's like, Maybe that should be 4 or even 5! Because if I wanted more of this, I must've been having a good time.

On the other hand, 3 is a good rating for me. People have their own relationships with stars on Goodreads, and mine is basically 3 and up is pretty good, I'd recommend it, and below that is bad, and a one-star is something I would go out of my way to dissuade someone from reading.

I try and preserve that same mindset for my own books. Someone gives one a three, and at first I'm like, What the fuck? But then I'm like, Well, that's actually just fine.

Life is complicated, man.

I just recently read this in a column, and I have thoughts:

Art isn't designed to be graded on a one-out-of-five star system. How absolutely repulsive.

The writer was talking about Goodreads and had some other choice things to say about it, but I mostly disagree with this specific part.

This is about to get very MFA program, so buckle up.

I agree, art isn't meant to be rated. But commercial products can be. And when you take something you've written, slap it between two covers, solicit some blurbs, print it up on paper, maybe do some ad campaigns, the story crosses over from the world of art and into the world of commerce.

Commercial products are rate-able. That's an okay thing to do.

The thing is, even if the person didn't pay for it, like if they got it from the library or a giveaway or something, they still exchanged their time to experience the art. Especially in the case of books, this means something. And I do think readers expressing whether they felt that exchange was worthwhile is...perhaps saying it's their "right" goes too far, I don't think I'm prepared to take up arms and defend someone's right to shit on Ready Player One, but I think it's a less-than-repulsive thing to do.

More and more, I'm convinced that art isn't "meant" to do anything. It's not meant to accomplish something. If it is, then maybe it's edging closer to being instructional and less artistic. I'm not going to say that Ikea instructions are "art." They have drawings in them, someone had to use creativity to make them, but that doesn't mean they should be evaluated in an artistic framework. Because the truth is, the bet version of Ikea instructions are the ones that most often result in the correct end product, which may or may not be the most beautiful, aesthetically-pleasing art.

However, when you share your art with the world, it's not reasonable to expect that the world will view it a certain way. It's not reasonable to expect, or even really desire, only positive reviews. One has to figure that people will feel ways about it, and that's part of putting a book out.

I've often said it would be unreasonable to read someone's diary and critique it like I would a published book. It'd just be a dick thing to do.


It's when someone puts their book into the world that it's opened up for critique or opinion.

Writers always have the choice. If you want to live in the world of art, you can leave your book in a format that is non-commercial. You can even put it up online, put it on a blog, make the pdf available, and that's a little different from publishing and selling.

But if you decide to take the leap and sell, you have to be ready for the readers.

[Stephanie Racette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Janvier 2024. Excellent. Scénario classique mais bien mené. Méchant machiavélique, robots alliés, etc.
Tout m’a plu. Et le travail artistique est juste Wow!

[Guillaume Rho · Rating 5 out of 5]

So creative, fun and touching. The art is just beyond beautiful and brimming with life.

[Dávid Novotný · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review for volumes 1.-3.:

Postapocalyptic story from Japan. On the island that was designed as theme park, you boy is running from soldiers that are hunting him down because of his origin. On the the way he meets few yojimbo ts - samurai robots that were serving in various roles in the theme park and they help him out on the way.

The story is little bit chaotic, because you are thrown right into the middle of the action, and over the first three albums you will put together pieces and start to understand what is going on. There is still quite a lot missing so we will need wait for another volume(s).

What really brings these books on another level is Sylvain's art. Vivid, colorful art is bringing postapocalyptic Japan back to live. Great action sequences, where a lot is happening, but whole thing is not chaotic and still easy to follow. Very nice robot designs and sceneries. These books deserve oversized treatment so you can truly enjoy the art (hope there will be some complete collection in English once)

[Ana · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars *may change

This was unexpectedly short? I've read quite a few graphic novels, and usually, they exceed the 100-page mark, but this one was way under it. There wasn't really much story for me to go off of with just a single volume.

I mean, I can say it's got a lovely art style and that the concept itself is very interesting—feudal Japan being abandoned by robots only for robot samurai to take over—but I'd need more volumes to really get a good grasp of it. So far though, it's a nice beginning.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing an advanced reader's copy.

[Violeta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Digital ARC provided by Netgalley

A very interesting turn of events. I was intrigued about the idea of following a samurai robot in a dystopic world.
I have not expected to enjoy the story so much and to see that such vibrant colors were used. The central principle of Artificial Intelligence is to reproduce (and then overcome) the way people perceive and interact with the world. This is the exact principle followed in this graphic novel until now. I look forward to see how it is continued in the following numbers.

[Yuyine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Le tome 1 de Yojimbot est une réussite. L’univers post-apo aux décors japonais traditionnels m’a envoûté et l’idée originale de ces personnages robotiques samouraïs est excellente. L’intrigue, même si elle reste très concentrée en actions et moins en révélations, a réussi elle aussi a me captiver de bout en bout en réussissant à créer de l’attachement et de l’émotion.

Critique complète sur yuyine.be!

[Sarah AK · Rating 3 out of 5]

This has great art, an epic setting, and a decent premise, but it's a bit more kidsy than I expected. Absolutely loved the "yojimbots," but the kid-in-need and the very-bad-bad-guy felt like comic book cliches in an otherwise unique story. I'm definitely down for the next volume, but only for the yojimbots and all the colorful chaos, not because I particularly care what happens next.

[Moeme · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beaux dessins
Histoire cool et scènes de combats sympa
Je lirais la suite

[Dennis Scotti · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disegni molto belli, la trama la capisci ma ha dei buchi che rasentano la somiglianza coi crateri lunari, i bot sono molto simpy e teneri, ora sto aspettando il secondo alla biblio

[Allen Cooley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick little read. I randomly picked this up at a bookstore and was drawn in by the illustrations and art style. Samurai robots? I’m in. The story leaves much to be desired but I think it’s a cool concept.

[Audrey (Panda Littéraire) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

[Assya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Des samouraïs et des robots avec un parc à thème abandonné, que demander de plus ?

[John Blacksad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Almakta bir nebze gecikmiştim. Fikir güzel, çizimler akıcı, sevimli ama finalde “eh işte” diyorum.

[Dean Asquith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Killer robots in a feudal Japanese style…what more could you want. Take an iRobot style journey through Japan and witness the unfolding of a both heart-breaking and heart-warming story from Sylvain Repos.

As the story began I wasn’t sure about whether I was going to enjoy it or not, I was really struggling with the lack of dialogue and the simple sounds to signify movement. But as I moved through the panels I realised that I understood the story without the need for dialogue. Sylvain, through his artistry, was able to convey the story superbly, each panel’s art was extremely descriptive and there was so much exquisite detail involved.

Once the dialogue began the story really kicked up a gear. Yojimbot’s discovery of a child allowed for the entry of the robotic laws. The robotic laws brought questions to my mind, who made the robots, why do they live alone, creating a life for themselves? There are some real bad guys that show up and all of a sudden the story takes a mysterious twist...Someone/something relaxes the robot laws and Yojimbot becomes autonomous, taking actions into its own hands! And boy does it take action. I won’t tell you what happens but honestly it’s shocking, I was in total agreement with the actions but it still shocked me.

This comic has multiple twists and turns with brilliant artistry and a mysterious story. This first part is a set up for the events to come in future parts and it does a fantastic job of that. The ending of the comic is a true cliff-hanger that leaves you wanting more and I'm super excited for part 2 which is coming soon from Europe Comics.

“Update from tower 04. Remote reboot, please wait…” - Unknown

[PokoTaekwoonie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Je suis fan du Japon et de sa culture. Je suis fan de dystopie. Je suis fan des automates. Il y a tout dans cette bande dessinée.
Pour commencer, je suis très fan du dessin de cette BD, de son univers à limite entre la BD franco-belge et le manga. J'adore les couleurs des dessins, comment l'histoire est développée dans les cases. Je suis fan.
Au niveau de l'histoire, le seul défaut que je soulève est qu'on est balancé dans un monde dont on ne connaît rien du tout et la BD ne s'épanche pas beaucoup sur les explications ni les dialogues qui pourraient répondre à nos questions. Pour cela, il faut lire le webtoon disponible sur l'application éponyme.
Ce fait mis de côté, l'histoire est belle et il se passe déjà beaucoup de chose dans ce premier tome.
Dans cette histoire, j'y ai trouvé des liens avec iRobot, Wall.E ou le manga Lonely World que j'ai beaucoup aimé également.
En conclusion, j'aime beaucoup le dessin et l'histoire. C'est une agréable découverte.

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

+ Nice art, nice action, likeable robot characters
- The dialogue is often 'loud' and annoying, the main character is whiny and annoying, though he's just a kid having experienced the trauma of his father dying on top of him and being surrounded by dead bodies and murderous robots... manga fans might not notice! :P It's a bit too weird and creepy at times.

A young boy tries to survive in some sort of post-apocalyptic dystopian wasteland where robots used to be everywhere. He is hunted by shadowy figures and saved from certain doom by a friendly and 'empathetic' robot samurai. He then goes on a quest to find... someone, while being hunted and encountering potential new allies along the way.

I hoped it would be better overall, but it's still impressive artistically.

[Wayne McCoy · Rating 3 out of 5]

'Yojimbot Part 1' with story and art by Sylvain Repos is a graphic novel about a samurai robot that has a glitch.

In a weird dystopian future, robots fight on an island in Japan. A young boy named Hiro lives unnoticed on the island until they are noticed by military bullies and Hiro's father is killed trying to shield his son. A samurai robot, known as a yojimbot, takes the young boy under his protection as they seek revenge.

It's a pretty interesting premise, but the book is a bit short, so just as it got interesting, the story ended. The art is pretty cool, and it looks like I'll need to seek out more issues of this one.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Europe Comics and NetGalley. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

[StrictlySequential · Rating 5 out of 5]

20×27 ¦ A.I. 07/2022 ¦ D.L. 01/2021 ¦ prix DA08
+8 page graphic notebook

Narrative: ****
I wanted a bit more background information. The back cover explains what's going on better than the 150 pages preceding (seriously) but I still heartily enjoyed the characters and action. He did a perfect job making me loathe his villains- I was so disgusted with the main one that I wanted him dead as fast as possible upon seeing him a second time.

Visual: *****
Wow. Dude is super precise while keeping completely fluid in motion!

⁽ö⁾¡Ha!⁽ö⁾
I totally caught Bender's ("Futurama") mostly-head in the robo-parts flea market and could tell there were other such Japa-nods strewn around within all of his wonderfully inventive and profusely scattered refuse✔+

[Charles-Louis · Rating 3 out of 5]

(C’est plus un 3.5 qu’un 3 [7/10 en vrai], mais c’est quand même pas un 4.)
J’aurais aimé ça plus aimer ça. L’univers est intrigant, le dessin dynamique, mais il ne se passe bizarrement pas grand chose dans les quelque 120 pages du récit et on développe pas tellement ce monde pourtant si mystérieux. Les designs sont cool, mais les personnages trop simplistes; on ne comprend pas les motivations de personne. Le livre se termine sur un cliffhanger pourri, un « À suivre… » super chiant, mais bon, je suis quand même hook. Si l’auteur en dévoile pas un peu plus dans le tome 2, je vais décrocher par contre !

[Raven Black · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is something about this book I liked a lot. There wasn't a new theme, but the way it was presented really captured me. We start "at the end" of things, or we don't know why we are finding ourselves in a rundown, abandoned park that not-so-nice (to say the very least) military and government (?) scientists inhabit. The artwork is clever, but I've seen it before, yet I really was into it. There is a lot of violence, vomit and death, but it mostly works to move the story along. There is a villian I can't wait to see him "get his" but in the meantime, I will turn on all the lights and pray like crazy. I have some cool robot friends to help me! 

[Lucas · Rating 3 out of 5]

De très beaux dessins, surtout côté arrière plans et design des robots. Mais pas assez pour porter l'histoire ultra-banale et les dialogues qui sont clairement beaucoup moins travaillés. C'est du cliché, et même pas du bon, et on est jamais trop sûr si l'autre visait un public enfant ou adulte. S'il avait pas mit autant d'effort dans son trait, je dirais que ça frôle à du Grindhouse et, comme on dirait de nos jours, à de l'appropriation culturelle. Bref, aucun moment ça mérite de référencer du Kurosawa dans son titre

[Kanti · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice graphical illustrations. Interesting premise. Engaging storyline.


[Hiro]

Yojimbot is set in a future imagined society of Japan. Hiro and his father live in a place populated by androids and bots. A `samurai robot` Mobile Unit 063 comes to rescue the human subjects – Hiro and his father – as there are in danger from Commander Kozuki and his soldiers.


[Samurai robot, mobile unit 063]

[JusteLydie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un peu divisée parce que j'aime beaucoup l'univers, visuellement ça me fait penser au jeu vidéo Stray (oui avec le chat) et aux films Ghibli genre Le château dans le ciel, j'ai aussi apprécié les robots samouraï et l'ambiance, mais je trouve que ça manquait de contexte pour un tome 1 (j'ai même vérifié que je n'avais pas emprunté par erreur une suite ?).
Je me doute que j'en saurais davantage si je lis la suite, mais là ma compréhension de l'univers venait surtout du résumé quoi (mais c'était sympa quand même).

[xGwenBx · Rating 3 out of 5]

L'univers est plutôt intéressant mais le récit va beaucoup trop vite, si bien que l'on se perd et que l'on n'a pas trop le temps de comprendre ce qu'il se passe (surtout entre les scènes de bagarre qui se succèdent). Difficile de se faire un avis sur ce premier tome qui se déroule trop rapidement mais reste également trop à la surface, concernant les éléments importants de l'histoire. A voir par la suite.

[Amy ;) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Les palettes, les dessins, l’intrigue, le world-building,… TOUT EST TROP STYLÉ
Je suis actuellement en train de jouer au jeu Stray et je trouve le monde du jeu et du livre assez ressemblant (les deux prenant place dans un monde post-apocalyptique extrêmement intéressant avec des robots très sympathiques).
Je vais définitivement m’inspirer du magnifique art style ! (et commencer à dessiner des robots hihi)
LET’S GO POUR LE TOME 2 !!!

[eleos · Rating 2 out of 5]

J'adore voir l'influence japonaise chez les auteur.e.s de bandes dessinées françaises.
Yojimbot a un concept sympa, de vieux robots samouraï, et la mise en page et le dessin est très beau, surtout dans les grandes planches détaillées ou dans les scènes de combat.
Après le scénario reste simple et prévisible pour l'instant, et Hiro parle sans arrêt même quand il n'y a pas besoin, ce qui gêne un peu je n'ai pas pu rentrer dans l'histoire correctement.

[Novels of a mermaid · Rating 2 out of 5]

L’histoire est pour le coup est très originale, les dessins sont magnifiques et les personnages bien travaillés.
Il y a une vraie trame et un réel suspense sur ce que cache l’île.
La raison de mes deux étoiles est que je n’ai juste pas accroché personnellement, j’ai adoré les robots mais j’avoue ne pas m’être prise à l’histoire.

[Chloé - My Bookish Rendez-Vous · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5 étoiles.

Une bonne lecture, l'histoire n'était pas incroyable mais les dessins et la mise en scène compensent cette faiblesse. J'ai quand même été assez investie dans l'histoire pour avoir envie de lire le tome 2. Les palettes de couleur et le trait sont d'une grande qualité, les planches sont dynamiques. A recommander aux fans de science fiction !