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The Summit of the Gods / 神々の山嶺 #4
La vetta degli dei. Vol. 4
"Climbing is all I have, I climb." Photographer Fukamachi is visiting Habu's home when the felon Mohan turns up demanding the missing Kodak but is foiled when his earlier captor shoots and wounds him. Habu admits that he took the camera from Mallory's body but that there was no film found. He releases the camera to Fukamachi's charge on the understanding that he can only use it after Habu completes his solo climb of Everest's South West face. But Fukamachi is going with him!'
320 pages, Paperback
First published April 18, 2003
About the author
Jirō Taniguchi
215 books643 followersName (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.
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.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
December 1, 2019
The crime storyline is wrapped up and the origin of the mystery camera is revealed in the opening chapters, clearing the way for the start of Habu's climactic solo assault on Everest's southwest face without supplementary oxygen. Will photojournalist Fukamachi survive his decision to try to document the feat by following Habu up the mountain? Enthralling!
June 17, 2022
The series is finally reaching its climax and it is beginning to feel that all the trouble and adventure so far was not just for the sake of thrill, but for something far more.
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
May 16, 2021
I'm never gonna climb Everest; I'm never going to go mountain climbing, period. This amazing manga about mountain climbing lets me experience Everest vicariously.
May 1, 2015
La nuda roccia respira
i venti della stratosfera…
In questa gelida atmosfera
il tempo sembra fermarsi,
avvolto nell’abbraccio della neve. (20)
Il vento
soffiava sulla tenda…
Forse,
in quell’istante
delle imponenti
divinita’ induiste
scendevano dal
cielo…
… danzando
tra le correnti
atmosferiche. (72)
Non sono
molti gli
uomini degni di
raggiungere
quella vetta e
parlare con
il cielo… (129)
“Quando
avrai scalato
la parete
sud ovest…”
“... cosa
pensi ti
aspetti in
cima?”
“Niente.” (171)
La montagna era come
un animale selvaggio…
… un animale
ululante…
… con gli occhi
spalancati nel
buio della
notte…
… e Habu e Fukamachi
si trovavano nel
suo ventre. (286)
i venti della stratosfera…
In questa gelida atmosfera
il tempo sembra fermarsi,
avvolto nell’abbraccio della neve. (20)
Il vento
soffiava sulla tenda…
Forse,
in quell’istante
delle imponenti
divinita’ induiste
scendevano dal
cielo…
… danzando
tra le correnti
atmosferiche. (72)
Non sono
molti gli
uomini degni di
raggiungere
quella vetta e
parlare con
il cielo… (129)
“Quando
avrai scalato
la parete
sud ovest…”
“... cosa
pensi ti
aspetti in
cima?”
“Niente.” (171)
La montagna era come
un animale selvaggio…
… un animale
ululante…
… con gli occhi
spalancati nel
buio della
notte…
… e Habu e Fukamachi
si trovavano nel
suo ventre. (286)
March 17, 2026
L'Everest (finalmente!)
Il migliore volume finora dove la narrazione raggiunge il suo apice e le centinaia di pagine "introduttive" trovano il proprio compimento: i due protagonisti Habu Joji e Fukamachi restano soli sulla scena e affrontano l'impresa finale, lo zenit dell'alpinismo - la scalata dell'Everest in solitaria, invernale e senza ossigeno dal versante sud-est.
Finalmente tutte le sottotrame di contorno rimangono in basso (a cominciare dall'ultima, un tentativo di rapimento forzato e poco credibile) e rimane solo la montagna e i due uomini che la scalano.
Perfetta l'idea di concentrarsi su Fukamachi, alter ego del lettore, e lasciare lontano, sempre più avanti Habu Joji che assume ormai contorni da semi-dio (sottolineati da alcune tavole a lui dedicate di grande espressività). Mentre noi siamo portati ad identificarci con Fukamachi, testimone a distanza, fotografo che non può comunicare, ma solo assistere all'impresa.
Taniguchi riesce anche a dare informazioni e spiegazioni sui dettagli della scalata, indugiando sui nomi evocativi delle varie zone e creando un crescendo narrativo che arriva al climax monumentale sulla cascata di ghiaccio. Grande libertà stilistica, con riquadri dei fumetti che cambiano forma ed orientazione creando verticalità anche a livello della struttura della pagina.
Interessante scoprire che una tale scalata (solitaria invernale senza ossigeno) non sia stata ancora realizzata, ma che nell'inverno 2026 Jost Kobusch intende provarci.
Il migliore volume finora dove la narrazione raggiunge il suo apice e le centinaia di pagine "introduttive" trovano il proprio compimento: i due protagonisti Habu Joji e Fukamachi restano soli sulla scena e affrontano l'impresa finale, lo zenit dell'alpinismo - la scalata dell'Everest in solitaria, invernale e senza ossigeno dal versante sud-est.
Finalmente tutte le sottotrame di contorno rimangono in basso (a cominciare dall'ultima, un tentativo di rapimento forzato e poco credibile) e rimane solo la montagna e i due uomini che la scalano.
Perfetta l'idea di concentrarsi su Fukamachi, alter ego del lettore, e lasciare lontano, sempre più avanti Habu Joji che assume ormai contorni da semi-dio (sottolineati da alcune tavole a lui dedicate di grande espressività). Mentre noi siamo portati ad identificarci con Fukamachi, testimone a distanza, fotografo che non può comunicare, ma solo assistere all'impresa.
Taniguchi riesce anche a dare informazioni e spiegazioni sui dettagli della scalata, indugiando sui nomi evocativi delle varie zone e creando un crescendo narrativo che arriva al climax monumentale sulla cascata di ghiaccio. Grande libertà stilistica, con riquadri dei fumetti che cambiano forma ed orientazione creando verticalità anche a livello della struttura della pagina.
Interessante scoprire che una tale scalata (solitaria invernale senza ossigeno) non sia stata ancora realizzata, ma che nell'inverno 2026 Jost Kobusch intende provarci.
April 12, 2026
This volume didn't hit me as hard as the previous ones, largely because I was so PAINFULLY distracted by the horrifically sloppy translation "design." As a photographer, I know I spot these things more easily than most, but the careless digital fingerprints left on this art are impossible to ignore. I stopped counting after more than 30 instances of the most blatant, low-effort clone stamping I have EVER seen (and probably another 20 that I could still see, but that are at least forgivable). You can even see the edges of some kanji left behind in places too. SO SLOPPY! The original work may be from 2003, but with this translation being published in 2013, there is no excuse for this. In 2013, I could have clone stamped better than this with my eyes closed...
It’s a bummer because the art is WHY we're here, and Taniguchi would NEVER. This is strictly a failure in the translation design process, and seeing it butcher his art like this is jarring. These digital artifacts are like a blaring red light on the page to me, and definitely prevented me from fully sinking into the story. I didn't notice them in previous volumes (and I'm pretty sure I would have), so it's definitely something about this specific volume (just like in Volume 2 there were some really wonky errors on a few pages, and I've never seen anything like those since). Anyway, I still love this series, but this stuff matters!
It’s a bummer because the art is WHY we're here, and Taniguchi would NEVER. This is strictly a failure in the translation design process, and seeing it butcher his art like this is jarring. These digital artifacts are like a blaring red light on the page to me, and definitely prevented me from fully sinking into the story. I didn't notice them in previous volumes (and I'm pretty sure I would have), so it's definitely something about this specific volume (just like in Volume 2 there were some really wonky errors on a few pages, and I've never seen anything like those since). Anyway, I still love this series, but this stuff matters!
February 15, 2026
J’ai adoré que ça soit que de la grimpe. Surtout après le 3 qui justement m’ennuyait car il y en avait quasiment 0. J’ai juste pas compris le début avec la caméra et alors pourquoi faire un drama comme ça mdrr
Sinon génial, Habu Joji trop trop fort, et c’était cool de voir les galères de Fukamachi !! J’ai hâte de voir comment va se finir leur ascension, et comment va se boucler cette histoire.
Sinon génial, Habu Joji trop trop fort, et c’était cool de voir les galères de Fukamachi !! J’ai hâte de voir comment va se finir leur ascension, et comment va se boucler cette histoire.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 5, 2021
Fukamachi starts to get on my nerves in this one, although it's hard not to sympathize with his situation by volume's end. Though they are equally good, this volume is a little stronger than Vol 3. Taniguchi's knack for putting you right on the mountain alongside the climbers, and his descriptions of the preparations for Habu's climb itself are a true accomplishment. My teeth chattered during the brutal ice wall ascents despite being more than cozy under the covers on a +70F degree evening.
December 19, 2010
Très bon épisode qui me laisse en plein désarroi à la fin.. Vivement le dernier :)
August 15, 2026
Bellissimo anche questo, ottima preparazione al gran finale.
August 28, 2017
Ya casi estamos con éste gran manga, un tomito más y se acabó.
Éste cuarto tomo nos lleva al fin al Everest y a la proeza que está intentando conseguir el personaje de Habu. Aquí, el protagonista se encuentra al fin con aquél al que ha estado persiguiendo y consigue que le permitan seguirle hasta donde pueda para inmortalizar el momento.
El tomo se centra en la escalada (o el inicio de la misma) por parte de un periodista que está siguiendo a un escalador genial, una persona que se ha autoimpuesto una meta que quizás esté más allá de sus capacidades y por la que le veremos sufriendo.
Más allá de lo bien descrito que está el sufrimiento que conlleva una proeza de ésta magnitud, el tomo se mete mucho en la psique del periodista, un personaje que se encuentra a sí mismo (o empieza a hacerlo) cuando lo tiene todo en contra, cuando lo único que puede hacer es pensar en su vida y en lo que es importante para él.
Podría parecer que un tomo casi entero de alguien subiendo a una montaña se haría aburrido, pues sucede lo contrario, se convierte en un tramo apasionante de la historia, narrado con maestría y que te atrapa de principio a fin.
Éste cuarto tomo nos lleva al fin al Everest y a la proeza que está intentando conseguir el personaje de Habu. Aquí, el protagonista se encuentra al fin con aquél al que ha estado persiguiendo y consigue que le permitan seguirle hasta donde pueda para inmortalizar el momento.
El tomo se centra en la escalada (o el inicio de la misma) por parte de un periodista que está siguiendo a un escalador genial, una persona que se ha autoimpuesto una meta que quizás esté más allá de sus capacidades y por la que le veremos sufriendo.
Más allá de lo bien descrito que está el sufrimiento que conlleva una proeza de ésta magnitud, el tomo se mete mucho en la psique del periodista, un personaje que se encuentra a sí mismo (o empieza a hacerlo) cuando lo tiene todo en contra, cuando lo único que puede hacer es pensar en su vida y en lo que es importante para él.
Podría parecer que un tomo casi entero de alguien subiendo a una montaña se haría aburrido, pues sucede lo contrario, se convierte en un tramo apasionante de la historia, narrado con maestría y que te atrapa de principio a fin.
March 24, 2023
Les planches sont toujours aussi exceptionnelles et surtout celles en montagne. L'histoire suit son cours. On comprend aussi qu'Habu n'est pas l'homme désagréable, capable de laisser tomber qui que ce soit pour réussir ce qu'il entreprend. En effet, l'idée de base était qu'il réalise l'ascension hivernale de la face ouest de l'Everest en solitaire et sans oxygène. En donnant l'autorisation à Fukuyama de l'accompagner, Habu avait bien précisé néanmoins qu'en cas de problème, il n'interviendrait pas puisque cela compromettrait sa mission. Mais, lorsque Fukuyama se retrouve en difficulté, il n'hésite pas à descendre l'aider. Habu apparaît donc, dans ce tome, beaucoup plus sympathique. La description qui est faite de lui et de son mental pousse à l'admiration. Plus encore, on souhaite qu'il réussisse par tous les moyens. On veut réellement le voir accomplir ce pourquoi il a disparu pendant plus de 10 ans. En fait, ce tome est l'un des meilleurs de la série. Il est vraiment puissant et il pousse à l'introspection. Je recommande à nouveau cette série.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 10, 2022
Ne pas se retourner
C’est une ambiance totalement différente que nous offrent Taniguchi et Yumemakura dans cet avant dernier volet.
Alors que l’enquête autour de l’appareil photo nous faisait découvrir de nombreux lieux ainsi eu de nombreux personnages, c’est un recentrage sur les deux personnages principaux qui est ici exécuté.
Les deux alpinistes se retrouvent enfin seuls, face à eux-mêmes et surtout, face à la montagne. C’est une plongée époustouflante dans la psychologie humaine face à la solitude qui vous tient en haleine, tant par la justesse du propos que par la beauté du trait.
La fin est proche, nous pouvons le sentir, mais la tension et la poésie du récit, elles, ne faiblissent pas.
Il me tarde de me lancer dans le dernier volet de cette histoire, même si je préfèrerais qu’elle ne s’arrête jamais.
C’est une ambiance totalement différente que nous offrent Taniguchi et Yumemakura dans cet avant dernier volet.
Alors que l’enquête autour de l’appareil photo nous faisait découvrir de nombreux lieux ainsi eu de nombreux personnages, c’est un recentrage sur les deux personnages principaux qui est ici exécuté.
Les deux alpinistes se retrouvent enfin seuls, face à eux-mêmes et surtout, face à la montagne. C’est une plongée époustouflante dans la psychologie humaine face à la solitude qui vous tient en haleine, tant par la justesse du propos que par la beauté du trait.
La fin est proche, nous pouvons le sentir, mais la tension et la poésie du récit, elles, ne faiblissent pas.
Il me tarde de me lancer dans le dernier volet de cette histoire, même si je préfèrerais qu’elle ne s’arrête jamais.
September 27, 2022
Story schon viel flüssiger als es wieder auf den Berg geht. Die Darstellung der Einsamkeit und mit dazu gehörigen Schwierigkeiten alleine so eine Leistung zu bringen ist glaubhaft dargestellt. Hätte nicht gedacht, dass man da so viel draus machen kann, aber da passiert innerlich im Charakter einiges.
March 31, 2021
Toujours aussi prenant. Le dénouement approche. En attendant le sommet, l’ascension a commencée. Le dessin est aussi éprouvant que la montagne est grandiose.
Impressionnant de réalisme et d’immersion. En noir et blanc de surcroît.
Impressionnant de réalisme et d’immersion. En noir et blanc de surcroît.
August 9, 2021
So it seems like climbing Everest without oxygen might be tough… brutal volume that really brings the struggle to life and makes you feel every struggling breath. Can’t wait to see how this concludes.
February 24, 2022
Recensione completa -> https://thebooksblender.altervista.or...
May 29, 2020
One of it's kind graphic novel about climbing. Recommended for every lover of mountain literature.
February 2, 2022
So far my favorite in the series.
February 9, 2022
Dans ce tome on reprend la direction de la haute montagne, le graphisme est toujours excellent.
September 27, 2022
Dans une histoire qui commence à traîner en longueur à mon goût, ce tome a satisfait mon envie de réponses et d'action ! Ne manque plus que la conclusion.
December 11, 2022
Incroyable. Meilleur tome jusqu’ici.
January 21, 2023
Quelle œuvre incroyable bon sang !!
March 5, 2023
L'ascension du sommet a commencé. Une grand aventure est prévu. Excellent. Plein de suspense.....
March 9, 2024
The ending got me. What a ride this is.
May 21, 2026
Story: 4.0/5
Art: 4.5/5
Overall: 4.0/5
Art: 4.5/5
Overall: 4.0/5
June 2, 2026
The climb tightens its grip and doesn't let go. Taniguchi draws altitude the way other artists draw faces, with complete conviction.
August 25, 2026
Et de 4 dans la foulée
Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews