Tsutomu Nihei (弐瓶 勉 Nihei Tsutomu, born 1971) is a Japanese manga artist. His cyberpunk-influenced artwork has gained a strong cult following. He has a relatively large community of fans in Germany where his manga Blame!, NOiSE and Biomega were published by Ehapa. Blame! was also published in France and Spain by Glénat, in the US by Tokyopop and in Italy by Panini Comics.
At first he studied architecture and later it is shown up in his manga works with drawing huge structures. This became one of his general theme that makes his manga unique. His works are usually in black and white. He is also an avid fan of the video game series Halo, as he mentions in his commentary section in the Halo Graphic Novel.
EN Spectacular! Tsutomu Nihei is, without a doubt, a true master.
I love the simplicity he manages to bring to everything he does — a simplicity that never weakens his work, but instead enhances its visual and emotional power.
Straightforward, beautiful stories, epic settings, and charismatic characters we connect with almost instantly.
Really, really good.
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PT Espectacular! Tsutomu Nihei é, sem dúvida, um verdadeiro mestre.
Adoro a simplicidade que ele consegue aplicar em tudo o que faz — uma simplicidade que nunca empobrece, mas antes reforça a força visual e emocional da sua obra.
Histórias diretas e belas, cenários épicos, personagens carismáticas com quem criamos empatia quase imediata.
El guion es un poco de receta de presentación de escenario: un encuentro fortuito por aquí, un villano que la lía con uno de los personajes por acá, un final que amenaza con dejar tieso a alguien del trío protagonista... Pero Nihei lo ilumina con ese arte estilizado con figuras bosquejadas con un mínimo de líneas, muy basado en las manchas blancas y negras, en las antípodas del detallismo de Berserkr, Record of the Lodoss War o Bastard (por ejemplo). Y qué bien funciona.
Yuva, Eriquo e Lilisen proseguono la loro esplorazione della Torre, ma il gruppo fatica a mantenere la giusta sintonia. Le difficoltà di orientamento e le tensioni interne rendono la missione ancora più complicata. Durante uno scontro improvviso, Lilisen riesce a dimostrare la propria forza: grazie alla sua abilità di fuoco, elimina un potente mostro che li aveva attaccati.
Una notte, mentre i tre dormono, una misteriosa creatura umanoide ruba i loro oggetti. Dopo un inseguimento, i cavalieri riescono a recuperare il bottino e, con l’aiuto di alcuni umani che vivono stabilmente all’interno della Torre, trovano finalmente la via per le scale e l’uscita.
Fuori dal Dungeon, i tre si concedono una pausa per mangiare, ma la tregua dura poco: Funapa, la sorella di Yuva, viene ferita gravemente da un enorme mostro antropomorfo chiamato Karash, noto come “mangiauomini”. La situazione sembra disperata, ma interviene Garamna, una guardia donna-bestia, che salva Funapa e costringe Karash alla fuga.
Funapa viene portata nella fortezza, dove rimane al sicuro, mentre Garamna giura di proteggerla a costo della vita.
Nel frattempo, Yuva subisce un duro colpo: un gruppo di vandali gli ruba la sfera curativa (orb) che aveva recuperato nel Dungeon dopo aver sconfitto uno slime — un oggetto prezioso e dalle proprietà misteriose.
Poco dopo, si scopre che una contessa del regno è in realtà un Darkmetamor, una creatura della stessa razza di Karash. Quest’ultimo tenta di raggiungere la principessa per salvarla, ma il suo piano fallisce.
Il volume si chiude con il ritorno del trio nella Torre, dove viene attaccato da un’unità di soldati reali disertori, i quali, per sopravvivere, si sono abbandonati al caos e ora agiscono per conto proprio, seminando morte e distruzione nei piani inferiori del Dungeon.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Le tome 2 permet de mieux découvrir les deux autres personnages qui forment l'escouade réduite de la garde royale avec notre Yuva. J’apprécie particulièrement Lilisen que l'on retrouve sur la couverture. C'est une marge de feu assez exigeante envers elle-même et les autres. Elle est aussi intransigeante avec notre héros qui est un peu naïf. Cela fait une dynamique intéressante dans ce groupe dont le chef ne semble pas très bien tenir la pression. Il y a donc des petits moments d'humour parsemés ici et là, mais sans que cela ne me semble forcé.
Je suis aussi emballé de voir que l'univers de Tower Dungeon se dévoile davantage au fil des chapitres. Malgré ce que l'on pourrait penser, le focus n'est pas seulement sur ce qui se passe à l’intérieur de la tour (cela reste évidemment l'élément principal de l'intrigue). On en apprend notamment un peu plus sur les dracomorphes qui ne sont pas tous des enfants de cœur. D’ailleurs, l'immense tour des dragons donne lieu à de superbes planches dont les compositions accentuent l'aura intimidante de la structure. Je prend le temps de m'arrêter quelques instants sur plusieurs pages pour admirer les dessins du mangaka. Ce deuxième tome est excellent!
My initial worry that this manga would be just another bland fantasy work has all but left me after reading this volume. Its really opening up to be its own thing, with the dragon-humanoid race and their inherent political strife. Our main trio has a familiar interplay and if I were being cynical would describe them as the quiet reliable one, the glass cannon tsundere and the protective and observant big brother. While these archetypes may be well established to the point of being cliche I find this rendition a comfort, not a fault. Not every story needs to revolutionize every aspect, some can just be great in their earnestness. In that somber earnestness I sense strong notes of Frieren and that makes me feel that my expectations will be betrayed and my heart will be ripped out. Perhaps that expectation is misled as well.
Ad inizio volume i nostri eroi si perdono, ma durante l’esplorazione incontrano delle creature che rivelano loro una rampa di scale che parte dal primo livello fino ad arrivare all’ottantesimo: top scorciatoia. Una volta tornati alla fortezza scoprono che ci si e’ trasferita anche Funapa, la sorella minore di Yuva. La sera stessa viene attaccata dal marchese Karash, un depravato e ripugnante mutaforma. Viene però salvata da Lilisen e Garamna, valorosa guardia dalle fattezze feline di cui Funapa diventa poi apprendista/assistente. Viene introdotto anche il personaggio della Contessa Ieoa, anche lei una mutaforma ma buona, che vuole essere lei a salvare la principessa. Si conclude con un cliffhanger in cui i nostri vengono attaccati da disertori dell’armata reale.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
En este segundo tomo de “Tower Dungeon”, el autor Nihei profundiza notablemente en el World Building, revelando más detalles del intrigante universo que rodea a nuestro trío protagonista. Las interacciones entre Lilisen y Yuva destacan especialmente, ofreciendo momentos muy divertidos, aunque resulta curioso que Yuva, a pesar de ser el protagonista principal, mantenga por ahora un perfil bastante discreto en la historia.
La narrativa de Nishei continúa fluyendo de forma equilibrada, avanzando sin pausa pero sin prisa, lo que mantiene el interés en todo momento. En cuanto al arte, se mantiene fantástico, destacando su trazo sencillo pero cargado de un atractivo especial que encaja perfectamente con la temática de fantasía y proporciona una sensación de escala impresionante.
Estoy disfrutando mucho cómo se desarrolla esta historia y la verdad es que espero con ganas el siguiente tomo.
hmmmm... It's pretty interesting but a little conventional. It has all the classic hangups of Japanese media: submissive protagonist, hot-headed boundary breaking side characters who ruin everyone's mood, world building through exposition, lengthy dialogue... But the world is so cool. The titular "Tower Dungeon" is so daunting, a floating tower bigger than a mountain with labyrinthine grimy corridors and sense-bending side effects... And the art. It is the perfect balance between simplicity and grittiness. Nihei is always a master of manga, even if the story can fall a little flat. Still a few chapters to read till I catch up. Hopefully, the narrative picks up.
Yuva, Lilisen y Eliquo son los únicos de la guardia real que siguen adentrándose en la torre en su misión de rescatar a la princesa. También llegan nuevos personajes al fuerte y empieza a haber más vida a los alrededores de la torre. Conocemos también a dos poderosos drac metamorphs y a otros seres.
No hace falta que reitere lo increíble que son los diseños de las criaturas de Nihei, ni que nos cuenta una gran historia que se va a haciendo cada vez más interesante solo con mostrarnos paneles sin texto.
Un segundo tomo cargado de worldbuilding superinteresante y que además expande el elenco de personajes más de lo que pensaba. La estructura al puro estilo "dungeon crawler" le sienta de maravilla, hasta la forma literal en la que encuentran un atajo para volver a la ciudad y en la propia ciudad suceden eventos que avanzan la historia.
Me parece un concepto brillante y una de las mejores adaptaciones de lo que puede ser un RPG de este tipo en un medio totalmente diferente.
I really dig the art style. The story is still really good although we are starting to get a lot of new people added and that can be good and bad. There is a lot of backstabbing, and rather evil folks among the supposed good guys so it seems in this world never get comfortable with the person next to you lol. Another thing I find interesting is that there are types of people who literally live in the tower. You just don't know what you will find in it.
La trama que comenzó pareciendo una historieta de aventuras con herencia del d&d cada vez tiende a unos tintes más adictivos y oscuros siguiendo un estilo fantástico que podría recordar al Dark Souls, Elden Ring... Los personajes por fin desarrollan algo más de fondo y complejidad en este. A ver que nos depara el último tomo.
I enjoyed the second volume of this series quite a bit. Good, considering I was on the fence after the first volume. Art is still amazing, and the character designs are so interesting, especially the dracomorphs. Less fan service this time around and a more serious tone befitting the story. Looking forward to vol. 3!
Beaucoup mieux que le tome 1 ! Heureuse que ça progresse dans le bon sens : plus d’enjeux, plus de rebondissements et moins de femmes qui terminent nues d’un claquement de doigts. Même si ça me perdait dans le premier volume, j’aime cette introduction de nouveaux personnages qui ne reflètent pas s’ils sont du « bon » ou « mauvais » côté malgré des apparences trompeuses.
A great second entry in this series. Most of this volume establishes the world outside the tower, with plenty of new characters. Enjoying seeing this world develop, and eager to see how far the world will expand outside of the Tower Dungeon itself.
Parece tener un elemento social con bastante peso en la historia. Existen muchas razas, como en otras historias de Nihei. Se mantiene el nivel del primer tomo pero hay escenas con Yuva que sí parecen de shonen.
This is still pretty uneven and I find it leans on fantasy video game tropes rather than building on them the way Dungeon Meshi does, but the art is good and it's certainly trying to be weird and horrifying which I always admire. Will continue on.
This volume leaned harder on the JRPG gaming tropes which I felt kind of hurt its tone. It'd feel almost like a silly satire if it wasn't trying to be grim. The focus on old dungeon RPG tropes almost felt like a different setting from the first volume.
This is so fun, morphing dragon nobles feeding on the peasants, invading a giant tower that gets more and more complicated. The worldbuilding is great, the art is dope, I'm here for it.
Toujours,très,beau et sympa; je trouve que les petits flous de mise en scène s’estompent un peu et à signaler qu’il n’y a plus de scènes de nudité féminin ultra gratuite et génantes. Donc tout bien.