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 I was already loving this series, but this volume made me even more enthusiastic.
It’s without a doubt the best volume so far — one of those that boosts your desire to keep reading and, on top of that, to explore other works by Tsutomu Nihei that I haven’t read yet, since Blame! is the only one I’ve read until now.
A manga series not to be missed.
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PT Já estava a adorar esta série, mas com este volume fiquei ainda mais entusiasmado.
É, sem dúvida, o melhor volume até agora — daqueles que aumentam a vontade de continuar a ler e, além disso, de explorar outras obras de Tsutomu Nihei que ainda não conheço, já que, até agora, só li "Blame!".
Neste volume temos as melhores cenas de combate até agora. Deu pra sentir o tom dark. Todos os personagens são bons e bem construídos dentro daquilo que a história se propõe. Temos o alívio cômico que me fez revirar os olhos de tão cafona, mas prefiro relevar.
Seguiremos com a série. Yuva, não me decepcione!!
En: This volume has the best combat scenes so far. You can feel the dark tone of the series. All the characters are good and well-developed within what the story sets out to do. We also get some comic relief that made me roll my eyes because it was so cheesy, but I’ll let it slide.
I’ll keep going with the series. Yuva, don’t disappoint me!!
I just can't get enough of this. I love everything: the artstyle, storyline, characters. I hope the author keeps this level of quality in the future as well
Nihei maneja bien los códigos de dragones y mazmorras, y los reviste de una estética atractiva en la encrucijada de lo majestuoso, lo indeterminado, lo estilizado y lo pesadillesco. A veces pierde un poco de sentido en encuadres y composiciones que quebrantan la continuidad más de la cuenta, pero en la mayoría ofrece viñetas que detienen la acción en el instante justo para que puedas componer cómo se ha llegado ahí y como se va a encadenar con la siguiente. Y alumbra imágenes de enorme belleza. Muchas.
this series seriously pisses me off when it throws in these half ass fan service scenes. Because the setting otherwise takes itself very seriously, and these random moments are such a tonal whiplash, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Because the story is good and intriguing, and I feel like wasting time on these moments is time we could have spent getting know more about these characters.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
The dark atmosphere is suffocating, and then there is a rest and breathing room; it contrasts wonderfully, and the art is spectacular. Naivety of Yuva is cute, and clashes with the high intensity of every situation and his passivity is directly challenged by every other character. And everything together creates a polarising experience, which I adore.
REALLY love the lore and world building with this volume. everything with the princess, yuva and lilisen is great stuff. the art of the series is still amazing and i love how vast these rooms feel - the author does a great job at the sizing of this dungeon. GOOD SHIT!
I'm still not sold, because the plot and character growth feels so slow, even allowing for action scenes. The books are entertaining and so easy to read that I'm going to keep going. The miscommunication romance parts, and Yuva's awkwardness around girls combined with his literal and figurative denseness in has me wanting a more interesting main character. This volume ends with a dream that teases about Yuva's lineage and a reason it might not be so easy for our adventurers to make to make it to level 100 and save the princess, even though they've made it to level 80.
Il gruppo di disertori ha ormai il pieno controllo della situazione ed è pronto a uccidere Yuva, Eliquo e Lilisen. Proprio quando tutto sembra perduto, Yuva dimostra una capacità sorprendente: riesce a non precipitare nel vuoto, si aggrappa alla parete e contrattacca un arciere, ribaltando lo scontro e salvando sé stesso e i suoi compagni, eliminando gli ex cavalieri.
Con l’ammazzadraghi ora in loro possesso, il trio prosegue l’esplorazione della Torre, ma si imbatte in un basilisco capace di pietrificare Yuva e altri esseri umani intrappolati nei piani del Dungeon. Durante questo arco narrativo stringono un’alleanza con un gruppo di scavatori e con una misteriosa ragazza, soprannominata da Lilisen “ladra di tombe”, che tenta persino di reclutare Yuva nel proprio gruppo.
Eliquo e Lilisen prendono definitivamente coscienza di quanto Yuva sia diventato indispensabile: è già la seconda volta che li salva, dimostrando un valore ben superiore a quello di un semplice contadino.
Tra Yuva e Lilisen nasce inoltre un momento di imbarazzo e vicinanza, che lascia intuire l’inizio di un possibile sentimento romantico.
Attraverso un sogno, Yuva entra in contatto con la principessa, che lo avverte di un pericolo imminente: il necromante sta tentando di rigenerare il drago dell’80° piano. Yuva deve avvisare Minsaber il prima possibile. La principessa gli dona una collana, e viene infine rivelato che nel sangue di Yuva scorre sangue reale, aprendo nuovi interrogativi sul suo passato e sul suo destino.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Keeping the same quality as the previous volume. A little more emotion towards the end than before, which is a nice addition to a an already action-packed story. It's good to have slow moments.
I like the monster designs a lot! The art is still good. The mysteries keep piling up and makes me very curious as to what will happen. Especially the princess scene at the end...
Only one thing I kinda felt was rather conventional, was the revelation in the final pages. It was interesting the way it could explain certain things related to the main character. And it's not a bad choice, but... again felt I've seen it before. Still, I wanna see what will come out of that.
In the end a very strong volume, same as the last one.
Man this just got amped up to 1000 lol. That first chapter Yuva truly showed up and turned a screwed situation into a decisive victory. Glad to be able to see the Excavators Guild again. Their leader sure has a thing for Yuva. Maybe working with her could be fun lol! But the most interesting thing by far is learning about Yuva himself which we get a peek at at the closing of the volume. With all that is happening in this volume the next should be a banger. The art continues to impress and absolutely adds to the flavor of the text. 100% recommend!
Eriquo nascondeva nell’orecchino un’arma esplosiva molto potente che potrebbe uccidere il drago del livello 80. Nello scontro coi soldati Yuva si dimostra discretamente spietato, come si vede dalla kill molto splatter. Figo il basilisco falena gigante. Yuva viene visitato in sogno dalla principessa (che somiglia molto a sua sorella Funapa) che gli svela che l’obiettivo del necromante e’ impossessarsi del drago e gli dona anche la propria collana. A fine volume Eriquo ipotizza che Yuva discenda dalla famiglia reale.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
This is still so bare-bones plot-wise but the art is really good. The basilisk in this volume in particular RULES. So, not my favorite, but neat. I think the minimalist storytelling leaning on art design and atmosphere worked a lot better in blame because it was much more mysterious, whereas this is so bogged down in genre tropes that it ends up feeling generic even though a lot of the art design is very original.
Volume Three: simply stunning. Once again, Tsutomu Nihei manages to convey so much without resorting to panels filled with hyper-realistic artwork. The most interesting aspect, apart from the final twist regarding Yuva, is how the dangers of the Tower aren’t just the monsters, but what the dungeon itself does to humans.
I liked the interaction between Lilisen and Yuva. I suppose as the story progresses we’ll see more of the two of them and their relationship.
The plot thickens! This volume gives us revelations while also introducing a new kind of threat. Up until now, the monsters have been the main danger, so having a human enemy adds a fresh layer of tension.
The action is another highlight. My only complaint is the romance. It doesn't do much for me, and Lilisen is my least favorite character. I found her constant rudeness more annoying than entertaining, so I'm hoping she gets some meaningful character development in future volumes.
3 estrellas porque hay escenas innecesarias con personajes femeninos que me descuadran totalmente en un manga de Nihei, de verdad. Al final no habrá un manga que se libre de viñetas cringe y que sobran. Desconozco cuántos tomos acabaran saliendo pero espero que la historia vaya consiguiendo más profundidad teniendo en cuenta otra obras de Nihei.
J’ai adoré ce tome !! Le fan service est beaucoup plus léger et subjectif (smash Lilisen et l’excavatrice), ça fait du bien. Le volume nous transporte tellement bien dans l’ambiance, et les dessins sont toujours autant magistraux. Hâte de connaître la suite, surtout avec la révélation de fin de tome !!! 🐉
Read Delicious in Dungeon or The Tower by Schuiten/Peeters instead
This a grab bag of manga tropes: party of 3 sets out to rescue a princess in a tower filled with monsters. Nihei's art is always good even when it's lazy af (his faces are particularly rough). Yet I can't stop reading. 3.5 stars.
Un peu court sur le contenu. On avance lentement et on a moins d'exploration que dans les tomes précédents. Les plans du nécromant commencent à se faire connaître. Et j'ai aussi l'impression qu'un soupçon de romance arrive.
Je reste curieuse de la suite. Notamment des autres monstres qui pourraient apparaître car j'aime beaucoup l'apparence que l'auteur leur donne.
oh we just slammed the gas on the story, didn't we? This was a lot of fun. Finally the protagonist is taking some initiative, and we're getting some intrigue along with the worldbuilding. I'm into it.