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.
PT Desta vez, o volume abre de forma totalmente inesperada. É-nos apresentado um grupo completamente novo de personagens, todas elas extremamente interessantes, e são estas que acompanhamos até ao final do tomo — momento em que, finalmente, voltamos a cruzar-nos com as figuras já bem conhecidas da série.
A obra continua fenomenal — diria até que tem vindo a melhorar a cada volume — e mantém-se como uma leitura verdadeiramente prazerosa.
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EN This time, the volume opens in a completely unexpected way. We are introduced to an entirely new group of characters, all of them extremely compelling, and it is these figures we follow through to the end of the book — where we finally reunite with the series’ familiar regulars.
The series remains phenomenal — I would even say it keeps getting better with each volume — and continues to be a genuinely enjoyable read.
Nihei le mete más personajes a la mazmorra y abre el foco de la perversidad detrás del villano de la historia. Si a esto le sumas que el dibujo continúa en esa estilización de la fantasía heroica, entregado me hallo, sin ambages.
Only Nihei could juxtapose a cliche like "the Peasant Boy is the heir to the Kingdom!" with the Cronenburgian biohorror of a woman eating the maggots she births from her tentacular ovipositor. Holy HELL that was disgusting, I love it. Nihei absolutely still has it.
Tower Dungeon continues doling out lore and fights at a pretty quick pace. Nihei was never one for drawn-out battles, but damn these ones go by fast. It actually seems to be moving to something of a turning point, since the heroes are quite close to their (supposed) goal, but vol 4 doubled the character count, and it doesn't feel like it's ending immediately. Either there's something more, or Nihei's lost the plot this early. In fact our main trio only appears at the end of vol 4 having apparently gone through their own off-screen adventure to get to the same point as the new ones.
The obligatory romance develops...busty rough and tumble tomboy vs tsundere girlygirl, I think we know how this one ends.
Still kind of waiting for this to pop off, but I'm enjoying it more than Aposimz.
Salt boy is being a little idiot again thinking about the princess tsk tsk tsk. Quit being so hormonal dude and just stab the necromancer already. Meanwhile, mouse knight is over here reassuring miss knight that it's ok she's trans. She's not, but hey, it was a nice sentiment even if he mistook whatever that thing was she ate for the medieval fantasy equivalent of HRT. Mouse knight is very sweet. I like him a lot. Also, we have another poor little meow meow! Mr. dragon who can't do anything but write secret messages in his notebook is so useless and so wet rat coded. I love him your honor. This series is feeding me so much. We have: capable women who could kill me (Miss explodie mage, the cleaners), pathetic wet rat men (Mr. incapable of doing anything dragon, salt boi), animal people (mouse knight, cat knight), and eldritch monsters created by a necromancer (surprisingly cute slime monster, surprisingly cute triangle bugs). What's not to love?
A fantastic fourth volume. The majority of this volume focuses on six new adventurers joining the quest to save the princess. They battle maggot zombies, rendezvous with the arriving army forces, and are ambushed by a hoard of undead Basilisks. They petrify the army reinforcements, then slay, and resurrect the corpses as maggot zombies. A trap setup by the Necromancer. Team Seven saves our new adventures from Carache’s ambush. Initiating a battle with the Necromancer possessing Carache’s corpse. Which is morphing into its dragon form as the chapter ends to Volume 5. Good stuff.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Nel primo capitolo vengono introdotti diversi nuovi personaggi: Churafi, una topina arciere, il suo braccio Ghesshi, il mago Sargan e Iskeil (che e’ un Drakmetamor, qualsiasi cosa voglia dire) col suo aiutante muto Rixul. Tutti si stanno dirigendo via nave verso la torre. Si scopre che il cattivone probabilmente ha rapito la principessa per vendicarsi dell’uccisione di tutti gli altri necromanti per ordine della corona Arriva anche una divisione enorme dell’esercito del regno, ma in poco tempo vengono uccisi e posseduti dal necromante. Solo alla fine il nuovo gruppo si unisce al vecchio.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Cuarto volumen: si con el tercero nos ampliaba el mundo, con este Tsutomu Nihei muestra sus dotes para enriquecerlo con nuevos añadidos: razas, personajes y amenazas viejas que se vuelven más peligrosas.
La aventura va ampliándo y llenándose de color. Nuevos personajes con sus motivaciones y secretos, la ominosa presencia del Nigromante, el peligro de la Torre y el secreto de Yuva y su origen. Sin duda Nihei sabe cómo captar en pocas escenas el interés y la emoción.
Genuinely every time we are introduced to a female character we have to see her naked body. I hate it here. At least with Aridellia they tried to link it into the plot. Also, the Yuva and Lilisen thing is still so out of nowhere but whatever. It's mildly cute, I guess. I just still feel like there is no forethought in this process at all, but I think this volume is kind of bringing up potential plot threads…?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I enjoyed the new characters. Although they take almost all of the volume, making me miss the main ones (and the continuation of the BIG reveal in the last chapter!).
But they are fun to follow, I liked how they are all different and unique, with their own mysteries and secrets and little arcs.
Special mention to the introduction of the mouse race, there's not many fantasy stories with friendly mice races. That was a highlight.
Just when I was getting used to the characters we had now we have a whole bunch more to get to know. Although we find some linkage with some of the groups it would be nice to keep the story a little more tidy. This volume feels like we just sat in place and spun our tires, not that it was bad or anything but just didn't progress the story overly much.
1st part: What the fuck is that a woman feeding herself from her butt? Or am I stupid.
2nd thing: Oh yes, now we are cooking. We are presented to new characters, and everyone is weird in the best way possible. The threats feel deadlier, and the tower is even more dangerous, thanks to a simple trope of resurrecting the dead. Nihei is clearly enjoying himself and it is a joy to read.
Not much developments in this one, but a clever setup for a battle with a basilisk. The design of the basilisk is cool and the strategy employed is clever. Not much story in this volume though for an issue that is supposed to introduce a new set of characters.
Introduce un grupo nuevo de personajes que, la verdad, no me interesan mucho. Veremos cómo evoluciona, pero es el que menos he disfrutado de los cuatro primeros.