APOSIMZ, Vol. 6

人形の国 [Ningyou no Kuni] #6

by Tsutomu Nihei

Keisha and Titania continue to hunt down Regular Frames in order to speed along Etherow’s recovery. As Kajiwan creates Regenerateds from those afflicted with Frame Disease, the Empire deploys new weapons in its fight against both Titania’s party and the True Core Church. When the Emperor himself makes a surprise appearance, Titania takes a chance that alters the future...

Genres: Manga, Science Fiction, Comics, Graphic Novels

164 pages, Paperback

First published May 8, 2020

About the author

See also 弐瓶 勉.

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.

Taken from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsutomu_...

Reviews

[Ocean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unfortunately does not capitalize on the momentum of the previous volume. Still a lot of fun art and the antagonist benefits from this installment. But there's very little of real interest in this part of the story.

[Sol · Rating 2 out of 5]

Volumes 5 and 6 illustrate one of the big problems with this series. Despite the fact that Etherow is absent almost the whole time, the emotional valence isn't really changed at all. The addition of Wasabu barely alters the dynamic of the party. I also find the story is getting repetitive. Kill some enemy frames, help some random wandering villagers, then some big climactic event every couple of volumes. God help me, but I'm actually missing the haremettes of Sidonia. Stupid as their cookie cutter personalities were, they at least had an interpersonal dynamic. Etherow is like Tanikaze without an Izana or Tsumugi to bounce off of.

Mercifully, there was a bit of lore added and some marginal plot progression. It seems like the oneshot is definitely canon, as Nichiko and Tosu both met Titania in the past. We see how Kajiwan plans to enter the core. The giantess Ajate is introduced, who might serve a Tsumugi/Funipero-like role. We learn that AMBs can change the future, which suggests to me they might be pre-packaged GBE shots. Biko (girl from Etherow's hometown) reappears at the big battle.

[Katharine · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
The battle scenes are still improving, thankfully. There was more lore on the world, even though it was still pretty small. The newest addition to the party feels odd. This character feels like they were added for comic relief, and it just doesn't fit well. Also, I feel like this series just keeps adding a bunch of characters and bloating the cast. It's getting to a point where there are so many characters, it's getting difficult to remember whose who. I did NOT expect the Emporer and Etherow to clash at this point in the story, I thought their battle would be near the end of the series. The one perk of their clashes is that the Emperor seems to not be able to tell what Etherow's frame power is, so he's constantly on the wrong foot. The reader also doesn't know what his true power is, so we want to know what it is as much as the Emperor. It's also interesting to see Kajiwan's descent into madness. He was always a bit nuts, which I had assumed from what Titania said about his mind. But seeing him go down to the bottom of the pit of madness is interesting. I really hope the Reincarnated Trio ditch him and go off on their own at some point. They all clearly don't want to follow him but are being forced to.

[47Time · Rating 2 out of 5]

The giant naked clone named Ajate has been transformed into a giant less-naked-but-armored frame. Its vast power is used to track down Titania and Keisha. A frame called Rinai teleports their hideout to the surface. The True Core Church trio attack the emperor's capitol ship of Mors Ulve. The attack is seen by Titania as an opportunity to go for the emperor himself. Unfortunately, Nichiko Suou the emperor is ready for Etherow's AMP shot which misses. He then learns where Etherow is located. Etherow is fully recovered using placents from Keisha. He takes down four frames before having to retreat from the emperor.

[Drew · Rating 3 out of 5]

The end of this volume was not earned plot-wise in that I feel like the author just bent the rules of the universe to allow a positive outcome for the battle, but at least it actually had some action this time so I'm rating it higher than the last volume. Still not entirely sure why I'm continuing to read when I really don't like this series all that much, but I guess we all do incomprehensible things sometimes.

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

After all this time I am still getting used to Nihei's 'softer' art style (introduced in Knights of Sidonia), but it still amazing to see. His attention to form and detail is next to none!

Fast paced read, but with minimal development in the overall story, however it does not take away from the enjoyment of the book.

[DonutKnow · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tosu is so cool and I ship him with Jate ❤️❤️❤️

[Gabriel Benitez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Durante un tiempo me parecía que la serie había decaído, pero desde el volumen anterior, volvió a tomar rumbo.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read as individual chapters (31-36).

3.33