What do you think?
Rate this book
最終兵器彼女 [Saishuu Heiki Kanojo] #4
Saikano: The Last Love Song on This Little Planet, Vol. 04
All Chise wants to do is get back together with her boyfriend and fall in love. But things are always difficult for the cute high school girl... especially when she splits her time between homework assignments and top-secret missions for the Japanese war effort.
As the fighting continues, Chise struggles to maintain her fading humanity. Is she the shy girl who dreams about kissing Shuji? Or is she the ultimate machine often deployed to wipe out entire cities in the blink of an eye? Ultimately, the answer to this question will determine the fate of the entire world!
As the fighting continues, Chise struggles to maintain her fading humanity. Is she the shy girl who dreams about kissing Shuji? Or is she the ultimate machine often deployed to wipe out entire cities in the blink of an eye? Ultimately, the answer to this question will determine the fate of the entire world!
248 pages, Paperback
First published March 30, 2001
1 person is currently reading
59 people want to read
About the author
Shin Takahashi
59 books26 followersShin Takahashi ( 高橋しん, originally 高橋真 Takahashi Shin?, born September 8, 1967) is a Japanese manga artist best known for writing Saikano (She, the Ultimate Weapon) and Iihito. He was born in Shibetsu, Hokkaidō on September 8, 1967.
He has been using computer graphics in his works since the time when few manga artists were able to use them.
He has been using computer graphics in his works since the time when few manga artists were able to use them.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
February 27, 2021
I find it interesting how so many deeply-impacting works weave multiple genres together in a way that uses the tropes and strengths of each to highlight and play off of the other.
On the one hand, we're shown a truly messed-up love polysplat involving Tetsu (still in the field, and struggling with PTSD) and Fuyumi, main characters Chise and Shuuji, who have technically broken up now but think about each other constantly, and now their friends Akemi and Atsushi, and even hints of others.
On the other hand there's that gritty war drama giving us a steady drip of horrors. Japan is in such dire straits that while there doesn't seem to be a draft, it's accepting old men and teenage girls as volunteers to hold the line in abandoned cities. Chise, meanwhile, is still uncontrollably popping out missiles when she so much as senses that someone is trying to find her on radar, and breaking buildings with the sheer force of her desire to go fight - which of course brings us back to the relationship issues that she's trying to escape from.
If there's a pattern that's starting to wear on me a bit, it's the one where two characters are about to have sex and then something gut-wrenchingly awful comes up and stops them. It's not like I don't get what Takahashi is doing with that move, of course: the characters are at the right age to be unrelentingly horny, and getting some Eros in your Thanatos is a powerful combination. It's just that it's become an expected beat, by this point: you know that if someone lifts up someone else's shirt, at least one of them is going to be crying within a page or two. And while the final use of that beat in this book packs a punch by being almost inhuman, I'd be just as happy to see the two primary plotlines crash into each other in a few more distinct ways in the future.
On the one hand, we're shown a truly messed-up love polysplat involving Tetsu (still in the field, and struggling with PTSD) and Fuyumi, main characters Chise and Shuuji, who have technically broken up now but think about each other constantly, and now their friends Akemi and Atsushi, and even hints of others.
On the other hand there's that gritty war drama giving us a steady drip of horrors. Japan is in such dire straits that while there doesn't seem to be a draft, it's accepting old men and teenage girls as volunteers to hold the line in abandoned cities. Chise, meanwhile, is still uncontrollably popping out missiles when she so much as senses that someone is trying to find her on radar, and breaking buildings with the sheer force of her desire to go fight - which of course brings us back to the relationship issues that she's trying to escape from.
If there's a pattern that's starting to wear on me a bit, it's the one where two characters are about to have sex and then something gut-wrenchingly awful comes up and stops them. It's not like I don't get what Takahashi is doing with that move, of course: the characters are at the right age to be unrelentingly horny, and getting some Eros in your Thanatos is a powerful combination. It's just that it's become an expected beat, by this point: you know that if someone lifts up someone else's shirt, at least one of them is going to be crying within a page or two. And while the final use of that beat in this book packs a punch by being almost inhuman, I'd be just as happy to see the two primary plotlines crash into each other in a few more distinct ways in the future.
March 20, 2018
Saikano is subtle, personal and introspective. The art is atmospheric, although I find the frequent lack of backgrounds to be disturbing and distracting. The characters are sometimes hard to tell apart, although the emotions on their faces are unmistakable.
I'm still, 4 volumes into the series, completely impressed by the way the creators use a backdrop of sci-fi and warfare to accentuate the confused coming of age of teenage romance. Shuji and Chise have broken up, but they are still so desperately in love that they can barely function in their everyday lives. Shuji is distant and angry, and only able to talk when he realizes that his friend Akemi is feeling similarly confused about her relationship. Chise is, compellingly, drawn to an older man who can more easily relate to her experiences. She doesn't love him, but she is drawn to him. He's been a part of the war, and he appreciates the trauma of what she has had to do as Japan's Ultimate Weapon.
My biggest complaint is that the series is extremely decompressed. Shuji laments his feelings for Chise for long periods of time, although seeing them both struggling with their teenage lust and feelings of guilt is still pretty amusing.
Overall, it's a very strong, very emotional series about the stress and trauma of becoming an adult, dressed up in a sci-fi-tinged war story skin, and I think it's certainly a series worth checking out.
I'm still, 4 volumes into the series, completely impressed by the way the creators use a backdrop of sci-fi and warfare to accentuate the confused coming of age of teenage romance. Shuji and Chise have broken up, but they are still so desperately in love that they can barely function in their everyday lives. Shuji is distant and angry, and only able to talk when he realizes that his friend Akemi is feeling similarly confused about her relationship. Chise is, compellingly, drawn to an older man who can more easily relate to her experiences. She doesn't love him, but she is drawn to him. He's been a part of the war, and he appreciates the trauma of what she has had to do as Japan's Ultimate Weapon.
My biggest complaint is that the series is extremely decompressed. Shuji laments his feelings for Chise for long periods of time, although seeing them both struggling with their teenage lust and feelings of guilt is still pretty amusing.
Overall, it's a very strong, very emotional series about the stress and trauma of becoming an adult, dressed up in a sci-fi-tinged war story skin, and I think it's certainly a series worth checking out.
October 3, 2021
4/5 Stars
It's suppose to be a sad-ish manga but at times their Chise's innocence and certain scenes just make me burst out laughing. I hope in the end it's a happy ending and not a sad one. I think I owe one or two more volume... maybe I will get the rest to collect.
It's suppose to be a sad-ish manga but at times their Chise's innocence and certain scenes just make me burst out laughing. I hope in the end it's a happy ending and not a sad one. I think I owe one or two more volume... maybe I will get the rest to collect.
October 19, 2024
This is a love story mixed with a war story. This volume was more about the war side, although that means how the characters react to the war rather than the progress of the war itself. I'm not crazy about the story or the art, but they're good enough to deserve 4 stars.
April 30, 2025
Takahashi crea un’opera sospesa tra il lirismo e la tragedia, capace di raccontare l’amore e la guerra con rara delicatezza.
Le linee leggere, a volte tremolanti, sembrano esitare sulla carta, restituendo tutta la fragilità dei personaggi: adolescenti spinti troppo presto ai margini dell’umanità.
Un linguaggio visivo perfetto per raccontare una storia che danza costantemente tra sogno e incubo, tra la tenerezza dell’intimità giovanile e l’orrore di un conflitto disumano.
Ogni tavola è attraversata da una malinconia sottile, mai gratuita. Lei, l’arma finale è una lettura che spezza il cuore e allo stesso tempo lo accarezza, riuscendo a trasformare la sofferenza in un racconto di struggente bellezza.
***
Takahashi weaves a tale suspended between lyricism and tragedy, capturing love and war with an exquisite, uncommon grace.
His delicate trembling lines seem to waver on the page, as if echoing the fragility of his characters—teenagers cast too soon to the edges of what it means to be human.
It is a visual language that drifts effortlessly between dream and nightmare, where the softness of young intimacy meets the brutal silence of war.
Each panel is touched by a quiet, aching melancholy—never forced, always true. She, the Final Weapon is a story that shatters the heart even as it softly holds it, turning pain into something hauntingly beautiful.
Le linee leggere, a volte tremolanti, sembrano esitare sulla carta, restituendo tutta la fragilità dei personaggi: adolescenti spinti troppo presto ai margini dell’umanità.
Un linguaggio visivo perfetto per raccontare una storia che danza costantemente tra sogno e incubo, tra la tenerezza dell’intimità giovanile e l’orrore di un conflitto disumano.
Ogni tavola è attraversata da una malinconia sottile, mai gratuita. Lei, l’arma finale è una lettura che spezza il cuore e allo stesso tempo lo accarezza, riuscendo a trasformare la sofferenza in un racconto di struggente bellezza.
***
Takahashi weaves a tale suspended between lyricism and tragedy, capturing love and war with an exquisite, uncommon grace.
His delicate trembling lines seem to waver on the page, as if echoing the fragility of his characters—teenagers cast too soon to the edges of what it means to be human.
It is a visual language that drifts effortlessly between dream and nightmare, where the softness of young intimacy meets the brutal silence of war.
Each panel is touched by a quiet, aching melancholy—never forced, always true. She, the Final Weapon is a story that shatters the heart even as it softly holds it, turning pain into something hauntingly beautiful.
September 28, 2011
To recap: Shuji and Chise are high school students. A war is going on and Chise has been made into a weapon by the Japanese army. She's now a cyborg and each time she goes into battle, she changes a little bit more, becoming even less human. In the last volume, Chise broke up with Shuji, saying they should just be friends.
Shuji and his friend, Atsushi, go on the roof to talk about Atsushi's crush on Akemi, the girl on the track team who has been Shuji's friend all his life. Atsushi asked Akemi out and she shot him down, so Atsushi has decided to join the SDF and take part in the war. Atsushi later comes by Shuji's house, and the two young men go for a walk. While they are out during the night, an squadron of fighter planes sails over the city. Before the boys can react, the planes are all destroyed.
Shuji and Atsushi split up and Shuji finds Chise in the streets. They kiss - very passionately - and Chise reminds him that they're friends and runs away.
At school, Akemi takes Shuji to task for breaking up with Chise. She and Chise have talked as well, and Chise explained what was going on. It appears to the reader that Akemi may have a crush on Shuji that she's never acted on based on her reactions to what Shuji and Chise both tell her.
The classes at the school continue to dwindle as kids stop attending. Atsushi joins the SDF only to hear rumors about a Captain Chise, wondering at how a captain has the same name as his best friend's girlfriend. He starts trying to find out about this captain, only to run into more and more dead ends.
Meanwhile, Chise has stopped going to school. Shuji hasn't seen her for some time. Chise has started spending time with Tetsu, who is a married soldier, part of her original company and the only one left alive. He more or less adopts Chise as his little sister, running off with her to the boarded up town to "buy" ramen noodles and clothes for Chise to wear, since the military refuses to supply any more (every time she goes into battle, she destroys her clothing).
The story ends with a cliffhanger that makes the reader want to continue reading to find out what happens with Shuji and Chise.
Shuji and his friend, Atsushi, go on the roof to talk about Atsushi's crush on Akemi, the girl on the track team who has been Shuji's friend all his life. Atsushi asked Akemi out and she shot him down, so Atsushi has decided to join the SDF and take part in the war. Atsushi later comes by Shuji's house, and the two young men go for a walk. While they are out during the night, an squadron of fighter planes sails over the city. Before the boys can react, the planes are all destroyed.
Shuji and Atsushi split up and Shuji finds Chise in the streets. They kiss - very passionately - and Chise reminds him that they're friends and runs away.
At school, Akemi takes Shuji to task for breaking up with Chise. She and Chise have talked as well, and Chise explained what was going on. It appears to the reader that Akemi may have a crush on Shuji that she's never acted on based on her reactions to what Shuji and Chise both tell her.
The classes at the school continue to dwindle as kids stop attending. Atsushi joins the SDF only to hear rumors about a Captain Chise, wondering at how a captain has the same name as his best friend's girlfriend. He starts trying to find out about this captain, only to run into more and more dead ends.
Meanwhile, Chise has stopped going to school. Shuji hasn't seen her for some time. Chise has started spending time with Tetsu, who is a married soldier, part of her original company and the only one left alive. He more or less adopts Chise as his little sister, running off with her to the boarded up town to "buy" ramen noodles and clothes for Chise to wear, since the military refuses to supply any more (every time she goes into battle, she destroys her clothing).
The story ends with a cliffhanger that makes the reader want to continue reading to find out what happens with Shuji and Chise.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 18, 2012
This series really tugs on my heartstrings... Okay, so it's more like YANKS my heartstrings to the breaking point.
In this volume, life for Chise and Shuji trudges on. After a close call in a sneak attack raid by the enemy, the peaceful town of Sapporo quickly becomes chaos. Shuji tries to hold his classmates together, but things change faster than he imagines. Chise joins the SDF as a full-time agent with a heart of ice. Can Commander Chise keep it together in the army and can Shuji control his heartbreak?
In this volume, life for Chise and Shuji trudges on. After a close call in a sneak attack raid by the enemy, the peaceful town of Sapporo quickly becomes chaos. Shuji tries to hold his classmates together, but things change faster than he imagines. Chise joins the SDF as a full-time agent with a heart of ice. Can Commander Chise keep it together in the army and can Shuji control his heartbreak?
October 15, 2012
Si el objetivo del autor era deprimir al lector a cada página, pasó con Muy Bien 10. Tiene varios de los clichés del manga, pero el nivel medio del guion es muy superior a la media. El dibujo quizás no sea de lo mejor, pero acompaña con acierto la onda melancólica del guion. A ver cuándo lo retomo.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews