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Spriggan #2
SPRIGGAN: Deluxe Edition 2
EXOTIC RUINS, LEGENDARY RELICS, AND SUPER-SOLDIER ACTION COMBINE IN THE CLASSIC MANGA THAT INSPIRED A FILM AND AN ANIMATED SERIES!
In the distant past, ancient civilizations possessed technology far beyond modern understanding, and their tremendous power led to catastrophe. Now, governments, militaries, and international megacorporations will stop at nothing to seize their relics and use them for their own gain! Ominae Yu is a Spriggan, a top-level special operative for the ARCAM corporation, tasked with preventing the past’s most dangerous treasures from falling into the wrong hands. Equipped with cutting-edge power armor and a teenager’s boundless confidence, Yu journeys to Baghdad, where an accursed mirror of the legendary Tower of Babel slumbers beneath the sands. The first tower reached for the heavens…but this one points straight down to hell!
In the distant past, ancient civilizations possessed technology far beyond modern understanding, and their tremendous power led to catastrophe. Now, governments, militaries, and international megacorporations will stop at nothing to seize their relics and use them for their own gain! Ominae Yu is a Spriggan, a top-level special operative for the ARCAM corporation, tasked with preventing the past’s most dangerous treasures from falling into the wrong hands. Equipped with cutting-edge power armor and a teenager’s boundless confidence, Yu journeys to Baghdad, where an accursed mirror of the legendary Tower of Babel slumbers beneath the sands. The first tower reached for the heavens…but this one points straight down to hell!
648 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2001
4 people are currently reading
22 people want to read
About the author
Hiroshi Takashige
123 books30 followersHiroshi Takashige (たかしげ宙) is a Japanese manga artist best known in various manga communities in Japan and overseas for his work in Spriggan and later in Until Death Do Us Part.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 2, 2025
The plot fits on a postage stamp, the characters are ott like you wouldn't believe, the dialogue is unfathomably stupid...
...but it's fun!
High octane action that never stops with that great late 80's-early 90's drawing style that I love. It's 200% no-brainer, pure B-movie action for a good time.
...but it's fun!
High octane action that never stops with that great late 80's-early 90's drawing style that I love. It's 200% no-brainer, pure B-movie action for a good time.
June 29, 2024
obsessed with the fact that neo-nazis were defeated by a high school boy using his mega muscle suit to throw a grenade at 400 kilometers per hour into their car
December 10, 2023
3.7/5
The stories here range between some of the best of the series so far, and some of the worst, though the worst ones aren't bad, they're just not as interesting as they could be. I was glad to finally read some backstory between a few of the protagonists, which were interesting. There isn't a lot to get emotionally invested in with something like this, though. It follows a simple shonen formula, with classic cheesy dialogue that's about as subtle as an AM suit-enhanced punch to the face, and plots that have about as much depth as any Saturday morning cartoon. The art, I find, is hit-or-miss, with a lot of liberties taken with things like anatomy and character models, but the fights are good and the backgrounds and equipment used throughout are consistently well done.
So far, this series is fun. Just not a lot more than that.
The stories here range between some of the best of the series so far, and some of the worst, though the worst ones aren't bad, they're just not as interesting as they could be. I was glad to finally read some backstory between a few of the protagonists, which were interesting. There isn't a lot to get emotionally invested in with something like this, though. It follows a simple shonen formula, with classic cheesy dialogue that's about as subtle as an AM suit-enhanced punch to the face, and plots that have about as much depth as any Saturday morning cartoon. The art, I find, is hit-or-miss, with a lot of liberties taken with things like anatomy and character models, but the fights are good and the backgrounds and equipment used throughout are consistently well done.
So far, this series is fun. Just not a lot more than that.
June 6, 2025
None of these stories were, but some were definitely better than others. This volume ends on a cliffhanger, but it was a cliffhanger of a mediocre story.
July 17, 2023
The peril never ends. Ominae's increasingly frantic and increasingly complex missions soon foist upon him numerous, devilish deals that require difficult decisions and agonizing trade-offs. SPRIGGAN v2 proves that no secret organization isn't without its faults, leaks, and traitors. This omnibus also shows how the value of such an organization is defined by the resilience of its individual agents. Craftiness and skill are essential, but grit and personal resolve are much firmer markers of success when combatting the criminal underworld.
SPRIGGAN v2 dips its toes into character backstory, retrieves a few excellent secondary characters from prior episodes, and carves out significant space for a worthy rival or two. To begin, the surrounding cast expands significantly in this book. For example, when tracking a few relics in a cursed forest on the Indian subcontinent, as well as during a demon-hunting expedition to the outskirts of Baghdad, Iraq, Ominae encounters the leader of an enemy paramilitary unit. The mobile unit leader, Akatsuki Iwao, works for the Trident Corporation, which exists as a darker, more nefarious version of ARCAM.
Other exploits allow readers to cross paths with Akiha (Ominae's adoptive older sister), Oboro (a top-class spriggan and Ominae's martial arts instructor), and a handful of villains tied to a resuscitated U.S. Special Forces project. The creative team weaves these characters and more into the wider narrative with extraordinary cunning. The story never feels overburdened by too many characters or oversaturated with unwieldy character motivations. One highlight of the previous omnibus was how the story focused on the damage intelligent villains can effect when given the time and liberty to act. One highlight of the current omnibus is that when characters fail, or are overshadowed by the exploits of others, they know when to step aside and let someone else guide or take control of the story.
Readers learn about Oboro, for example, at precisely the point when one starts to wonder if Ominae and Jacquemonde (the shapeshifting Frenchman) really are the only decent spriggan around. Oboro, it turns out, is brilliant, patient, and stoic — a few shades more mature than his student. The man's ability to sniff out trouble, whether tactically or among legendary demon summoners, is entertaining. Readers encounter another spriggan, Tea Flatte, a sorceress, while poking through Jacquemonde's past as an impoverished kid in east-central France. Tea's cool demeanor likely betrays a sadness, or pity, of some kind, but the woman absolutely never loses her temper. A notable helping hand for the compulsive Frenchman.
The omnibus moves the story forward with several large steps. One such shift focuses on the expanded activities of the Trident criminal organization. Another concerns the book's incorporation of backstory — for both Jacquemonde and Ominae.
Interestingly, Trident succeeds at undermining a few of ARCAM's efforts to seal away dangerous materials (e.g., intelligent villains). Akatsuki, who hates to lose, forges a rivalry with Ominae when it's clear they're both skilled fighters who work for sketchy organizations. As far as backstory is concerned, good backstory, in this manga, often manifests as means of selectively compelling a character to take action in a crisis. The examples are numerous. But the most prescient concerns the Child Operative Soldier Machine-Organism System, run by the U.S. Special Forces Machiner's Platoon. To be brief, COSMOS is why Ominae is the way he is. And Trident is keen on resurrecting the project at all costs.
In terms of the practical and organic nature of Ominae's missions, SPRIGGAN v2 offers variety, to modest success. Some missions see the young man skulking abandoned dungeons in the middle of the desert, whereas others find him hunting the bowels of ARCAM's own building so as to fight back against a rogue computer intelligence system. Some missions take place in humid jungles, whereas others make their way into the urban sprawl. The difference in locations is clever, and the variation in villains is often written to match. Scope and emphasis are difficult to sync, as with a few chapters over-emphasizing a random, foolhardy nun's role in tracking down an out-of-the-way relic, but most episodes are solid.
The creative team's skilled integration of new villains, new allies, dark histories, and ominous futures makes SPRIGGAN v2 another quality omnibus. Even better, side characters, such as Yamamoto (Ominae's ARCAM handler), Yamabishi (prodigy linguistics professor), and Yoshino (blacklisted treasure hunter) either return for a brief stint or enjoy much greater time on the page, as with Yamamoto.
SPRIGGAN v2 dips its toes into character backstory, retrieves a few excellent secondary characters from prior episodes, and carves out significant space for a worthy rival or two. To begin, the surrounding cast expands significantly in this book. For example, when tracking a few relics in a cursed forest on the Indian subcontinent, as well as during a demon-hunting expedition to the outskirts of Baghdad, Iraq, Ominae encounters the leader of an enemy paramilitary unit. The mobile unit leader, Akatsuki Iwao, works for the Trident Corporation, which exists as a darker, more nefarious version of ARCAM.
Other exploits allow readers to cross paths with Akiha (Ominae's adoptive older sister), Oboro (a top-class spriggan and Ominae's martial arts instructor), and a handful of villains tied to a resuscitated U.S. Special Forces project. The creative team weaves these characters and more into the wider narrative with extraordinary cunning. The story never feels overburdened by too many characters or oversaturated with unwieldy character motivations. One highlight of the previous omnibus was how the story focused on the damage intelligent villains can effect when given the time and liberty to act. One highlight of the current omnibus is that when characters fail, or are overshadowed by the exploits of others, they know when to step aside and let someone else guide or take control of the story.
Readers learn about Oboro, for example, at precisely the point when one starts to wonder if Ominae and Jacquemonde (the shapeshifting Frenchman) really are the only decent spriggan around. Oboro, it turns out, is brilliant, patient, and stoic — a few shades more mature than his student. The man's ability to sniff out trouble, whether tactically or among legendary demon summoners, is entertaining. Readers encounter another spriggan, Tea Flatte, a sorceress, while poking through Jacquemonde's past as an impoverished kid in east-central France. Tea's cool demeanor likely betrays a sadness, or pity, of some kind, but the woman absolutely never loses her temper. A notable helping hand for the compulsive Frenchman.
The omnibus moves the story forward with several large steps. One such shift focuses on the expanded activities of the Trident criminal organization. Another concerns the book's incorporation of backstory — for both Jacquemonde and Ominae.
Interestingly, Trident succeeds at undermining a few of ARCAM's efforts to seal away dangerous materials (e.g., intelligent villains). Akatsuki, who hates to lose, forges a rivalry with Ominae when it's clear they're both skilled fighters who work for sketchy organizations. As far as backstory is concerned, good backstory, in this manga, often manifests as means of selectively compelling a character to take action in a crisis. The examples are numerous. But the most prescient concerns the Child Operative Soldier Machine-Organism System, run by the U.S. Special Forces Machiner's Platoon. To be brief, COSMOS is why Ominae is the way he is. And Trident is keen on resurrecting the project at all costs.
In terms of the practical and organic nature of Ominae's missions, SPRIGGAN v2 offers variety, to modest success. Some missions see the young man skulking abandoned dungeons in the middle of the desert, whereas others find him hunting the bowels of ARCAM's own building so as to fight back against a rogue computer intelligence system. Some missions take place in humid jungles, whereas others make their way into the urban sprawl. The difference in locations is clever, and the variation in villains is often written to match. Scope and emphasis are difficult to sync, as with a few chapters over-emphasizing a random, foolhardy nun's role in tracking down an out-of-the-way relic, but most episodes are solid.
The creative team's skilled integration of new villains, new allies, dark histories, and ominous futures makes SPRIGGAN v2 another quality omnibus. Even better, side characters, such as Yamamoto (Ominae's ARCAM handler), Yamabishi (prodigy linguistics professor), and Yoshino (blacklisted treasure hunter) either return for a brief stint or enjoy much greater time on the page, as with Yamamoto.
March 2, 2023
There are probably being some who feel the stories contained within are dated, and they are. Dated the way some media all age when it comes to references to the Soviet Union, and other geopolitical names and thoughts of the time.
Regardless the action's pacing, and the use of a well funded and organized group determined to hide, discover, or if necessary destroy ancient artifacts to keep said discoveries from destroying humankind again-that story still works for me.
Earlier this week I read an article about unnecessary reboots, and/or how some televisions shows have aged poorly and, I'm still getting over their description of MacGyver, and they might be correct about Magnum). Yu shares many of the 1980s male action hero's failings. Better than everyone else, and feel free to let you know it etc.
That hasn't stopped the author from getting a little character into Yu's character. And, adding some shades of gray to Arcam, Trident and the world's militaries. This is part of what makes me happy that the series is being collected, translated and released.
Now if someone would do the same for Kazuya Kudo's Pineapple army https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pineapp... or even re-release his Mai.
Regardless the action's pacing, and the use of a well funded and organized group determined to hide, discover, or if necessary destroy ancient artifacts to keep said discoveries from destroying humankind again-that story still works for me.
Earlier this week I read an article about unnecessary reboots, and/or how some televisions shows have aged poorly and, I'm still getting over their description of MacGyver, and they might be correct about Magnum). Yu shares many of the 1980s male action hero's failings. Better than everyone else, and feel free to let you know it etc.
That hasn't stopped the author from getting a little character into Yu's character. And, adding some shades of gray to Arcam, Trident and the world's militaries. This is part of what makes me happy that the series is being collected, translated and released.
Now if someone would do the same for Kazuya Kudo's Pineapple army https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pineapp... or even re-release his Mai.
March 9, 2024
With re-occuring characters and a more established over-arching plot, the 2nd Spriggan omnibus is a massive improvement on the first. I enjoyed this volume so much, that I rushed out and ordered the 3rd book in the series. 4/5
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews