Masamune Shirow is an internationally renowned manga
Masanori Ota, better known by his pen name Masamune Shirow (Japanese: 士郎正宗), is a Japanese manga artist renowned for his influential contributions to the cyberpunk genre. Born in Kobe in 1961, he studied oil painting at Osaka University of Arts, where he developed an interest in manga. His early work Black Magic led to the critically acclaimed Appleseed, which won the 1986 Seiun Award for Best Manga. Shirow achieved global recognition with Ghost in the Shell, a groundbreaking manga that inspired multiple anime films and series, a live-action Hollywood adaptation, and numerous video games. His stories are known for blending action with philosophical inquiries into AI, post-human existence, and the ethics of technology. He has collaborated with Production I.G on projects like Ghost Hound and Real Drive. Shirow’s distinctive style and thought-provoking narratives have left a lasting impact on manga, anime, and science fiction worldwide, influencing creators including the Wachowskis of The Matrix fame.
Continuing many of the previous stories in the day to day lives of Nene and Clarion (those busy ladies) we see the girls hanging out with Cyril before we find out about how Kurobase is feeling after gathering so many delicious cakes (which masterfully leads to s memory connecting Kurobase and Uzal in the past.) We then get to see more into where Niko-chan (as named by Nene) goes after they blink away from the girls and see Clarion's white clad doppelganger once more and now we know her name is Phobos after the god of fear (a strange trend for an organization supposedly for the best for humanity) leading to an epic fight scene and eventual chain of events that leads to an even more complicated home life for Nene and Clarion. Ah boy.
By the way I keep forgetting to mention this but I am super happy for Pedro has been showing up in this series after all of the hardships he experienced in the Excel Saga series. His life is busy but he seems to be doing pretty well so I am looking forward to seeing his continued appearances. :)