Appleseed: Prometheus Unbound

アップルシード [Appleseed] #2

by Masamune Shirow

You can't have a perfect society without perfect people, and the only perfect people are the ones you can manufacture. The governing body of Olympus is about to bring utopia crashing down around their ears as they seek to regulate the minds and bodies of the human race or fully replace them with plastic substitutes. Deunan and Bri, still new to the city, find themselves in the unlikely position of having to hold together this house of cards. Their strategy? Destroy the old foundation and pray everything stands while the new roots develop! In this second Appleseed volume Deunan and Bri become fully integrated into Olympussociety, even as they seek to turn it on its ear. Spectacular art and an exciting story set Appleseed apart as an example of comics at its finest.

Genres: Manga, Comics, Science Fiction, Graphic Novels, Cyberpunk, Fiction, Post Apocalyptic

Paperback

First published November 10, 1985

About the author

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.

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

While Briareos convalesces in the hospital and Deunan kicks ass in an ESWAT unit, the struggles behind the scenes of Olympus threaten to tear the city apart...

The second Appleseed volume takes seeds planted in the first volume and runs with them. Spider-like walkers are in the works to police the city. Factions behind the scenes debate humanity's future in utopia. Hitomi and Yoshi are taken into custody. Deunan and Briareos both know something is up.

I found the story easier to follow this time. Maybe I'm just getting used to it since the same people did the translation in this volume. There are some philosophical debates about the future of the human race that I found interesting. There were some dead spots but there were also some action packed scenes. Hitomi made me laugh a few times and I really like where things are going between Briareos and Deunan.

The art is spectacular. I interrupted my wife's reading of The Handmaid's Tale to show her some great uses of perspective in the city scenes. I thought the art was clearer in this volume. Maybe other people voiced the same criticisms I did when the first volume was originally released. Anyway, it's easier to differentiate the mechs and the visuals weren't as confusing during the action scenes.

The bit with the spider-walkers attacking the city was tense! While I was pretty sure Deunan and Briareos would survive, I wasn't sure about any of the other characters. Also, I'm glad I know why the series is called Appleseed now.

So what happens when utopia gets derailed? I guess I"ll find out in the next volume. Four out of five stars.

[Diz · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with the first volume, the mechanical and architectural designs are amazing, but the story is a bit hard to follow. There are multiple groups vying for power in a utopian city. It's not really clear which side the protagonists are working for until the very end. However, instead of being an interesting mystery, it's just confusing.

[Ludwig Aczel · Rating 5 out of 5]

8.5/10
I have praised the first book in this series for its art, pace and world-building, while at the same time expressing reservations on the intentional obscurity of characters' motivations and dialogues. In retrospective, that first volume was just the prelude to this book, where things become clearer. The political and social debate moving the plot makes some sense now, and we get some kind of satisfying conclusion. I reckon that book 1 and 2 should be judged as one story.
This is still a Masamune Shirow comic, of course, so you will have to stop, ponder, go back, re-read to understand what these characters are talking about, and pay attention to every panel in the long action scenes if you don't want to find yourself thinking 'wait, I am lost, who is shooting at whom?'. Shirow writes for engaged readers, and if you do your part as a reader the experience will be rewarding. (I am just amazed on how crazy Eclipse was to bring this material to a country where and in a time when the best selling comic book was written by Chris 'explain with as many words as possible what is depicted in the panel' Claremont. I guess covers is what used to matter, and small blonde girls with huge guns on a cover sufficed for the purpose.)
The second half of the book is a fantastically illustrated urban war, with giant robot-spiders (!!) and solar panel ray beams (!!!). In the first volume our protagonist Deunan seemed nothing more than a gun-loving paranoid super soldier. Which she still is, but now her moral compass starts to shake, and this plays a key role in the finale. Go girl, love is the answer! Briareos best boyfriend in the history of comics. Hitomi in the double role of MacGuffin and comic relief. Yoshi along to solve technical issues while the others shoot. Kotus the robocop, I liked you why did you have to break my heart.
Maybe I am following my heart rather than my brain in rating this manga five stars. Well, fuck it, faulted masterpiece are still masterpiece.
I wish I could touch on the interesting questions that this story asks about technological determinism and the role of individuality in social evolution. But I am a bit dumb, so let's not do it.

[Eric Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think overall this collection is always good, but it does drag a bit as some other reviewer mentioned. Overall though it's simply world building and frankly it focuses on Olympus itself. I think that's what Masamune was intending and that's fine, but again the only real critique of Appleseed is that there is a whole world out there and I wish we saw more of it. That's another thing I disliked about Ghost in the Shell overall. The anime goes more in-depth in the world around them but overall doesn't go with the whole world in some respects. However this does get into the more vagaries of human vs. bioroids and how they look and feel in the real world led by "pure" humans and the shadowy world of Olympus, which even in the utopia there are still vipers amongst the bushes. And given the overall plot of Appleseed this book still does a good job of it.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

The newest citizens of Olympus are now in the security forces, and tasked with taking down the city A.I. But... why? Can they not see they are pawns in the bioroids' political machinations? And what are the city masters up to? I don't know. And I don't care. The artwork and architecture of the city are breathtaking, and Deunan and Briareos are impossibly cute together.

[Tim Franklin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Suffers from the same problems as the first volume - far too sparse, but at the same time difficult to follow the action sequences - while the nuggets of plot that are there become more rambling. Couldn't even be bothered to finish it, which is very rare for me.

[Andre · Rating 3 out of 5]

The conclusion of the first arc of the appleseed story. Simplistic philosophy but a cool take on the future.

[Glen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shirow's work is double-edged: he clearly spent a lot of time composing scenes, rendering details, weaving plot elements, and researching his subject matter. At the same time, it's frustrating that these elements don't cohere into a smooth reading experience.

It's frustrating that Shirow's main weakness seems to be storytelling, and he's not even that bad at it, but his panels demand your full attention if you want to follow the story. This is important not only with text-heavy panels (like those of the council meetings) but with action sequences, as even simple acts like a punch or stomp can be disorienting. It doesn't help that his artwork tends to be detailed to the the point of muddying a form's silhouette, which makes it difficult to follow the many unfamiliar designs that his sci-fi future introduces. The dialogue falters as well, not because of the translation, but because the author seems to avoid unrealistic dialogue to the point where even the footnotes don't help to clarify what's happening.

That said, it doesn't take too much extra effort to understand what's happening, but it does demand your full attention. This is not a "relaxing" read.

[David Crane]

While the first Applessed manga introduced us to the two main protagonist, soldier-survivalists Deunan Knute and her cyborg partner Briareos, the second volume in this exciting and very entertaining four volume series presents our duo with new interesting challenges, as they join the Olympus Police special forces team the ESWAT, Extra Special Weapons and Tactics. Fighting is the only thing they are good for and both take to their duties like fish to water. The only problem is that there are politics involved and politics are tricky and dirty business, an area neither of our warriors qualifies to navigate. But with help of loyal friends, luck, wit, armor and firepower, they do what they came here to do and if there is blood to be spilled in the cause of justice, they are ready to fight!

[Fenko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Continued reading Appleseed after part one...

Deunan has taken up a job with the city police, but has trouble relaxing in the seemingly peaceful city. Briareos is still recovering from their tryout-mission, obviously under observation in the hospital. Meanwhile the city council of bioroids is putting into play their scheme for advancing the inherently materialistic humanity, counteracted by many other political parties and one theoretically benevolent supercomputer. Of course things go boom.

This wraps up the first Appleseed storyline. Good stuff, and worth a reread later.

[Luke · Rating 2 out of 5]

Honestly I think I might just give up on this series, even though I’m already halfway through it. It’s not boring, but it’s very long-winded, the motivations of each character are a bit vague and consistently contradictory, and the central plot/conspiracy is equally hard to figure out. It felt like a chore finishing this volume.

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

To Live or Die…

Seems someone was trying to manipulate computer, Gaia, into making drastic decisions that could jeopardize the entire human race along with the bioroids. Good thing Briareos and Deunan were there to save the day. Even though Athena had her reservations about the duo extracted from the badlands.

[Jordan · Rating 2 out of 5]

A lot of time is spent talking in this volume, and very little is actually said. It’s a long, boring book with some decent action sequences, but there’s way too much dialogue for such a simple plot and for such basic characters, and it’s just a drag

[RubiGiráldez RubiGiráldez · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh, no... Shirow volviendo a las andadas de lanzarse de cabeza a intrincadas tramas sociopolíticas con el aporte sci-fi durete nipón... Por qué no nos dejas disfrutar con el disfrute ligero que nos diste en la 1º entrega?

[Kai Charles(Fiction State Of Mind) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very politics heavy volume as Deunan and Briareos learn about the different philosophies in Olympus and need to decide where their loyalties lie. Nice action bits at the end.

[Saya · Rating 2 out of 5]

Shirow es caótico y quiere abarcar demasiadas cosas a la vez. Sinceramente, me pierdo. Me quedo con que gracias a este tomo se entiende a qué hace referencia el título, pero nada más.

[Victor · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

[Owen Hatherley · Rating 4 out of 5]

The architecture is very good.

[Jack · Rating 2 out of 5]

This doubles down on the over-complicated sci-fi lore stuff and completely lost me. The lack of Briareos in the first half is a major detractor as well.

[Daniel Data · Rating 3 out of 5]

Artwork was amazing.
Translations did not pan out very well

[Graham Butler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Better than the first volume. Dialogue still reads very strangely, with conversations crashing over each other such that they're difficult to follow and too short. Lots of interesting reception choices with Greek myth, and it's interesting to see so much of the bones of Evangelion here. A little like NGE minus the highschool setting.

[Tyler Hill · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this volume and Volume #1 back to back, and just finished reviewing Volume #1, so instead of going into details about this volume, I'll just direct you there, as it covers most of my major talking points:

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/91...

I will say that I was tempted to give this volume 4 stars, but, honestly, it drags a bit in the middle. Also, I'm not sure it it's just this printing, but I felt there were moments where the story suffers a bit as a result of the translation.

Still, there's a lot ot recommend here, especially in the last third where the giant weapon platform/spiders show up and all hell breaks loose. Worth a read, if you are a fan of the genre or Shirow specifically.

[Alexander Engel-Hodgkinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

It drags just a little bit, but it redeems itself with the big finale, starting with the Zero Hour chapter. The action sequences are a bit easier to follow this time around as well, so there's improvement in the artwork as well. The story's a little bit dull at the middle point (this is a continuation of the first volume's arc, so I guess Masamune was just getting all the finer details out of the way). At least we get to see some more character development, especially between Deunan, Briareos, and Hitomi, who are becoming a bit more comfortable around each other (although they have their ups and downs--if you can simply call getting arrested with your boyfriend by your budding best friend a 'down'). It's still got its flaws, but for what it's worth, it's an entertaining read.

[Víctor Segovia · Rating 4 out of 5]

No le doy la maxima puntuacion a la obra, al menos al segundo tomo por varias razones:

-Si bien las criticas sociales sobre Olimpo y sus habitantes, haciendo alegoria a la sociedad real, no estan tan alejadas de la realidad, las siento muy moralistas, muy conductistas (no por nada, el autor es japones)
-La relacion entre los protagonistas principales esta muy bien lograda, mucho mejor que en las dos peliculas animadas que logre ver, pero no siento que sean los protagonistas, el autor mete muchos personajes secundarios que si bien son interesantes, opacan un poco al duo principal, el caso de Hitomi.

Pero a pesar de todo, es una excelente obra seinen de ambiente cyberpunk, aunque cae en los cliches topicos del mismo genero.

[Lucas · Rating 4 out of 5]

The giant police spider tanks seem very impractical- possibly are satirical: the inappropriateness of human scale robot suits (landmates here) to densely populated urban environments is taken to a ridiculous extreme.

Not sure what actually happened at the end, or the intentions or goals of the protagonists- wasn't reading very closely though.

[Nicolas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Les ordinateurs doivent-ils guider l'évolution de l'humanité future ? Ca, c'est la question philosophique dans ce tome.
Évidement, à coté, il y a le nécessaire contingent de femmes quasi-nues et de robots de combat géants.
Pas mal, donc, comme toujours en fait.

[Gabrielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deunan and Briareos will be the death of me.

First read in: July 2015

[Burt · Rating 5 out of 5]

See the review for book one, this is really just an extension of the same story.