Biomega, Volume 1

If there's anything wrong with this story so far, it's that the first volume might have been too quickly read. It was an absorbing read with surprising depth for the first volume of a manga, but when I finished the first volume I felt like it had gone by too quickly.

I generally like manga with dark themes. It seems like those with darker themes and warnings of mature content are usually the only manga in which the authors give themselves permission to write with depth and thought-provoking ideas, thoughtfully explored. The first volume of Biomega is an exemplary case of that, even leaving out the cutesy/comical touches here and there that seem like an irresistible lure for the majority of even the best manga authors, despite the fact show more they often just distract from the substance of a good story. None of that here.

I've seen the Blame! anime based on work by the same author, and I see a trend already: synthetic human man as the certified badass protagonist, slender blonde artificial intelligence woman working with him, and "innocent girl" type with some kind of central role to the story. So far, I have no problem with this repeated pattern (and I have only seen it in two works, one of which was an anime adaptation; I have not read anything by Tsutomu Nihei yet other than this volume). It seems well-handled so far, antagonists are not just tissue paper for the protagonist to brush through with ease, and as long as it serves to carry a good story I'm happy with it.

This seems like the kind of story with mature themes that is actually for readers with some mental maturity, which is really what I'm looking for most of the time in manga, and the characters are pretty comprehensible and understandable given their apparent motivations. The villains of the piece seem especially evil, which often leads to cartoonish, unbelievable motivations, but in this case they tend to make some sense so far. The only thing that seems like it might be out of place in the whole thing is the bear, but I suppose that will make sense in time as well if I keep reading the series (and I certainly intend to keep reading it).

In short, I quite liked this, and look forward to the next book. show less

It was the gorgeous cover of the first volume of Biomega that caught my eye and made me pick it up for a closer look. I didn't recognize the title or the creator, Tsutomu Nihei. I ended up putting the book back on the shelf, but for the next few weeks my mind kept wandering back to it. And then I discovered that one of the plot elements was at least vaguely connected to Mars and any remaining self-restraint I had collapsed (I have a thing for Mars). I soon found a copy of Biomega, Volume 1 in my possession. I was very pleased with my decision when one of the guys at my favorite comic store was elated by my choice. Biomega was actually one of the store's featured selections at the time, he liked it so much. So, satisfied with my show more purchase, I happily took it home. And then promptly finished reading it that night.

In the year 3005, the N5S virus was introduced into the Earth's atmosphere, the disease quickly spreading throughout the population. Most of the infected transform into grotesque, inhuman "drones" while a very select few, known as accommodators, are able to adapt to the virus, making them a valuable commodity. Zoichi Kanoe is a synthetic human, designed to be stronger, faster, and more resistant to the virus than his counterparts. Along with Fuyu, a highly sophisticated artificial intelligence, he has been sent by Toa Heavy Industry to the city of 9JO to locate and retrieve any surviving accommodators. But Toa isn't the only group searching for accommodators, and while Zoichi has some significant advantages, he most definitely isn't invincible.

It's not something that I always mention, but Viz Media' production values for Biomega are great. Plenty of gutter space is given so none of the art or text ends up lost in the binding. The quality of the printing is consistent and excellent throughout, particularly important for Biomega because there is a lot of ink on these pages. The artwork is dark, both literally and figuratively, the white space being overwhelmed by shading, helping to create a fairly ominous atmosphere that is highly appropriate for the story. The immense, sweeping architecture and city landscapes manage to convey a sense of claustrophobia despite their size, their obvious decay only adding to the environment's grimness. Nihei's character designs are also marvelous and fit his setting nicely. Eyes tend to be set widely apart which I found disconcerting at first, but the style eventually grew on me. The once human creatures are twisted and creepy but are occasionally beautiful in their nightmarishness. One of the things that really impressed me about the artwork was Nihei's ability to not only convey action, but also the tremendous speed at which things were happening.

It is the artwork that really carries the first volume of Biomega; there is very little dialogue and while the basic premise and characters have been introduced, not much development has had a chance to occur yet. For the most part, the art handles this task admirably, though there were occasions that I was slightly confused by who was supposed to be who (story-wise, visually everyone is quite distinctive) and what exactly their purpose in the Biomega world was. However, I do think that this will be revealed and further explored in subsequent volumes. The plot is vaguely repetitive so far, mostly consisting of Zoichi riding around and shooting things, but he's pretty badass while doing it, so I'm all right with it. Some of the weaponry seems a little over the top but that does mean there are some massive explosions and phenomenal scenes of destruction, which is always fun. I know that I'm certainly looking forward to reading the second volume, anyway.

Experiments in Reading show less

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whenever i show my friends--who are not manga readers--they say that the artwork is too sketchy. one of them said, "i could draw that." sometimes the panels sequences are too jumpy and, yes, the ending was too cliched (for me), but the ideas (artificial humans, cyborgs, AI motorcycles), the style, the pacing, the characters are just excellent.

This was pretty good, and it was a bit of a different take on the zombie genre. It was different in the sense that the full outbreak of the epidemic has not happened yet. The hero is hoping to help stop it. However, the odds seem slim as he searches for a girl who may hold the key. In a way, this kind of story is not new. And yet, the pacing, the action, and the very gritty, dark art all come together to make a pretty good story. This manga is also interesting because it relies more on the visual; there is not as much text as other mangas, and yet I think it works pretty well. And this is the first volume, so it looks like things will go a bit deeper as well. I hope to continue reading the series.

Biomega reads a lot like a late '80s-early '90s OVA, in the sense that the manga has an incredibly tight focus on action. While there is a narrative there, the story spends more time on the action sequences. To be fair, there isn't anything wrong with that - the manga gives the action sequences the time they need to flow properly, and allow the reader to keep track of everything. There are a lot of manga artists who could probably learn something form Nihei.

I'm honestly not sure how I feel about Biomega Vol. 1. I feel it has potential, but not much has happened. There's very little dialogue, and some of the art makes it difficult to understand exactly what's happening.

I also have no idea about the bear.

Despite this, I have a soft spot for zombies and the story is intriquing. I'm looking forward tot he second volume.

Extremely quick read. I like the artwork, however the dialogue was minimal. I don't know if I'm going to bother reading the rest of the series, but I do like the gun-wielding bear.