Biomega, Vol. 1 [Paperback]

Tsutomu Nihei (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2, 2010

R to L (Japanese Style). Searching for the key to save a world beyond hope. Tsutomu Nihei's sci-fi horror epic! Zoichi Kanoe plunges into the depths of 9JO-an island city in themiddle of the Pacific Ocean-in search of Eon Green, a girl with the power to transmute the N5S virus. He's not the only one looking for her, though… Agents of the Public Health Service's Compulsory Execution Unit are also in hot pursuit. Zoichi and his transhuman allies have no time to waste; the countdown to the zombie apocalypse has begun!!

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

From the creator of BLAME! and Noise.

 

Product Details

• Paperback: 220 pages
• Publisher: VIZ Media LLC; Original edition (February 2, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1421531844
• ISBN-13: 978-1421531847
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #82,447 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Start for New Series!, February 9, 2010

By 

ADS "Squirrel Master" (Grayslake, IL USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Biomega, Vol. 1 (Paperback)

Wow, the book is about an inch bigger and wider than most manga which is great because there's alot to see. The cover looks slick and very nice. The pages and print job are top notch, even includes a couple color pages (some publishers don't include the color pages). Overall it looks like VizSig department did a very solid job on making a quality books.

The overall plot is pretty straight forward action plot. Downright minimalist in just giving you the basic details of what's happening. However, this serves the story well by not crashing the atmosphere with "witty" one-liners and other things of that nature.

The art is top notch and is probably Nihei's best work. It's dark and surreal and reminiscent of beksinski works, but done in black ink. The art really does the storytelling here. Action sequences are fast and vivid enough to get the point across without someone narrating their actions with dialogue bubbles. The same goes for the jokes. This allows for large excellent looking and highly detailed panels and 2 page spreads.

Overall, this is an excellent start to the series. I'm looking forward to the future releases.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dark, Gritty, Action-Packed, and Bloody, July 8, 2010

By 

GraphicNovelReporter.com (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Biomega, Vol. 1 (Paperback)

3005 A.D.: the N5S Virus is turning people into the walking dead and the only ones who seem to be able to survive are the so-called Accomodators, those who can transmute the virus within their bodies. Zoichi Kanoe, an agent of Toa Heavy Industry, is sent to find one such Accomodator, a girl named Eon Green. But also looking for Eon are the agents of the Public Health Service's Compulsory Execution Group, who are charged with wiping out anyone who gets in their way, by any means necessary.

Nihei's series is everything that an apocalyptic sci-fi horror should be: dark, gritty, action-packed, and bloody. But all four elements are balanced perfectly and the pacing of the story is such that readers are instantly drawn in, unable to look away or blink for fear of missing a detail. The dialog is kept to a minimum, especially when it comes to Zoichi. Because he's not much of a talker, readers will focus closely on his actions, giving the book the feel of watching an action movie. The robotic-like attitude of Zoichi, combined with the artificial intelligence assistant Fuyu (who is built into Zoichi's motorcycle), help set the science fiction tone, while the hordes of zombies bring horror with them. Though the characters are only beginning to be developed in this first volume, Nihei gives readers enough information to make the characters seem real and drops clues about who and what the characters might be, setting the stage for volumes to come.

Fitting in with the writing's blend of action, horror, and science fiction, the art is a blend as well. The settings are both futuristic and gothic, with a long highway surrounded by the cables of a city giving way to a castle-like building silhouetted against the moon. It is a rare panel that is not heavy with scratchy shading or dark screentones. The characters and backgrounds are drawn in great detail, so that readers can almost smell the air and feel the gunshots whizzing by. Nihei will draw out fast action scenes, like a gun battle, over several pages to allow Zoichi's supernatural abilities to fully sink into the reader. This volume is a fantastic beginning to a not-too-long series (six volumes) sure to appeal to mature readers who like their science fiction dark, their action fast, and their horror to come with an apocalypse.

-- Snow Wildsmith

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you liked Blame! this is for you., June 12, 2010

By 

Lost Dragon - See all my reviews

This review is from: Biomega, Vol. 1 (Paperback)

If you liked Blame! then you'll like Biomega. There's a little more text, but not much. The art style is the same as Blame! and there's a lot of weird stuff going on. First-timers might want to check this out in a bookstore first. You can go for a while without seeing any word-bubbles in this book, so if you don't like the art telling the story then this might not be for you. I think it's a great bio-cyber-apocalyptic-whatever sort of graphic novel.