Customer Reviews

Biomega, Vol. 1

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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

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.

Like post-apocalyptic futures? Like badass protagonists with the ability to rip through zombies and the like with ease? Don't like reading? This manga is for you.

I joke about not liking reading, but seriously, Biomega is ALL about the action and visual storytelling. If you need a break from your heady books, pick this one up. The story isn't complicated (so far), but the setting/art/characters make up for it. The art style is gritty and gory, and great fun to piece together each panel and have the action play out in your head. Also, the character design is fantastic, reminds me of Metal Gear Solid...except REALLY rough and gritty.

Buy Vol. 1 to get a taste, I bet you'll buy the rest too.

I liked the cover art and since Manga is all about the art I thought I would give it a try. I also thought the zombie storyline sounded interesting. This series seems to be art driven, there is very little dialogue. This is not like the other Manga series that I am a fan of but I am looking forward to reading Vol. 2.

This is the first comic/manga/graphic novel in a long time that has got me really, thoroughly captivated. The story is interestingly complicated. The art is great and the entire book just makes you have to think.

I loved it.

I love this manga. I read it as a scanlation and am so happy that I can now buy it to add to my collection at home!

not much of a story, not too many words but the art is amazing. you can read the whole book on youtube for free

There's nothing particularly new in Biomega's blend of science-fiction and horror - although barring the work of Naoki Urusawa, there's not so much of it being published in English at the moment - but at the very least it's well done, and shows a certain amount of room for expansion as the series progresses.

Mars 3005, a DRF (Data Recovery Foundation) survey team returns to the settlement on the planet destroyed seven hundred years ago, and unwittingly bring back to Earth the spores of a dangerous virus, N5S. Initially, the virus infects 9JO, an artificial island city in the Pacific, turning the inhabitants into zombie-like Drones, but there are a few people who manage to carry the virus without being affected. Toa Heavy Industry send in a synthetic human, Zoichi Kanoe to find Eon Green, one such Accommodator who has a giant Russian bear looking after her. Compulsory Execution Units of the Public Health Service have however also been deployed in 9JO and have plans for Eon Green.

Biomega gets off to a blistering start (and to be honest, it doesn't really slow down in subsequent books) as Zoichi and his computer generated partner take on the forces of the DRF with ruthless efficiency and gravity defying leaps across the collapsing structures of a futuristic city on his powerful motorbike. The action is fast moving, with many long dialogue-free sequences, the strong artwork allowed to determine the mood and pace of the opening chapter, with few sound effects even to spoil the quality of the dark, moody artwork. At this stage, Biomega displays a lot of clear influences in the science-fiction and horror genres without really bringing much new of its own, but it establishes the situation well, with intriguing characters, drawing the reader in and leaving room for further developments. Definitely one to watch.

Not much more can be said that "Squirrel Master" hasn't already stated.

This first volume has little dialogue, fast frantic actions sequences, a dark tone and atmosphere. All brought together with very phenomenal artwork. Lack of dialogue does nothing to deter the story however; as things begin to unfold in the last chapter and continue to unravel and be explained in volume 2. Overall a very exciting and captivating start to the series.

If you like over-the-top action, zombies, and a dystopian future setting this manga is for you.

Also; there's a gun-toting grizzly bear tossed in for good measure.