Customer Reviews

Black Magic

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

 

 

Black Magic has pretty cover art and has one of Japan's greatest manga artist's name on it,so yeah I bought this without even thinking about how bad it would be.The cover art is very deceptive and makes the reader assume that the girl in front is the main character.The story constantly shifts viewpoints leaving the reader confused(if not irritated).The story's main focus is a dragging battle between the millitary and a robot with multiple limbs.Even the prolouge introducing the story makes the reader think that Typhoon(girl on front cover)is the main character,that is my major pet peeve.The story has no balance and it seems that Shirow was getting a little too carried away with the "life on Venus" concept to let the core plot shine through.This is evident as just after the opening chapter,a bunch of characters who are nearly irrelevent to the story(as they do not appear again)take up over 60 pages,while this serves as some kind of narrative plot device it ends up being nothing more than an incoherent snooze fest(just like the entire book!).That pretty much sums it up,I felt like it was a waste of time and money!Even though it only cost me $7.00,I did not get even the least bit of satisfaction for what I paid!The only reason I give it Two stars is for the author's creativity,the whole concept is genius but the plot it surrounds is a tad mundane.As for Typhoon,you'd be lucky if you see her more than twice(such a waste of a pretty character design).I do not reccomend Black Magic,you should only buy this if you are a fan of Shirow's work,I doubt I will EVER read it again.

This volume collects Masamune Shirow's early works, in which you can find basic ideas behind Masamune's later stories including Appleseed, M-66, etc. While the mangas are not great in themselves, this collection is worth having for enthusiasts of Masamune's works.

This is one of Shirow's earlier works and it is pretty good. I believe his later stuff is so much better though.