Customer Reviews

Orion

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

 

 

Though this was just an excellent sci-fi/fantasy romp, it was so masterfully done it belongs as a classic. Shirow even as a much younger and less developed artist made a world so fantastic yet so believable.


My favorite part of it was when they tied in the Yin/Yang mysticism to both binary code and essentially the rest of the universe. It's this that got my mind sparking to later discover "Sacred Geometry" or a collection of interesting mathematical correlations and patterns in the universe. How the universe indeed could be a mathematical concept.

And the story itself is also good, beyond just the exciting action. The concept of an Empire at the zenith of it's rise trying to avert it's inevitable fall by using it's near god-like technology to destroy the 'evil karma' that will bring it down. Shirow's good at putting themes in his works. Orion was about morality. Appleseed was about the attempt to create paradise. Ghost in the shell about the end of the true definition of humanity in the face of advanced technology.

It must have been hard to translate this manga, in which Japanese and Chinese metaphysicism mix weirdly with Lovecraft. But the translator pulled it off, and the reader is left with a uniquely enjoyable manga.

Shirow Masamune had all kinds of sci-fi paths he first created, then wandered down. Some he followed farther than others. Orion is the best example of a path he followed just far enough. Originally only six issues (I think), this comic mixed non-stop, insanely fast-paced battles with some incredibly interesting "fusion mysticism" which, in this particular compilation, is explained to some level of detail in an appendix. I loved it enough to want more, but feel better knowing Shirow quit while he was ahead.

Orion provokes thought, rewards multiple readings, and while it has its share of images of the scantily dressed villainess/heroine Seska it's not blatantly tasteless like Shirow's more recent work. As an avid non-manga reader I'd say this is definitely a must-read.

Bid fan of this book and the newer print runs that print Shirows stories the way they were supposed (Left to right) is so much cooler. I picked all of the newer version of his collected works.

This often overlooked gem from "Ghost in the Shell" and "Appleseed" manga artist and writer Masamune Shirow is in my humble opinion his superlative work. As one reviewer has already mentioned, one of the fatal flaws of Mr. Shirow's works is a tendency to meander all over the place, with no specific begining, middle, or end. Often he will start with great concept, like he did in M-66 Black Magic, only to just stop the story at a critical point.

What sets this apart from the other works, is not only does Shirow develop an amazing world, with it's extremely high concept Buddist and Hindu religious references, tying it in to real-world computer programming and applied sciences to create the "Psyco-Science" of the story, but does an incredible job, begining to end of keeping it coherent and consistant all throughout.

But what is a story and world without great characters? Orion has this in spades; From ditzy Seska, daughter of Fuzen, the Buddist-style priest who is trying to stop the Yamada Empire from making a potentially fatal mistake in using a Naga to eat all the negative karma to the real character of the story Susano Orabatos, a wild, chaotic God of Destruction, who goes about "helping" Fuzen, his summoner, in a sometimes less-than-helpful manner, even causing terrible destruction on the slightest provecation. For some readers, this level of darkness, which we have seen before in Shirow's other works, may be a bit off-putting, particularly when Susano goes about destroying a city and it's inhabitants simply because of resistance from one of the Yamada Empire officals, Dr. Hebime to the God of Destruction's plans to prevent the Naga from being activated.

But this darkness is at least alleviated by the wacky sense of humor prevading the whole story, and at no point does it detract from the dark drama, and vice-versa, and Shirow does a masterful job of even blending the two. No mean feat.

So if you love Shirow's other works, and you want to read a complex, interesting story with very colorful, over-the-top, and well-developed
characters, I cannot recommend this manga highly enough.

"What if Asian mystics ruled the future?"

It would be pretty entertaining if it was all chronicled by Masamune Shirow. The SciFi and spaceships he's famous for in his later work are there, but such concepts take a backseat to the mystic avatars fighting it all out in this story. Shirow goes off into some obscure eastern philosophy stuff as well as quantum theory, but really it's all about as complex as an Airbender cartoon; it all boils down to good guys versus bad guys and who is more powerful. You really don't need his helpful marginal notes. We know a demon when we see one.

In some ways, I liked this better than "Ghost in the Shell" because it was very linear, A to B to C, where "Ghost" drops more plot threads than it keeps. "Ghost" meanders all over the place before revealing what it's all about, which isn't the case in Orion.

As this is an earlier work, Shirow is a bit more reliant on some cartooney Manga conventions here than he is later, when he became a more-confident artist, but that doesn't get in the way of the fun or the story. If you're a longtime Manga reader, those conventions won't be noticeable anyway.

Really very engrossing and enjoyable.