Satoshi Kon still has yet to be ousted as my favorite anime filmmaker, though he passed away a few years ago. I usually don't preorder items on Amazon, but I didn't actually think this book would ever be published so took a chance. Most of Kon's work is difficult to find, but his vision is much more mature than what most people expect out of anime and manga.
Opus is very similar to Kon's anime work that came out around the same time (Perfect Blue, Millenium Actress; there's even a reference at one point in Opus to the author's work on Katsuhiro Otomo's Memories). The plot is full of portal-to-another-world metafiction and centered on its own sense of being self-referencing. You can at times feel that the protagonist is Kon himself, and though Opus is less preachy than Paranoia Agent, the story does reach the same level of intelligence. The message is clear, and at no point do you feel that you are reading an author's early work (in fact, this was Kon's last long manga). It's gripping, it's unusual in the way it tells its story, and because of the story, the art is required to be careful in its development (the world's perspective, the backgrounds, are deliberate, and need to be for the story to work).
I'm glad someone took the time to reprint Kon's written work, and for those who like a tight, clear story instead of fifty volumes of manga, this is exactly what you should consider purchasing.
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Reviewed in the United States on December 19, 2014
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Reviewed in the United States on April 4, 2020
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Reviewed in the United States on September 13, 2015
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Reviewed in the United States on August 12, 2015
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A Really Fun Read about what is "Real"
By R. P. Glass on August 12, 2015
Satoshi Kon's OPUS is a meta-manga dealing with creators, their creations, and how they affect each other. Bespectacled manga creator Chikara Nagai is under a deadline to finish his graphic novel RESONANCE. Lin, the character he wants to kill off, objects. At the end of the penultimate chapter of "Resonance". Lin steps in to protect the lovely Satoko who is battling the evil Masque. Even Chikara's editor just wants a happy last chapter where Satoko defeats the Masque. Later, while working on the final pages, Chikara finds a panel that has depth and gets literally pulled into his own story. Satoko wonders whose pawn he is. Lin discovers his projected fate and moves to make sure it does not happen. Chikara returns to his real world and brings Satoko with him. From then on, Chikara's world of the page and Satoko's world on the page riffle together like a shuffled deck of cards entertainingly stretching the boundaries of everyone's reality. But author Kon's career began shifting from manga to anime before the tale was finished. After Kon's death, the rough pencils of the final chapter were found among his papers. That chapter from beyond the grave is included here to supply the proper [if not totally satisfying] meta-fiction closure. Recommended for fans of both manga and anime with character.
By R. P. Glass on August 12, 2015
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Reviewed in the United States on June 22, 2020
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Top reviews from other countries
leigh
Really good manga came in good quality
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 4, 2021Verified Purchase
Artie
Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 2, 2017Verified Purchase
Kia Catherine O'Brien
Excellent
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 13, 2018Verified Purchase
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Four Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 21, 2016Verified Purchase
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Incredible
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 22, 2017Verified Purchase
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