Appleseed Book 1: The Promethean Challenge

My product was in good shape considering ti was marked 'used' and it arrived on time. I'm not going to comment on the content because if you're buying the item you already have a good idea of what it is.

I wonder if Shirow saw the classic movie "Things to Come"... And I mean the 1937 version. This movie has similar themes. After a nuclear war a scientific elite (of cyborgs/androids in this one) begin the process of recreating the world and society. Unlike most fictions this does not include the enslavement or genocide of humanity. They welcome mankind with open arms and find a place for him in their society at great social cost and inviting the risk of danger in their gates. The two main characters are a pair of hardened mercenaries/soldiers who are amazed at the generosity offered to them by this new utopian society and eagerly become cops to help them keep their peace. They fight terrorists who are mostly humans born inside this new civilization but have turned disillusioned with it either from boredom through luxury or paranoia at not having a direct say in the benevolent government of the androids. In short, paradise is threatened from within and these two become the enforcers because they've lived through mankind mostly killing himself and can't understand why people who live in such luxury and security they thought they'd never see again can try to destroy it and hurt innocents in the process. It's a longer work, and less well reviewed than his other stuff. I think it was his most thoughtful work.

World War Three is over. Nuclear weapons were not used, but just about everything else was. Old nations have died out and new powers have replaced them. A nomad soldier, Deunan Knute, and her cyborg partner, Briareos, have been taken from the ruins, out of the wastes, to utopia. A utopia called Olympus, the central city of the new Earth.Yet, even utopia has power struggles. Will mankind be changed and became something better IF nonhuman or embrace total peace at the cost of his spirit? Or will it all be destroyed again by uncontrolled emotions such as hate and greed?Or will mankind be able to find a way, a path that combines it all? Shirow is the best artist to help us ask the question and maybe the only one who can help us answer it.

Masamune Shirow's works are THE standard by which all sci-fi/cyberpunk mangas are written, and Appleseed is no exception. This first book is filled with action, amazing technical designs, and great characters, all of which is rounded off by a nice dose of humour (which is sadly lacking from books three and four). A highly recommended purchase.

Here is volume three of Shirows "life's work". Our heroes must continue to fight against biological enemies and find their place in Olympus. Peace is not easy to achieve amd more gruelingly difficult to maintain when the outside world sees paradise as a threat to humanity, and the real humans of the city aren't always happy. "We are like birds that live in cages".