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siili's review against another edition
3.0
I found some of the stories in this collection interesting, others not so much. The colored pages were a nice add, but when it turned back to standard black and white drawings, the amount of details in each picture became a bit blurred. Also, some of the stories in this collection I didn't like, mostly because I didn't necessarily get all of their ideas (meaning some of the technical stuff descriped etc.). Still, overall an interesting manga, but since I didn't like all the stories that much/found them a bit hard to understand despite the glossary of the terms back in the book, I give this collection 3½ stars rounded down to 3 stars.
lsmith36's review against another edition
2.0
All in all, I think the original manga here was fairly confusing and cluttered. I really don't feel like it's as deep as the movie tried to be, or as interesting. Shirow's art style is cluttered to me, and I didn't really care about the storyline or much else. I have heard that other series and volumes from this universe are better, so I might check them out.
elise_dragon13's review against another edition
3.0
Maybe I'll try and re-read this when I'm less busy/distracted. I feel like this manga is more about immersion than plotline (I'm hoping it is because it could be quite confusing). I wasn't sure whether to read all the notes and commentary alongside the panels in this edition - the author said it could be a distraction but I also want to know all his little details and explanations! I like the characters a lot; I haven't seen any adaptations so I'm not sure how they compare to the anime and film versions. The outfits are a little ridiculous but it's fun - the Major is a badass so I'm not gonna be mad she wears lots of lycra leotards. The colour pages in every chapter were fantastic, and most of the black and white panels were good too. Overall, the characters and the worldbuilding were fun but I'll have to return to this to fully understand the plot.
daniem's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
libscote's review against another edition
2.0
Not really enjoying this so far. Was recommended to me because it had a kick-ass female heroine, but it's a sci-fi book where you jump right in the middle of things, and I'm having a really hard time figuring the world out.
ETA: A few chapters in, it goes through an explanation of cyborgs, and after that it was easier to get into. I still had a really hard time keeping track of the characters.
ETA: A few chapters in, it goes through an explanation of cyborgs, and after that it was easier to get into. I still had a really hard time keeping track of the characters.
abigail369's review against another edition
adventurous
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.25
This book explores a lot of interesting concepts in a well thought out cyberpunk future. It is very obvious why this is an important landmark in science fiction history. The art and character design were both excellent as well. However, the plot is fully incomprehensible. Any time I started to get a handle on what was happening, the story would take a sharp left into complete nonsense. This was frustrating and made it hard to finish. I don’t think this was worth the time and brain cells I lost trying to understand it.
litpages3's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 rating for me
This was the first time reading a manga and I can honestly say it was a bit confusing.
1st I had to get used to reading backwards-reading the pages left to right. Once I got the hang of that I then learned that the novel itself had to be read left to right which I didn't figure out until I was about 5 pages into it.
The story overall was a bit confusing. My husband suggested this manga to me after watching the anime series and the latest movie with Scarlett Johannson. If it wasn't for the movie I would have probably put this down only because it's written in such a style that Shirow assumes that everyone understands what's happening which was not the case. There were things happening that had no meaning or took it for granted that the reader already knew about it.
I took my time with this one and read it as individual stories per chapter and that seemed to help a bit as well as asking my husband for help when I was unsure. Overall it wasn't a bad story and by the end I was wanting to know what happened and where things go from there so I will be reading the other 2 books.
I probably should have started with something simpler to get me into the reading pattern and something that I may favor. Also take into account that it was 344 pages and I read it in one day was probably not the best idea since it was all new to me.
This was the first time reading a manga and I can honestly say it was a bit confusing.
1st I had to get used to reading backwards-reading the pages left to right. Once I got the hang of that I then learned that the novel itself had to be read left to right which I didn't figure out until I was about 5 pages into it.
The story overall was a bit confusing. My husband suggested this manga to me after watching the anime series and the latest movie with Scarlett Johannson. If it wasn't for the movie I would have probably put this down only because it's written in such a style that Shirow assumes that everyone understands what's happening which was not the case. There were things happening that had no meaning or took it for granted that the reader already knew about it.
I took my time with this one and read it as individual stories per chapter and that seemed to help a bit as well as asking my husband for help when I was unsure. Overall it wasn't a bad story and by the end I was wanting to know what happened and where things go from there so I will be reading the other 2 books.
I probably should have started with something simpler to get me into the reading pattern and something that I may favor. Also take into account that it was 344 pages and I read it in one day was probably not the best idea since it was all new to me.