About the Mangaka

Masamune Shirow had created several other titles before GitS which made him famous. Several of the earlier series then gained their own fame, thought GitS remains the most famous, and most well known.

About the Manga

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While I liked this volume was a great read, and a good addition to the GitS universe, or rather a good base from which the universe expanded; I’m not a huge fan of it.

My first real introduction to the GitS universe was the two series, which made me a huge fan. Sure I’d seen the movies as a kid, but hadn’t really watched them if you get my meaning.

However if you haven’t read the manga before nothing can prepare you for this, especially if you’re coming from the anime series first.

The manga, while the same as the anime, is also completely different. The main differences is the personalities and interactions of the cast. Which I’m not sure I liked. Batou is still after the Major, but the banter we see in the anime has spread around and lost a lot of it’s unique feel.

Aramaki and the Majors banter is taken to far and it lacks the depth and feelings of the anime.

These changes aren’t bad per say, and if you read the manga in it’s own right without trying to compare it to the anime, then it is a good a read, though it does have a rather huge pitfall.

I hate the art, actually hate isn’t strong enough, I’d go as far as to say I despise the art. It reminds me to much of crappy old western comics, and at times it’s the very worst.

Shirow is a great plot creator, developing the world, cityscapes etc etc, but I don’t like how he draws. He does have his moments, but I found even his colour panels to be lacking a lot of the time.

The story saves the series from falling onto my junk pile list, but I think my love of the anime also has a part in that as well.

The story doesn’t flow as well as it should, or could flow, and at times feels a bit jerky. However the story has a unique feel and flows well enough to allow the reader to enjoy the story.

However given when it was created, I don’t suppose it’s that bad, it just feels like it could have been so much more than it was, and that makes it a bit sad really.

I’ve no idea what the hell Kodansha are thinking, firstly this volume, like Akira, is huge. I found this damned annoying especially when you compare it with the size of the original Dark Horse release.

Then once again, it’s basically a carbon copy of the Dark Horse release, even to having their introduction at the front. I hate this TBH and wonder why they couldn’t have put the effort into doing their own. It feels to much like they let Dark Horse do all the work while they reap all the gains.

I was also rather disappointed to again find that this was flipped and reads left to right.

While I enjoyed this title a little, I can’t recommend it for several reasons. The main one being though if you want it go buy the Dark Horse release. It’s a better size and exactly the same, not to mention cheaper.

Kodansha need to learn how to release stuff to the western market fast or they’ll end up losing loads of money and going under. Hopefully the first of their own true releases will be better, but I’m not holding my breath.

Where to Buy

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