Biomega
| Manga | |
|---|---|
| title | Biomega |
| Original title | BIOMEGA |
| country |
 Japan
|
| author | Tsutomu Nihei |
| publishing company | Kodansha → Shueisha |
| magazine | Young Magazine → Ultra Jump |
| First publication | June 2004 - 2009 |
| expenditure | 6th |
Biomega is the cyberpunk imputed His - manga of Tsutomu Nihei , which appeared from 2004 to 2009 in Japan. It has been translated into several languages, including German. The manga uses motifs and elements from Nihei's earlier works ( transhumanism , megastructure ) as well as characters (bears) that appear in his latest work, Knights of Sidonia . The protagonist is a taciturn hero whose strength lies in action-packed battles and who must save the world. The talking is mainly done by other characters for him.
action
In the early fourth millennium, an epidemic spreads around, the N5S virus from Mars , which mutates all those affected into zombies . The synthetic human Zoichi Kanoe, creature and agent of the TOA heavy industry company, is tasked with finding the uninfected and apparently resistant Ion Green so that the virus can be stopped. Supported by the artificial intelligence of his high-tech motorcycle, Fuyu Kanoe, Zoichi fights his way through the world that has fallen into chaos and faces both the zombies known as drones and the health authority, which is commissioned by the Data Recovery Foundation (DRF) thwart addiction.
Ion Green is found by Zoichi, but the intelligent bear Kozlov Leifnovich Grebnev, who behaves like a human, brings her to safety from Zoichi and the zombies. She is later found by the health department. An agent of this organization, who can be recognized by a white coat like all members of the DRF, reaches the girl's refuge and seriously injures her protector. The agent also manages to temporarily eliminate Zoichi and escape with Ion Green. Zoichi saves Kozlov and sets out to track down the kidnapper. Arrived at a submarine, which is supposed to bring Ion to the headquarters of the health authority, a fight ensues. Zoichi can defeat all opponents, but is then thrown back by the Kahdal Spindal, which is protected with biological armor. You manage to escape with Ion Green. Now the DRF's plan to turn everyone into drones is revealed when ICBMs loaded with the virus are launched.
With the help of a particle gun, Zoichi can shoot the missiles before they hit their targets. Meanwhile, General Narain's health department has taken over the TOA heavy industry. Zoichi witnessed the death of his infected mother there. That woman had taken his training in a virtual reality during his growth period. Meanwhile, Nishu Mizunoe, also a synthetic person from the TOA heavy industry, tries to track down the founder of the DRF, Loew Grigorievic Grebnev. She meets Kozlov, whom she can save from enemy agent Higuide. With Kozlov's help, Nishu also finds one of his former friends, the first synthetic human created by the DRF.
When Dr. Wildenstein's experiments with synthetic humans and the refusal to obey their orders, the health authority opposes the DRF. Therefore, it is now starting an attack on the headquarters of the authority. When Zoichi arrives, the DRF's war machines are already dismantling the facility. Kahdal Spindal and Higuide try to save as much as possible while General Narain transfers his spirit to a new body. Niardi, the mistress of the DRF, appears, leaving both Narain and Dr. Kill Wildenstein. But Narain can resurrect with the help of the N5S virus and in his new monstrous form destroys everything around him. Finally, it is directed against Niardi. Zoichi and Nishu manage to hand Ion Green over to Khadal Spindal, who, together with the survivors of the attack, takes an orbital lift to safety.
Fuyu manages to gain access to Narain's spirit. She learns that Niardi has the ability to access information from biological matter through touch. Niardi hates all technology and wants to use the virus to create a world according to their ideals. Narain finally succumbs to Niardi and the earth undergoes a transformation. Zoichi and Fuyu find themselves on a thread-like world, which is divided into twelve sectors and has a length of 4.8 billion kilometers. Here too there is the DRF, from whose grasp Zoichi saves two people in this world: the siblings Yah and Boots. After they learned their unknown language with Fuyu's help, they went to their home village, where an agent from the DRF recently turned up. This wants to seize Yahs and causes a massacre. Yah carries a child within him, which Niardi can use to recreate the world after it did not work according to her wishes.
Zoichi is unable to save Yah, but is able to free her daughter Funiperro from the hands of the DRF. It is known that the means to transform the world will again be the N5S virus. Ion Green also survived the escape from the other world. About six hundred years later, Kozlov appears, for whom no time has passed. After contact with the now adult Funiperro, he learns of Zoichi's ongoing fight against the DRF and sets out on the long way to meet him. The last fight should be led by Funiperro against Niardi, but Funiperro is narrowly defeated. The fight can still be turned by Zoichi, Niardi is defeated and finally dies. Fuyu also fell in the last stand. Kozlov, Ion Green, and Funiperro meet as Zoichi sets out to bring Fuyu back through the technology of the bygone world. A flashback sheds light on the story of Loew Grigorievic Grebnev, who flew to Mars in the body of his artificially created son Kozlov to meet with the first immortal, Reload.
Characters
Zoichi Kanoe (庚 造 一 Kanoe Zōichi) is a synthetic human created by the TOA heavy industry who appears as a young man in his 20s, but received 50 years of appropriate training during his creation. Zoichi is not invulnerable, but he can take more than a normal person. Zoichi's equipment includes his motorcycle, a pistol, an ax for close combat and a particle beam rifle.
Fuyu Kanoe (カ ノ エ · フ ユ Kanoe Fuyu) is the AI integrated into Zoichi's motorcycle, which is shown as a young woman using a hologram projector. She is able to hack into various computer systems and provides Zoichi with helpful information.
Nishu Mizunoe (壬 二 銖 Mizunoe Nishu) is a female synthetic human, also created by the TOA heavy industry. She shares the same equipment as Zoichi and was tasked with finding the original founder of the DRF. Shin Mizunoe (ミ ズ ノ エ · シ ン Mizunoe Shin) is the AI of your motorcycle, which in contrast to Fuyu appears as a man.
Niardi (ニ ア ル デ ィ Niarudi) is the leader of the DRF and pursues the goal of recreating the world and humanity and eliminating all artificial man-made constructs, as she explains in a conversation with Fuyu Kanoe. At the time of the action, she is the second oldest person at over 700 years.
Narain Meghnad (ナ レ イ ン ・ メ グ ナ ー ド Narein Megunādo) is initially under the orders of the DRF, but then turns against Niardi and her plans. General Narain appears as an amorphous mass with tentacles and a bird-like head. He later transfers his mind into a new synthetic body. Narain knows Niardi from the time they both started working for the DRF and were still completely human. In flashbacks he can be seen as a dark-skinned, blond man.
Dr. Wildenstein (ウ ィ ル デ ン シ ュ タ イ ン 博士 Wirudenshutain-Hakase) a brilliant scientist who works for General Narain. He researches the N5S virus and TOA heavy industry technology, which enables him to create a new body for Narain. On Niardi's order, he is shot during the DRF attack, but is able to regenerate, whereupon he is (finally) killed again.
Ion Green (イ オ ン · グ リ ー ン Ion Gurīn) is the girl that Zoichi is supposed to find. It is immune to the N5S virus and able to heal injuries in seconds.
Kozlov Leifnovich Grebnev (コ ズ ロ フ · レ ー フ ヴ ィ チ · グ レ ブ ネ フ Kozurofu Rēfuvichi Gurebunefu) is an intelligent, upright walking bear. But he is a person who was created from the genes of Loew Grigorievic Grebnev, the founder of the DRF, and Ion Green. His brain was transplanted into a bear's body, and Loew's into his.
Kahdal Spindal (カ ー ダ ル ・ ス ピ ン ダ ル Kādaru Supindaru) serves under Narain. It was she who kidnapped Ion Green before Zoichi could reach her. She is able to clothe her body in a bandage-like cover, which she can also use as a weapon and armor.
Recurring motifs
In this manga Nihei takes up the topics he had dealt with in earlier works. This includes, for example, the mega-structure as a dystopian further development of urban architecture and the creation of artificial people or the technological improvement of human biology. Also organizations and characters from Blame! , or Knights of Sidonia can be found in Biomega, such as TOA heavy industry. Zoichi is also more or less a different version of Killy from Blame. Both characters must save the world with a powerful pistol as their main weapon. Even the injuries he sustained at the end of the manga are the same as Killy's. A talking bear with a prosthetic arm reappears in Knights of Sidonia.
publication
The series was published from June 2004 in the magazine Young Magazine from the publisher Kodansha , but was soon set out again. In 2006 the manga was continued in Shueisha's Ultra Jump and completed in 2009. The chapters also appeared in six edited volumes.
A translation into German is available as a six-volume edition of Egmont Manga , published from January 2009 to April 2010. Madman Entertainment also published the series in Australia and New Zealand, Glénat in France and Panini Comics in Spain.
reception
On the occasion of the German publication of the manga, AnimaniA wrote in 2009 that “the oblique angles, blatant vanishing point perspectives and high-contrast lighting conditions strongly borrowed from expressionist cinema of the 1920s” and saw that the author Tsutomu Nihei had studied architecture before starting his manga career . With the “morbid design of the drones, the flesh of the deformed body rots” , the series is “not for the faint of heart” . To fans of previous series by the artist such as Blame! and of "Sci-Fi-Action-Thrillers with a well thought-out plot and uncompromising splatter elements" the manga is recommended.
Individual evidence
Web links
- Entry at Anime News Network (English)