Appleseed: Deluxe Edition Review

Before getting into the review proper, I would like to say that I was really looking forward to reviewing this manga: a sci-fi classic, produced luxuriously and released in the highest standard. Then I ended up breaking my arm, and realised I had to review a massive hardback containing over 800 pages, not only dealing with my injury and the delays it would cause catching up with work, but simply contending with the problems of carrying a book this huge. Safe to say, I wasn’t expecting a review to be physically painful.

Appleseed was the first major work from Shirow Masamune, the creator of Ghost in the Shell, a series that recently got a new anime adaptation. Like GitS, Appleseed deals with many of the same themes: crime, technology and philosophy. There are also plenty of things that would become Masamune staples, from the rapid-fire action to the, let’s be honest, rather gratuitous fan service. We all know that the only reason there is a bath scene is so Masamune can draw some tits.

Set in the year 2127, in a world where a Third World War took place which killed millions but did not go nuclear, the series follows a couple: former SWAT member Deunan Knute, and cyborg ex-mercenary Briareos Hecatonchires. They are found in a ruined city by a woman called Hitomi, who invites them to work in the advanced city state of Olympus. They agree, and end up joining the Extra Special Weapon and Tactics Team (ESWAT Team). The duo end up fighting crime in Olympus and abroad, while getting drawn into the mucky underbelly of the seemingly utopian world they are now  part of.

Regarding Appleseed, I found the action to be way more interesting than the story. There are plenty of fights, chases and battles involving Deunan and Briareos to keep anyone entertained, and it really shows off Masamune’s artistic talents. As also stated, there is the odd moment of fan service too, with Deunan and Hitomi depicted naked on more than one occasion for seemingly no other reason than titillation.

However, mixed in with the art are discussions of politics, philosophy and science which feel way too deep and wordy for what this manga is. Frequently this work becomes too bogged down in discussions of the world around them and mysterious goings-on and it makes what is an otherwise exciting manga drag. Having said that, there are times you can see Masamune being rather accurate with some of his predictions, such as writing in the 1980s about a cashless society.

The main talking point about this manga is the production. This edition combines all four published volumes into a single collection (there are rumours about a fifth volume that Masamune wrote but never published), and not only is it all released in a large hardback format, it comes with a ribbon bookmarker and golden trim on the pages. Dark Horse have certainly gone out of their way to make a quality product. My only criticism of designers Skyler Weissenfluh and Patrick Satterfield’s work is the choice of image on the cover, which depicts Deunan with an eye patch, despite the fact she only gets an eye injury in the fourth and final volume.

Multiple people are credited with the translation and lettering (see the top right-hand column of the page for a full list of names), but it is safe to say that the team behind it have all done a great job. Rather than translation notes, more detailed sections of the plot are squeezed into the panel spaces. The text is still rather small, so it might be hard for some readers to make out, but given the size of the book it is not the worst I’ve seen. Credit to veteran editor Carl Gustav Horn for his work bringing the whole thing together.

For those wanting more, Dark Horse are also releasing an Appleseed Anthology containing artwork, interviews and short stories, and a separate Shirow Masamune Anthology containing four different works, including his debut piece Black Magic and his follow-up to Appleseed, Dominion.

Is this a series I plan to return to? I’m unsure, but I certainly intend to wait until after my arm fully heals before picking up such a weighty work again.

Read a free preview on the publisher’s website here.

Our review copy from Dark Horse was supplied by Turnaround Comics (Turnaround Publisher Services).