“Aposmz” is an entertaining and much more reader friendly Nihei Tsutomu manga series. And I think anyone wanting to get into Nihei can surely enjoy this manga and help them decide if they want to pursue any of his older works. But I do look forward in seeing where his manga goes from here and hope it remains consistent in vol. 2! Definitely a manga worth reading!
MANGA TITLE: Aposimz vol. 1
STORY AND ART BY: Nihei Tsutomu
FIRST PUBLISHED IN JAPAN: Kodansha Ltd.
PUBLISHED IN USA BY: Vertical Comics
RATED: 14+
Originally released in Japan back in May 2018
Available on October 9, 2018
Nihei Tsutomu is known for his cyberpunk-lnfluenced artwork, his art featuring large structures and his distinct style.
Best known for popular titles such as “Blame!”, “Knights of Sidonia”, “Abara” and “Biomega”, in 2017, Nihei would create the manga series “Ningyo no Kuni” (Country of Dolls). Serialized in “Gekkan Shonen Sirius”, the manga was released in North America as “APOSIMZ” courtesy of Vertical Comics.
With three volumes published in Japan, the first volume is now available in North America.
“APOSIMZ” is set in an artificial planet and under harsh, extreme cold, a group is undergoing combat training. As they are training, they see people with “frame disease” (a disease which slowly transforms people into biochemical creatures).
While investigating, Rebedoan light air speeders approach and are chasing something a flying girl. Nearly destroyed she hands over a box to one of the trainees named Eo and tells him to make sure the Rebedoa Empire does not get ahold of it. Etherow and his combat trainees are able to defeat the Rebedoa soldiers but the girl disappears and what was left behind is a code, seven bullets and a small automaton.
As they return, the human’s leader Zezo tells them that they need to leave where the Rebedoa doesn’t find them.
And as the group plan to leave the following morning, Lord Yiyu and the Rebedoa arrive and kill many of the humans and the surviving ones are being tortured by Yiyu by freezing their blood.
Meanwhile, Etherow tries to snipe and kill Yiyu but Yiyu detects an attack and sends a ice spike which goes through Etherow’s eye.
About to die, Etherow is revived by a mechanical creature known as Titania and helps him turn into a regular Frame and using the code to turn into one.
This sets up a battle between Etherow as a frame and Lord Yiyu in a battle and learning how to control his new found power as a Frame but will this new power help him defeat Yiyu?
As a person who has read a fair share of Nihei Tsutomu manga, he has a way of creating these futuristic worlds bent on chaos or destruction.
And sometimes you run into stories that require a second reading and the feeling that you may have missed something. If anything, part of it is due to Nihei’s artwork which is unique but it can be a bit confusing when many characters were introduced.
Fortunately, “Aposimz” is a manga which is one of his most easier titles to follow.
A story set in a world which humans who have frame disease and walk in eternity as zombie cyborgs, what is left of humanity are people trying to fight back against a sadistic alien race known as the Rebedoa.
Unfortunately, for Etherow and his combat team, they were caught unprepared and attacked while they slept and his team were killed or tortured until they revealed information of the whereabouts of a code.
The group’s best fighter, Etherow tries to snipe one of the Rebedoa leader’s, Yiyu but Yiyu is too powerful and detected the bullet, froze it and sends it flying into Etherow’s right eye and with not much time before he is dead, a robot creature named Titania saves his life by allowing Etherow to become a frame with a conscious.
And as these two cross the planet, Etherow knows that he must grow stronger as a regular frame, but to do that, he must defeat other frames and steal its placenta in order to expand his capacity. But is he ready to take on powerful frames, despite being at a lower level?
So far, “Aposmz” is an entertaining and much more reader friendly Nihei Tsutomu manga series. And I think anyone wanting to get into Nihei can surely enjoy this manga and help them decide if they want to pursue any of his older works. But I do look forward in seeing where his manga goes from here and hope it remains consistent in vol. 2!
Definitely a manga worth reading!