April comes like an idiot, babbling and strewing flowers

A couple of months ago, I picked up the first four volumes of Dark Horse's release of Appleseed incredibly cheap--about three or four dollars per book, originally priced at $17.95 each, these being the same very large, flipped, expensive format Dark Horse used for their original release of Ghost in the Shell. I believe the sale was one of those meant to clear out all the old stock in anticipation of a new, unflipped, presumably smaller, cheaper rerelease more in line with the current publishing trends. I recently got around to reading them, and have been pondering them in the noisy clamor of my heart.

First, I can now understand why Shirow is said to feel that Appleseed is his most important work, moreso than the very-popular-in-the-States Ghost in the Shell. I adore all incarnations of GITS, especially the animation, which is so much truer in spirit to the manga than the unrelentingly sober movies, but GITS the manga has a serious tech focus, and all the social commentary is secondary to the speculation about technology. Appleseed is broader, and with Clarkeian-flavored themes and the question asked, as utterly serious as it is detached: can the human species actually survive? And if not, will we leave any descendants at all? GITS is clearly a very strong story/concept/franchise, judging by the number of adaptations and revisitations, but Appleseed is a much more ambitious work. I recommend it to anyone who has a liking for Shirow's whole style of manga, and not just for Bateau and Motoko.

Second, I am reminded again how I truly do love Dark Horse as a publisher. While they have a frustrating tendency to publish manga of a somewhat limited range (zombies, samurai, assassins, and let's not forget cyborgs and other post-Apocalyptic flavored concessions towards male American comics readers' tastes), I respect their body of work, and I respect what I think someone described as the coherence of their vision. Dark Horse most definitely has a style, and it is an excellent one, albeit one that only occasionally falls in line with my reading preferences. There is one thing you can reasonably expect from any Dark Horse title you pick up: it will be a stunningly good whatever it is. Especially Ohikkoshi.

Third, if Appleseed is indeed being republished, it will be a shame it's going to be the smaller-cheaper route, because Shirow's artwork suffers a great deal from being compacted. It's busy, dark, line-heavy stuff, and the smaller it gets, the harder it is to read. Fruits Basket would not look significantly better at twice the size, but Shirow manga looks great on letter-size paper. For all that my wallet likes small and cheap, I can't help but feel that in this case, small and cheap books would be a disservice to both the artist and the reader.

I'd like to state (again) for the record that the opening sequence for GITS SAC 2nd GIG is one of the best I've ever seen. I love that thing.

Observations:

1. Atsuko Tanaka is an excellent seiyuu. I've always thought she was well-suited to the role of Motoko; still, I generally enjoy her (and the rest of the Japanese cast) without really thinking about her performance. But there was this extra little touch in this episode that jumped out at me. If you've seen GITS SAC, you've probably noticed that the voices are frequently disembodied. In this episode, Motoko experiences something disturbing; afterwards, there is the faintest note of upset in her voice. It's nothing dramatic, but notable in a woman possessed of steely resolve and the utmost self-control. It's a nice touch.

2. There was a lot of excellent music in this episode I don't remember hearing anywhere before. I wonder if there's another OST anywhere in sight.

3. Oh noes, ( spoiler for something fairly minor. )

4. ( Spoilery speculation. )

5. I hated to give up my awesome "I'm not dead, bitches" icon, but it was worth it for a put-upon Togusa icon. I love that guy.