Appleseed, Book 4: The Promethean Balance Paperback – March 24, 2009

4th volume was much better that the 3rd one, but not as best as 2nd one, in my opinion. It was so complicated by words with unknown meanings which I had to find in online dictionary and maybe Google for some phrases. But, anyway, that was satisfying.

Great service and price

I enjoy the Appleseed series, but I feel in comparison to GitS, Dominion, and Orion it is a bit dry.

The world needs more comics like this. Action packed and very intreatsing concepts about the human condition a must but for appleseed fans

I have read and re-read these stories for years and will continue to do so for many years to come.

Appleseed 4: The Promethean Balance is a Japanese cyberpunk manga/graphic novel by Shirow Masamune. This volume has TONS of action, and it's all over the place. It's a little bit confusing at times, but still awesome. The only thing I found disappointing is that Deunan and Briareos are apart for most of the book. I love their kissing scene near the end. It is a super good comic, and I definitely recommend it.

"Apple Seed" is the Sci-Fi/Mecha work by popular manga artist Masumune Shirow. This tale of Mechas, government secrets, and a very tough heroine was also made into a anime of the same name. "Apple Seed" is, at times, deemed Shirow's greatest work, a triumph.Art-wise, things are a mixed bag. While I was not particular blown away, the art is not difficult to view. Duenan looks just to cool with her body armor on, and Briareos is...interesting. However, while many of the mecha designs were good, many of the character designs were pretty lame, and lacked any kind of originality.Also lacking are the battles. Some deem the battles "cool", I beg to differ. Many of the battles should be appriotely labeled "overblown". The mech flew back back and forth, a couple of explosions, followed by several injuries and apparent deaths. The series of panels holding the images were laid out in a way that was, in my opinion, utterly confusing. It looked as if the images had been swiched up side down, causing bewilderment.The plot is overly complex. Text and battles are unevenly distributed between the pages.for example, think about no text for four pages, then tons of text, trying to depict the story, and mostly failing. There was so much text in some of the panels that I found it difficult to correctly read the text, and I never fully understood the plot. The main character, Duenan, also has a drab, typical personalitie that I've noticed in his other works. Duenan is brave, strong, shoots before she asked questions, but is not entirely the most reliable. Sound familiar?Why, then, do I award "Appleseed" three stars? Would two or one stars be more like it? To its credit, "Appleseed"'s artwork is certainly a step above the first volume of "Appleseed", marked with a signifigant amount of increased detail. Also, this is a must for Shirow fans. While it would skreching it a bit to call it epic, the book is pretty long, providing countless hours of enjoyment for those who enjoy Shirows work. Those who are looking for a manga with better artwork and easy to follow plot are better off reading something else.

I can reread these four collective volumes every few months and see something new or appreciate it all over again. I have many single issues from the American reprints stashed away in boxes bagged up, but this way i just put a little wear & tear on the mini-graphic novels....

Shirow Masamune is the man when you want a bit of Cyberpunk Manga this is a must!

...It didn't feel like a proper ending. Hell, it didn't even feel like the background plot was even fully resolved. I feel as if it could have continued, and sometimes I find myself eagerly awaiting a fifth volume that will never come. Nevertheless, I enjoyed this volume as much as I enjoyed the other three volumes of the Appleseed manga, and I'm glad to finally have the entire Appleseed manga series in my possession. I look forward to finding more from the great Shirow Masamune, whose skills in sci-fi manga/anime storytelling are rivaled only by Yoshiaki Kawajiri, Katsuhiro Otomo, Hideaki Anno, and Shinichiro Watanabe. The next manga I may purchase from this author is Black Magic or Orion.Anyway, this is still a must-own for Appleseed fans or Masamune fans in general--just don't expect an ending that overall very satisfying...***1/2 out of *****