Ningyou no Kuni
Aposimz

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TLDR:
Story: 4.5 Stars
Art: 4 Stars
Characters: 4 Stars
Uniqueness: 5 Stars
Mind frick: 3 Stars (Lower then usual for this author!)

Aposimz is a manga series written and illustrated by Tsutomu Nihei. The story takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where the remnants of humanity live on a frozen wasteland, forced to constantly fight for survival against monstrous beings known as "Gaunas." The series explores themes of power, oppression, and the consequences of war, while also subverting traditional manga tropes and delivering a compelling and unique story.

The world-building in Aposimz is top-notch, with an intricate history and mythology that gradually unfolds throughout the series. The setting is bleak and ... oppressive, with a sense of hopelessness that permeates the story. The Gaunas are terrifying creatures that are a constant threat to the characters, and the various factions and organizations vying for power add layers of complexity to the narrative.

The characters in Aposimz are also well-developed and nuanced, with their motivations and allegiances shifting over the course of the story. The protagonist, Jihl Nabaat, is a former soldier who becomes involved in a rebellion against the ruling class. His journey of self-discovery and his relationships with other characters are the heart of the story, and his struggles with morality and loyalty make him a compelling and relatable protagonist.

The characters in Aposimz are one of the strongest aspects of the series, with each character being given a unique personality and backstory. One example of this is the character of Samira, a young girl who is part of the rebellion against the ruling class. Despite her age, Samira is shown to be intelligent and resourceful, with a strong sense of justice. In one memorable chapter, Samira confronts one of the ruling class's soldiers who has been harassing her and her fellow rebels. Rather than resorting to violence, Samira engages the soldier in conversation, appealing to his sense of honor and decency. Through this interaction, the reader gains insight into Samira's character and her approach to conflict resolution. This scene is just one example of the many nuanced and well-written characters in "Aposimz."

One of the strengths of Aposimz is its subversion of traditional manga tropes. The series eschews the typical "shonen" or "seinen" archetypes and instead presents a story that is more nuanced and complex. The female characters, in particular, are given agency and are not merely relegated to love interests or supporting roles. The series also has a diverse cast, with characters of different races and backgrounds.

The art style of Aposimz is unique and striking, with a mix of detailed linework and stark black and white contrasts. The character designs are distinctive, with each character having a distinct silhouette and personality. The action scenes are also well-executed, with a sense of weight and impact that makes them thrilling to read.

Overall, Aposimz is a subversive and interesting story that is well worth reading. The world-building, characters, and themes are all well-crafted and engaging, and the series' subversion of traditional manga tropes makes it stand out in a crowded field. Fans of post-apocalyptic fiction, political thrillers, and manga in general will find much to enjoy in Aposimz.

Small gun with a big bang, and cool expansive pipe-filled architecture, Nihei staples.

As others say though, the ending came on very abruptly, and the story lost all of the impact due to that. Very unfortunate.

Otherwise I'd still recommend this if you're a fan of his illustrations, or enjoy the works of Jean Giraud aka Mœbius. It seems like this manga has more natural looking plains which is what reminded me of Giraud, as opposed to Niehei's usual gargantuan industrial innards (which are still featured under the surface). Also the way that nomadic people adapt to technology, or fuse technology to their sandstony looking architecture fits ... that bill as well I feel.

The plot is pretty standard though; shoneny edgelord armor fights, got some fanservice in there. There isn't much inner conflict going on with characters, and any character development is unfortunately cut short by the abrupt end.

Its interesting and strange to me that people write reviews for unfinished or ongoing manga, but in the case for Aposimz - even its now "finished" status is actually forever unfinished due to a hasty cancellation. Nihei was forced to attempt to cliff note about 50 chapters worth of story into the last 4 because of that. I won't judge Aposmiz for the hilariously rushed ending, however I didn't find rest of the story or art to hold up regardless of that forced ending.

As per the Nihei Blame usual you have a rather stoic MC with a small gun that has the power ... to punch a hole through everything, travelling around a mechanical dystopia with a female sidekick (actually 2 this time), some Abara style transformations, and at times the lighthearted goofiness of Sidonia. The biggest change is probably how generic and "not-Nehei" the manga feels; things quickly devolve into shounen battles with tiered enemies, special superpowers, mascot animals, ass pull fights, explanation of said fight/abilities, etc. Technically Nihei always has moments almost like that, but not to the same degree and frequency that Aposmiz has. It is very much a watered down and shounen-y story overall. There are hints of the expert world building of Nihei, but it feels rehashed from his older works, except now straddled by this atmosphere killing shounen battle nonsense (along with some very obvious and clear "influence" from Nausicaa).

That being said nothing here is really new for him, besides his continuation/advancement of the Sidonia artstyle, which is something I personally think just looks rather boring and lifeless in comparison to his older heavy ink stuff. Its lacking in shading at times, being mostly empty white, a single grey tone, and then ink for hair and lines of objects. I appreciate trying a new artstyle; but it feels more simplified in its shading, more boring to look at, like less effort is being put in, and honestly sometimes hard to make out what things are exactly due to that lack of shading. A look at his coloured pages are obviously a huge step down from his previous efforts, not even in a different style, they are simply just flat out worse and look like he barely tried at all. Faces and people are also far more cutesy, utterly gone are the uncanny and strangely spaced faces from his older works which stood out from other artists.

The atmosphere too is very similar to Sidonia because of how much more playful characters are and how lighthearted things look. Silly jokes and even ecchi scenes coming up again and again through the story, but are mostly just generic and played out nonsense. Nothing like the ol naked girl walks into the bathroom and then hurts the MC for looking at her titddies, never seen enough of those epic gags, right guys....? Maybe I am no longer Nihei's target audience with things like this, but I never found these "jokes" very funny even when I was younger, and more importantly is that it's so overdone that I believe it's absolutely worthy of criticism.

Its a shame to say; but with this manga, Sidonia, and the Blame CGI movie - I think I have to say that modern day Nihei is completely washed up. He seems more interested in having cute girls, slapstick humor, shounen battles, and awful romance than creating the gritty, mysterious and dark worlds he was known for. Its fine to change your style, but if your new thing is just trying to make yourself more accessible and generic - then I'm not going to pretend its anything other than bad. I don't like having to say that, but I think its the truth at this point because he threw away his own unique style and then watered himself down to be more "accessible". Essentially he sold out, which was probably clear as day with Sidonia, but I was holding on hoping that maybe it was only a one time thing. That is not the case, and really I expect him to make an even more egregious attempt to commercialize himself in the next story he creates due to the failure of Aposmiz.