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Abara #1
Abara, Part 1
When a creature attacks the city, a man with strange powers reluctantly stands to fight... but a shadowy government organization has unfinished business with him.
134 pages, Comic
First published May 19, 2006
About the author
Tsutomu Nihei
226 books636 followersSee also 弐瓶 勉.
Tsutomu Nihei (弐瓶 勉 Nihei Tsutomu, born 1971) is a Japanese manga artist. His cyberpunk-influenced artwork has gained a strong cult following. He has a relatively large community of fans in Germany where his manga Blame!, NOiSE and Biomega were published by Ehapa. Blame! was also published in France and Spain by Glénat, in the US by Tokyopop and in Italy by Panini Comics.
At first he studied architecture and later it is shown up in his manga works with drawing huge structures. This became one of his general theme that makes his manga unique. His works are usually in black and white. He is also an avid fan of the video game series Halo, as he mentions in his commentary section in the Halo Graphic Novel.
Taken from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsutomu_...
Tsutomu Nihei (弐瓶 勉 Nihei Tsutomu, born 1971) is a Japanese manga artist. His cyberpunk-influenced artwork has gained a strong cult following. He has a relatively large community of fans in Germany where his manga Blame!, NOiSE and Biomega were published by Ehapa. Blame! was also published in France and Spain by Glénat, in the US by Tokyopop and in Italy by Panini Comics.
At first he studied architecture and later it is shown up in his manga works with drawing huge structures. This became one of his general theme that makes his manga unique. His works are usually in black and white. He is also an avid fan of the video game series Halo, as he mentions in his commentary section in the Halo Graphic Novel.
Taken from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsutomu_...
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
November 24, 2017
Totalmente brillante. Planteo un misterio que no se ha resuelto: Como fue que la humanidad llego a perecer de esa forma? Y la existencia de los Gaunas?
Sin mencionar que, las ilustraciones son no comunes, provocando una inmersión total en el manga.
Sin mencionar que, las ilustraciones son no comunes, provocando una inmersión total en el manga.
November 21, 2021
this is like evangelion but badly written and paced even worse
April 12, 2023
Dis cool, very strange but reading it cos i heard it was an influence for csm n u can defo c the parallels. N wiv Nihei's artsyle 🤤🤤🤤
March 9, 2020
A palavra japonesa "Abara" quer dizer costela. E por incrível que pareça, existe um mangá em que "costelas" fazem a diferença. Não vou ficar contando história, mas a ideia das costelas está muito ligado a qualidade do mangá. Elas se misturam com o cenário, além do corpo dos personagens. É uma experiência visual incrível, porém difícil de entender onde é um cenário e onde é uma expansão de uma costela. A história, as vezes, pouco importa - tanto que, em várias páginas, a contação é sem balões. Esse é o trunfo do mangá, que certamente está entre os visuais mais instigantes dentro de mangás de ficção científica. Ansioso para o #2!
April 20, 2009
The art is terrific at times, but there's no character development and barely any dialogue. You've got some gauna monsters on the loose in the city, and some organizations going after them. Itou (Kudou) Denji, whom I thought was going to be the main character, we really don't know anything about, nor has anything been explained about the gauna. I'd be okay with that if at least we were given SOMETHING story-wise, but it's mainly just views of the city and the monsters. A really, really flat read.
September 28, 2017
Love this manga. The illustrations are fantastic, the story is compelling. The characters are sparse on personality, but they fit with the world in which they are portrayed. They are people of action, not talk.
This also includes Part 2 - Digimortal.
This also includes Part 2 - Digimortal.
May 8, 2022
Again, you have to already be a fan to enjoy this type of manga. The impressive and perfectly impractical environments are a joy to behold. Too bad the story is so hard to get into. It's a good thing this manga has a Wikipedia entry.
Gaunas are ancient creatures that eat humans, growing ever larger until they can consume mausoleums which were designed to be time machines for humanity. The way the creatures are created is pretty cool. They are resilient, well-armored, tentacled and able to fly (or jump really high, at least). The tentacles can cut through human skulls like a hot knife through butter. In ancient times, when the 4th Eon Group existed, it was thought that the Gaunas were defeated, but they still plague humanity. These are the evil White Gaunas. There is also the Black variant created by humanity to combat the White Ones. There is an impressive battle mid-way through the volume that showcases the Gauna's awesome powers. Until I read the Wiki entry I had no idea who was who - this seems to be a recurring issue for this author. Might as well see how it ends.
Gaunas are ancient creatures that eat humans, growing ever larger until they can consume mausoleums which were designed to be time machines for humanity. The way the creatures are created is pretty cool. They are resilient, well-armored, tentacled and able to fly (or jump really high, at least). The tentacles can cut through human skulls like a hot knife through butter. In ancient times, when the 4th Eon Group existed, it was thought that the Gaunas were defeated, but they still plague humanity. These are the evil White Gaunas. There is also the Black variant created by humanity to combat the White Ones. There is an impressive battle mid-way through the volume that showcases the Gauna's awesome powers. Until I read the Wiki entry I had no idea who was who - this seems to be a recurring issue for this author. Might as well see how it ends.
January 12, 2018
Allgemein sehr sehr nice.
Der Zeichenstil ist halt auch einfach ein wenig überwältigend. Es kommt nicht selten vor, dass man mit einer Detailflut konfrontiert wird, aus der man sich dann ein Bild raussuchen muss. Für mich ist das eine durchaus willkommene Abwechslung zu anderen Mangas.
Und das Character-Design ist auch right up my alley~
Apropos Charakter: Die sind auch rein storytechnisch schön gemacht. Niemand redet mehr, als er muss. Nichts wird unnötig erklärt. Wenn, dann sprechen Fäuste, Pistolen, oder einfach die Bilder [argh, diese Hintergründe!].
Ernste Stimmung wird nicht durch irgendwelche dummen Witze von Comic Relief-Charakteren kaputtgemacht. Wiederum eine willkommene Abwechslung zu anderen Mangas.
Keine Ahnung, wieso dieses Buch in meinem Comicladen als Ladenhüter gegolten hat. Aber wenn ich für 2.- sone Geschichte haben kann, hinterfrag ich das nicht weiter.
Der Zeichenstil ist halt auch einfach ein wenig überwältigend. Es kommt nicht selten vor, dass man mit einer Detailflut konfrontiert wird, aus der man sich dann ein Bild raussuchen muss. Für mich ist das eine durchaus willkommene Abwechslung zu anderen Mangas.
Und das Character-Design ist auch right up my alley~
Apropos Charakter: Die sind auch rein storytechnisch schön gemacht. Niemand redet mehr, als er muss. Nichts wird unnötig erklärt. Wenn, dann sprechen Fäuste, Pistolen, oder einfach die Bilder [argh, diese Hintergründe!].
Ernste Stimmung wird nicht durch irgendwelche dummen Witze von Comic Relief-Charakteren kaputtgemacht. Wiederum eine willkommene Abwechslung zu anderen Mangas.
Keine Ahnung, wieso dieses Buch in meinem Comicladen als Ladenhüter gegolten hat. Aber wenn ich für 2.- sone Geschichte haben kann, hinterfrag ich das nicht weiter.
July 11, 2021
Some have lauded this as some sort of great artwork and you need to be intelligent to understand it. However, I do understand Abara, and it isn't miraculous.
The manga tries to tell the story specifically through images. But it has poor character development and you are left confused until the very end. It puts off explaining things far to late in the manga.
Also, the artwork can range from, "Dang this looks good!" To, "Okay this looks sloppy at best. . ." Which irritates me to the point, of wanting to give this a zero stars.
You want something miraculous, abstract, and intelligent manga?! Well go read or watch Darkside Blues. All the things Abara is trying to do, Darkside Blues did it ten times better.
The manga tries to tell the story specifically through images. But it has poor character development and you are left confused until the very end. It puts off explaining things far to late in the manga.
Also, the artwork can range from, "Dang this looks good!" To, "Okay this looks sloppy at best. . ." Which irritates me to the point, of wanting to give this a zero stars.
You want something miraculous, abstract, and intelligent manga?! Well go read or watch Darkside Blues. All the things Abara is trying to do, Darkside Blues did it ten times better.
August 9, 2022
Really liked the bleak and surreal art style(5⭐) . However, there is very little text - maybe not enough text! - for its complex world building. Therefore, I found it very hard to follow. I intend to "read" the second volume in hope to get some answers... So far, it is just weird and confusing (narrative style 2⭐).
August 31, 2022
The ideas are very interesting and some of the panels and pages look amazing, but I found the story kind of confusing at first. I wish it had been longer and the author had expanded on the world, as well as on the ending. I also feel a bit conflicted because, on the one hand, I wish there had been more explanations, but, on the other hand, I love how little dialogue there was.
June 13, 2020
Because of the brilliant artwork, and no other reason, I was tempted to give it two stars, but it really isn't deserving of it.
September 26, 2021
Because of the brilliant artwork, and no other reason, I was tempted to give it two stars, but it really isn't deserving of it.
May 15, 2022
I like the art, similar to Blame! given the same author, but I have no idea what is happening in the plot
June 22, 2023
Well I can only second what the other reviewers say. The artwork is really cool but the storyline is pretty much non existent or maybe just to vague for me to understand...
April 11, 2024
Nobody will ever understand how much i love this story maybe i’ll love it even more when I understand what is happening
October 26, 2024
El dibujo es absurdamente bueno, pero en algunos momentos me he perdido en la acción. La trama pinta interesante aunque no muy profunda.
November 26, 2010
I got this manga more because I'm a big fan of Nihei than me liking the book. The thing is that the story is very confusing and in my case I'm more frustrated wondering what Nihei is trying to convey here, like he has no direction. In Blame!, Biomega and the very short Noise Nihei is telling a story, in Abara I feel he's making stuff up because it looks cool. His drawings are beautiful as usual and the manga is packed with action and violence. Some elements of Abara reappear though in a new manga called Sidonia no Kishi Nihei is working on.
May 26, 2008
Abara vol. 1: Abara is an amazing combination of HR Giger-style art with an Orwellian flair. Anyone who is familiar with the premise of the Claymore manga or anime will feel at home reading this. Instead of taking place in a quasi-medieval setting, the characters capable of changing into a more fearsome form do so in a steam/cyber-punk futuristic dystopia.
December 14, 2016
Com desenhos extremamentes atordoantes e história idem, o mangá tem nesses dois pontos sua força principal, no qual a confusão cerebral criada pela dificuldade em reconhecer o universo em que se insere força o leitor ou a desistir ou à persistência da leitura ao visualizar formas presentes em seu próprio inconsciente.
June 20, 2010
A white guana attacks a city, then someone named Tadohomi comes to the Aburano Cultivation in search of Itou....
June 12, 2013
Abara gives a few breadcrumbs on the guana, but in typical Nihei style, there are more questions than answers.
January 21, 2014
Another rating: 7/10 (whole series)
November 23, 2016
Tsutomu Nihei, Japonya'nın Galip Tekin'idir. Biraz daha az karamsardır, o kadar.
Hastasıyız... :)
Hastasıyız... :)
August 6, 2018
Fazla sıkıcıydı. Yarım bırakmayı sevmediğim için başladığıma pişman olduğum bir mangaydı. Çizimleri de çok karışıktı. Bunun da sıkıcı olmasında faydası var. Ayrıca anlaşılmayan çok şey oluyor birden.
March 15, 2011
Unique style.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews