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Appleseed 3D Live Anime Review

To be honest, my impression of the Appleseed 3D Live Anime was very negative after watching it. For this 109 minute feature, I can confidently say that in terms of graphcs and animation, Appleseed is indeed a pioneer and a job superbly well done. However, considering other elements of the film it is a big disappointment.

To be systematic though I will score (out of 10) the various aspects of the movie based on different elements. Let's see what kind of results we get eh? The scales are as follows (I will try and keep to this consistency when reviewing other films next time):
10:         Perfection! Must watch and a masterpiece!
08-09:   Minor, ignorable flaws. Excellent film in general.
06-07:   Above-average film.
05:         Just average. Lots of room for improvement.
02-04:   Depending on the score, something is seriously not right.
01:         Don't bother. Unbearable to watch.

Note that the following is graphics intensive

posted by: Lucas at 02/28/05 23:12 | link | comments (8) | Category: appleseed

Appleseed 2004 [3D Live Anime] Info

This is the official stuff i.e. information on the Appleseed 3D Live Anime DVD, sourced mainly from the Official Appleseed Website. I figure its better to post in two parts so that my opinions on the film won't get mixed up with useful info for people seeking to order this DVD. ^_^ More to come later!

Appleseed 3D Live Anime Based on MANGA by Masamune Shirow (Seishinsha) Director: Shinji Aramaki Producer: SORI Screenplay: Haruka Handa, Tsutomu Kamishiro Main Theme Boom Boom Satellites Music by: Paul Oakenfold, Basement Jaxx, Carl Craig Vs Adult, Akufen, Atom TM, T.Raumschmiere, Ryuichi Sakamoto [APPLESEED Original SoundTrack] Sony Music Records Inc. Voice Cast: Ai Kobayashi as Deunan Jurota Kosugi as Briareos Yuki Matsuoka as Hitomi Motion Actors: Asumi Miwa as Deunan Tsubasa Akimoto as Deunan Production: Digital Frontier Inc. CG Producer: Yusaku Toyoshima CG Director: Yasuhiro Otsuka Character Design: Masaki Yamada Background Design: Nobuhito Sue Mecha Design: Takeshi Takakura Production Design: Shinji Aramaki Additional Mecha Design: Atsushi Takeuchi Music Producer: Shin Yasui Original Film Score: Tetsuya Takahashi Sound Director: Yota Tsuruoka Sound Designer: Koji Kasamatsu Production Companies: APPLESEED Film Partners [MICOTT & BASARA [Japanese Only] / TBS / Geneon Entertainment [Japanese Only] / YAMATO [Japanese Only] / TOHO [Japanese Only] / TYO [Japanese Only] / Digital Frontier Inc. / MBS]

The Official Story Summary:
The year is 2131. A non-nuclear war has left the earth barren. Deunan Knute roams the badlands, one of the many soldiers who, with lines of communication cut, continue to fight, unaware that the war has ended.
Deunan is never one to take things lying down: a highly trained soldier with police and SWAT experience, she is prepared for nearly anything—but not for the heavily armed helicopter that assaults her without warning. Before she realizes what’s going on, Deunan is losing consciousness: her last thought is a hazy realization that she’s been hit by a tranquilizer. Not only that, but one of the perpetrators is her old love Briareos. He has arrived with the beautiful Hitomi to intercept Deunan and take her back with them to the enigmatic utopia, Olympus.
Deunan, now safe in the futuristic city, is awakened by the comforting voice of her ex-lover. But Briareos is not as she remembers him: indeed, he is now hardly human. He tells her the sobering events that occurred in her absence: after suffering a grave injury on the front lines in North Africa, his only chance for survival involved a dramatic surgical process – or more accurately, a full overhaul that involved a replacement of all his broken parts. In other words, he became a cyborg—in his case over 75% mechanical. And the city of Olympus—Deunan soon finds out—is now the head of a new world order. When the non-nuclear war ended, and no single superpower came out on top, the orderly, utopian city filled the role of leadership in the ensuing political vacuum. Globally, the status of Olympus is now such that the “unsupervised countries” actually depend on its assistance to survive.
The next day, Deunan files her immigration papers, becoming the most recent arrival to the oddly serene city. Hitomi insists on taking Deunan to the legislature, and shows her the sights of the city on the way. When Deunan sees the contented looks on the faces of the citizens of Olympus, she feels tranquil, even at peace. But the sensation is quickly interrupted by Hitomi’s matter-of-fact revelation: that over half of the “model citizens” that inhabit Olympus are precision clones called Bioroids, of which Hitomi is one herself. The Bioroids were purportedly created for the benefit of humankind, “to encourage stability in human society,” but nevertheless, the alarming news plants a seed of doubt within Deunan.
When Hitomi and Deunan arrive at the legislature, they are greeted by the members of the Council: seven sage-like elders whose ongoing conversation with the supercomputer Gaia collectively forms the “will” that controls Olympus. But effectively, Bioroids are in political control, and they are quietly advancing a plan that could affect the fate of the human legacy.
Add to this the fact that Briareos, despite his romantic past with Deunan, now hardly gives her the time of day, it’s no wonder that Deunan feels a little nostalgic about life in the badlands, despite the utopia right around her.
Why has Briareos changed? Can the Bioroids be trusted? Does Olympus represent an ideal, or a nightmare? Deunan must face her own tortured past, and overcome the disorienting present, in a battle over the future of humanity itself!

	DVD [APPLESEED] Standard Edition GNBA-3015 （ジェネオン エンタテインメント） 通常版　GNBA-3015 Release Date: 25th November 2004 Recommended Price: 3,990 Yen DVD Features Sound 1: Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1ch (Theaterical version) Sound 2: Japanese DTS 5.1ch (Theaterical version) Sound 3: Commentary Dolby Digital 2ch
	Collector's Edition （初回限定生産） GNBA-3014 Main DVD (Appleseed) + Bonus DVD (Extras) + Making of DVD & Booklet Release Date: 25th November 2004 Recommended Price: 10,290 Yen DVD Features Sound: Japanese 2Ch

posted by: Lucas at 02/24/05 17:51 | link | comments | Category: appleseed

Masamune Shirow's Message [Appleseed 3D Live Anime]

Most of you have come across this, a message from Shirow Sensei for the Appleseed Official Site regarding the Appleseed 3D Live Anime. Pay no attention to this, as I am posting more for my own future reference.

a message from Masamune Shirow

The history of using illustrated pictures to express life, albeit more primitive, goes back further than that of using film to record it. But now, the former is catching up to the latter, as the cumulative effect of advances in computer graphics technology are finally shedding the shackles that have hindered the art of telling stories with illustrated moving pictures (standard cell animation is fraught with limitations). Yet computer graphics is a double-edged sword: by allowing the creator to express with a brush what more closely imitates his or her imagination, the viewer is increasingly deprived of the joy of using his or her own imagination to fill in the gaps.
Pixar has made great strides to address this problem, but the same method will not necessarily be embraced by Japanese creators. Offering one possible solution, Mr. Sori and Mr. Aramaki have chosen “live 3D animation” to take the utmost advantage of the Japanese milieu of composition: the techniques of symbolic representation found in cell animation and puppet theater, and the cultural grounding in meticulous composition found even in stage drama using human actors (such as Kabuki). You say computer graphics lack soul? Not anymore. Now it’s about what’s inside your imagination, and how you choose to express it.
Once, when I was working on an animation project, I spoke up about the tremendous advantages that I felt 3D computer graphic backgrounds might have to offer. At the time, my comments were unusual. For my part, it was just the influence of my playing Doom. On more recent animation projects, I made the argument for the need for 3D characters and mecha—again, comments that stuck out like a sore thumb. The reason was to make it possible to freely move characters and mecha within space. For so long, we’ve been on the sidelines, distant onlookers witnessing the great strides that film media have achieved. But now, animated images are finally heading in a direction that matches my own ideals. And it’s coming out of a field that I have had no previous contact with. In fact, I believe there are other authors whose works are more appropriate to this visual style, so I’m humbly thrilled (beyond my attachments as an author, that is) that my work has been used on this project. We must work to bring our efforts on par with the French or Koreans: our goals could include recreation of the archives of “key frame” techniques that we have animators to thank for, such as the shots of beads of sweat on foreheads, the “anemic face” expressing shock using vertical lines on the character’s face, and the selective use of super-deformed bodies. We could devise techniques that incorporate the subtleties of Kabuki and Rakugo. Fortunately, the information capital for this endeavor exists in great quantity in Japan. Whether or not it will be applied or left to waste will be determined by that dynamic relationship of creators and consumers. For my part, despite my shortcomings, I intend to do my best to contribute to this goal, so please do your part, whether it is to create, or consume.

12/19/2003 11:00 AM
Masamune Shiro

posted by: Lucas at 02/21/05 21:19 | link | comments | Category: appleseed

Appleseed Book 2: Prometheus Unbound

Appleseed Book Two: Prometheus Unbound ( First Published 1985 )
Author: Shirow Masamune
Publisher(s): Seishinsha Co. Ltd. / Dark Horse Comics + Studio Proteus.

Summary Guide Notes: Side notes and further explanations on the summary or interesting points from the manga.
J vs E: Japanese vs English editions. Significant differences between the two versions highlighted here. J represents 'Japanese version' while E is 'English version'.

Book Two of Appleseed carries off where Book One left off, as we rejoin our protagonists Deunan and Briareos, now part of Olympus' SWAT team. As the Olympus administration is thrown into furious chaos with the unveiling of the Seven Elder's controversial HOPE plan, the Gaia Supercomputer silently goes on the offensive. Gigantic Gun Platforms to boost the city's defense? Its exactly what Gaia needed...

Chapter 8: Alien

The first chapter opens with a hostage situation where a group of armed terrorists take over a high rise building demanding twenty attack helicopters and a safe passage to the airport (for what reason, and other demands are unsure- its not important to the story anyway). Deunan headed the police SWAT team as acting sergeant, and except for minor casualty, the operation was a success, despite the brutal way the op was carried out (no hostages injured, luckily to Deunans relief!). The paperwork is something else though, as Deunan works late into the night complaining about the force's lack of experience and inefficiency. Deunan grumbles to the sergeant about this and the sergeant apologized to her about the whole situation, saying that he had been called in by Chief of Staff Nike to discuss something. In turns out that the discussion is about Deunan. Nike wanted her for a special SWAT unit dealing with special crimes, reporting directly to admin director Athena. Recounting the news to Briareos at the hospital park, Bri advises Deunan to be cautious during the training and told her that the administration has been keeping both of them under surveillance since the incident in Book #1. Bri had been observing the human refugees on Olympus. There doesn't seem to be anything out of place, but a lot of the illegal immigrants are good and might be sent in by the old countries to gather intelligence. As they conversed, the couple bumped into Dr Matthews who recognised Deunan as a SWAT team member, which he saw on security cameras (much to Deunan's surprise and suspicion). Then he launched into a long-winded lecture about human immortality when Deunan brought up the subject of how long before Bri can go home. According to Dr Matthews, humans are always disturbing and polluting the balance of nature that it would be better off to just let Bioroids inhabit the planet. Striking Deunan as she thinks that Dr Matthews knew something about what's happening at Olympus, only to find out that the whirly-eyed doctor is simply promoting his book 'Human is Alien' which he enthusiastically encourages Deunan and Bri to buy a copy each!

Some time later, Deunan waits at the pre-determined meeting point for Chief of staff Nike, who showed up to pick Deunan up personally much to her surprise as she didn't see any bodyguards of secret service staff escorting such a high profile official. Hopping into the car, they are on their way to see Athena, Deunan's new boss. On the way Nike discusses the hostage situation and terrorism in general from the administration's point of view. Nike revealed to Deunan their suspicion of the recent actions of the Legislative Council (Seven Elders) who collected all the people from Badside whose genetic material was used in the first generation- including Deunan herself! Much to Deunan's surprise, when Nike mentioned that there are a lot of Bioroids carrying her father Carl Knute's genetic data. However, Carl refused an invitation to settle down in Olympus. Deunan confirms her suspicion that there is some purpose of her presence in Olympus. Does her father have something to do with all this?

At this point Nike cautioned Deunan that they were being trailed- by none other than Arugess (see Book #1) from the FBI, one of the Council's people. The tracking ended as Nike turns off into the Aegis Crime Elimination Academy, off-limits access for civilians. Nike heads off to pick up some documents and to meet the lieutenant in-charge while Deunan creates a fuss on the training grounds, almost shooting a rookie. Then Nike and Deunan slips out to Athena's. Deunan meets with Athena and an ESWAT official as they go through her files. It appears that Deunan hasn't had much military training or experience, but she is good enough for an assault position at the time being. As Deunan goes off with the official, Athena discusses Deunan's position with Nike. They are monitoring and isolating the most dangerous people the Council brought in from Badside.

Meanwhile, at the Council HQ, Hitomi chats with the Seven Elders to learc of what they are up to at the moment. The Elders gave a lengthy explanation about the crimes of humanity and their proposal to create a perfect society, justifying the need for total Bioroid society as a solution. They knew about Deunan being taken in by Athena, but they have no need for her to carry out their current plan. Deunan was briefed on her schedule and was told for the first time about the exhibition of the new police system- eight large multi-legged weapons platforms. Their function is to counter any Landmate crime that might arise when the LMs go on sale for the public. After a long day, Hitomi ponders her conversation with the Elders and the meaning of 'happiness' for her as a Bioroid. And Deunan's explanation isn't much help... ^_^ Let's call it a night...

Notes: 1) Alien- Human is Alien, Dr Matthews book. Its complicated... 2) The Kotus in the police force is one of the master test models of robot police, planned to be used worldwide. 3) Deunan's transfer to the ESWAT team was more of a move to tie her down rather than utilising her skills and abilities. 4) Deunan's Briareos doll is very cute... ^_^ J vs E: 1) The Aegis Acacdemy of Crime Elimination facility has the acronym 'ECES ESWAT' in J while E has it as 'AACE ESWAT' on the front gate. Probably just a spelling thing.

Chapter 9: Dominate The Mind

At the Bureau headquarters, the members of the Olympus administration is having a parliamentary session (I'm assuming it follows British administration that is- anyway they are debating and voting to pass bills). We join as the administration passes the bill giving the green light for the first phase development of the Gun Platforms despite Athena's objections and suggestion that the better way to combat crime in Olympus would be to restrict sale of Landmates. Moving on, it is the turn of the Legislative Council to table their motion for a new law. The law concerns the human stress and the utopian society, an issue further pressed by the latest incident involving humans (see Appleseed 1). The council claims to have analyzed the problem and arrived at the only workable solution- the HOPE program for the optimization of the human race. The minds and bodies of humans must be regulated, making them exclusively Bioroids. Everyone was in shock hearing the drastic, unexpected proposal...

Meanwhile we take a little break as we follow Deunan getting Yoshi to assess and fix the damage on her Landmate. Yoshi talks about the need for checking up a machine, and that involves cost, so Deunan isn't to keen and just asks him to replace the parts. Following that taking a look at Bri's installation of his new sets of eyes. Dr Matthews then advised Bri to let the Mech team fix up his nervous systems MODS for his on-board weaponry.

Boys will be boys... ^_^

Back to the hot debate on the HOPE plan. As the Council Elder vigorously justifies his proposal for a debate on the topic, Athena and the rest of the administration gets restless. The Council is definite that by letting humanity continue as it is it will only lead to death an destruction. Humans had become too materialistic and individualistic that their ability to co-operate and flourish in a society are gone. The solution is to regulate humans, pre-program them with the necessary awareness by implementing Bioroid technology- only then can true Utopia exist. Athena first orders a news blackout, followed by disarming and contain the legislative block. She is fully aware of the scale of the problem and questions the council if their proposal conflicts with the definition of 'humans' who they (the Bioroids) were made to serve and preserve as a top priority in the first place. Before letting things go further Athena suggested to have Gaia analyse the definition of 'human' and whether there is even a need to debate such a proposal. The Director himself will take the matter in his own hands, firstly by ordering the reprimand of the Elders in a 'prison' where they could be available to the administration at all times. The Council muses...

Sowing the seeds of HOPE...

Notes: 1) Dominate The Mind- The only way to ensure humanity's survival. 2) Bri's built-in weapons are linked directly to his nervous system, that is he can control it by thought rather than mechanical means.

Chapter 10: Hide & Seek

Chapter 10 opens with the viewpoints of Athena on the issue at hand - that humans if left to their own will ultimately choose the pathway to death and destruction of their species. So should Bioroids take the initiative, or as the Elders put it, 'hijack' the human race in order to preserve their survival? The discussions prompted the Elders to ponder their purpose of existence, as Gaia's consultant and CPU. Gaia is a mere machine, its decisions taken in an unbiased and totally objective conclusions. And then it dawned upon them... the Director is going to make Gaia decide on such a complicated 'human' issue without their input! Hitomi's help was enlisted immediately. Meanwhile, at the Gaia control center, the technicians and engineers are having problems getting the supercomputer to feedback. Gaia kept asking for more Data when no more could be provided. Another cause for concern is that apparently the only active communication by Gaia was with Tartarus, both apparently 'talking' to each other referencing data related to Bioroids. Something is very wrong with Gaia!

A seriously confused Super-Computer!

Hitomi visited the Elders as requested, and they quietly hatched a plan for her to reset Gaia's memory bank. Hitomi enlisted Yoshi's help to carry out the mission, but unfortunately (or fortunately) while smuggling out the memory bank plug from the Elder's detention cell the duo stumbled into Deunan's SWAT team. Carefully terminating Yoshi's quick-escape plan, Deunan was harshly reprimanded by her squad leader for acting on her own. In truth Deunan had to take such action to prevent any serious injuries or death to both Hitomi and Yoshi, knowing the trigger happy nature of the SWAT Team. Hitomi must have realised this.

Deunan getting strict with Hitomi

Chapter 10 Part 2: Hide & seek

While supervising Gaia's response under tight supervision (Director's orders), Athena was informed of the skirmish that had occured near the Elder's captive cell. She decided to have a word with the Elders personally immediately on learning their intention to stop the programming of the Multi-Legged Gun Platforms (henceforth to be known simply as "Spider GP" in this review) by Gaia. Right about the same time, Gaia finally reached aits conclusions, accompanied by severe heating of its CPUs. Switching to the Elder's cell, they conveyed their concerns about the Spider GPs to Athena. Collectively the Elders agreed that Gaia by now would have concluded that all Bioroids are a threat to humanity, and the only logical path would be to deploy the Spider GPs as a response against the Bioroid population. It was too late however, as the Spider GPs programming was due to be complete for the next day's Parade to display the Spider GPs to the public.still suspicious, Athena can only promise to impose controls on the Spider GPs. Meanwhile at the Spider GP base, Gaia made its first move. Hypnotizing the programmers through the control monitors, the Spider GPs were fully loaded and armed with live ammunition- ready to execute Gaia's command.

Multi-Legged Gun Platforms will protect your city! (maybe)

In the next scene Deunan joins Briareos at the hospital both for comfort and security. The couple's privacy was intruded by Arugess, a FBI human spy posing as a Bioroid Squad Leader in the Director's SWAT team. A number of human spies were planted by the paranoid early planners of Olympus to monitor the Bioroid Government's actions and plans. Knowing that Hitomi's DNA contains the key to shutting down the whole city and the fact that the Bioroids have her in captivity, Arugess wanted Bri and Deunan on his team to retrieve Hitomi and to standby in the event of any emergency. Arugess also shares the concern of the Council of Elders regarding the Spider GPs. Deciding that this is the best course of action to take, Bri agreed to team up with Arugess and together with Deunan (in Guges) met Arugess' team at the Olympus Crime Analysis and Remand Center. Kotus was also part of the team, much to Deunan's surprise! What follows next is a swift operation to neutralize the guards and security, and Hitomi and Yoshi was surprised to see Deunan -again, and this time to free them from captivity...

Notes:
1) Hide & Seek- Second and triple guessing Gaia's conclusion and plans in response to the HOPE plan.
2) Athena used a drug called Tricyano Aminopropene on the Badside "guests" (Vol.1 The Promethean Challenge). Excerpt from Man and civilization : control of the mind, a symposium edited by Seymour M. Farber, Roger H. L. Wilson. McGraw-Hill, New York, 1961 regarding this chemical: "The one real disturbance of surface calm however, the only one generated by this conference, happened in the Holgar Hyden presentation, his aside about "tricyano-aminopropene" on p.38, briefly given popular attention in Fate Magazine and there christened "TAP." Dr Hyden says "There is now evidence that the administration of tricyano-aminopropene is followed by an increased suggestibility in man.. could be used for conditioning.. not difficult to imagine the possible uses to which a government in a police-controlled state could put this substance. For a time, they would subject the population to hard conditions. Suddenly the hardship would be removed, and at the same time, the substance would be added to the tap water and the mass-communications media turned on. This method would be much cheaper, and would create more intriguing possibilities, than to let Ivanov treat Rhubasjov individually for a long time, as Koestler described in his book. On the other hand, a countermeasure against the effect of a substance such as tricyano-aminopropene [with practice you can spell this right every time!] is not difficult to imagine either.." That really quite fit in to what happened to Chiffon and gang don't you think?...
3) The level of security of prisons (both Elder's cell and the Olympus Crime Analysis and Remand Center) is ridiculously lax, with distracted guards and many means of undeterred escape, perhaps indicating that in Olympus there is no provision / neccesity for imprisonment of persons.
4) As to the reasoning behind Gaia's decision to go offensive, we have to look back at Dr. Isaac Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics:
i) A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
ii) A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
iii) A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
Naturally the HOPE plan is a direct challenge to the First Law and hence, Gaia's offensive action in response. Wonder how something as fundamental as this escaped the reasoning of the "perfect" Bioroids.

Chapter 11: Zero Hour

The much anticipated Parade has begun! Athena and the Director were busy performing their public relations duties when suddenly, Olympus electricity supply systems automatically shuts down. The Heliostats were all shifted to focus at Tartarus' Control Tower. Emergency sequences were initiated and chaos ensued. Gaia was on Level Three Disaster Reaction Mode! Puzzled at first, it soon dawned upon Athena, and then later the Director as to what had happened as the Spider GPs went into formation and started firing canons at Tartarus - the Bioroid's research, control and development center. Public panic quickly drowned the city of Olympus into chaos as the SWAT Teams and Police Teams kicked into rapid deployment. The Spider GPs continue their rampage, unstoppable beasts programmed to destroy the Bioroid society. The Elder's predictions were correct after all but its too late and the only thing to do was to try stop Gaia's destructive actions.

Notes: 1) Zero Hour- Time's up! 2) Looks like Greenpeace Crolis (From Dominion Tank Police) is a resident of Olympus too! Unless that's her Bioroid clone. And looks like Buaku is being himself, up to no good and rousing the crowds :)

Chapter 12: The Battle of Typhon

Back to our protaganists, as Deunan, Bri, Hitomi, Yoshi and Kotus (hereafter referred to as the "Appleseed Team") on alert mode in the middle of the chaos. Arugess had to abandon the team to protect his Bioroid identity. It didn't take long for one Spider GP to notice the Appleseed team, particularly Hitomi. After a series of intense gunfire exchange throughout the city, the Appleseed team tried their best to evade the persistent Spider GPs, now determined to get Hitomi. It would be impossible to take down the Spider GPs by sheer force as they prove to live up to their reputation as Olympus' invincible weapon against superpower military organizations. Not even Landmate combat squads can survive a shootout with the mobile gun platforms. The urgency now is to ge Hitomi to a H Block as soon as possible to shut down Olympus with Hitomi's DNA key. Navigating through underground fibre optics ducting, the team managed to finally get Hitomi to a H Block.

After verification by blood sample and endoscope probes, Hitomi managed to shut down The Spider GPs communication links. With teamwork in disarray and synchronization disabled among the Spider GPs, Olympus' SWAT teams routinely took down each Spider GPs. With the situation under some control, Athena finally got the opportunity to analyse the conversation and data generated by Gaia and Tartarus. What had provoked such a destructive response from Gaia? As the datas came pouring in, Athena deduced that Gaia actually rejected the HOPE plan, and not specifically targeting to destroy Bioroid pupulations. The outcome of the HOPE program, as predicted by Tartarus are Third Generation Bioroids, to produce Bioroids capable of handling stress of maintaining the Utopian condition of Olympus. Gaia, originally created to protect humans, perceived this as a threat to harm the human population. It could not accept Tartarus' prediction of wiping out humans and replacing them with third generation Bioroids. Knowing for a fact also that there would be enough votes in legislature to pass this plan, Gaia decided to take the offensive route, to destroy Tartarus and the Bioroids to eliminate the threat. Athena finally understood, that the problem of humanity's continued existence itself pre-dates the creation of Olympus; the definition of what is human, and what do humans really want, is not something that Bioroids and machines can understand. Have Bioroids and humans reached their limits? Is the Utopian dream over?

As the Spider GPs attacks ceased and Olympus city regained its composure, the Utopian impression was shattered. The unthinkable had happened- in a city where peace and freedom were taken for granted. Thinking that the fighting has stopped, the SWAT teams and Appleseed team were caught unawared when Gaia switched to Plan B. Still in control, Gaia focused its heliostats targeting the city's Nuclear plant. Destroying everything in its path with the intense heat generated by this 'magnifying glass' effect, Olympus' SWAT Teams once again scrambled to cope with this new form of attack. If the heat melts away and hits the Nuclear reactor, the consequences would be catastrophic! The only option now is to cut off part of Gaia's power supply, where without enough power to sustain itself, Gaia would have no choice but to re-direct its supplies to feed itself, reducing the temperature and reach of the Heliostats. Easier said than done!

Notes: Typhon is the offspring of Gaia and Tartarus. His mate is Echidna and both were so fearful that when the gods saw them they changed into animals and fled in terror. Typhon's hundred, horrible heads touched the stars, venom dripped from his evil eyes, and lava and red-hot stones poured from his gaping mouths. Hissing like a hundred snakes and roaring like a hundred lions, he tore up whole mountains and threw them at the gods. - from Encyclopedia Mythica (Greek Mythology)

Chapter 13: Apple Seed

Fortunately, the H Block where the Appleseed team hacked were connected by a passage directly to the Gaia Complex. Immediately Briareos and team headed for Gaia's central control. Infiltrating right to the 'brain' of the enemy, Hitomi and Yoshi tried to figure out means of shutting down the super-computer. Unknown to the team, Gaia has taken over Kotus and turned it on Deunan. Kotus, after all is 100% machine and is easily influenced by Gaia. Caught by surprise, Deunan's quick reflexes managed to save her life but Kotus' shot had damaged her Guges. Still standing the Kotus prepares for a final blow to take out Deunan, but just in time, Bri comes to her rescue. The Kotus proves to be an even match for Bri, as the two battled it out without restraint. Finally Bri goot the upper hand and destroyed Kotus. However, Bri sustained heavy damages from the fight and could hardly get any of his body's system functioning.

With the Kotus destroyed, the team can finally concentrate on the more important task at hand - neutralizing Gaia's Heliostat control sub-system. There are numerous backup circuits for the main supply cables, complicating an otherwise straighforward solution of severing all the power supply cables. Destroying the backup circuits would not help as Gaia would just lock up the Heliostats in place as starts re-routing its supplies through other backup routes. So the best solution would be to let the backup system function as normal, but at the same time cutting off its connection. Briareos has a solution, by plugging the backup circuit connector hole with a hollow point bullet, modified and loaded with an apple seed. The reduced velocity bullet will carry the Appleseed to plug the connector hole without smashing it to bits. Then it is up to Deunan to do the shooting as Bri's systems are not functioning properly. Deunan is troubled by the whole affair and is stressed about whether this is the right thing to do... at the last moment something triggered Deunan's memory, and she finally understood why this is right, and what is really important to her. Swiftly, she hit the bullseye and instantly Bri takes out the last power supply cable. The sequence went according to plan, and finally they managed to shut down Gaia.

Notes: 1)Apple Seed- I usually throw them in the bin after eating the apples :P 2)I think with hindsight, Gaia's backup supply circuit design has serious flaws... Most backup systems these days operate on power supply, not on function. So even if the mechanism works, but you don't get supply, it should immediately switch to the re-routing option. But then again, you need to tell a good story right? ^_^

Chapter 14: Cybernetics

Gaia finally stopped attacking, and it looks like the mission has been successfully accomplished! Athena was also visibly relieved with the conclusion of the attack, and gained some conclusions of her own on the affair. She realised that human nature is not at fault, rather, the optimism of Olympus and the HOPE plan will eventually lead to a dead society, one where there is no flexibility, ruled and occupied by lifeless machines.

As Athena contemplates, Gaia transmitted information to her which prompted Athena to immediately seek for a meeting with the Council. It seems that the proposal will actually be passed at the next legislature sitting even after the events that had transpired. However, Athena was not too worried about this, as she will ensure that a preservation of original species element to be included in the proposal. It might be a short term solution but the information Gaia had just transmitted to her allowed her to trigger Gaia's next development - The Age of The Bioroids...

The scene switches to our heroes, as they wind up a job well done with high spirits in their city, their home: Olympus...

The End of Appleseed Book 2: Prometheus Unbound

Notes from Lucas: Appleseed Book 1 & Book 2 could be considered a stand-alone story in itself. The event of Gaia's revolt is probably an important event in the history of Olympus, so instead of taking Appleseed to be a series of continuation, it would be better to view them as separate stand alone stories. Apart from the main story plot, an important point when reading Appleseed for me is Shirow Sensei's world building effort. The locations, the technologies, organization structures, etc are very important elements to induce some form of consistency to the Appleseed series (and that's why Appleseed Databook is so crucial to enhance our reading pleasure! ^_^). Anyway, I view Book 3 and Book 4 as separate stories, related only to Book 1 & Book 2 by its characters and backgrounds. So the review would be done sometime later.

posted by: Lucas at 02/17/05 22:58 | link | comments | Category: appleseed

Intron Depot 4 Bullets

Book Info: Title: Intron Depot 4 Bullets Sub-Title: A Collection of Masamune Shirow's Full Color Works & Others 1995 ~ 1999 Author: Masamune Shirow Publisher: Seishinsha / Dark Horse / Studio Proteus Release Date: 9th August 2004 ISBN: 4-87892-294-X C0079 (Seishinsha) / 1-59307-282-1 (Dark Horse) Format: Softcover, 9-1/2" x 13" Pages: 112 Price: 2800 Yen / US$49.95 Intron Depot 4 Bullets collects Shirow's Animation Movies and Videogames design works for five projects from 1995 ~ 1999.

Intron Depot 4 Bullets is a collection of design works Shirow did for five projects in the 1995 to 1999 period: :: Blue Ray (Game) :: [D]'s Animation Rough (Anime) :: Gundress (Game & Anime) :: Horned Owl (Game) :: Sampaguita (Game) For this collection, Shirow omitted altogether the use of "Data Blocks" with the reason that most of the pieces uses almost the same techniques and tools. The production dates were included for most of the works though as reference for those who wish to find out more about the featured works. It can be said generally that the works in ID4 Bullets were all commissioned for clients and third parties. In most cases, with very strict and detailed specifications. Hence, what we get is mostly Shirow's adaptation or interpretation instead of original ideas and concepts. Although generally ID4 is a collection of design works by Shirow for Animation and Videogames, I think it is just a collection of the five projects mentioned above. Because if you want to be fussy, there are some works e.g. Landlock (Animation, 1995), Suraimu Siyou! (Playstation Game, 1995) which were omitted and was featured in fantasy-themed ID2 Blades instead (however, Shirow did mention in ID2 that these were merely cover art and single-illustration style commissions). The five projects collected in ID4 involves more extensive work I suppose.

Even in the opening introductions for ID4 Shirow mentions his uncomfortable association with the animation and game world, that somehow his works always turn out sub-par when applied to these purposes. Its a challenge for Shirow I suppose, his continuing struggle to "gel" with anime and game productions for the last 15 years. I do get the hint that one big factor could be the sense of ownership and pride. The Masamune Shirow we know is a lonesome creature, single handedly rendering those volumes of classic mangas that we all acknowledge as works of an individual master. It is this trait of Shirow that makes him even more alluring to his fans, especially those who have been following his progress since the early days of Appleseed. With animation and games, production studios and teams are necessary to realise mass-media theatrical releases. Shirow commented that although working on orders were pleasurable for him, the final product could never be called his own.

Although a hint of "Shirow" is present, details for this "Alien Robot" design for Animation Project [D] were fixed by the client, right down to the escape pod face feature.

On a positive note however, technology is once again shining a bright light on Shirow's pursuits. Software and techniques has enabled individuals to create and produce their own animation and film projects at a reasonable cost (still quite high however!) on their own without teams of specialists. Shirow's learning and mastery of computer graphics and 3D modelling of late is not without purpose, I believe. Hopefully, as Shirow himself mentioned in the afterword to ID4, a truly Masamune Shirow original video is in store for the future!

Personally I think ID4 is probably the least enjoyable of all the Intron Depots published so far. Shirow's mood shows in this collection, mainly in his comments or notes. Most of the time I think Shirow sounds optimistically defeated when talking about the designs. Also, Shirow made it a pre-requisite before taking any orders that he be allowed to collect them in his own artbooks. While he had to turn down projects because of this,  I suppose it is an important requirement for Shirow to allow him to explore more outside the boundaries of the stiff client specifications. Otherwise, there is little incentive to put in all the time and energy. The effort is definitely there, but looking at ID4, like Shirow Sensei I can't categorise this as a Shirow work confidently. However, it is still very informative and again reveals alot about these lesser known Shirow works which is helpful for the Shirow fan. So in that context ID4 is enjoyable.

If I hadn't known better I would say "Dominion Conflict!" but thanks to ID4, we can identify this as Kate from Project Horned Owl. This piece was drawn in 1995, the same period as Dominion C1 and personally I very much prefer Shirow's style then compared to now! ^_^

What next for the Intron Depot series then? We have four books covering different thems for different periods of time, so it is getting quite hard to properly categorise and chronicle this collection series. Word from the grapevine is that there are at least two more Intron Depots due in the near future, but whether or not they materialise, I would prefer to wait and see. Titles such as Eros Depot and Waste Depot were also thrown around in some interviews and articles. As far as Shirow Art Collections are concerned, I think we can expect quite alot to come from Shirow Sensei in the future.

posted by: Lucas at 02/16/05 11:28 | link | comments (2) | Category: intron depot

Intron Depot 3 Ballistics

Book Info: Title: Intron Depot 3 Ballistics Sub-Title: A Collection of Masamune Shirow's Full Color Works 1992 ~ 2002 Author: Masamune Shirow Publisher: Seishinsha / Dark Horse Comics / Studio Proteus Release Date: 28th April 2003 ISBN: 4-87892-264-8 C0079 (Seishinsha) / 1-59307-007-1 (Dark Horse) Format: Softcover, 9-1/2" x 13" Pages: 116 Price: 2800 Yen / US$49.95 Intron Depot 3 Ballistics collects Shirow's Sci-Fi and Mecha themed full color works from period 1992 ~ 2002.

Intron Depot 3 (ID3) continues the collection of Shirow's full color illustration works, this time with focus on sci-fi and mecha themes. Its been quite a long wait since ID2 was released end of 1998. The original scheduling for ID3 was 2001 but it took a couple more years to realise the publication of this next collection. In the compilation of ID3, Shirow revised the labelling and identification format of his works. Instead of number sequences, Shirow have instead used dates he started working on the respective pieces to identify them. Technical and minor differences aside, Intron Depot 3 Ballistics under the stringent quality control of Shirow is truly another masterpiece; informative, entertaining, nostalgic, and above all graphically beautiful.

When anyone asks me about Shirow's works, the first few terms that come to mind are science fiction, cyberpunk, mecha, military, insects... Even though Shirow claims himself to be an artist / cartoonist most of the time, it is undeniable that elements of science fiction feature very strongly in all of his major works. ID3 collects ten years worth of Shirow arts in the sci-fi / mecha theme, and from this fact alone its already destined to be a signature Shirow collection.

There are several very pleasant surprises in ID3. One is the inclusion of some Appleseed illustration and rough skectches. I read with interest Shirow's comments accompanying the Apppleseed pieces. He mentioned that there is a possibility of coming up with a few more episodes, so there is hope for Appleseed after all! Maybe not so soon, but at least its a positive statement. Also, Shirow seems to be attempting to draw Deunan again in a few pieces of illustrations done for ID3 including the cover (my opinion strictly, because some of the girls really look like Deunan!). I hope that with the renewed interest in Appleseed in recent times, Shirow might re-consider giving our toughest Shirow girl and her cyborg lover another run.

Deunan and Bri in Comic House Comika (Book Store) Present (19920621)

There are also finally some exposure and brief explanation on Neurohard. I have always been fascinated by Neurohard ever since I discovered the unfinished pages in Comic Dragon. There are many Shirow works featured in ID3 which I have seen and come across before but know very little about. Their inclusion in ID3 is very enlightening and solved many unanswered questions for me. Those Griffon and Gum illustrations were familiar, but again, looking at them with Shirow's commentary makes it a totally different perspective and experience.

However, there are still some missing pieces here for this ID3 collection. One obvious ommission was artwork from the Dominion Conflict series, and Ghost In The Shell both which I consider to be hardcore Shirow Sci-Fi titles. GITS I can understand might be due to ownership and copyrights, but Dominion is strangely missing. Maybe Shirow has other things planned for the series, perhaps in the next IDs with material from Orion and the rest.

Intron Depot 3 Ballistics is truly a definitive Shirow collection. I recommend it highly for any manga / anime fan who enjoy beautiful artworks, and is a must-have for any Shirow fan no matter if you just like Shirow's manga strictly, or only certain titles. I am certainly entertained and enjoyed reading this collection very much.

Note: I've decided to finalize this review. Its enough information for ID3 I hope. Better spend time on other items eg ID4, Appleseed etc. ~ Lucas.

posted by: Lucas at 02/06/05 03:41 | link | comments | Category: intron depot