Aposimz vol. 3
The ideal review for this volume would be a .gif of me shaking it with the words “MAKE IT BETTER” flashing at regular intervals. Three volumes in and this series has managed to distinguish itself from mangaka Tsutomu Nihei’s previous work in that it’s the most conventional and straightforward thing he’s done to date. That means it’s also the least interesting thing in his canon and something that doesn’t really stand out amongst other sci-fi action manga.
We’re still following Etherow and Keisha as they fight the Empire’s frames. After their big win in the previous volume, it’s immediately followed up with a battle against a brother/sister team that’s dispatched rather quickly. They then go on to Keisha’s home of Irf Nikk and meet her brother, the ruler of the colony. He seems like a decent enough person until a conversation with Titania lets us know otherwise. Then things take a turn for the worse as one of the Empire’s strongest frames, Tosu, shows up at Irf Nikk’s doorstep and everything goes to hell.
There are some interesting bits here with the plans of Keisha’s brother and the new machines that are encountered on the surface at the end of the volume. They’re not enough to overcome the feeling that Nihei is really starting to phone things in by following the sci-fi and shonen action playbook. Even if his fight scenes have some cool moments to them, it’s hard to care about the people involved because he really hasn’t developed Etherow beyond his mildly grumpy protagonist mindset. That’s still more development than the Empire’s lackeys get, however. None of this is terrible as the execution still manages basic competence. It’s just been getting more disappointing to see Nihei fail to manage the balance of accessibility and weirdness that kept “Knights of Sidonia” entertaining throughout its run.