Orb: On the Movements of the Earth vols. 3 & 4 Omnibus

Mercenary swordsman Oczy and science-driven monk Badeni ended the previous omnibus by finding the cache of research Rafal and Hubert left behind prior to their deaths.  While the mercenary is driven by a sense of responsibility to the friend who entrusted him with this knowledge, the monk sees an opportunity to discover a truth that could upend the knowledge of the cosmos as they know it.  However, they can’t do it without someone who has access to proper research on the subject of the cosmos.  So Badeni decides to post a question to a local message board in the hopes of finding someone who does.  He gets a big shock when someone does respond and not only are they a woman, but they also work for Count Piast – the leading advocate of the geocentric model of the cosmos.

While I questioned the idea of doing a series about a concept that has been scientific fact for centuries now, this second volume of “Orb” makes it clear that its real focus is on the pursuit of truth above all else.  So we get interesting story threads involving a female who is capable of writing insightful scientific papers, but is forced by her superior to publish them under his name because she’s a woman.  As well as the dilemma a man of science and God faces when it turns out that the truth of the world contradicts his faith.  If anything, the series recalls the energy that drove the first half of the film “Oppenheimer” as the title character and some of the smartest people around tried to solve an impossible problem.  “Orb” isn’t as formally ambitious or possessive of the scope of that film, but the vibe is there and more interesting because of the time and place in which it is set.

Though the aforementioned characters get plenty of development here, Uoto hasn’t forgotten about the most striking person he introduced in the previous omnibus.  Nowak the Inquisitor makes another appearance here and is revealed to have a significant connection to one of the main cast.  What’s more is that the mangaka is positively determined to make the man, the title’s primary antagonist, into a well-rounded character despite the fact that his primary job is torturing people in the name of “truth” with a frightening level of detachment.  He figures prominently into the cliffhanger of this omnibus as a character’s fate hangs in the balance.  I’m genuinely concerned for this character’s fate because while I know the knowledge they’re trying to protect will survive, I’m invested enough in them as a person to want to see them live to see it flourish.