Publisher
Dark Horse
Country of origin
Japan
Year of production
1996
Writers
Masamune Shirow
Artists
Masamune Shirow
Dominion is from creator Masamune Shirow creator of Ghost in the Shell and Appleseed.
Set in the not to distant future where worldwide pollution has caused toxic gas clouds to appear so low down that on anything but a perfect day, the people have to wear gas masks. It follows the exploits of a police division that use tanks; cleverly named the 'Tank Police' (Dominion is the base for the amines 'Dominion Tank Police' and 'New Dominion Tank Police'). Following the various members of the 'Tank Police', tank loving Leona, Leona loving Al and the explosion loving Captain Breten, are just a few of the members. They solve crimes and deal with riots along with tackling the evil Buaku and his gang, and helping to clean the air.
Masamune Shirow is a very popular manga artist; his work often contains stories with immense depth, tackling issues such as politics, computerisation, mechanisation and genetic modification to name a few. Dominion, at least compared to Masamune Shirow's other work, quite as complex. There are fairly obvious messages about pollution and what may happen if we don't slow down with current methods, but Dominion is more centred to comedy. Masamune Shirow's other work always contain light relief throughout, wither it's the Fuchikomas from Ghost in the Shell or Deunan and Briareos arguing in Appleseed. These were only for one or two pages every twenty or so, with Dominion however it is extremely hard to go more than a couple of pages without chuckling to yourself or cracking a small smile.
This also means the story is easier to follow with no complex political webs of deceit or people making long incredibly complex speeches or points on human existence. While these things are what made other elements of Masamune Shirow's other work so enjoyable, the lighter tone and story elements are not entirely unwelcome. This also makes Dominion a good start for anyone trying to get into Masamune Shirow's work. As the art style is very distinctive it some times takes a little getting used to, you don't always want to be digesting a hugely deep plot at the same time.
The characters are all well varied and come alive on the page just as you would expect from Masamune Shirow's work. The characterisation has not suffered due to the less seriousness in the main storyline.
Dominion is a good start if you want to get into Masamune Shirow's work if a little less deep than his other work. Also included are a number of notes from Masamune Shirow himself towards the end of the book containing information on where his ideas for Dominion came from. And in case your wondering about the '(Volume 1?)' in the review title, this because at the end it says 'end of volume one' but as far as I know there has been no second volume published in English as of yet.
Dark Horse
Country of origin
Japan
Year of production
1996
Writers
Masamune Shirow
Artists
Masamune Shirow
Dominion is from creator Masamune Shirow creator of Ghost in the Shell and Appleseed.
Set in the not to distant future where worldwide pollution has caused toxic gas clouds to appear so low down that on anything but a perfect day, the people have to wear gas masks. It follows the exploits of a police division that use tanks; cleverly named the 'Tank Police' (Dominion is the base for the amines 'Dominion Tank Police' and 'New Dominion Tank Police'). Following the various members of the 'Tank Police', tank loving Leona, Leona loving Al and the explosion loving Captain Breten, are just a few of the members. They solve crimes and deal with riots along with tackling the evil Buaku and his gang, and helping to clean the air.
Masamune Shirow is a very popular manga artist; his work often contains stories with immense depth, tackling issues such as politics, computerisation, mechanisation and genetic modification to name a few. Dominion, at least compared to Masamune Shirow's other work, quite as complex. There are fairly obvious messages about pollution and what may happen if we don't slow down with current methods, but Dominion is more centred to comedy. Masamune Shirow's other work always contain light relief throughout, wither it's the Fuchikomas from Ghost in the Shell or Deunan and Briareos arguing in Appleseed. These were only for one or two pages every twenty or so, with Dominion however it is extremely hard to go more than a couple of pages without chuckling to yourself or cracking a small smile.
This also means the story is easier to follow with no complex political webs of deceit or people making long incredibly complex speeches or points on human existence. While these things are what made other elements of Masamune Shirow's other work so enjoyable, the lighter tone and story elements are not entirely unwelcome. This also makes Dominion a good start for anyone trying to get into Masamune Shirow's work. As the art style is very distinctive it some times takes a little getting used to, you don't always want to be digesting a hugely deep plot at the same time.
The characters are all well varied and come alive on the page just as you would expect from Masamune Shirow's work. The characterisation has not suffered due to the less seriousness in the main storyline.
Dominion is a good start if you want to get into Masamune Shirow's work if a little less deep than his other work. Also included are a number of notes from Masamune Shirow himself towards the end of the book containing information on where his ideas for Dominion came from. And in case your wondering about the '(Volume 1?)' in the review title, this because at the end it says 'end of volume one' but as far as I know there has been no second volume published in English as of yet.
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