Appleseed volume four - The Promethean Balance

Appleseed: The Promethean Balance by Masamune Shirow
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Munma terrorists are building a giant landmate to use against Aegis. Or are they? Will Olympus fall from within? And will Deunan and Briareos let it?

Here we area already, the concluding Appleseed volume. There is a lot of political maneuvering in this one on the part of Imperial Americana, the Munma terrorists, Aegis, and even corrupt elements of ESWAT. Of course, Deunan and Briareos are caught in the middle.

The art was great, of course, and the story was a lot easier to follow than in the previous two books. A giant mech is being built and ESWAT has to stop it. Naturally, Briareos and Deunan play a big part in that. Also, Deunan gets injured during training and has to wear an eyepatch.

This volume was mostly action and blew by pretty quickly. The ending wasn't what I expected. I was hoping for some closure but it was pretty open ended. I'm not sure if I'll grab the Appleseed Data book or Appleseed ID, though. In retrospect, the series probably should have ended with book 2. Everything since has largely felt like an extended epilogue of Briareos and Deunan adjusting to life after Gaia.

While I'm glad I took it on and like the saga as a whole, the second half was a little underwhelming compared to the first. Three stars for this volume, four for the series overall.

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