Dominion

Dominion by Masamune Shirow
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In the dystopian future, Earth's atmosphere is loaded with toxic bacteria. Newport is so crime-ridden that it's police drive tanks. Leona Ozaki and the other Tank Police have their hands full with a crime lord named Buaku. But what does the naked green chick with butterfly wings have to do with anything?

Yeah, manga is a little weird sometimes. Dominion is the last of the books of the Masamune Shirow lot I bought on eBay and the one I enjoyed the most. Dominion is a police procedural set in a dystopian future on a heavily polluted earth. I know, I know, the comedic potential isn't staggering but Masamune Shirow made hay with it.

Dominion revolves around Leona, her lovelorn partner Al, and her cute little tank, Bonaparte. The crime lord Buaku and his minions, chiefly the Puma Sisters, outwit the Tank Police of Newport at every turn, probably because the Newport PD is pretty worthless. It's a lot of fun, watching Leona moon over her tank while Al moons over her. And then there's the mostly naked green woman, aptly named Greenpeace. Greenpeace is a living air purifier and possibly Earth's salvation. She also walks around naked all the all time and barely talks.

After navigating my way through the plots of Shirow's other books, Dominion was pretty refreshing, a straightforward, not so serious police comedy. The art is looser, more cartoon-y than Shirow's other works. It's not as detailed and a lot clearer as a result.

No bad things to say about Dominion. It was a fun read and I'll be nabbing Dominion: Conflict shortly. Four out of five stars.

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