Graphic Novel Review: Robo Sapiens: Tales of Tomorrow by Toranosuke Shimada

Posted on May 28, 2024 at 6:25 am by Gene Ambaum

Robo Sapiens: Tales of Tomorrow by Toranosuke Shimada. Translation by Adrienne Beck. Seven Seas, 2021. 9781648275982. 304pp. Publisher’s Rating: Teen (13+)

The thirteen chapters in this book (I think it’s a 2-in-1 edition) feel like short stories. Most feature a few recurring autonomous cyber-characters, and the whole holds together as a graphic novel. Talking much about the settings would ruin the book. The first chapter made me think this was going to be a mystery because it features a salvager out to help a super rich, reclusive dude find a robot he lost fifty years ago. The solution to the mystery (which is finished in one chapter) defied my expectations and gave me the delightful sense I had no idea where this manga was going.

My favorite recurring character is the robot Onda Kaloko, whose mission is to keep watch over spent nuclear fuel for 250,000 years until it’s safe. But my favorite things about the book are Shimada’s art (it reminds me a bit of Brandon Graham’s King City) and its straightforward page layouts.