5 out of 5

We’re up through Log 42 and things just get crazier, and yet more streamlined, from here on out: Nihei continues to write the Terminal Net Gene quest in an onward and upward fashion, but the surreal wandering now comes with doses of logic and purpose as we have some scant sensibility of the interactions and constructions of this world.  We can see – especially with the Master Editions’ very cleaned up art – how Nihei’s style started to get into the dense but clean look of Biomega, and the Logs in volume 4 span especially impressive flip-flops between loose-lined explosions and meticulously detailed landscapes; angular lines of stairwells and archyways and more organic ones of the squishy realm in which Cibo and Kyrri find themselves.

Also, glancing back at the Tokyopop editions, I’m struck by how much lettering cleanup they did as well.  I will say that it’s a different experience reading both, to justify how much money I spent tracking down the TP versions.