I was recommended this series on account of its artwork. A cursory flip through revealed some competent work that was not too stylised like some of the other manga titles. 'Great figure work, this has potential,' I thought to myself.
I bought the three books and started reading on a late Saturday night. To my dismay, this is among the least compelling and badly written manga series I have read to date. Only 'Striker' (also known as 'Wolf Brigade' comes close). The 'Crying Freeman' series was perverse in its themes and plotting but had great artwork and an unusual backdrop. 'Strain' was racist but had great artwork. 'Akira' was overwrought with a byzantine plot but it had a sense of fluidity, a dynamicism that transcends its weak premise.
'Deus Vitae' does not have much redeeming in it. The artwork is, upon a closer examination, uneven. Where there is good art, it is inevitably that of nude or almost nude women. Idealised nude women with perfect figures if you will. It would appear that the majority of this artist's effort went into his conception of his perfect woman. All the selenoid mothers were similar. I have drawn enough nudes previously to note that these are possibly stylised fantasies of probably one woman, teenaged but without the school uniform and panties!
The theme has elements directly lifted from the horrendous 'Terminator III: Rise of the Machines'. The beginning of the book almost echoes word for word the film from which the premise was 'stoken'. Other obvious elements include the human versus selenoid (human versus replicant!) theme from 'Bladerunner'. How unoriginal can one get? The writer has not bothered to disguise the material and as such, the series has a strong feeling of deja vu. Besides the incoherent plot and the flimsy characters, the dialogue felt contrived. There is precious little to recommend in this series. Avoid.
"Religions do make claims about the universe--the same kinds of claims that scientists make, except they're usually false." Richard Dawkins
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