Rating: 
Summary: A work of art....
Review: Domu was originally released as a 3 part series in March, April and May of '95. I picked up the First installment in April... and went back the next day to get part two. It killed me to have to wait a whole month for the last part. I knew the author's name from the movie Akira, but didn't know what to expect from the story line. I was not disappointed. Many of the same elements that make Akira such a classic, are present an Domu, without following the story, or formula. Domu is a classic story of an pure, innocent, goodness, fighting against a powerful evil, who won't give up his realm without a fight!As for the artwork, it is gorgeous. It's drawn in a simple black and white, like many other graphic novels. It's very well drawn and really fills out the world they live in. The angels and perspectives really draw you in. It's black and white Also, look for the same playground equipment in Domu as in Akira. :) I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
Rating:
Summary: Enchanting and Twisted
Review: First off let me praise Mr. Otomo's detailed and gritty realism that he brought to this work, something more of a departure from the formulaic manga pattern ( big eyes, cute faces, blurry action scenes). The story leaps out of the pages in the tradition of a Hollywood fast-cut cinematography.
The story leaves you hanging for more but like any good thriller, it should be best left unresolved. Domu masterfully combines element of Carrie and Silence of the Lambs in which two unlikely gifted humans are locked in a dangerous game of mind-blowing telekinetic powers. Somebody should make a movie out of it. This peredecessor of Akira has managed to stay in the realm of believable urban setting, thus making it easier to relate to.
Rating: 
Summary: A worthy dissappointment
Review: For a book that has been so heavily hyped, I wasn't terribly impressed. Previously I hadn't been attracted to Japanese comics because they were, to put it simply, different. But different is often a good. While Akira and Ghost in the Shell still remain my favorites, the greatness of Akira prompted me to buy this. The reviews hyped it to be something great, but I found the story to be extremely simple, and there weren't any compelling characters to care about. Quite simply, you never get to know a single character in this book. They either play a trivial part or get killed within the first few chapters. The story is about an apartment complex (government housing or something distinctly Japanese), and none of the neighbors ever know each other very well because they keep dying. Perhaps the shallow character that the reader never cares about are a statement about living in close proximity to so many people within the complex, and yet remaining so apart. So maybe this book goes deeper than even I give it credit for. Buy it because the artwork is quite impressive, and keep it on your shelf to impress girls. Cheers,
Rating:
Summary: Awesome; still one of the scariest novels I've ever read.
Review: Horrific, gripping and suspenseful tale about a gargantuan apartment block plagued by a series of motiveless suicides and murders. The cause? An old man, whiling away his former years by using his psychic abilities to puppeteer the tenants for his own sick amusement. When a little girl with equally powerful psychic abilities begins to interfere with his horrific manipualtions, it marks the beginning of an escalating , life-and-death tug of war struggle between the two, culminating in a spectacular finale, with the tenants as helpless participants. The story's almost Hitchcockian style and the more outlandish aspects are grounded in believable, very human characters (you'll be rooting for the young girl all the way) and the creepily nondescript and unfeeling atmosphere setting of the concrete apartment complex. I love Otomo's incredible artwork, but this is far more than just eye candy; this is a terrifying supernatural thriller set in a recognisably real world, with a foe so amoral and twisted that the outcome of the story is unsure. The underlying themes of the of the two protagonists'potency-one with youth and courage, the other with wiles and wisdom-and the modern setting lend this thriller depth and context, too. Highly, highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Not bad..Not too good either
Review: I brought Katushiro Otomo's Domu with great expectations. The only other graphic novel that I had the pleasure of reading was Darkhorse's Batman Vs. Predator. That book exemplified the type of material I love to read; a story about people and situations we would never see in this world, but written with enough skill to make us accept and become interested in them. Unfortunately, Otomo's debut lacks a certain something. Its not quite the suspensful thriller it promises to be. We have an interesting set-up; an old man who kills off unaware neighbours in his apartment block by controlling their minds and manipulating them into deadly scenarios (eg. ordering them to jump for the top floor, etc.). The body count is rising, none of the murders are solved, the cops are baffled and the residents are scared. A young child posessing the same power as the physchopathic murderer is soon onto his game and challenges him to a telekenetic battle that starts off as a slow, tactical duel but soon erupts into a blazing super-natural struggle with the existance of the apartment block hanging in the balance. What Katushiro has failed to do is focus carefully on his main characters. They function merely as components of the plot but are difficult to believe as individuals. For example, there is no explanation as to what motivates the old man; he's just some crazy maniac who chuckles evily when he kills off his victims. And what about the girl? Katushiro forces us to accept that she is what she is without providing moments of development or background. She just appears, and before you know it, she's duking it out with the bad guy. I mean, where's the run-up or the build-up to the time she actually realises she must fight him? Despite the lack of depth within the novel's protagonists, Katushiro redeems himself slightly with his excellent observations of inner city life such as the dull and domestic dialogue between mothers talking while their children play; the cops who gamble and urinate behind bushes and the clever representations of the lives of the apartment block residents, how they run parallel and how they coincide, the depiction of their habits, idiosyncracies and daily routines. All in all, worth a look. Not thrilling, nor fascinating. But at the very least, interesting and definantly readable.
Rating:
Summary: really cool
Review: I first read this series back in 1997, and I really didn't like it. However, as time went on and my interest in manga matured i read this book again and really did enjoy it. This is after I had read the first three volumes of Akira and had gotten use to Otomo's artstyle. The book is very creepy. the story deals with an old man named Cho who through his ESP is able to make people commit suicide. Read it for yourself mere words cannot begin to describe this work of manga
Rating: 
Summary: A chilling and quick read.
Review: I learned about Katsuhiro Otomo's existence through the means of the magnificent "Akira" anime. At first, all that I thought was that Akira's was Otomo's only work, but after some (accidental) research I found that to be utterly untrue. Even though it is true that "Domu" does not stand to the likes of "Akira", both Anime and Manga, it is true that it is a great story, if somewhat short, on itself. Let it be known, however, that the story is not as disturbing as the reviews bellow suggest. It centers around the struggle between two individuals, a little girl and a senile old man, both gifted with ultra-powerful psychic powers. The disturbing aspects are rather few and scattered through the book's pages. The twist on the story, however, is that the old man has a child's mind. The lives of the people populating the complex are his to take; chillingly enough is the fact that such murders are an innocent child's desires taken to the extreme. The art from the book is top notch, but I cannot comment on the translation; I don't know any Japanese, so I hope they did a good job at it. A few words of warning; There are some very cruel situations going on during the course of the story, some might even drive you uncomfortable. Too bad this one wasn't made into an Anime!
Rating:
Summary: A chilling and quick read.
Review: I learned about Katsuhiro Otomo's existence through the means of the magnificent "Akira" anime. At first, all that I thought was that Akira's was Otomo's only work, but after some (accidental) research I found that to be utterly untrue. Even though it is true that "Domu" does not stand to the likes of "Akira", both Anime and Manga, it is true that it is a great story, if somewhat short, on itself. Let it be known, however, that the story is not as disturbing as the reviews bellow suggest. It centers around the struggle between two individuals, a little girl and a senile old man, both gifted with ultra-powerful psychic powers. The disturbing aspects are rather few and scattered through the book's pages. The twist on the story, however, is that the old man has a child's mind. The lives of the people populating the complex are his to take; chillingly enough is the fact that such murders are an innocent child's desires taken to the extreme. The art from the book is top notch, but I cannot comment on the translation; I don't know any Japanese, so I hope they did a good job at it. A few words of warning; There are some very cruel situations going on during the course of the story, some might even drive you uncomfortable. Too bad this one wasn't made into an Anime!
Rating:
Summary: Better than Akira
Review: I read Domu the first time in the middle of the night, and after a third of the book I had to put it down because it scared me so much. The characters felt so real and that made the horrible events all the more horrible; the teenager sitting by himself in the middle of the night, struggling with his homework.. The kids playing or bullying each other.. everything felt so real. I immeadiately liked Hiroshi and Etsuko, and every time the old man appeared I was scared that anything might happen to them. In my opinion this is Otomos best work. I read this right after I had finished AKIRA part 5 and I must say that Domu was better in every way. The characters in AKIRA are mostly cardbord, in Domu they act much more like real people. Don't get me wrong, I love AKIRA, but Domu is just better. I can't explain how much I liked this manga, It's the best I've ever read. Go read it, now!
Rating:
Summary: A Sci-Fi/Horror Thriller That Would Make A Killer Movie!
Review: I started reading Dark Horse's Akira reprints a few months back, and having enjoyed the first volume, figured I'd take a chance (I generally don't like Manga very much...) and order Domu, seeing as how it was also created by Katsuhiro Otomo.... Well, I managed to get all of 20 pages in before I was totally spellbound. Domu tells the story of an apartment block in Japan that has been plagued by suicides and disappearances. A senile old man, with tremendous psychic powers, has been using the buildings inhabitants as his own personal playthings. (One particularly chilling moment has the oldy about to drop an infant to his death, and thinking "Just like a ripe tomato...") His plans are disrupted, however, by a new arrival: A young girl with the same psychic gift. And soon, the apartment block is turned into their own personal battlefield, as the little girl seeks to ensure no one else falls victim to his depredations. Otomo's story and art compliment each other perfectly- I had to read the book twice in one sitting: Once to actually READ it, another to savor the magnificent hyper-detailed artwork. The plot is like something out of a Stephen King story, and a GREAT Stephen King story at that. This would make an amazing movie. But could the movie possibly be any more heart-pounding than the book...? Naaah!
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