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Reviewed by Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane A.I. Revolution is Yuu Asami's contribution to the venerable sci-fi sub-genre about robots who are nearly indistinguishable from humans, and the resulting ethical and practical considerations. Unfortunately, while it's a pleasant enough series to read, it doesn't really have much new to say. The first three volumes are each composed of a few stand-alone stories, which are good individually; however, although the passage of time is noted, the underlying story and relationships don't feel as if they make much progress. The overall premise is very straightforward: the main character, Sui, is the daughter of a robotics scientist who's been instrumental in making household robots part of day-to-day life. The series begins when her father introduces her to an eerily human-like robot and asks her to test his programming and teach him about interacting with humans. She names that first robot Vermillion, and by the end of the first volume, a second robot, who she names Kira, rounds out the main cast of characters. Vermillion and Kira are both remarkably like humans almost from the get-go, although their personalities are very different and they face different challenges as they adjust to living among people. Sui takes them at face value and treats them as friends, which Vermillion accepts immediately; Kira has more difficulty finding a comfortable place for himself, having spent most of his short "life" being used as both a tool and a target in industrial espionage. Some of the individual stories center around Sui's relationship with the two robots, but several others are built around supporting characters' reactions to Vermillion and Kira, which range from people who never realize that they're dealing with robots to people who want to co-opt them for various purposes. The latter type of story often deals with the robots' very existence challenging people's preconceived notions of their capacity to feel emotions or exist as fully-developed individuals, and I think it's those stories that I find a little frustrating: it's not that what's here isn't interesting, but it feels as though Asami could have pushed things further and spent more time with individual subplots. (Possibly that happens as the series progresses, which would be nice.) At any rate, it's worth noting that while I didn't always find this a deeply satisfying read, I have seen several other reviewers react very positively to this series, so it may simply not be pushing the right buttons for me. The artwork on A.I. Revolution looks simple, but it's detailed and very easy to follow--it has a nice, clean feel to it, and comes across as very classic shoujo. Go! Comi has done their usual excellent job on the presentation, too; the books are attractive, and the scripts read very naturally. Each volume includes a page of translation notes, and vol. 3 includes an older bonus story by the creator. Interested in writing for MangaLife? We're always looking for talented reviewers and columnists, so drop us a line! Charles Webb Editor-in-Chief, MangaLife.com |
1 September 2010
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