(讀了中文版）
This graphic novel is very on brand for Satoshi Kon, who specialized in the hardcore meta-on-meta-on-meta action that makes up the core of this book. Within you will find reflections on the role of the artist in regards to their work, their responsibility to their characters, story, and even in the “post-script” addendum added to the end of my edition, their responsibility to their readers. I haven’t yet seen all of Satoshi Kon’s films, but I appreciate the focus on character in this book - the relationships between them is just as important as the textual experimentation, something that seems to overrun (albeit in a delightful way) Kon’s animated work.
It’s a real loss that this man died so young. Not only do we not get an ending to this book, we also miss out on all the amazing books and movies he could have made if he had lived to old age. ( )

I wished for a good story, with well-rounded characters and a surprising ending. Instead, I got an unbelievably well-structured scenario filled with coherent and relevant characters.

This is not the kind of books you can spoil: all his magic lies in the discoveries you make. Overall, this is the story of Lin, Satoko, Nagai, The Mask and... Satoshi Kon himself. I will add that there is one of the best villain I have seen, because he is, more than anything, brutally human. That's it. The synopsis has to stop here, so I don't spoil your experience, because yes: that manga is an experience like no other.

While you explore it, take a look at the creativeness of the author. This characteristic is expressed in the way he uses the squares or in the way he plays with the background (especially at the end of the manga), for example. Although the dialogues are pretty conventional and, sometimes, a little predictable, they are essential which, to me, is a very important factor. I hate when the author goes on and on with unimportant details about the world or his century. Here, Kon really tries, it seemed to me, to make the conversations very natural, very human-like. It makes the characters more believable and more complex. One of the most important weakness, to me, lies in the lack of power that is given to Satoko. As a woman, she is constantly overpowered by every man she meets. Still, I love the choices of characters: Kon really manages to make us believe that these individuals have a life behind them (I won't continue on that topic since it is a very key part of the story).

It is very hard to go into details about that book because it is so full of surprises and secrets. I will say it once again: I wished for a good story, I got an amazing piece of art, in many ways. ( )

Satoshi Kon's manga Opus is a brilliant work of fiction. Probably the only work of fiction I've encountered that really gets across the interaction between a writer and their characters in the same approachable way that Opus does is the film Stranger Than Fiction. However, I think that Opus does it better.

In Stranger than Fiction, the lead of the story discovers he's a fictional character, and after eventually meeting his creator, and reading the work that will result in his death, decides to accept his fate.

In Opus, by comparison, mangaka Chikara Nagai ends up being confronted by the story's protagonist, Lin, over Nagai's planned ending, where Lin will sacrifice himself to defeat the story's antagonist - Masque. Lin steals the story's conclusion, forcing Nagai and one of the supporting characters from the story, Satoko, to find Lin, and to allow the story to conclude in a fashion that prevents the villain from abusing the fourth wall as well.

Ironically, the story of Opus is also incomplete. The magazine that Opus was serialized in was canceled before Kon could finish the story, and Kon was working on a final chapter for the story for a graphic novel release, but was delayed while working in the anime industry... and was unable to put the finishing touches on that chapter before his death of pancreatic cancer. This makes the final chapter, where Nagai confronts Kon himself over leaving a work half-complete both darkly comic and tragic, as this series ultimately lacks an ending for reasons very much outside of Kon's control.

Anyway, this is a fantastic work of manga, and one that is definitely worth picking up for fans of the medium, of Kon's work, and of literature alike. ( )

This is a book about blurring the line between a creator and his creations. But, maybe because it is unfinished, it feels much more like a proof of concept than a truly fleshed out idea. The characters don't get to develop personalities since the limited time is largely spent on plot and beautiful visual exposition of the merging worlds. Fortunately, what personalities they do have are not bad, just forgettable.

One more point about its unfinished state is that it was pretty cool to see the partially sketched out last chapter.

Overall, I think that this was a pretty and fun romp through some relatively unpolished thoughts in the author's brain. I think that Satoshi Kon deals with many similar themes better in his later work, but certainly don't feel like I've wasted my time reading this. ( )

Creative mental masturbation. Very meta. I would have preferred to read the adventure story that is tossed aside as the creator explored other avenues. ( )