(Manga) Appleseed follows the story of Deunan and her cyborg companion Briareos, two police commandos in the post-apocalypse city-state of Olympus. The series is a mix of action and political intrigue set in an amazingly detailed futuristic world. Appleseed is not only an incredible work of manga art, but also of modern literature, winning Japan's top science-fiction prize. Book reading order is: The Promethean Challenge, Promethean Unbound, The Scales of Prometheus, The Promethean Balance.
(Anime) The manga is generally considered superior to the animated adaptations. The first anime was a direct-to-video OVA that was widely panned. The 2004 Appleseed feature film captured the feeling of the Applessed world very well but the computer-modelled character animation gave uneven results. "Ex Machina" is the best Applessed anime to date. It renders the futuristic city of Olympus perfectly and the character animation is good, although still a little robotic in parts. If you haven't read the manga you will probably enjoy the movie. Fans of the original manga will likely be disappointed to find that Deunan in the movies acts and fights more like a cyborg superwoman whereas in the manga she was very human.
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Book - Appleseed (Manga)
DVD - Appleseed (OVA)
DVD - Appleseed (Movie)
DVD - Appleseed: Ex Machina (Movie)