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enjoyable read. although, despite the serious nature of the story, it is very cartoony. as expected from tezuka. MW's biggest downfall lay with the fact that the author does not respect any of his characters. his protagonists are always compelling as are one or two side characters. however, they are all treated unsympathetically and with little to no reason for the reader to care about the fact that they are bad people. not to mention that the political and social commentary was not explored to the extent that it could have rendering the significance of chemical weaponry to the plot useless. well...almost useless...unless we count that one priest's line questioning why humans would create MW. seriously? one line? that is the extent of the engagement with the theme of american interventionism and WMDs?

the twist at the book's end was so unexpectedly good that i am willing to forgive it though. as was the handling of information in moments of tension and rising action. tezuka also does not hesitate to engage with taboo subject matter when it comes to violence, gender and sexuality in ways that were rather ahead of his time. i can respect that. if only he employed his trangessive characters and story elements to a meaningful or at least thoroughly entertaining end.