Read this awhile back and the only thing I remembered was 1) How beautiful the art was, 2) How wishy-washy it all was. I wasn't really entertained by the story, that much. It just didn't seem to drive anywhere, which seems unintentionally reflective of the existence that Ganymede was forced to live. Still, wish it had something more compelling about it other than the art.

I love love love how nerdy this manga is. For anyone who has a background to the anthropological understanding of religion or does biblical studies, this is a gem. It uses characters from Greek mythology but the debate on divinity leans much more heavily towards the Bible in some ways. Granted it's not to the depth of biblical/history of religion scholarship, but it's enough to touch on some of the themes.

My favourite part is the descent of Zeus, but sums up eons of heavenly encounters, such as 1 & 2 Enoch and the Sinai Theophany, in a few pages. Heavily nerding out right here.

... Last updated on April 29th, 2015, 8:26pm

This manga surprised me in terms of its complexity, since usually manga with such sparkly bi-shounens tend to have flat stories and immature characters....Luckily this author was intelligent and had a different intention for this manga.

On a slightly negative note, the series seemed to be paradoxical and hypocritical at times, and in truth you have to be willing to accept what it's saying and dwell on the words in order to enjoy it.

Much of the story deals with the idea of "perception is relative" and how perception relates to someone's idea of "truth". How does a god know what is true, and how can certain humans be so confident of their idea of what is right and wrong? This story explores the concept of "forced perception", when people see things in certain ways.

All in all, Olimpos was a pretty interesting read that had me forming my own opinions on the gods' philosophical discussions...

In terms of art, every page is simple and beautiful; the composition of each panel leaves the reader wanting to see more of each scene. (i.e. Zeus' appearance was one that i really wanted to see full picture of)

However, the story didn't quite progress as much as I wanted it to, but I think that was the author's intention.

10/10 for sure. :-)

... Last updated on April 18th, 2014, 7:28pm

It is a good manga and I think the art speaks for itself. Most of the manga consists of philosophical dialogue which I found to be very interesting as the characters are very likable. However, I did find it a bit sad that the story didn't really go anywhere.
A very enjoyable read but the end wasn't that satisfying.

and that's a good thing. All of Aki's works are kind of philosophical, but this one's especially interesting because it's done from a god's point of view. And the gods are all whimsical. How curious.

This is actually the first manga I have ever commented, so I don't even have to say that I think it is amazing. I don't know, mabey I have read a few too many cross-dressing stories to be bothered by the way they looked, but it didn't even cross my mind that they could be girls. Maybe the way they acted, or whatever. I really love the story, it was amazing. It wasn't all about Hein, which is what I thought at the beggining, it really is more of a... I don't know, I call stories like this ,,lazy stories'', the flow isn't rushed and action, action, action. It is meant for a quiet evening, when you have nothing against a little bit of heavy thinking. Not suprisingly my brain hurts a little, but it was an amazing story, and totally worth the time.

Well my first time with AKi is with this work. The art is amzing, really it's distracting in some way. But the plot is very hard to follow and need a lot of concentration to understand. Good for me that I have a quite good knowledge of greek mithology but still is hard to follow. I read also Hanamatsuri and, besides some charachter and plot line that is left behind without no further develpment, it's seems me more easy for a new reader.
Anyway the art is worthy of a try

Honestly, I thought Olimpos was amazing. Like what Calstine said, most readers can't let go of the fact that the guys look like girls and there's no BL [well there kinda is if you consider Zeus and Ganymede]. Also, I've heard people say "The art is too distracting, I can't read the manga at all!" Those are usual traits of Aki's manga, so beginner Aki readers don't know how to look past those or use them to help understand the manga.

First off, the guys are girly looking because, if you haven't noticed, young males in Greek statues look feminine. That's a historical fact Aki's trying to use to her advantage to attract more [female] readers.
There's no BL because not only does Aki not draw BL, it will ruin the whole plot. In the original myth, Zeus loves Gandymede while the other characters like Apollon, Poseidon, and Hades are related by blood. So you can't really couple anyone besides just Zeus and Gandymede or else it will stray too much from the original myth and it will have incest...
The art is distracting because Aki's trying to convey majestic Greek gods and a beautiful Trojan prince. They need to look flamboyant and SPARKLY. So the characters and their surrounding art should look beautiful. After all, the location is Zeus' garden, which is located in the Greek afterlife's "heaven" equivalent.

Besides those "problems", you'd have to admit that Olimpos is a beautiful manga: both plotwise and artwise. Though the art becomes plainer in the second volume, it's still a magnificent piece of artwork worthy of becoming an artbook. The plot is unbelievably more amazing than the art. People say it's confusing, but if you read it well a few times, everything will click into place. You just have to watch out for foreshadowings in the beginning, which is what Aki is known for. Just treat it like studying some type of literature.

Olimpos is probably the most underrated manga I've ever seen. It's sad that a lot of people give it bad ratings because they don't understand it. D: The only problem I'd say it has is that the art gets worse in the second volume. The other problem with many readers is that most keep ignoring how well thought out and developed the plot is and keep ranting on about the art. There's more to Olimpos than the art. :3 Anyways, congrats on its liscencing! I hope more people will read it from now on!

... Last updated on August 15th, 2011, 12:16am

The storytelling is quite masterful and relies strongly on heavily reflective dialogues and psychological probing to put its point across. There is no fighting, angst, romance or any other characteristics so typical to most manga -- but rather a series of conversations between gods and the humans they come to associate, through which the mangaka puts forward some very interesting ideas regarding mythology, false beliefs, human desires and invincibility, to name but a few.

The conclusion may not be particularly dramatic or thrilling, but is perfectly suited to the overall mood of its prelude, and left enough up to imagination that I consider these two volumes well worth another read -- an honour I have accorded to only a handful of manga.

The art is in Aki's usual style; unique, beautiful and elaborately detailed.

Recommended for those on the lookout for a very unusual manga with an interesting combination of psychological and fantasy themes.

... Last updated on February 15th, 2015, 9:15am

This manga has some really interesting dialogues with existential and philosophical questions. For a manga, this was rather deep. And on top of that, the art was STUNNING. You have to be in a specific and patient mood to read - and enjoy - this. But if you are in the right mood, this is almost a masterpiece (yeah, I won't say that it IS a masterpiece, since that is quite a claim). This is not a roller coaster ride as most mangas often are (yeah, I'm generalizing, sorry), but more like... food for thought and an angle on how eternity can change your point of view.

Very nice, I will rate it an almost perfect 10.

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The only thing I catch myself thinking is "come on you gorgeous guys...just a teeny kiss or a sensual scene? You're wasting your beautyyyyyy!!!!!" - even though the genre tags very thoroughly depicts that this is not a romance manga. I just can't help it! ... But my BL-habits shouldn't interfere here. It's a great manga, and it's worth reading!

... Last updated on January 26th, 2011, 12:19pm