Early in the 21 Century, the Tyrell Corporation advanced Robot evolution into the Nexus phase – a being virtually identical to a human – known as a Replicant. Used as slave labor Off-world, escaped Replicants on Earth were hunted by Blade Runner Units, tasked with killing them on sight. The rumors of bootleg Replicants appearing in the Far East has prompted the Tyrell Corp to investigate, determined to protect its monopoly on synthetic humans. Corporate agents and Blade Runners have been deployed to aggressively eliminate any threat from these industrial pirates. In Tokyo, ex-Marine Mead and Replicant Combat Model Stix work as off-the-book P.I.s while searching for the traitor who betrayed them during an unsanctioned mission to Kalanthia. A spree of brutal killings, apparently by a rogue Replicant, has the city of edge, and Stix a suspect. When a young woman named Sayo hires Mead and Stix to find Miyuki, her missing sister, ties to the Yakuza are revealed, plunging them deeper into a dangerous investigation.

Early in the 21st Century, The Tyrell Corporation advanced Robot evolution into the Nexus phase – a being virtually identical to a human – known as a Replicant. Replicants were used Off-world as slave labor. Those who escaped to Earth where hunted by Blade Runner units ordered to kill any trespassing Replicant upon detection. A rise in the manufacture of bootleg Replicants in the Far East has forced The Tyrell Corp to engage in a costly patent war to ruthlessly protect its unique Intellectual Property. Corporate agents and Blade Runners have been dispatched to pursue any copyright infringement by the industrial pirates with extreme prejudice in order to protect and preserve Tyrell’s monopoly. Tokyo, 2015

Early in the 21st Century, the Tyrell Corporation advanced Robot evolution into the Nexus phase – a being virtually identical to a human – known as a Replicant. Used as slave labor Off-world, escaped Replicants on Earth were hunted by Blade Runner units, tasked with killing them on sight. The rumors of bootleg Replicants appearing in the Far East has prompted the Tyrell Corporation to investigate, determined to protect its monopoly on synthetic humans. Corporate agents and Blade Runners have been deployed to aggressively eliminate any threat from these industrial pirates. In Tokyo, ex-Marine Mead and Replicant Combat Model Stix work as off-the-book P.I.s while searching for the traitor who betrayed them during an unsanctioned mission to Kalanthia. A spree of brutal killings, apparently by a rogue Replicant, has the city on edge, and Stix a suspect. A young woman named Sayo hires Mead and Stix to find Miyuki, her missing sister. LAPD Blade Runner, Rumika, arrives in Tokyo to investigate the brutal killings of the rogue Replicant and interviews Mead. Meanwhile, Stix witnesses the abduction of a Replicant by members of the Yakuza and gives chase. When the body of Miyuki is discovered, Sayo takes Mead and Rumika to the dead girl’s apartment. However, before Sayo can give any more information, she is shot with an arrow and with her dying breath names Stix as her killer…

Early in the 21 Century, the Tyrell Corporation advanced Robot evolution into the nexus phase – a being virtually identical to a human – known as a Replicant. Used as slave labor Off-world, escaped Replicants on Earth were hunted by Blade Runner Units, tasked with killing them on sight. The rumors of bootleg Replicants appearing in the Far East has prompted the Tyrell Corp to investigate, determined to protect its monopoly on synthetic humans. Corporate agents and Blade Runners have been deployed to aggressively eliminate any threat from these industrial pirates. In Tokyo, ex-Marine Mead and Replicant Combat Model Stix work as off-the-book P.I.s while searching for the traitor who betrayed them during an unsanctioned mission to Kalanthia. A spree of brutal killings, apparently by a rogue Replicant, has the city on edge, and Stix a suspect. A young woman named Sayo hired Mead and Stix to find Miyuki, her missing partner. LAPD Blade Runner, Rumika, arrived in Tokyo to investigate the brutal killings of the rogue Replicant and interviewed Mead. Sayo was assassinated and died in Mead’s arms, naming Stix as her killer. Rumiko received orders from Tyrell Corp to either extricate or neutralize two Tyrell scientists from Cheshire. Mead tracked Stix down and tried to convince him to help her find the real killer of Sayo, but Stix fled, believing it to be a trap. So Mead and Rumiko then followed a lead to a deserted theme park and were followed by Sayo’s sister, Alura. There they found the dead body of a Stix clone and were attacked by a gang of Yakuza soldiers…

Japan’s postwar urban imagination through the Metabolism architecture movement and visionary science fiction authors The devastation of the Second World War gave rise to imaginations both utopian and apocalyptic. In Japan, a fascinating confluence of architects and science fiction writers took advantage of this space to begin remaking urban design. In The Metabolist Imagination, William O. Gardner explores the unique Metabolism movement, which allied with science fiction authors to foresee the global cities that would emerge in the postwar era. This first comparative study of postwar Japanese architecture and science fiction builds on the resurgence of interest in Metabolist architecture while establishing new directions for exploration. Gardner focuses on how these innovators created unique versions of shared concepts—including futurity, megastructures, capsules, and cybercities—making lasting contributions that resonate with contemporary conversations around cyberpunk, climate change, anime, and more. The Metabolist Imagination features original documentation of collaborations between giants of postwar Japanese art and architecture, such as the landmark 1970 Osaka Expo. It also provides the most sustained English-language discussion to date of the work of Komatsu Sakyō, considered one of the “big three” authors of postwar Japanese science fiction. These studies are underscored by Gardner’s insightful approach—treating architecture as a form of speculative fiction while positioning science fiction as an intervention into urban design—making it a necessary read for today’s visionaries.