Blade Runner Tokyo Nexus: To Lose is to Win #3 Review

 

Blade Runner Tokyo Nexus: To Lose is to Win #3 Review

Writer: Nancy A Collins

Artist: Mariano Taibo

Colorist: Marco Lesko

Letterer: Andworld Design

Editor: David Leach

Cover Artists: Kit Wallis, Andy Belanger & Piotr Kowalski

Publisher: Titan Comics

Price: $4.99 US

Release Date: July 1, 2026

 

Mead and Stix have worked together for a long time. Yet ever since Sayo asked them to find her sister Miyuki, Mead and Stix have been moving in different directions. Now, while Madame Nomura commissions Mead to investigate her daughters' deaths, Stix protects the Cheshire scientists who killed his fellow Replicants to eliminate Tyrell's programmed lifespan.

 

Leaving Tokyo behind, the Blade Runner from Los Angeles searches for answers in a village protected by a modern-day Ronin. As she searches for the experimental Aurora program, Rumiko seeks to learn how Miyuki and Sayo's brother produced a Replicant assassin with a copy of Stix's consciousness. Yet no matter what they do, or where they go, Alura’s shadow covers all of them.

 

Can Rumiko shut down the Aurora program before more copies of Stix begin killing people? And will Mead's investigation prevent the Cheshire scientists from extending Stix's life? Let’s leap into Blade Runner Tokyo Nexus: To Lose is to Win #3 and see!

 

Story

After Mead and Stix left Boot Camp, they traveled to Kalanthia, where they met other participants in the Aurora program. By sharing Stix’s thoughts, Mead drew close to her Replicant partner. Some, like Munro and Nuri, went even further, filing paperwork to formalize their workplace relationship. But none of that mattered to the Tyrell Corporation. Once they demonstrated the merits of the Aurora program on Kalanthia, the company didn’t want the participants to leave the battlefield.

 

As Mead looks back on her past, she also pursues her investigation into Miyuki Nomura’s murder in Blade Runner Tokyo Nexus: To Lose is to Win #3. She knows how Sayo, who originally commissioned her to find Miyuki, died. But the autopsy files Madame Nomura left with her make Mead reconsider her belief that Takumi Nomura used a Replicant with Stix’s consciousness to kill his sisters.

 

While Mead weighs what she's learned and how it affects her and Stix's relationship with Alura, Rumiko meets with Benkei in Nancy A Collins’ story. While Yakuza families like Alura’s carve out their territories in Tokyo, Daimyos rule distant villages as modern-day feudal lords. When she meets with Benkei at the Hikawa Shinto Shrine in Omiya, the Ronin has no reason to believe that she’s not just another assassin sent by a Daimyo to take over the village. And when Benkei learns that she is a Blade Runner, Rumiko must convince him that she is on Mead and Stix's side. Only then may he help her investigate how the Cheshire scientists used a Replicant with Stix's body and memories to help Alura with a Yakuza war in Blade Runner Tokyo Nexus: To Lose is to Win #3.

 

Art

Torches mark a path through the snow as Rumiko trudges uphill toward a shrine. The Blade Runner's long coat contrasts with the historic armor strapped to Benkei's body. As the desk lamp illuminates the papers covering her desk, inset panels reveal Mead’s theory about Miyuki’s death. When she walks wearily toward the bedroom, Mead glances at Stix. Then, she stares at a photo on the wall.

 

As Mariano Taibo reveals Mead and Stix’s past, and Rumiko confronts Benkei, Marco Lesko applies a limited palette to Blade Runner Tokyo Nexus: To Lose is to Win #3. Benkei’s red armor links with his face paint, while red also tinges Mead’s musings. In her imaginings, Miyuki’s pink garment links with the blanket covering Mead’s sleeping partner. Green adorns life on Kalanthia while foliage defies the snow blanketing Omiya. Yet red flows in both the past and the present.

 

Jim Campbell uses colored boxes to mark locations, reveal Mead and Rumiko’s thoughts, and help readers hear broadcast messages. Black uppercase dialogue in white balloons grows bold for intonation and swells for raised voices. Sound effects presage a discovery that will haunt Mead and Stix forever, while a sticker assures that Tyrell values the new life it creates. Thanks to Titan Comics for providing a review copy.

 

Final Thoughts

After natural disasters destroyed Japan’s infrastructure, corporations helped the country rebuild. While Tokyo enjoys the benefits, the surrounding prefectures return to their traditional ways. In theory, corporations like Tyrell, Cheshire, and Yuyona should make life easier for everyone. But while corporate executives and Yakuza leaders fight for profits, people like Mead, Stix, Rumiko, and Benkei strive for something greater in Blade Runner Tokyo Nexus: To Lose is to Win #3.

 

Rating 9/10

 

To look inside see my preview of Blade Runner Tokyo Nexus: To Lose is to Win #3. 

 

For what happened last time, see my review of Blade Runner Tokyo Nexus: To Lose is to Win #2. 

For what happened before that, see my review of Blade Runner Tokyo Nexus: To Lose is to Win #1.

 

For how this series began, see my review of Blade Runner Tokyo Nexus: Die In Peace.