Blame!

In an enormous steel labyrinth riddled with horrifying creatures, humanity is forced to isolate itself in small enclaves while living in constant fear of its annihilation. In this dystopia, only a strange young man known as Killy is brave enough to traverse its unforgiving territories.

Possessing superhuman strength and a rare Graviton Beam Emitter, Killy fights off bloodthirsty beasts and other fiendish forces in his desperate search for a human with the Net Terminal Gene—genetic information that holds the potential to restore the corrupt world.

The dark world of Blame! follows Killy as he meets new people, sheds more blood, and draws closer to finding the Net Terminal Gene. Through these exploits, the true nature of the world is slowly pieced together.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

In 2015, Blame! received a 6-volume shinsouban reprint.

The series was published in English by Tokyopop from August 9, 2005 to November 6, 2007; this release was nominated for a Harvey Award in the Best American Edition of Foreign Material category. Vertical Inc. re-released the series in English following the Japanese shinsouban reprint from September 13, 2016 to December 12, 2017. The manga was also published in Italian by Panini Comics under the Planet Manga imprint from March 16, 2000 to November 18, 2004 and was re-released in a 2-in-1 omnibus edition from October 22, 2011 to July 22, 2012; in Polish by Japonica Polonica Fantastica since April 14, 2016; in Brazilian Portuguese by Editora JBC from December 9, 2016 to June 19, 2018; and in Russian by XL Media since May 24, 2017.

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Reviews

Jan 29, 2024

JJMFREAP

Recommended

Manga and anime are known for many things but almost all of them are known for being extremely over-the-top. Brightly coloured characters with flowing in every cardinal direction, shouting the bombastic names of their highly destructive attachs, furious punches, all juxtaposes with gratuitous reaction shots and intense inner monologues. This is part of what makes these mediums stand out and it's no less part of their charm. Japan in general very much has a "more is more" approach to everything. Their advertising, television, music, even bars and restaurants, the more there is to indulge the senses, the better. But what if...you didn't do that? What ... if you went in almost the exact opposite direction. Well, that is what you can expect from Blame! and the master behind it, Tsutomu Nihei. This is one of the most unique and memorable manga ever made and I believe anyone should experience it.

Blame! is unlike pretty much any manga I have ever read and it goes against almost all common tropes of the medium. Firstly, one of the most noticeable things is the prevailing lack of dialogue, rivalled only by the all-silent Gon. There is no narration, no gratuitous inner monologue, no lengthy exposition and characters speak briefly and only when necessary. The rest of the time, these pages remain silent. But that doesn't mean there isn't a deep story being told here. This is a minimalist and surrealist manga, rich with subtext that showcases a phenomenal universe full of unique and intriguing characters. We are told just enough to get a grasp and the rest is to flow from the reader's own imagination. A distinct "show don't tell" approach. For example, main character Killy/Kiryi has a very powerful gun, but instead of describing how powerful it is, Nihei-sensei shows Killy flying back violently from the recoil every time he fires, which is followed by panel after panel of glorious destruction. We aren't told how tough Killy is, we are shown how he can fly through multiple walls and still get up and keep going. This type of quiet, limited approach and visual storytelling is very refreshing and thoroughly engaging.

With so little words, the art has to do a lot of heavy lifting. But that's not an issue, because the artistic foundation of Blame! is among the most solid. Nihei-sensei is know for having a background in architecture and this shows. The backgrounds are among the most staggering you could see in any manga, with sprawling columns, corridors, intricate machinery and indescribable megastructures that are both endlessly vast and suffocatingly claustrophobic at the same time. Everything also feels so artificial (because it is), that you can almost feel how devoid of sunlight and oxygen these unending buildings are, as you see them vanish in the distance. The creatures and landscapes can also often devolve into these twisted Lovecraftian amalgamations of flesh and technology, so hideous and beautiful at the same time that they would make H.R. Giger jealous. Few worlds feel as rich and unending as this. The scale of space and time themselves become too vast and twisted for the human mind to fathom.

But Nihei isn't here to just show how good he is at drawing architectural sketches. His art is full of personality, quiet emotion and dense atmosphere. All of this forms the meat, bones and machinery of Blame's storytelling, which remains intriguing from beginning to end and keeps you asking about the meaning of it all. His art has this scratchy, sketch-like quality to it that contrasts great with the clean lines of the backgrounds and adds a lot of character. The action flows really well and the action and destruction and glorious and captivating. The only real complaints that can be made are that, on the one hand, the faces are clearly the weakest point, being a bit wonky on many occasions. On the other, the murky nature of the art means that, while this is rare, the art can sometimes be a bit lacking in terms of visual clarity, as everything becomes a crooked blob of blackness. He makes up for it with the surprising inclusion of a few great colour pages though, with a distinct oil painting style.

At the end of the day, Blame! is a cyberpunk manga and one of the best at that. The story features lots of high tech, cybernetics, rogue automatons, alternative life forms, genetic mutation, digital realms, cruel organizations, technobabble and more. If you just want to see some great visuals and some pumping action about cyborgs fighting each other in a decrepit city, you can find that here too. It has everything you need for a quality cyberpunk tale, while also standing out greatly from all other works in the medium by taking its unique surrealistic approach to its visual presentation and worldbuilding. The writing itself is razor sharp and the characters are equal parts charismatic and enigmatic. You may be uncertain about the meaning of things, but don't let this deter you - the nuances of the story and characters, the message behind the events that unfold and the intricacies of the universe are all left to be explored and pondering what it all means is part of the experience that makes Blame! so great. So don't be afraid to stop, rewind if need be and think about it for a little while.

In conclusion, Blame! is one of the greatest manga ever made and should, in my opinion, always be considered as being up there with the true greats of the medium. It's an exciting cyberpunk story, but it's also so much more. It's a thoroughly atmospheric experience that engulfs you in its world and will captivate your imagination for a long time after you finish it. Beyond that, this manga is so rich on fine details and subtlety, that it's also among the few works that may get better on the second readthrough. In any case, I believe anyone should read Blame! and submerge themselves in this unique world, you are genuinely doing yourself a disservice by not doing so. We still need to find the Net Terminal Gene.

LOG. END.

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May 20, 2024

PrivateJoe

Mixed Feelings

Blame is a niche series tailored for a specific audience that enjoys strange cyberpunk stories with ambiguous endings. There is little dialogue, and the plot is minimal—it’s essentially about walking around a labyrinth in a post-apocalyptic world, searching for something.

The true driving force of Blame is its architecture. The buildings and backgrounds on every page are astonishingly imaginative and showcase the mangaka's incredible skill. I can't even fathom creating such designs, let alone drawing them.

However, Blame has its issues. The action is often hard to follow. For instance, a character might be shooting one moment and falling several stories the next amidst a flurry of ...

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Oct 5, 2021

itsyaboi8675309

Not Recommended

Blame is a manga that starts off confusingly but 20 chapters in it starts to explain a lot of the world in its own way. But after those 20 chapters they stop trying to explain themselves and instead just drag you on for a confusing ride.

The only thing that kept me from dropping blame is that I liked the art, the characters are not amazingly drawn but the action panels and two page spreads make it all look better.

Even though i enjoyed the art all the amazing panels cant make up for the fact that the story is incoherent and insane. Blame is the only ...

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Poll: BLAME! Chapter 66 Discussion ( 1 2 ) TuzoAnime - Jun 6, 2010	61 replies	by JaniSIr »» May 6, 4:52 PM
Poll: BLAME! Chapter 65 Discussion Rasco - Sep 23, 2011	25 replies	by wallus81 »» Apr 24, 9:55 PM
Poll: BLAME! Chapter 57 Discussion Rasco - Sep 23, 2011	15 replies	by wallus81 »» Apr 24, 9:38 PM
Poll: BLAME! Chapter 49 Discussion Rasco - Sep 23, 2011	16 replies	by wallus81 »» Apr 24, 9:22 PM
Poll: BLAME! Chapter 42 Discussion Rasco - Sep 23, 2011	15 replies	by wallus81 »» Apr 24, 8:37 PM

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