Blame!

This anime is just a small collections of moving images from the manga really. Thus it is only any fun at all if you\'ve read the manga and loved it.
There is no story to it, though there does seem to be a point to it (it certainly brought something to my attention).
The animation looks good, I liked it.

Since it doesn\'t show any more then just a few scenes, there\'s no story of itself whatsoever, character development is non existent and none of it will make any sense to you at all if you haven\'t thoroughly read the manga and remember every single detail. The manga ... is my absolute favorite ever and even I had trouble following what was going on at first.

So, watch it if you liked the manga, but leave it if you don\'t know it or didn\'t like the manga...

This title makes better sense if you have previously read the manga. The OVA jumps back and forth along the manga plot illustrating the key moments of Nihei's (Author of manga) scenic perspective of a chaotic world, so it is very hard for a newcomer to even try to decypher the storyline.

- ANIMATION -
The animation itself is clean and fluid, however many scenes are mere transitional still background frames showing in colour the world of BLAME! but those with movement truely show Nihei's disturbing imagination.
Yet the series' production team was not entirely faithful to his drawing style so the characters are not identical to their ... manga counterparts.

- SOUND -
The music was an important asset to the OVA, it was the mixture of mechanical/industrial and eerie tunes that really gave the impression of 'desertedness' and the immensity that is the Megastructure cyborg world. It is almost as if you were cast into the darkness of that place and left to wonder what things are lurking in there. The ending themes are varied and on one particular occassion reminded of extracts from Marilyn Manson.

- STORY & CHARACTER -
In terms of the storyline and character development; the fact that the viewer needs prior knowledge of the series limits the score for these categories. It is very hard to see anything coherently with the storyline at first and even the manga needs you to concentrate and re-read certain plots. Yet despite this, its really a bizarre original series.

- VALUE & ENJOYMENT -
I have mixed feelings towards this series, I have read the manga and I believe this really should have been a larger production (full on series). If they followed the manga plot entirely in a more 'user-friendly' manner then it would have really been above the likes of movies such as Matrix or other highly regarded sci-fi/horror/action titles.
Nihei is an awesome author with a vivid sick mind but unfortunately the production team have not done justice to BLAME! OVA as it falls short of really inticing the viewer. It is a shame, since it degrades it into some form of fanservice/promo for the manga instead.

This is a very short anime that works as brownie for those who liked the manga of Blame!

However, even though I did not read the manga, I found this a really nice anime. The story is, basically, non-existant. For those not familiar with the overall plot this will be a surreal experience, since there is not any hint or information. If you ignore this fact, though, and focus moment by moment you will be able to appreciate a very faint shadow of the original story concept. The same applies to the characters.

The art and animation are both original and very good. The sequences are very ... short in time, but extremelly heavy (especially if you think too much about them).

In the end, it's a gorgeous portrait of the manga's world. If you haven't read it you will feel like to.

A warning: this is just a series of scenes that will only make sense to people who have read the manga, because the animation has no unifying story thread or exposition. What this little series of videos does well is capture the dark, unearthly atmosphere that is crucial to Blame! being what it is. The music and sound design is easily the best part; it's very Industrial, very bleak, very atmospheric, and the tracks for the endless, empty megastructure are as good as those for the sequences of action. The animation is extremely limited, but the art style is right and it serves well enough ... to give a feel for the world of Blame!.

This anime was a mixed bag. Some episodes were really good, others were just plain horrible.

After watching the "prologue", I decided to watch this series and well, it was disappointing even though I was ready to embrace it with an open mind, given the disclaimer on the site that told me not to expect any plot from this. That's true: there really isn't one.

The opening episode stuns to some extent with a slightly gorgeous art and builds suspense with the help of music.

The second episode turns out to be slightly better with some conversation and a bit of good action.

The third episode holds ... your attention with another good conversation.

The fourth episode is where everything goes downhill. Another conversation, but so boring and confusing that it kills your interest.

The fifth episode turns out to be above average, with some brief but cool animation, while some of the art is plain horrible.

The sixth episode is a major bore. Period.

I have mixed feelings about this anime since those who've read the manga might find this interesting, but as someone who didn't and was still able to understand most of what was going on, this anime just turned out to be bland. I might read the manga in the future if it interests me, but I can assure you I'm never revisiting this "masterpiece" anime in the future.

Short review: (minor spoilers for the manga ending)

As "promotional anime shorts" for the original manga of Blame!, it's a mixed bag. Don't expect too much from these shorts. 6/10.

Pros:
+Faithful to the original manga in all its aesthetics, style and narrative coldness.
+Certain materials here are intriguing (e.g. EP3)

Cons:
- Barely comprehensible even for someone who has read but not familiar with the manga. It's more likely to confuse potential readers and intrigue them.
... - Barely animated sequences are long and confusing.
- EP6 canonized one fan theory that the entire story is cyclical/hopeless, as Killy and Cibo have both gone through these events multiple times without success. (This is a minus for me, but might be a plus for some as it fits their philosophy)

If you are interested in Blame!, just read the manga, avoid these shorts and especially the Netflix movie (which is 60% against the manga's masterful atmosphere, characterization and most importantly, sheer horrifying scale).