Blame!

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“Maybe on Earth. Maybe in the Future”


Content:
As expected of most cyberpunk titles, Blame! is a dark futuristic story laced with enough action to keep you at the edge of your seat. Unlike other works in the same genre, however, Blame! avoids most of the philosophical/existential questions usually associated with cyberpunk. Also not present are the verbose in-battle rants/soliloquies that some would find unnecessary. Instead, the author demonstrates that actions do speak louder than words sometimes.


Literary Style:
One of Blame!'s unique features is its lack of narration: only a few details are tossed in and it's up to the reader how to connect the dots (the ... "no spoonfeeding" policy). Because the author doesn't specify how everything comes together, there are multiple interpretations of how and why events actually happened. The story parallels The City itself in having endless possibilities and the imaginations of the readers are given plenty of room and materials to roam freely and do as they wish. Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing would depend on the reader’s attitude towards open endings. Although some would be left unsatisfied due to the lack of details, others may also take it as a form of interaction with the story.


Visuals:
It is said that “a picture is worth a thousand words” and in Blame!, pictures do almost all of the talking. Rather than describing how powerful Killy’s gun is, Nihei spends a few pages showing the havoc caused whenever the trigger is pulled. Instead of saying “The Megastructure is vast and gloomy”, the artist shows the characters wandering through the labyrinth for months, through endless hallways or under pitch-black skies. More often than not, the deafening silence is only broken by the humming of machines or the roar of explosions. To say that the art simply complements the story would be incorrect since the art is pretty much integral to its delivery.

As for the quality of the art itself, it’s nothing short of impressive. The character designs may take some getting used to at first but Nihei’s style gradually improves throughout the series and his illustrations in the latter volumes are flawless. Also, the settings and action scenes are smoothly drawn and insanely detailed. Given his background in architecture, it’s no surprise that Nihei is exceptionally good at drawing colossal structures and perspective shots.


Overall:
Not many manga out there could offer straightforward action, extraordinary art, and a little grey matter exercise at the same time. While most of the characters aren’t exactly emotionally charged, it’s a refreshing break from the clichéd personalities of anime and manga.

"Don't think; feel. It's like a finger pointing away to the moon. Don't concentrate on the finger, or you will miss all the heavenly glory." Bruce Lee in Enter The Dragon (1974)


Nihei Tsutomu is quite simply the Bruce Lee of the cyberpunk genre. Unlike other cyberpunk titles that often centers around the philosophies of existentialism or nihilism, Nihei carves out his own path in BLAME!. There is no thought-provoking or multi-layered story plot. There is very little dialogue and narration. What you get here is just stunning visuals which act as the principal mechanism for story progression, and Nihei accomplishes it with aplomb. To ... be able to transcend the boundaries of normal storytelling is nothing short of a masterpiece. It is an extremely satisfying read that made me finish it in just two marathon sessions.

The BLAME! universe is a post-apocalyptic dystopia. Whatever little that’s left of the human population is scattered into small communities across the vast and seemingly unending darkness of the mega landscape. We join our protagonist, Killy, in his quest to search the gigantic labyrinth for the Net Terminal Genes. I won’t spoil too much but the Genes are the key to save the world which has spun out of control. He wanders around aimlessly for (amazingly) long periods of time, hoping to find clues to his goal. Equipped with his trusty SFG (little brother to the Big Fucking Gun), Killy is a force of nature. Well, I jest. It is actually called the Gravitational Beam Emitter. (Cool name huh?) In any case, this incredibly powerful little gun can blow a hole that extends for miles in anything that stands in its way. On his journey, Killy’s encounters with other strange creatures (cyborgs, machines and the like) usually explode into high octane battles. Surprisingly, there is no lack of action scenes despite the passive nature of the manga. The fighting is straight to the point. The characters do not make any cool poses for the sake of it, and we are also spared the annoying in-battle blabbering found in most shonen mangas. Yes, it’s pure, unadulterated, actual fighting. Absolutely fantastic.

Another highlight is the glorious artwork. Nihei’s experience in architecture really shows in the manga. Never before have I seen colossal structures being drawn is such detail and cool angles. It may take a while to get used to his style, but be prepared for a barrage of eye orgasm. You’ll have to see it to believe it.

As I’ve described earlier, the artwork replaces the role of narration. The characters seldom talk, unless absolutely necessary. The resultant slow pace of the story might be a turn off for some people. However, it accentuates the gloomy atmosphere very well. The delivery also adds a different dimension to the reading experience. Little details are revealed as the story progresses. It may seem confusing to some due to the lack of explanations and spoon feeding by the author, but it allows the reader to interpret the events in their own way. While the plot may not be particularly remarkable, it is very engaging. It fits Nihei’s style perfectly as it lends it a mysterious touch. The reader is constantly left wondering about the history of the events, backgrounds and motives of the characters. It certainly tickled my curiosity. As we follow Killy’s exploits, we watch as the world of BLAME! slowly unfolds before our eyes. Before you know it, you’ll find yourself (spiritually) living in it!

This is not a thinking manga. To truly enjoy it, you must heed the words of the grandmaster. Activate your sensory perceptions and immerse yourself into the world of BLAME!. Don’t just think. FEEL.

Well, instead of writing a few more paragraphs, let me try to summarize the whole thing using a few descriptors and keywords:

Atmospheric; Dark Ambience; Vast Universe; Colossal Structures; Explorative; Passive; Surreal; Explosive Action; Magnificent Artwork, Grotesque Character Designs; MASTERPIECE

How I wish I could do a review using drawings instead.

Story & Art - 10 & 9
The art is the story. BLAME! has extremely little dialog and no narration except for an occasional "39216 hours later" or so. Therefore the development of the story is almost solely communicated through the visuals. It is entirely up to you to perceive, ponder about and interpret the present and the past. As you get more familiar with the universe you might be able to draw conclusions about something that has happened earlier, which back then wasn't quite completely understandable and so on...

A critic might call BLAME! confusing, as a bad thing, but the thing is, if it is ... confusing in a bad way is up to you. Whether you actively engage in interpreting it or not and how far your imagination takes you. Personally I'm rather tired of much of the modern day's entertainment which sole purpose seems to be passivate the perceiver to do nothing but sit back and enjoy a ride. BLAME! however is very stimulating and I've spent endless hours thinking about it from different angles just because it can be interpreted in so many ways and that is a beauty in itself. A friend of mine told me, after I had forced him to read it, that he found some of the parts of the manga to be extremely confusing and he had no idea what was going on, my response to him was going on a rant about how I've interpreted it, but I ended up apologizing to him for ruining the pleasure of figuring these things out for himself. On a side note, my friend did not think badly of the manga overall, rather he said that it was one of the best manga he had read. So it could be perceived as confusing so perhaps it's not a person-who-dislikes-confusing-and-cloudy-stories' first choice but I would still recommend it because in essence it's not a mystery manga or anything like that. It is a cyberpunk / action with an intensely dark and brooding atmosphere which sticks like feathers to tar, to the back of your mind. In that aspect it is emotionally provocative, it creates an unique and perhaps disturbing emotion within you which stays with you even after leaving the manga, when you're onto doing something else.

A critical aspect of the art is it's portrayal of this vast and seemingly endless setting filled with colossal structures which seem to have been abandoned since who knows when. Great drawings of cold machinery, some seem to have broken down from having been put out of use, while some still function for the sake of functioning after all this time. Our protagonist's fate is to wander these hallowscapes and when reaches new areas we are given no clues to where we've stumbled into other than our surroundings and the people we meet. The detail is not only fantastic but Nihei Tsutomu's ability to draw perspective truly creates a world in 3d. Even the character design immediately captivated me. This pale, grim expression on the character's face, led me to believe that this was a hardened man who's been through a lot. I felt as if I was getting to know this character by looking at him, even though I've just begun reading the first chapter and he has barely uttered a word.

As for the action scenes, we're allowed to witness the devastation and intense power depicted very clearly. They are for the most part, in contrast to the story, easy to follow. This straight-forward approach spares us the self-righteous rants and interrupting one-liners and just delivers plain awesome action.

Character - 8
It's a cold and harsh world which has no room for harboring the soft or the weak. This is a fact which we are constantly reminded of as we meet the characters of BLAME!. The characters show no particular depth, yet serve their purpose very well. Some have their logical reasons while some remain a mystery. There is not much character development but there is some, it is enough, but there is left room for more. Most of the characters portrayed somewhat cold and indifferent, it is after all understandable and I wouldn't have it any other way, weep scenes would feel kind of out of place, besides there's nothing quite as beautiful as when you catch a small glimpse of emotion through that hard shell which they've grown over time.

Enjoyment - 10
I barely took a single break while I was reading the manga for the first time, I was glued to it. That said, it's not the absolute most enjoyable read. However, like I've said before, I've spent endless hours just thinking back on it, going over it in my mind and attempting to interpret it from as many angles as possible. I get a slight tingly feeling in my stomach just thinking about it. BLAME! has continuously kept me stimulated even when I'm not reading it, practically infinite enjoyment.

To put it simply, there is a reason Blame is such a renowned cult hit. It's art style is both captivating and horrifying, it's story extremely minimal, it's atmosphere thick as syrup, and with it Blame has always been seen as a modern classic of cyberpunk and experimental manga. If you are in for something strange and off the beaten path then you will surely enjoy this bizarre and complex piece of cheese.

Blame is about a lone wanderer named Killy, who in keeping up with cyberpunk standards, is not 100% human. Killy begins a quest to find net terminal genes, a genetic code that may ... or not be extinct, To find net terminal genes, Killy wanders in the setting of the manga, known only as The City. The capital letters and context alone may show its quite the mysterious place. The City is a vast technological world whose bizarre nature borders on surrealism in some parts. The City seemingly has no vertical or horizontal end, stretching on endlessly forever, everywhere. No government can be seen in any form, and machines run rampant doing crazy stuff. Factions of silicon based life forms and trans-humans struggle to survive in a very unforgiving and relentless enviroment, constantly put on the pressure of the Safeguard, a relentless machine god horde of creatures seemingly out of God Emperor of Dune. Killy attempts to find the Net Terminal Genes for a human faction, in an attempt to bring control to the City and the Megastructure inside. The Megastructure is an infnitely expanding series of floors in the City, seemingly making it impossible to go up or down to another floor due to it's nature of a being a gigantic infitely long space wall that is several hundreds of miles thick. Killy is the only human able to traverse these megastuctures due to his possession of a bizarre weapon with unknown origins, the Gravitational Beam Emitter, a gun so powerful that it can potentially punch through the normally indestructible Megastructure.

Blame!'s story is not really a story in the typical sense. Usually in a story you have some characters with their own development, backdrop information, and instances that drive an overarching plot forward. All of these things are virtually non-existent in Blame, which is hardcore minimalist. Dialogue rarely occurs, and you can never understand what characters are thinking. All you are presented with is Killy going around, his reasons mostly unexplained, the setting unexplained, a glossary of terms that does not exist etc. But you can figure things out about the story, however its never directly presented to you, so you have to pick things up from the details completely, which are subtle at best. Needeless to say, that makes the story completely open to interpretation, but it's interesting interpretation in the sense that it can make sense in a concrete way. Lets say you finished the manga and then went to forums to see what people thought of the ending, if they reference a particular part in the series to construct their theory, you can say "Ah, I remeber that part." It's interesting.

Art is pretty crazy. You can probably get a good idea what the style is like from this spread I posted with the review. It's very sketchy and unpolished looking, but it works well. Sometimes I like to say that "bad art is not a style, even if its consistent" but I never really found Blame's art to be bad. The only thing that was a bit strange looking was the faces, but you have to keep in mind this manga is damn old. Nihei however, has always had this sketchy style which makes the setting, and ESPECIALLY the enemies look eldritch level insane. There is not a single way I can describe the designs of the Silicon based life besides that, they look like they literally climbed out of a wormhole. Guts spill out of random places, their metal skull based on some animal thing, bizarre needle arms like Bokurano, you name it. They are all unique in overall design and they are all crazy looking.

Conclusively, its very hard to review Blame in a concrete way due its nature of being so broad in interepretation. I loved it due to it's unending surrealism and mystery and the minimalistic plot, along with the art style. I will probably never understand the intention of the story as a whole and especially the ending, if it exists. But without a doubt this rather short cyberpunk classic deserves to be read by all fans of manga.

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 hair flowing in every cardinal direction, shouting the bombastic names of their highly destructive attacks and furious punches, all juxtaposed 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 known 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. The colossal size of these structures combined with Nihei-sensei's penchant for drawing the characters really tiny in a lot of panels also serves to create this absolutely tremendous sense of scale. 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 violence 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 hi-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.

Sure, most people older than eight hate narrators in stories, as if you can't realize it yourself eh? Point is that most people can't, and most stories have a narrator as a consequence. The so called 'hidden narrator', a supernatural being that possesses all the characters at random moments and lets them say or discuss things that are completely out of character and just absurd for them to discuss, but it helps clear things up for you, the reader. You don't really say to your arch enemy 'It's you, the guy that...' when you see them now do you? Just picture yourself doing that to ... an old enemy, it's pretty stupid and you're probably cut off and punched before you can complete.

BLAME! doesn't do this, the manga is infamous for the fact that the character hardly ever speak, in reality, they speak as little as most people would speak without a hidden narrator, and as a consequence most people are struck dumb by what exactly BLAME! is about, and most diehard fans don't know it either in detail. The plot seems gigantic but at the same time it could all be power of suggestion. The author has published some details afterwards which indeed reveal the intense and consistent with what's showed machinations in the world of BLAME! of which only shards have reached the readers eyes. A lot of planning probably went into this to make it all fit.

Said author's an architect, and this clearly shows, the backgrounds are more detailed than the characters, way more detailed. The characters in this black-and-white manga are mostly pale faced and lack detail in a way, it helps to the setting that they are quite featureless. The the contrast with the extremely detailed dark background of enormous structures works here, which are drawn with disproportionally high detail and certainly for a manga series. It's not the case like with a lot of manga that there is no background and just a face if that's enough to infer the idea. There are a lot of scene with only background in fact. It couldn't be any other way, the setting is the inside of a seemingly endless and extremely chaotic structure called 'The City'. A welcome change as I'm often to lament on the fact that humans are overused in art and fiction and getting fed up with this egocentricism of man. But The City seems to have more prominence in the story than the characters, and the characters are still pretty well made. No heroes larger than life here, sorry if you like that. The characters and the entire setting is quite surreal and grotesque, be ready for a lot of mutilation and amputation. But surely in a different way than most media, it adds to the surreal feel and the grotesque, the characters hardly even seem to notice their arms torn of and remain staring stoically from it. Imagine Alice's Wonderland assimilated by The Borg.

Naturally, as the feel is a big part of value, the re-read value is practically infinite, the second time is probably better for most people. It's like Donnie Darko, the more you read, the more you seem to understand it. And it's equally cryptic and vague. The Tagline is 'Maybe on Earth, Maybe in the Future', and that sums up the idea of BLAME!, it could take place in Earth's future, but maybe not, maybe it was a distant galaxy a long time ago? It's really not a world connected in any way to our own, and that's another escape from the arrogance of man. There's not a lot to relate for here. One of the best things I ever read.

Wow, what an amazing manga! The artwork is beautiful and very detailed. The setting and plot of the manga are very unique and futuristic. I find that even though this is a serious manga, I tend to laugh during it. I think it's because there is such little dialogue that you have to interpret the characters faces. Killy is hilarious in that respect. Anyhow, the characters are very well designed with their own distinct personalities, even the Silicon Creatures. Overall, BLAME! is a wonderful manga with a great story, amazing characters, and gorgeous artwork and detailing!

I seriously love this manga artist and I have no idea why! So obviously I liked the art? The story in this one took a while for me to pick up on, but once I did it was hard to stop reading. There are so many twists and turns and unexpected things going on in this strange world. I kinda wish this one went on a little further. I generally like more dialog but the amazing artwork makes it worth while... It almost communicates better than words

WARNING:
I am not a writer, in any form; so sentences may seem random and misplaced. I apologize ahead a time. ALSO - This review is fully biased, GET OVER IT. ALSO - I don't like writing either so this is most likely going to be extremely short.

I FUCKING LOVE THIS SERIES! Ok, I got that out of my system, but the point isn't to rant on about how much I love it. I'm suppose to convince you to read it. Before I get to what makes me "FUCKING LOVE THIS SERIES", I'm going to ask this - "Why haven't you read this already? WTF ... is wrong with you?"

Anyway, Blame is just one masterpiece after another from the gorgeous artwork to a unique story telling method. Let's start with the artwork.

The artwork is beyond that of a manga, in my opinion. Each panel seems like it could be standalone and make major profit. Just the fact that all of these beauties are all pieced together into a story is awesome (I can remember most of all of the panels, and I have favorites.). The artwork would be the key point in the series, because it is used more often than words to tell the story.

SO, from that you can tell - you are going to be confused to what the fuck is going on for a good amount a time. ACTUALLY, scratch that, if you don't come to your own assumptions and use your imagination - you'll never understand what's going on. AND, that to me, is the beauty of this series. It's something you can sit and chat with friends to form your own opinions of what is going on and form your own story. Except from the key points the series already gives you, which are; man named "Killy" is traveling upwards, in a strange world, searching for some kind of DNA. This is a form of story where you could re-read this multiple times and get a different story every time you read it and that is awesome to me, it's like an RPG.


I don't know if I already said this, but I FUCKING LOVE THIS SERIES. This is something that I am going to recommend time and time again. So to any of my buddies, if you ask for recommendations, be prepared to see Blame! on the list every time. One thing I do have to complain about is - WHY ISN'T THERE MORE, I WANT MORE. That is all.

Later.

Wow. That was what I said when I read the first volume.
Wow. That was what I said when I finished the manga.

Before reading the review, if you are new to BLAME!, read it right now. My review will not help anyone at all.

Alright. I spent an hour trying to think of how to write this review. It ended up as twisted and confusing as the story in BLAME!. Just like the manga, I don't know where to start I decided there is really nothing to accurately describe the story. I believe it was the author's intention for the reader to come up with their ... own explanations.

What I will tell you is that this is a very bleak, lonely, journey for the protagonist Killy. He searches for a human who can access the Net and save the "City". The City is a huge infrastructure of innumerable levels that Killy must climb to find what he's looking for. On the way he meets many bizarre villains and characters. He and his trusty gravity beam emitter will destroy anything that gets in his way. While on the journey, he befriends Cibo who he saves at a plant and she becomes an invaluable character to Killy's aid (in more ways than one you will read).

You cannot really dump BLAME! into one genre or category. It has many elements of cyber/steampunk, but you will also get surrealism (think de Chirico/Dali later on), and many VERY SUBTLE philosophies (i.e. read the chapter with clones, deep meaning) on random chapters.

The art is the storyteller for words cannot express what the hell is going on. Dialogue can mean everything or nothing at all or both at the same time.

You don't ever know much about Killy, some characters know him, some don't. He hardly talks but as you read, you will find that he has many hidden human aspects on the decisions and actions he makes.

What can I say of enjoyment? You get addicted. One reviewer said he/she already started to miss it right after reading it. I feel the same way. The manga gave me better satisfaction than some mangas that take 300-500 chapters.

The closest thing to this that I can relate to is the anime Texhnolyze. The only thing in common between those two are bleakness and loneliness. At least for BLAME!, there is little hope at the end of the labyrinth.

This is a must read. You will not be let down. I will now read the other books and reread this one and I may update again.

The first thing that should obviously be noted is that this comic lives by its art. If the art style was anything different or not as outstanding it would fail — it tells a story through its art; a story of shifting emotions and also plot but there's very little dialogue involved.

The story also does not have a beginning or an end; it's præsented simply gaining a view-port, a small time-frame of a far larger and complex plot and world that adds to the expansive feel of the story.

It's very emotional but it's about human emotions; it's more about being immersed into a vast world ... and being amazed by the phantastic otherworldly design of it.

Personality wise the characters are very uninteresting but their design is often remarkable; this is not a story about men but about the world they inhabit.

Due to its unorthodox narrative it seems to be something one either loves or hate — truth be told I can't even honestly answer whether it is actually "done well" because it is the only thing that has done it so there's not much to compare it with.

There are definitely week points like a lack of psychological definition to its characters, a seeming lack of actual plot and certainly a lack of plot twists but it also feels like it really doesn't need it and one doesn't feel after having completed it what truly happened but it's also a comic that makes you not really care.

As a result of this the re-read value is very high; one could be spoiled about every single development and it still would not really diminish the value in any way.

Blame is a cyberpunk series that explores the effects of transhumanism in a post-apocalyptic setting. In the world of blame! machines called builders were built by humans in eons past and they do exactly what you'd expect. The built and built unchecked forever building more and bigger builders until they're progress exceeded the bounds of earths atmosphere and enveloped the entire solar system. The resulting gargantuan labyrinth came to be known as "The City".

We're introduced to Killy, a man of few words, as he traverses the city looking for a human with net terminal genes. A very illusive set of genes that would allow humanity ... to gain access to "The Net", a supposed future rendition of the internet, where they would be able to stop the progress of the builders and maybe save humanity.

Tsutomu Nihei's series boasts a very dynamic and sketchy art style that's most likely a result of his training as an architect. His world is expansive and ever changing. His character designs are also very eerie and similar to the works of surrealist artist H. R. Giger.

Though there isn't much dialog the world manages to draw you in with it's atmosphere alone. It's landscapes are some of the best of cyberpunk has to offer and with characters straight from the bottom of uncanny valley.

The humans that inhabit this world have all been warped in some way. Some are excessively tall and some have been given physical augmentations to help them survive the cruel world of the City. On Killy's journey decades and then centuries pass without result. The further up he travels, the further he gets from earth, the stranger the humans become and the less human Killy acts and is perceived by the reader and other characters as he regresses further and further from his humanity. Without spoiling anything this makes the ending bittersweet as Killy's final acts of the series are some of the most human represented in this manga.

this manga is not for everyone. Its abstract story telling style and lack of dialog and characters could easily be seen as boring by the more casual reader. But for anyone who felt intrigued by this description, it is defiantly worth looking into. unfortunately, it was owned by tokyopop who have gone under making copies expensive to buy first hand.

Blame is one of my all-time favorite manga and I have no idea why. When you first pick this book up you'll be like "WFT is this he's just walking through endless hallways and occasionally killing monsters"

I've read the entire thing at least 4 times from beginning to end, and it wasn't until the last time I read it that I finally feel like I actually know what happened in it.

Story- So I promise you there is actually a story going on in BLAME. However, the writer is not going to make it easy for you to figure out what it is. ... There is no narration, almost no internal dialogue, and honestly not even much normal dialog. Entire chapters can pass by without there being a single word bubble of any kind. This helps to accentuate the bleak, endless nature of the environment the characters are living in, but at the same time it can be kind of daunting to figure out what's going on sometimes.

Art - Tsutomu Nihei has a very distinctive style of art. It's clear that he improves from the beginning of the series to the end, but it's still his distinctive style, and I suspect that some people will love it and some won't.

Character - This one is difficult. Since there is so little internal dialogue it can be difficult to figure out what a character is thinking or why they are doing what they are doing. I don't think that you could say this is a series that focuses on character interactions or development, so if you're looking for something psychological this is probably not the manga for you.

Enjoyment - I certainly enjoyed reading it. The strange cyberpunk setting, the fights between screaming robots, the graviton beam emitter gun that shoots 300-kilometer long beams. Not to mention the antagonists who are seriously freaky looking biomechanical monsters. And sometimes he will just throw in these incredibly random little interludes that will hurt your brain and then he'll just move on and you'll never really know what was up with them.

Overall- Like I said it's one of my favorite manga of all time, but I really couldn't tell you why. It's just very different.

One of the first things you'll notice about Blame! is just how well drawn it is. Each page has so much detail that some of the more subtle details may even be lost on you unless you really pay attention or just flat-out re-read it.


The next thing you'll probably notice is that there isn't much dialogue in Blame!. The world of Blame! is incredibly bleak and empty, and the lack of dialogue really reinforces that feeling of hopelessness you may feel in some of the chapters.


The story is pretty basic at it's core. The story follows Killy ... as he travels around this massive cyberpunk world on a mission to find Net Genes. This is no simple task however, as the world of Blame is so massive it basically takes up our entire solar system. Along the way he'll meet different people, make enemies, and endure hardships.


Probably the best thing about Blame! in my opinion is just how wonderful the art is. Nihei creates a world that really sucks you in with just how imaginative it is. The environments are all very unique, ranging from very cyberpunk-esque cities to temple-like buildings. The character and creature design is also top notch.

All in all this is a must read for anyone who is into cyberpunk settings with bleak atmospheres.

-Note: English is not my native language, I apologize for possible mistakes. (Review in English and Spanish)

To begin with this is undoubtedly one of the gemstones or jewelry of Cyberpunk in the world of manga and one of the best sleeves of cult within the genre, thanks to the legendary Tsutomu Nihei (unfortunately not of the anime so far, as it has not had an animated adaptation as such and I prefer not to count the "animated projects" that came out at the beginning of the millennium, only the film of 2017 gives a bit of honor to this story, for the moment.)

Blame! is located ... in a futuristic world ¡thousands of years in the future! In this world humanity has been practically annihilated, the world as such has long ceased to be the world we know, and we are located in a kind of huge Megastructure that many simply call it "The City", which presents a chaotic and unbridled growth thanks to machines that still operate without any control ... to give us an idea, it would be something similar to the theory known as the Dyson Sphere , a theory proposed in the year 1960 that talks about a gigantic or colossal Megastructure, able to surround a star completely and that extends in space.

In this almost endless or infinite Megastructure, built with the intelligence of the humanity of the past and machines known as The Builders is where Blame! Story unfolds. Here we are presented we are presented with known beings such as The Safeguard, these robots (those of higher ranges practically close to artificial intelligence and with human features) had the objective of defending humans with connection genes to the Netsphere, However, the humans of the past lost this ability, therefore they were considered as threats or unauthorized inhabitants and since then The Safeguard was dedicated to annihilate them, here we are also introduced to some of the beings with the best design that can be seen, the Silicon Life, who share, although for other reasons, that objective with the Safeguard.

This Megastructure has spread so much that in thousands of kilometers you can not find any kind of life, it's no wonder, the few remaining groups of humanity are so separated from each other that they have mutated over time, some of them already not have the human appearance we know, not to mention that they are always on the verge of extinction.

*There are many more details that I would like to include in this review, but I do not want to ruin the surprises.*

Our protagonist is a man named Killy, who is wandering for a long time in that cybernetic labyrinth and is accompanied by a powerful weapon called Gravitational Beam Emitter, from the first chapter of the manga we are presented as a quiet guy, who does not remember things about himself and with only one objective, to find the Network Terminal Genes What are the Network Terminal Genes? Saying more would really give a lot of spoiler, but let's say that it is something that only a pure human can possess, and as I mentioned at the beginning, humanity as we know it has died practically for a long time at the time in which Blame! starts.

This is a manga with a solitary atmosphere and a world of death, we are immersed in a chaotic history full of loneliness, where we will see our protagonist embark on a journey that seems to have no end, travel thousands of kilometers, climb thousands of structures and yes, this is a peculiar manga in which in many chapters we will have more images than dialogues, they have heard the famous phrase; Sometimes an image says more than a thousand words?.

I think there can not be better manga than Blame! To confirm that phrase. But do not worry this manga tells things when have to tell them, mainly from one of the characters that I have loved most Cibo, a kind of transhuman android, that accompanies Killy in a good part of the story.

His visual narrative is incredible, but I must admit that it is not quite well taken, because it allows a completely free interpretation and different depending on who reads it, I know that for many the chapters where Killy runs through that labyrinth can seem heavy and explanations that we obtain in explanatory chapters can be messy (It is not surprising that after finishing the manga you find yourself visiting forums to complete some idea or doubt that story leaves you).

Speaking of his art or drawing, it is noted that Nihei studied architecture, his strokes and drawings in the Megastructure, as well as in the Silicon Life and other structures and backgrounds that we can see in the manga. They incredible! I have no complaint in that section, It is a delight of drawing, however the design of the characters (especially the faces of these), at first leaves much to be desired, although this improves a lot over time, but so that part I do not finish to convince at all.

His characters are undoubtedly interesting, most of them leave you a mystery and you want to know more or explain more, I consider Cibo the best character that could be introduced to accompany the protagonist and also the character that opens us to certain explanations in the story, do not expect it to be the typical relationship of friends you can see in other stories, or that these show some kind of friendship affection as such, their relationship is rather cold, without words, perhaps distant at times, but In the end it is about mutual companionship, practically what would be expected of two people who can not really be considered "people" as such.

Killy is the quietest protagonist that I ever saw, but that does not make him bad, on the contrary it was to be expected from someone like him, and he is the best character in the manga, my favoritism for him maybe came close to of Guts (Berserk). At times I come to think of this story as a world similar to Berserk's, but completely cybernetic and more nihilistic. Killy is the man!

I have to highlight the enigmatic Silicon Life, these undoubtedly have the best design you can see, unlike the characters with human features, they have 100% cybernetic appearances, with a gothic combination, violent and exaggerated designs, but without doubt you would like to do some cosplay of them and it is not for less, a cosplay imitating the appearance of Silicon Life would be 10/10

To finish writing, this is a manga that I would recommend to all fans of genre Cyberpunk, although most of them are likely to find this work confusing (which it is), however it is one of the best readings and visual experience of drawing that you can read or see. A story that touches very well the feelings of loneliness, surrealism, where you can find several things like dark environments, a post-apocalyptic dystopia, structures that will leave you with your mouth open, mystery, cyborgs and creatures and well, give it a chance if you have not done it and read it.

Overall/Rating: 9/10

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Para empezar este es sin duda una de las joyitas del Cyberpunk en el mundo del manga y uno de los mangas de culto dentro del género, gracias al legendario Tsutomu Nihei (lastimosamente no del anime hasta el momento, ya que no ha tenido una adaptación animada como tal y prefiero no contar los “proyectos animados” que salieron a inicios del milenio, solo la película del 2017 le da un poco de honor a esta historia, por el momento.)

Blame! se ubica en un mundo futurista ¡miles de años en el futuro!, en este mundo la humanidad ha sido prácticamente aniquilada, el mundo como tal hace mucho que dejo de ser el mundo que conocemos, y nos ubicamos en una especie de enorme Megaestructura que muchos simplemente le llaman “La Ciudad”, la cual presenta un crecimiento caótico y sin freno gracias a maquinas que aun operan sin ningún tipo de control…para que nos demos una idea, vendría siendo algo similar a la teoría conocida como la Esfera de Dyson, una teoría propuesta en el año 1960 que habla sobre una Megaestructura de proporciones gigantescas o colosales, capaz de rodear a una estrella completamente y que se extiende en el espacio.

En esta Megaestructura casi sin fin o infinita, construida con la inteligencia de la humanidad del pasado y maquinas conocidas como Los Constructores es donde se desenvuelve la historia de Blame!. En esta se nos presentan unos seres conocidos como La Salvaguardia o Dispositivos de Seguridad, estos robots (los de mayores rangos prácticamente cercanos a la inteligencia artificial y con rasgos humanos) tenían el objetivo de defender a los humanos con genes de conexión a la Netsphere, sin embargo los humanos del pasado perdieron esta facultad, por ende fueron considerados como amenazas o habitantes no autorizados y desde entonces La Salvaguardia se dedicó a aniquilarlos, aquí también se nos presentan unos de los seres con mejor diseño que haya podido ver Los Seres de Silicio, que comparten aunque por otras razones, ese objetivo con la Salvaguardia.

Esta Megaestructura se ha extendido tanto, que en miles de kilómetros no puedes encontrar ningún tipo de vida, no es de menos, los pocos grupos de humanidad que quedan se encuentran tan separados entre sí, que han ido mutando con el tiempo, algunos incluso ya no poseen la apariencia humana que conocemos, sin mencionar que se encuentran siempre al borde de la extinción.

*Hay muchísimos más detalles que quisiera incluir en esta review, pero no quiero arruinar las sorpresas.*

Nuestro protagonista es un hombre llamado Killy un ser que se encuentra vagando durante mucho tiempo en ese laberinto cibernético y acompañado con un arma poderosa llamada lanzador de partículas gravitacionales o pistola de rayos gravitacionales, desde el primer capítulo del manga se nos presenta como un tipo callado, el cual no recuerda cosas de sí mismo y con solo un objetivo, encontrar los Genes de Terminal de Red ¿Qué son los Genes de Terminal de Red? Decir más seria realmente dar mucho spoiler, pero digamos que es algo que solo un humano puro puede poseer y como mencione al principio, la humanidad como la conocemos prácticamente ha muerto desde hace mucho para estas instancias donde la historia de Blame! comienza.

Este es un manga con un ambiente solitario y un mundo de muerte, nos vemos sumergidos en una historia caótica llena de soledad, donde veremos a nuestro protagonista emprender un viaje que parece no tener fin, recorrer miles de kilómetros, subir miles de estructuras y si, este es un manga peculiar en la que en muchos capítulos tendremos más imágenes que diálogos, han escuchado la famosa frase ¿A veces una imagen dice más que mil palabras? Creo que no puede haber mejor manga que Blame! para confirmar esa frase.

Pero no se preocupen el manga cuenta las cosas cuando tiene que contarlas, principalmente de uno de los personajes que más me han encantado Cibo, una especie de androide transhumana, que acompaña a Killy en un buen tramo de la historia.

Su narrativa visual es increíble, pero he de admitir que no está del todo bien llevada, ya que permite una interpretación completamente libre y diferente dependiendo de quien lo lea, sé que para muchos los capítulos donde Killy recorre ese laberinto metalico puedan parecer pesados y las explicaciones que obtenemos en capítulos explicativos puedan llegar a ser liosos (no es de sorprender, que luego de terminar el manga te encuentres visitando foros para completar alguna idea o duda que te deje la historia).

Hablando de su arte o dibujo, como se nota que Nihei estudio arquitectura, sus trazos y sus dibujos en la megaestructura, así como en los Seres de Silicio y otras estructuras y fondos que podemos ver en el manga ¡Son increíbles! No tengo ninguna queja en ese apartado, es un deleite de dibujo, sin embargo el diseño de los personajes (sobretodo el de las caras de estos), al principio deja mucho que desear, aunque esto mejora mucho con el tiempo, aun así esa parte no me termino de convencer del todo.

Sus personajes son sin duda interesantes, la mayoría de ellos te dejan un misterio y tienes ganas de saber más o que te expliquen más, considero a Cibo el mejor personaje que pudo introducirse para acompañar al protagonista y también el personaje que nos abre a ciertas explicaciones en la historia, no esperes que sea la típica relación de amigos que puedas ver en otras historias, o que estos demuestren alguna especie de cariño de amistad como tal, su relación es más bien algo fría, sin palabras, quizás distante por momentos, pero en el fondo es de compañerismo mutuo, prácticamente lo que se esperaría de dos personas que no pueden considerarse “personas” como tal realmente.

Killy es el protagonista más callado que alguna vez vi, pero eso no lo hace malo, al contrario era de esperar de alguien como él, y es el mejor personaje del manga, mi favoritismo por el quizás llego cercano al de Guts (Berserk) incluso por momentos llegue a pensar en esta historia como un mundo similar al de Berserk, pero completamente cibernético y más nihilista. ¡Killy es el hombre!

Tengo que destacar a los enigmáticos Seres de Silicio, estos sin duda poseen el mejor diseño que puedas ver, al contrario de los personajes con rasgos humanos estos poseen apariencias 100% cibernéticas, con una combinación gótica, violenta y con diseños exagerados, pero que sin duda quisieras hacer algún cosplay de ellos y no es de menos, un cosplay imitando bien la apariencia de varios Seres de Silicio estaría 10/10

Para terminar ya de escribir, este es un manga que se lo recomendaría a todos los fans del Cyberpunk, aunque a la mayoría es probable que esta obra les parezca confusa (que lo es) no obstante es una de las mejores lecturas y experiencia visual de dibujo que puedas leer o ver. Una historia que toca muy bien los sentimientos de soledad, surrealismo, donde puedes encontrar varias cosas como ambientes oscuros, una distopía post-apocalíptica, estructuras que te dejaran con la boca abierta, misterio, cyborgs, criaturas y bueno dale una oportunidad si no lo has hecho y léetelo.

Calificación: 9/10

this is by far my favourite manga of all time just something about the world the characters the mystery's it all culminates into a masterpiece of art and story that I will forever love
the art is grand and has large big shots of the city's massive metal prison like structure and then the characters designs are so good and just plain sleek and cool looking
it might not be for all people the long stretches without the slightest bit of dialogue might bore some but I really do believe its worth a read and I hope more people get to experience this amazing series

Transhumanism enveloped in horror and a bit of an irony. Desire for advancement backfires, and reduces humanity to -- survival driven -- monstrosities devoid of basic human values. Author is concerned little with insertion of philosophical undertones, or admonitions on the matter, instead we are presented with the final product of such dark ambition. This is primarily heavy-action oriented story that doesn't bother with how and why.

This journey is filled with vexation and potential disappointment, as the presentation is as idiosyncratic as it can be. Story is literally depicted for the most part, and characters have little interest to provide us with explanations. The ... information is spoon-fed via intricate details that remain somewhere in the back, and could or could not be an important factor for the story. Whichever it is, they pertain to creation of an ubiquitous sense of mystery, and offer free interpretation for the reader. It feels voyeuristic in a sense, as if we took a peek inside this unfathomable world that ran rampant and continues to operate even when the book is closed.

Killy is sent on a Sisyphean task, and is basically a futuristic version of Clint Eastwood's character. Goal he aims to accomplish would be rather simple if it wasn't for the perilous paths which lead towards it. The same way Blame! would be a simple work if it wasn't for the sublime approach Nihei decided to take. Characters in total are more or less consolidated in their primary roles, except that in this particular case it cannot be taken into account as a major flaw. More precisely because their lack of development is justified by their very nature. Risky move, verily, because attempts at humanization usually sit well with audience, but like this it could be seen as too cold.

Actual main character of this work is the city itself. It evolves continuously and features all kinds of architectural oddities. But, the true brilliance hides in how this "sentient" colossus is controlled; with uncanny sense for space and size. At one moment we are left in awe by stupendous structures that ominously overshadow characters and diminish their relevance, while at the next we're reduced to claustrophobic spaces that draw a thin line with burial places. Killy traverses settlements which feel humanly familiar, only to find himself in some sort of alien-human symbiosis environment that invokes dread.

For all its uniqueness it does have certain redundancy to it. The action scenes seem one too many, and twists have sort of monster-of-the-week format to them, despite that these monsters are pinnacle -- or at least close to it -- of body horror. Even so, it is an exemplary work of fiction, with a style that holds unequivocal relevance within the medium itself. Certainly will cause divisive opinions, but there is a certain refreshment and sense of respect for an author whose panels scream passion instead of accessibility. Nihei doesn't care if the reader will persist to move upward or fall and be swallowed by the abyss below.

Blame! Is unlike any manga you'll ever read. It's gritty, dark world is quite possibly the worst ever conceived. There are more deaths in this manga than there are words spoken. Which is yet another unique thing about this manga. Dialogue is rare and, as the saying goes, the art says a thousands words. It immerses you into this grimey void of mechanical nightmares where time and space are just a suggestion, and the world is designed haphazardly to the point where stairs and doors will lead to nowhere.

Huge bio-mechanical monsters terrorise the claustrophobic sea of grey metal and concrete that make up the ... world of Blame!. However this can lead to the art being very messy and disorienting, which is more of an issue with this type of genre of "Mechanical nightmare dystopia" in general. However the sheer amount of effort in the very well-drawn, if albeit visually noisy, world and characters is staggering.

Rating: 8

Blame! is my favorite manga of all time. There's something enthralling about reading it, to the point where I literally could not put it down from start to finish, and I think this comes down to just how well Blame! utilizes the medium of manga to tell a story.

The first thing you notice reading Blame! is the negative space. Nihei Tsutomu tries his best to tell a purely visual story, with dialogue and text kept to the bare minimum. Fitting with this theme, many of Blame!'s characters are illiterate, completely unable to decipher any signs or symbols in the grotesque world that surrounds them. ... This sort of reliance on showing over telling requires an incredibly high attention to detail and an absolutely stunning art style, and, luckily Tsutomu delivers on both counts. Blame!'s visuals are so striking that they actually benefit from purely black and white illustration. Comparing the visuals from the manga to the full color movie adaptation, the latter lacks a fundamental gravitas of greyscale. Story-wise, Blame! is a noire, with Killy acting as a detective wandering through endless halls in search of humanity's last hope of survival and uncovering information about the collapse of the old world. The plot is fairly simple on its face, but its execution is superb, slowly unfolding at a comfortable pace for the reader, yet over the span of countless years for the characters. Tsutomu treats the reader as a bystander watching Killy at key times from the background, and, like any bystander who might happen upon a story in medias res, we start off confused and ignorant. We don't know who Killy is, we don't know if he's human, we don't know where we are, what year it is, who the antagonists are, or really anything at all. It's only through observing Killy again and again through his travels that we can piece together the beautiful world on the page.

I cannot recommend this manga enough, though be warned that (for me at least) the paneling is a tad confusing, and during certain fight scenes it can be easy to get a bit mixed up.

The best part of this manga is the atmosphere. The feeling of following these characters down endless hallways, tight tunnels, and other unrecognizable environments of twisted technology never gets old. It perfectly captures both the sense of curiosity from viewing these highly detailed and infinitely encompassing landscapes, as well as the sense of dread of what lies within them. It's that thriller element that keeps you turning the page, even without much of a story and hardly any dialogue.

A little confusing at times, but worth the uncertainty. If anything, you're as lost as the characters are. The main character especially has the most deadpan, ... slightly confused face for the entire manga. Even in fights, his face reads "Why am I here, why am I doing this?" And not even in an existential way; he's genuinely just as confused as to who his enemies are. We'll get some lore dumps from other characters, but they rarely ever seem to matter to the main character. He just keeps walking.

Just keep walking. Just keep walking.