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I was encouraged by a friend to read this manga, as it was a little more niche, and I like science fiction that doesn't rely on time travel to make it interesting. I thought that perhaps this manga would help me find my own personal tastes in sci-fi and cyberpunk. This wish went without fulfillment, however, as I was taken by surprise that the manga has absolutely no plot.
I'll start off with the good parts that I found enjoyable. The art and character design is stylized, and works perfectly for the "story" attempting to be ... portrayed. It gives the audience a sense of unease and sorrow, which is perfect for a post-apocalyptic world, and is uncommon these days in almost all forms of art. Moreover, the villains' character designs are all creepy and genuinely terrifying to a degree. However, this is where the praise ends.
Here's the main issue with BLAME!; a book or movie or show needs a plot of some assortment, no matter how small. Even the expendables gives a slight excuse for all the gore and violence. BLAME!, however, gives no excuse for the violence accept that a vague mcguffin is being hunted for by Killy, our main character, and he's a violent loner. Which brings me to the characters, who may as well not even exist, as they never speak, never emote, never interact interestingly, and make the experience as bland as physically possible. Even when these two mains, Killy and Cibo, are separated in this hostile, violent world, neither seems to care. Even when either or both are severely injured, they simply shrug and never speak. Why would this choice be made, when there are so many interesting interactions within the "plot" presented to be had? All that's spoken about is the aforementioned mcguffin, and that isn't even fully explained at all.
Very little is explained or expanded upon, and the entire art style, which I still really like, becomes nothing but an excuse for violence, and not even a good one. You could say that the environment becomes the explanation for all my gripes, but then there's the matter of why Killy wants the mcguffin, why Cibo decides to help him in her multiple incarnations, why the silicon lifeforms and safeguards are hunting them, how the entire Net Sphere is accessed, why humans have been banned, and why their main antagonist is so virulent throughout the city. Thus, I give my rating of an overall 3/10.