Nihei Tsuomu's works are very unique. 'Blame!' was a manga you had to re-read a few times to actually realize the plot. The magaka refused to narrate even the most critical things. Compare that to the typical manga/anime with text-bubbles, notes & what-nots... you were left with your own devices(imagination, wit & interest) to parse the story. Yet the story was complex, layered and you were free to come up with your own interpretations. But, whatever your impression was based on his previous works, you had to admit one thing:
That his works were utterly, massively, absolutely cool.
One definite improvement is the artwork. There's now a unprecedented clarity, unseen on Nihei's previous mangas. Now the human are drawn with equal grace & fluency as he did with the cyborgs, monsters & robots before. Although there's the issue with generic human faces. But seeing the author's depiction of conflict on a grand-scale & mind boggling mega structures, there aren't many manga with better artworks than this. Characters in this manga are designed & developed in a traditional way. Now there are conversations, multiple panels are dedicated on clarifying a character's intentions or actions. Not many things are left to imagination. Some of the fight scenes are a bit confusing maybe, but the anime will help you up on that. Multiple readings are not required to finally get to the bottom of the story.
If you were expecting a gritty, dark story without any emotional fat & shallow story-telling.... you might be disappointed. Although "Mecha" is not a genre that can naturally produce anime/manga with actual depth in the story-line. The basic idea of human shaped fighting machines doesn't scream 'grown-up' in the first place. Yes this is tagged as "seinen", but not for the right reasons.
Truth is, this manga(and anime adaption) is & will continue to be a bigger success in Nihei's career compared to 'Blame!' or 'Biomega'. If you are a mecha/space-odessy fan, you must give it a go. There aren't many better ones than this.
