BLAME! Chapter 66 Discussion

I read blame 4 years ago and nothing in manga has come close to it. 11/10. I can try giving my take on some questions, they're old but maybe that'll help some other readers who are confused.



The most recurring subject about blame is the sphere. It is in fact the most important part of the plot because the sphere is the thing Killy has been searching this whole time. Even if what comes before is important for some general information on Killy's mission, what's really important in the manga starts when Killy and Cibo reach Toha Heavy Industries. My take on the sphere and everything connected to it is this :

killy and cibo recieve seu's genetic information from the toha industries AI. Seu's genetic information doesn't necessarily have net terminal genes but what we know is that he's from an ancient race of humans that is not that affected by the mutation/time because they were locked inside Toha Industries.

Next in the story, killy and cibo reach a level where they meet domochevski and his little buddy (I forgot his name). It is a very special level. Domochevski tells killy and cibo that in this level any human gene that resembles pure genes, that hasn't mutated too much, is able to get access to the netsphere for a "restricted connexion". But domo explains that even if you have restrictions, you can extract plenty of data from the netsphere from that connexion. Domo and his friend are safeguards, the safeguards are a software which purpose is to protect those connecting to the netsphere with authorization from those trying to connect without authorization. That means, in most levels of the city, all humans without the pure genes, and all other creatures, like silicon life. On any other level, Domo would attack all humans without the net terminal gene. But, because this level is different, Domo doesn't shoot all humans, because there's a chance they have authorization to connect. There is also the fact that they have to prevent silicon life from accessing the netsphere, so their main mission is to protect humans or genetic information that could make a connection possible.

So, the silicon life on domo's level manage to steal seu's genetic information from cibo, and they try to connect to the net sphere using that genetic information. Devinelulinvega, who seems to be the main guy of the silicon life on this level, does the "restricted" connexion. When he's connecting, in the netsphere dimension when you see him crossing the river, he is actually Seu, blond hair human guy, because he is using Seu's information to get authorization. Cibo by accident most probably attaches to him and his connexion and gets access to the netsphere through him. Devinel gets killed by domo right before he finishes loading the connexion. So, he dies and you see Seu sinking into the river. He reaches with his arm and you see that something happens with his hand as if he had done something significant. And then Cibo who was sort of piggybacking devinel's connexion, takes over for a very brief instant. You see Seu's facial expression is very different, as if he were a different person. And he says something like "I just wanted to see the netsphere once", and it makes sense to me that this is Cibo, because cibo was a scientist, and she had already attempted to connect to the netsphere. We see that story in the second volume. So, devinel dies right before he finishes loading the connexion, but he manages to steal the data of a level 9 safeguard (I think the arm reaching I was talking about is that), and Cibo, who was also using that connexion, becomes the recipient for that data. Thing is, Cibo also had a very peculiar "relationship" with another safeguard, sanakan. They switched bodies at one point. And sanakan's data is probably still lingering somewhere inside Cibo. So we get, Cibo + Sanakan + Seu's genetic information (that contains or doesn't contain the net terminal gene) + Davinel + level 9 safeguard data = Level 9 safeguard Cibo + Sphere containing the child of sanakan and cibo who has net terminal gene.

The level 9 Cibo is incredibly powerful and it tries to protect its egg. When the silicon creature shoots safeguard Cibo, she retaliates and destroys everything. Then it becomes this very weak and vulnerable creature. Sanakan is sent back, to protect Cibo and the sphere, and she seems motivated by a mixture of motherly love, some kind of feelings for Cibo, and her mission. I think the difference in sanakan before and after the sphere is that before she is a mindless safeguard, like all the other robots, and after she talks and thinks and feels (I think). Sanakan after having been just a robot, generated by the out of control safeguard software, is now kind of like Killy. We know Killy is a kind of precursor to the safeguard, we learn that from the governing agency, and Killy works for them even if he seems to have forgotten that. If before she was generated by the safeguard, she is now "sent" (which is different) by the governing agency. There is no good sanakan or bad sanakan, there are just two different sanakan.

We learn afterwards what the sphere is. We also learn that it needs to be brought somewhere uncontaminated to "hatch". That's what sanakan was probably trying to do before she is killed by the silicon creatures. Then after sanakan comes back one last time and kills the silicon life, she is killed by a "terminator" safeguard who wants the sphere. Killy kills the terminator, cibo and sanakan are dead but the sphere is safe. When Sanakan is killed by the silicon life, she is sent back to the netsphere dimension. She wants to go back to the real world dimension to save cibo and the sphere, and she is talking to a silhouette who represents probably the governing agency. The silhouette says something like "if you go back and die again we can't bring your data back here, and we have no idea when we will be able to bring it back". She goes back despite the warnings from the silhouette, gets killed by the terminator safeguard, and killy walks off with the spere. Then we follow a woman who seems to find herself in an abandonned dimension. This woman is Sanakan. When the terminator kills her again, she is sent to that dimension, which appears to be a sort of limbo for software like her whose data can't be brought back to the netsphere dimension. A place where there's no time and everything stands still. Surely a dimension that was once under the control of the governing agency but slipped out of their control after everything became chaos.

So the ending is Killy finally reaching the outside of the City. The enormous city, like the time between the chapter where sanakan gets killed and the chapter when he reaches the outside is probably much longer than the whole timespan of the rest of the series. The outside is uncontaminated and the sphere hatches. A child comes out who has the net terminal gene. The person/child can access the netsphere and therefore restore order, stop the builders and the expension of the city, regain control of the safeguard, maybe regain control of the limbo dimension and save sanakan's information, exterminate silicon life, end chaos and save humanity. So Killy and the child who you can see on the last panel go on another adventure to achieve all that.


All of this is my interpretation of blame! There are a few things I'm sure of but most of it is still very vague in my mind. It's what I think is happening after having read the series many times, and reading lots of forum posts and theories. For example the making of the sphere, it's many things coming together, but we don't know how these things result in the sphere, and of these things coming together which were actually important. But I honestly think Nihei (the author) himself doesn't know what's happening exactly. And I think that's what makes this manga so good too, it's the figuring out, the trying to understand what's going on, while still knowing there's no way to know exactly.

Also sorry for the writing, I tried to make this clear, not pretty, I hope it doesn't read too badly :)