Blame!

In an enormous steel labyrinth riddled with horrifying creatures, humanity is forced to isolate itself in small enclaves while living in constant fear of its annihilation. In this dystopia, only a strange young man known as Killy is brave enough to traverse its unforgiving territories.

Possessing superhuman strength and a rare Graviton Beam Emitter, Killy fights off bloodthirsty beasts and other fiendish forces in his desperate search for a human with the Net Terminal Gene—genetic information that holds the potential to restore the corrupt world.

The dark world of Blame! follows Killy as he meets new people, sheds more blood, and draws closer to finding the Net Terminal Gene. Through these exploits, the true nature of the world is slowly pieced together.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

Blame! was published in English by Tokyopop from August 9, 2005, to November 6, 2007; this release was nominated for the Harvey Award in the Best American Edition of Foreign Material category in 2006. Vertical Inc. re-released the series in English following the Japanese shinsouban reprint from September 13, 2016, to December 12, 2017. The manga was also published in Italian by Panini Comics from March 16, 2000, to November 18, 2004; in Polish by Japonica Polonica Fantastica from April 8, 2016, to January 31, 2018; in Brazilian Portuguese by Editora JBC from December 2016 to June 2018; and in Russian by XL Media from May 24, 2017, to October 4, 2018.

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Reviews

Jan 23, 2025

Dompa112

Recommended

Blame is a strange one for me. Initially when i started reading it i wasnt feeling it and stopped at page 100. It was a bit boring very little dialogue. Confusing. And even now when ive finished it if you would ask me what its about i couldnt really tell you. But then still having finished it i feel quite satisfied and giving it a high score of an 8/10. And even that i cant really explain why. Theres just something about the unknown stuff. The hard to grasp story. The world itself. The characters. Its all a mystery. And it adds to the final ...

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Oct 22, 2024

Mara2463

Mixed Feelings

Blame! – Spoiler Free – Mixed Feelings

TLDR
Story – 5/10 – 5 x 0.275 = 1,375
Art – 9/10 – 9 x 0.2 = 1,8
Characters – 2/10 – 2 x 0.225 = 0,45
Enjoyment – 6/10 – 6 x 0.3 = 1,8
Total: 5,425 -> 5

Story – 5/10
Blame! takes us into a story filled with incredible panels but very little dialogue – in typical Nihei fashion. The story of Blame! has all the mannerisms the author usually deals with: a narrative constructed from a sequence of astonishing panels, with low character development and a terrible sense of dialogue. The story starts comprehensibly, although one can already foresee the path ... that everything is going to take. Verily, from a certain point onwards, the story is ridden with action and epic moments with tons of explosions but very little substance. Things happen for no reason, the narrative becomes incomprehensible as we are presented with senseless action scenes, and characters enter the story with no background and leave just as quickly. His insistence on the lack of dialogue is his main flaw as a storyteller.
There are also no explicative panels neither at the end nor the beginning of the volumes, which, in case you are lost in the narrative, which is incredibly easy to happen, you are just bound to reread (or rewatch) dozens of panels over and over again or accept that fact that you will never understand the story. This isn’t to say that it isn’t possible to tell a story with little dialogue, as Nihei himself showed in Biomega – a far superior counterpart to Blame! in the cyberpunk genre.
One positive point in Blame! is definitely the world-building, although it is apprehensible only through his art. Its atmosphere is also very well done.

Art – 9/10
Art is typically Nihei’s strongest weapon in his mangas, and rightfully so. Blame! is, in this sense, no different: the art style is incredible, the scenarios are astounding, the landscapes full of immersion, although the character design is deficient – he only knows how to draw very few face types. The fluency, although enjoyable, lacks in telling the story.

Characters – 2/10
Characters in Blame! are, once again, made in typical Nihei style: only serve as figurines for the action – and not the dialogue – to happen. The characters are dull, bland, and lack any personality whatsoever. Even the main characters – Kyrii and Cibo – lack backgrounds or any development. The minor characters are just nullified as beings in the entire process.

Enjoyment – 6/10
Contrary to some of his other stories, such as Biomega, the enjoyment isn’t high. The story is incomprehensible, and the manga is too long for its own sake. The proliferation of mediocre characters also doesn’t help in the slightest in the overall appraisal of Blame!, although the art style makes it eye-candy to look at. Also, we feel like mangas are just an excuse for Nihei to draw incredibly well-rendered panels, but not much else. For all these reasons, it deserves a mixed-feelings stamp.

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Oct 5, 2021

itsyaboi8675309

Not Recommended

Blame is a manga that starts off confusingly but 20 chapters in it starts to explain a lot of the world in its own way. But after those 20 chapters they stop trying to explain themselves and instead just drag you on for a confusing ride.

The only thing that kept me from dropping blame is that I liked the art, the characters are not amazingly drawn but the action panels and two page spreads make it all look better.

Even though i enjoyed the art all the amazing panels cant make up for the fact that the story is incoherent and insane. Blame is the only ...

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Poll: BLAME! Chapter 66 Discussion ( 1 2 ) TuzoAnime - Jun 6, 2010	62 replies	by Karkov05 »» Jan 16, 11:04 AM
Poll: BLAME! Chapter 1 Discussion Ston3_FreeN7 - Nov 16, 2010	39 replies	by Boyyy6969 »» Jan 8, 3:06 AM
Poll: BLAME! Chapter 38 Discussion Rasco - Sep 23, 2011	17 replies	by AhmedJafar1 »» Dec 23, 2024 11:46 PM
Poll: BLAME! Chapter 21 Discussion Rasco - Sep 17, 2011	10 replies	by AhmedJafar1 »» Dec 18, 2024 3:06 PM
Poll: BLAME! Chapter 2 Discussion Rasco - Sep 17, 2011	19 replies	by AhmedJafar1 »» Dec 1, 2024 5:01 PM

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