Abara

Description

From Viz:
A vast city lies under the shadow of colossal, ancient tombs, the identity of their builders lost to time. In the streets of the city something is preying on the inhabitants, something that moves faster than the human eye can see and leaves unimaginable horror in its wake. Tsutomu Nihei’s dazzling, harrowing dystopian thriller is presented here in a single-volume hardcover edition featuring full-color pages and foldout illustrations.

Includes the one-shot Digimortal.

Note: Nominated for the Eisner Award for Best U.S. Edition of International Material Asia in 2019.

Type

Manga

Related Series

N/A

Associated Names

ABAЯA

Digimortal

Ribs

Абара

アバラ

아 바라

Groups Scanlating

...

Hanaji-scans

Illuminati-Manga

Latest Release(s)

v.2 c.7-11 + Digimortal Parts 1-2 by Illuminati-Manga 18 years ago

v.1 c.1-6 by Illuminati-Manga 18 years ago

c.8 by Hanaji-scans 18 years ago

Search for all releases of this series

Status in Country of Origin

2 Volumes (Tankōbon - Complete)
1 Volume (Shinsōban - Complete)

Completely Scanlated?

Yes

Anime Start/End Chapter

N/A

User Reviews

N/A

Forum

0 topics, 0 posts

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User Rating

Average: 6.8 / 10.0 (504 votes)

Bayesian Average: 6.77 / 10.0

18%

25%

22%

Last Updated

August 14th, 2025 9:27am PDT - 1 month ago

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Genre

Action Drama Horror Mature Mystery Psychological Sci-fi Seinen Tragedy
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Categories

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Category Recommendations

Uramachi Sakaba

Tetsuo - The Bullet Man

Recommendations

Author(s)

Artist(s)

Year

Original Publisher

Kodansha (2015)

Shueisha (2004)

Serialized In (magazine)

Ultra Jump (Shueisha)

Licensed (in English)

Yes

English Publisher

Viz (1 Deluxe Edition Volume; Complete)

Activity Stats (vs. other series)

Weekly Pos #752

(-55)

Monthly Pos #1557

(-520)

3 Month Pos #3370

(+82)

6 Month Pos #3881

(-685)

Year Pos #5083

(+241)

List Stats

On 355 reading lists

On 548 wish lists

On 1319 completed lists

On 53 unfinished lists

On 199 custom lists

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Forum Posts Click to view the forum

User Comments [ Order by usefulness ]

It's fine I guess.

by Clo_wn47
3 years ago

Rating: 8.8 / 10.0

N/A

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Abara

by [deleted member]
5 years ago

Rating: 7.0 / 10.0

Story: 7/10
Art: 9/10
Characters: 6/10
Quality Polish Edition: 8/10
Enjoyment: 7/10
Overall: 7.4/10

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Divided

by nail80
15 years ago

Rating: 6.0 / 10.0

On one hand this series has amazing artwork, it's just breathtakingly awesome, but the story didn't impress me one bit. At times it was extremely confusing and that is supposed to be the center of the manga, if you don't understand exactly what the hell is going on then how are you supposed to enjoy the story and the characters?
If this was just an artbook then i would surely rate it higher.

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Marvelously mind blowing (:

by jazzybaby
15 years ago

Rating: 10.0 / 10.0

Perhaps my opinion of 'Abara' was already biased before I even began reading it due to the fact that I was already in love with Tsutomu's talent thanks to 'Blame!'... But I have to say, 'Abara' by itself is still absolutey amazing. I honesty like it as much as 'Blame!' and a lot more than his other work 'Biomega'.

Some may say that his storytelling is lacking but I actually enjoy the fact that it's not all there shoved in your face.. The story is still there but it's just more subtle and you just have to pay closer attention to the actions and use your imagination a bit. His style of telling the story feels more like you're just an onlooker at something already happening and you get the gist of it by the dialogue and actions rather than it seeming like someone's performing for you and some invisible narrator explains the whole darn plot...

I think out of all of his mangas, the fact that 'Abara' was so short seemed to make Tsutomu Nihei concentrate on making it more concrete than his other longer works and there was more of a balance between the action and actual progression of the events in the story. All in all, I love this manga for it's amazing art and unique storytelling. <3

If you didn't understand it, you should really consider reading it again more patiently and you'll most likely appreciate and comprehend it better. But if you didn't like it, maybe you're just better off reading some cliche manga. P:

... Last updated 15 years ago

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Okay.

by YummiMookies
15 years ago

Rating: N/A

I gave this one two tries; one years before and another just a few months ago. Unfortunately, something about this feels off to me... I didn't like it either times.
The art is nice, albeit a little too dark and scratchy. The plot was okay, but didn't keep my interest for long.

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Awesome, confusing

by gentler
16 years ago

Rating: 9.0 / 10.0

The art, as always for Nihei, is amazing. Highly stylized, but in a unique way that sets it apart from a lot of manga/anime. I've acquired a number of really nice desktop backgrounds from Abara.
I still have no real idea what was going on plot-wise, except for general outlines. Blame! made perfect sense to me, but Abara only resulted in confusion. But, this is more than made up for by the awesomeness of the art, and is probably just a sign that I should read it again and pay more attention. If anyone would like to try and explain what was going on (especially the ending), this would be most welcome.

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Art soo good, should be in Art Musem

by coco_has_to_gogo
16 years ago

Rating: N/A

NIHEI Tsutomu is one of my favourite Manga artists. Because of his raw creativity, and story-telling. However it is his Art-work that I am truly truly in love with. Blame!, Biomega, and now Abara. If you like great mangas, and have an eye for amazing art work, I highly recommend the mangas by NIHEI Tsutomu (Microsoft choose him to draw the Halo Comics cuz he's the best artist in japan! [one of them]).

Final Word: CoCo love's NIHEI Tsutomu's MoJo

... Last updated 16 years ago

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Uneven

by Jhono1
16 years ago

Rating: 7.0 / 10.0

Very dark, very moody and stylish and little to no dialogue at all. It's extremely hard to follow the plot and takes away a lot from this manga, the but the art is shockingly good.

5 for the story, 9 for the art really.

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wow good

by mystichead
17 years ago

Rating: N/A

this is the only manga ive ever read where i couldnt get what in the world was happening....most probably cuz the art.....(not that its bad but i'am not quite used to this style, thus cant make out patterns").....and.......

Despite all that I LOVED IT........... HOLY SHIT How did that happen?

... Last updated 17 years ago

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Awesome

by Nashnir
17 years ago

Rating: 10.0 / 10.0

This manga has the best art and storyline I have come across. Only a few others come comparatively close.

This is my first comment about a Manga, so you can imagine how much I liked it.
The story is very original and the action scenes are splendidly done.

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