The lack of natural object in this manga is what makes BLAME! a good read.To really describe how cool this style is, words can approximate but you want to read BLAME!

Apart from visual arts, the world of BLAME! is so depressing and chaotic. It also shows how small and how low humans are. Like most reviewers, we have read it for the first time a few years ago and the flashback of this chaotic world remains in our memories. Pick it up again and love it, then write a review.

The plot is *not* ambiguous. Nihei is always like this, he left all the hints or details just about necessary, readers have to read it slowly and thoroughly to understand what is going on, it is intentional. The biggest challenge is on the cryptic or technical words, I don't like it either but it is arguably part of theme though

... Last updated on April 19th, 2014, 9:23am

Read this a few years ago. The art is amazing (well, since then I have been humbled by Kaoru Mori, Etorouji Shiono, In-Wan Youn, and more) mostly in term of a "cybernized" world. The story, while being almost devoid of dialogue, generated a heavy atmosphere of devastation and ruin with scattered semiconscious beings driven by instincts or obsolete eon old commands.

Well, as I recall, the whole story was - about or ended up being - the sowing of an embryo of hope into this world overtaken by death and darkness.

Truthfully, apart from the art and somewhat slowish pace, it was not as memorable as I thought. Nonetheless, still a great post "Ghost in the Shell" work.

I love it, I'm annoyed by it, I can't stop reading, I get bored of it.
Blame is a cyberpunk manga that relies heavily on its visuals and detailed environments and not on dialogue, text, or facial expressions. The places and creatures are very beautiful but it's frustrating to not know what's going on.
Either way, I think blame is worth the time to check out.
Other details:

First and still the best Nihei's manga. Blame! depicts a seemingly endless journey of Killy. But who is this Killy and what is the purpose of his travel? Does the author knows?

A border between cyberpunk and biopunk isn't clear. And right from the beginning some explanation may come in handy, Blame is cyber/biopunk in its pure form or it's close to that form. Before reading Blame! try to forget the modern (and wrong) "feel" of cyber/biopunk presented by various creators mostly of American nationality (you definitely know what exactly I am talking about). Cyberpunk is supposed to be confusing, ambiguous, somewhat inconclusive, with morally questionable protagonist. Nihei got every single damn thing right.

What's more expect great almost soundless atmosphere accompanied by excellent drawings. If possible I would like to take a little trip to the Megastructure.

And please, let Oshii Mamoru direct some movie adaptation of Blame!. Nihei plus Oshii would be the best possible combination. Come on, we're waiting for something like that to happen for years now!

... Last updated on October 15th, 2012, 4:20am

Too many plot holes and loose ends:

I can go on... But to say it simply. Nihei has no plan for whole story.

What saves this manga is gorgeous atmosphere and art. Lack of dialogs adds to atmosphere of desolate world. No humans - no dialogs.

... Last updated on December 28th, 2011, 9:29am

The whole Manga is hard to relate too because all the characters are alien in the true sense of the word. No character is acting with any sort of human perspective that the reader could relate too. Also not a lot of expiation is given so it wasn't until vol 4 that there was any sense of real plot. But due the alien nature of all of the characters is was more of looking at the pretty pictures and seeing what happened next then proving any real story or characters.

In short: it's an interesting art piece.

Don't go reading it expecting anything in the way of plot or characters.

The art is always good and, by the ninth volume, incredibly moving.
It is difficult to tell what is going on-- and when-- for a number of reasons.

The main one is that you have to think while reading it. You have to actively ponder what is going on.

Blame! creates a very, very unique atmosphere that can be hard to get used to (though I loved it)
It doesn't have a sense of time other than "endless." All we know is that a long time passed between certain points.

Characters tend to stick in your memory, and the story is filled with a bunch of symbolism

Definitely a series I'll have to reread

... Last updated on March 26th, 2011, 12:57pm

A very good series. It says much without a lot of dialogue. You get a real feeling for the size, space and emptiness of the setting because of the lack of dialogue. You feel that Killy has been wandering around the structure for a long time. The art is unique and interesting, but may not be everyone's cup of tea. I pretty much couldn't put it down. That said there are places where it suffers from a bit of incoherence and it breaks down a bit. Places where if things were better expressed would have helped the story. It sometimes gives off a feeling that it is a collage of ideas and settings stitched together. Still a very good series.

When I first began to read Blame!, it was mostly on a whim. It looked interesting. A few people here say they found the first bit boring. I got sucked in on the first page, by both the art and what little plot there was to be seen. I've read through the whole series twice now, and I am still fascinated by everything about it. From the dark environs to the sparse dialogue, everything seems intentional and purposeful, yielding some new hint about the plot that I might have missed. The entire world just sucked me in, and I honeslty think I lived, breathed, and dreamt Blame! style for several days after each read through. It just feels different from some lame, conventional plot where the author is obviously just making it up as he/she goes along; it felt intentional.

no matter what you are told you can't know if you like it or not until you have tried to read it. You really have to say try because I think you need some time and a few chapters to find out if it appeals to you.
I accidentally started with the 2 volume and after finishing it I just felt irritated but it still triggered something and I had to read the whole 10 volumes almost at once.

But even in the end I have to admit that the story is rather strange and pretty complicated to follow. The art on the other hand is really amazing, the drawing fits the atmosphere and the cyberpunk perfectly. I was completly drawn in.That's why I read it so fast.
And since it is the one manga that made me start reading all the others I can't really say a bad thing,just I love it.

... Last updated on March 12th, 2011, 7:16am