This just makes me miss Blame! There are cool little easter eggs hidden throughout the story from Nihei's earlier works like the graviton beam emitter and Toha Heavy Industries. The gauna in this story also seem to be similar to the gauna in Abara. It's definitely worth checking out if you're a big fan of Tsutomu Nihei but other than that it's a pretty bland SoL/robot battle manga as seen through a slightly more moe Nihei filter.

compared to previous work of the same mangaka that is. His works had a very unique feeling to them which is lost in this series. I dont say its bad, but certainly cant like it as much as his previous series.

Sidonia is nothing like BLAME!. Say, it is inherently anime-adaptable, I think it is quite obvious.

Still, he did it the right way. Being adaptable by anime or mainstream audience doesn't mean it is bad, i enjoy it as an entertainment, it serves more excitement, fun, nudity, romance and hermaphrodite. Needless to say, the visual arts, settings, plot and such. Everything together is still supreme, it is a 10/10.

However, if you are a fan of Nihei already, then the plot on Sidonia can't amaze you as much. It shares pretty much the same kind of disaster as BLAME!, Abara or Biomega, and the gaunas and apocalypse stuff are shown on Abara and Biomega already.

I would say Sidonia has two problems. Firstly, unlike the others, Sidonia waters down the content, everything is explicit now and it doesn't require the readers to dive in, it can interest most readers but fails to interest his fans. Secondly, I've read up to volume 9 now, so it is already as much as BLAME!, Sidonia spends more panels on the characters' mentality than what will actually happen next, while his previous works are complete opposite and proceed quickly.

In all, Sidonia shares similarities on plot but it is in different genre or categories. I am sure some people do hate it and you aren't wrong. My point is just that his name summons the wrong type of readers(probably the impatient type) to read his new manga and get raged.

... Last updated on May 27th, 2013, 3:47am

I love all of Nihei Tsutomu's work, his mangas are not elaborate on the plot sense but deals with Subtleness of events and psychological barriers

SnK is no exception to that, like all his work this manga also spends considerable amount of time for readers to decipher the message and the Characters are surprisingly lovable for an atmosphere that scripts a dark Sadistic Tone

Great manga, plzz fans don't try to compare it with Blame! or any of his other masterpieces, judge this as a standalone and you shall be rewarded

I kind of liked it at first, even though it was so different from his past works, but later on it just got too tiresome with all the endless romance between genetically engineered freaks. Maybe it was just hard to get interested in the kiddie romances and 'cute' daily life scenes in the middle of a war.

I dunno, but whatever I liked about it is gone now and I can't be bothered to read the rest.

... Last updated on May 12th, 2014, 8:51am

It starts like shounen on steroids. Kids, school, harem, become stronger, etc... Why "on steroids", why is it published in seinen magazine? Death of important characters, gore, nudity, romance with hermaphrodite (this is the best part! ). Unfortunately as story progresses you lose all this. Death is somewhere far away, no gore, no nudity, romance not moving at all.

Talking about plot. In three words - it is bad. 12 years after Blame, Nihei still can't plan the whole story. It feels like his idea of how should the story continue changes every 2nd volume. There are many plot holes. Complete lack of military knowledge. Kunato vs Tanikaze incident is plain stupid. Military tribunal? Flight Recorders? Not in Nihei's army. Moreover, the story started to drag in later volumes. Battle -> Benisuzume kills a bunch of not-drawn characters -> Benisuzume vs Tanikaze fight -> Draw -> Power-up -> Battle again.

Art is less sketchy then in Blame, which means even better backgrounds. But Nihei can't draw different humans. Not a problem for Blame with just 2 humans. A big problem for manga with dozens of humans. Everyone look identical and i'm not talking about clones. Only two things help with distinguishing characters: haircut and unit number.

All in all i'll continue reading it, because this is one of rare distant future sci-fi mangas.

P.S. Review after ch 30 (vol 6).

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After 43 chapters the story actually gets back on track. It feels more like the first volumes. Art has improved (faces variety increased). There're occasional nudity, old-Nihei-style sceneries and creatures. A certain episode in recent chapters was such an epic trolling that it made me to reconsider my rating.

... Last updated on November 22nd, 2012, 1:55am

To see such an atmospheric masterpiece in this day and age makes me happy to be alive. While BLAME! and older Nihei works already achieved a perfect atmosphere, Sidonia no Kishi adds a more elaborate plot and likable characters to it, coupled with thrilling action and enriched dialogues. It is nipponic sci-fi at its best, something i never thought i'd see again with this level of depth after watching Evangelion more than ten years ago.

People who liked BLAME! more than other Nihei works should not complain, as that was a reflexive story that tugged at the subconscious, like a hazy dream, while Sidonia no Kishi deals concretely and maturely with inner flaws humanity is forced to fight along an epic struggle against a truly fearsome enemy. Nihei has always moved towards deeper meanings in his works, but to truly get a grip of the readers a clearer characterization was necessary and i think SnK achieves that, while still preserving the depth and immersion of Nihei's style. It was the direction all his other works moved towards and i don't believe he will go back to the mute atmospheres of BLAME! so dedicatedly ever again.

the gritty Blame style doesn't suit this kind of manga, there is to many people and to many things happening without enough explanation imo. im not talking about super in detail explanation but i really don't understand how he goes from the dump to a student in only a few pages...

Feels like I'm reading manga version of yukikaze, evangelion, and gundam combined. It's not bad but it's not great either. The mangaka has abandoned Blame!-like mood; instead, he attempted and failed to convey all the greatness of aforementioned masterpieces. Indeed, my comment is premature and should not be taken in heart. I am curious, however, how the author will continue from now on.

... Last updated on January 23rd, 2011, 1:21am