"Action packed, bloody, and cerebral to the core, it's stunningly drawn and impossible to put down." â€"Play Magazine Having been delivered an imperative by the Authority to find the Net Terminal Genes--the key to halting the rapid and random growth of Cluster Town--Killy and Cibo come closer to unlocking the secrets of the Netsphere. However, the ability to actually understand the language of the Net Terminal Gene carriers may have been forever lost. Will Killy find a way to translate these seemingly undecipherable signals before the Authority itself is destroyed by its own creation?
Tsutomu Nihei (弐瓶 勉 Nihei Tsutomu, born 1971) is a Japanese manga artist. His cyberpunk-influenced artwork has gained a strong cult following. He has a relatively large community of fans in Germany where his manga Blame!, NOiSE and Biomega were published by Ehapa. Blame! was also published in France and Spain by Glénat, in the US by Tokyopop and in Italy by Panini Comics.
At first he studied architecture and later it is shown up in his manga works with drawing huge structures. This became one of his general theme that makes his manga unique. His works are usually in black and white. He is also an avid fan of the video game series Halo, as he mentions in his commentary section in the Halo Graphic Novel.
The decay of society is further highlighted in this volume. When Killy and Cibo reach another settlement, the locals reveal they can't read. They are descendents of planters, but have forgotten their ancestors' occupation or skills. The action scenes seem epic, but the confusing artwork makes it nearly impossible to enjoy them.
Killy is weakened by an injection of nanobots during a fight with the safeguard. He and Cibo are joined by Sana-Kan who guides them toward another settlement. On the way they meet the locals who reveal that net terminal genes haven't been used for ages in their town. While Killy is being healed, Sana-Kan figures out how to gain access to Toha Heavy Industries, a building the locals haven't been able to get into.
This one Iiked. There was a story line there to follow, but the loneliness is missing that I like. Still there is no logic there and no background story, but I accepted that now. Also very confusing, that cibo seems to be two people it's not quite clear to me, but who cares it's what it is haha.
So at last, we're getting some answers to the mystery that is the world in Blame!. While it's nice to finally know something, I do find myself missing the solitude of the earlier volumes. I liked that Cibo takes more center stage in this volume. Killy is...Killy, and he's not a terribly captivating character. He shines best by himself.
I still find myself not being able to tell characters apart. I think some of the action scenes are drawn well, but they are very difficult to follow. Also at this point, the story needs to break away from "find person/people, they are nice, giant robo-monster appears and kills them, Killy shoots the robo-monster with the gun" loop. If I see a character so much as smile at Cibo and Killy, I'm thinking "Oh, they're for sure dead".
I'm sticking with the series...for now. We'll see how Volume 4 goes.
Less mystery in the mix which means a bit of reveal. Not sure if that is to the detriment of the series. I sometime enjoy the silence, it's in the same vein as Ico and Shadow of the Colossus for me, where it can tell a more beautiful story woven by the reader's imagination. Part of that is taken away and it was inevitable. This happens in every story ever, but there was something special I felt at the beginning of this series.
That's not to say the quality has dropped tremendously, I'm still going to continue reading Blame!. A little magic lost that's all.
At this point, the story is somewhat taking shape, but boy is it hard to understand what's going on. Don't get me wrong. The art is fantastic. It evokes the same existential dread and despair that most dystopian works strive so hard to achieve yet ultimately fall flat. The massive structure do not make you feel tiny.. they make you feel insignificant.
Yet, after 16 chapters, I came to the conviction that the artist can't draw actions scenes if their life was on the line. This is not a stylistic choice (again, the art is superb in the quiet moments) It's poorly choreographed. If you squint hard enough, you may find some coherent fight scenes hidden under this mess. I just can't.
Los paisajes y las civilizaciones singulares no son los únicos que ocupan el foco de atención, en este tomo se materializa al fin la figura del enemigo, que se presenta en multitud de ocasiones con diversas apariencias, cada una más poderosa y aterradora que la anterior.
Con una estética y una predisposición tan clara a la oscuridad, no cabía duda de que los enemigos tendrían una capacidad increíble de generar caos y muerte ante su paso. Por suerte, Killy y el resto del elenco poseen un ingenio elevado capaz de hacerle frente a estas contrariedades bélicas.
Первый том этой манги для меня больше был хорошим с визуальной точки зрения, т.к. диалогов было крайне мало и не особенно было понятно, что происходит с главным героем. Второй томик уже был более насыщенным на подробности. К третьему же тому все пошло, как надо. Становится понятно, что ищет Килли (геном, которым владели древние люди, ибо сейчас все генномодифицированные). Сюжет этой книги - это один огромный спойлер. Я так увлекся, что прочитал книгу залпом. Я уже подозревал, что Килли не простой парень-убивашка. И скорее всего ищет он геном не просто так. Меня дико рвет на части, чтобы рассказать, что же случилось в 3-ем выпуске, но держу себя как могу. Очень интересно, что случилось с Килли, что он решился на поиски священного Грааля... 10/10
Dengan (masih) begitu minimnya dialog yg menjabarkan setingan dunia mang ini, pemandangan dan peradaban yang unik bukan satu-satunya yang menjadi fokus perhatian. Pada volume ini sosok musuh akhirnya terwujud, yang muncul dalam banyak kesempatan dengan penampilan berbeda, masing-masing lebih kuat dan menakutkan daripada yang terakhir. Sehingga memunculkan pertanyaan Safeguard itu apa sebenarnya? Melihat kemampuan Sana-kan seperti itu.
Dengan estetika yang begitu jelas dan kecenderungan terhadap kegelapan, tidak diragukan lagi bahwa musuh akan memiliki kemampuan luar biasa untuk mendatangkan malapetaka dan kematian di belakangnya.
these get better and better with each volume and I'm only 30% in! the unfathomable world concepts (and sizes) has yet to grow stale on me and the overpowering existential dread and the immense feeling of insignificance these drawings are able to instill continue to satisfy. What this volume does better than the previous two is that the story is starting to form and I actually have an idea of what's going on. Still great action and absurdly fascinating and infinitely creative world-building and design concepts but with an added bonus of a plot and some characters that are starting to make sense and seem to be building towards something grand.
The art and the world itself has been consistently great throughout the first two books. I had a difficult time getting into Blame after the first volume as there wasn’t much to go on. From the second volume onward it’s been a roller coaster ride.
I feel the author has taken Hemingway’s view of the story. Less is more. He does not include all the information about the world and leaves it to the reader to put the pieces together. Looking forward to reading the rest of the series.
4.75! The story keeps getting crazier! The art slipped at times but still overall really beautifully drawn. The cyberpunk vibe, the cosmic horror, the introduction of time and space “forwarding”. Just damn.
Blame! continua mantendo o altíssimo nível. O roteiro melhora a cada volume. E a arte continua excepcional, com suas criaturas bizarras e cenários deslumbrantes.
This dark, gritty, alienating, violent cyberpunk manga is really good. The artist Nihei is really gifted to draw buildings and he creates an empty world left with never ending growing buildings, metallic structures, and deadly creatures out to get you. The structures and the Safeguards who were once protecting the population, are now out of control and kill everyone on sight, due to a virus the population was exposed to. Killy is set to find a person whose genes (Net Terminal Genes) are uncorrupted by the virus in order to get back the control over the structures and the Safeguards since only such a person can access the control center. During that time the Silicones, the official bad guys, keep causing troubles and want to stop Killy. Thankfully, Killy is a powerful cyborg and makes friend along the way with Cibo a scientist.
The manga has barely any dialogue, Blame! is the kind of manga where you really have to pay attention to each image and even reread a few times the manga in order to really understand what is going on. I think it is worth it.
Вижте сега, чета мангата само защото вече започнах, а не обичам да оставям нещата недовършени. С разочарование установих, че нищо не се променя. Продължават някакви хора да си джиткат из "матрицата" и разни хуманоиди да се опитват да ги изтребят, без ясна идея защо. Плюс това художника или го мързи, или просто толкова ��и мож��, обаче всичките герои ми изглеждат еднакви, което пречи още повече на следенето на и без това неясната история. Та не мисля да правя повече ревюта по тази манга, освен ако не стане нещо изключително интересно (в което се съмнявам). Не я препоръчвам на никой, който обича историите, които чете, да имат сюжет. Ако пък обичате много пуцане и малко приказки - това е вашата манга.
Jadi safeguard itu makhluk apa? kayak alien aja, bisa nyaru jadi manusia pula. trus bisa berkembang dari manusia yg ditembakkan senjatanya. bisa berevolusi juga sewaktu electrofisher menghabisi Sanakan, yang ternyata safeguard level tinggi. Killy juga ternyata punya kemampuan baru gara-gara ditembak Sanakan, di antaranya bisa mengenali safeguard dan bicara dengan para builders. Dan yang paling bikin penasaran waktu si Sanakan bilang "...you regain your function?" what function? penasaran...
ps.: ada forum yang bahas tentang si killy di sini kalo pengen tahu lebih jauh.
Maybe it's because I'm more in the mood for some cyberpunk/sci-fi, or maybe it's because I finally think I understand wtf is going on, but this series has really grown on me. I ended up adding a star to my ratings of the two previous books because of this.