BLAME! 1

I 100% disagree with the following "critical" review...""The amazing thing about BLAME! is that it's such a good read even though it has almost no story or characters. It's all about the art and the experience of being there, of not knowing what will happen next, of the contrast between landscapes of endless sameness and bloody eruptions of chaos and gore." - Jason Thompson, Manga Encyclopedia "wrong, wrong wrong... no. this is a story told through visual media. There is very little dialog, but it is RICH in story and characters. Kiri is unbelievably memorable. He has a history, a goal that is clear, a personality, and an obvious method to which he will stop at nothing to accomplish what he set out to do. There is mystery, adventure, romance (yes, romance), and a moral tale... The most amazing thing about this series is the scope of time and space that it involves...SPOILERSIf you pay close attention, you will realize that the setting is a "city" that is really a dyson sphere from a type 2 civilization that has harnessed the complete energy output of our sun. This is made clear in a number of ways but most obviously in an an encounter between Kiri and one of the synthetics (the watcher/observer) who makes a comment about how they are visually watching a settlement of humans at a distance equal to the distance 88,000 ,miles (and all INSIDE a single room within the city). The city itself is implied to stretch from the lowest level (the level facing the sun) all the way out to the Ort Cloud (thousands of AU from the sun...). It is MIND BLOWING.The story is primarily told through a visual lens with only the occasional dialogue to drop major pieces of information. It is subtle and intentional story telling (and Jason misses the mark so bad I question how they ever became a "critic").If you love story telling, pondering the nature of everything, imaging the vastness of space and time (as the adventure of Kiri spans hundreds of thousands of years)... than this is a MUST HAVE manga. The art is amazing, the story is incredible, the characters are so memorable you will not forget their names... it is a master work of true science fiction and worth your time.100% recommend... 100% disagree with Jason's take... shame... he got paid for that...

So this journey began with me watching the movie on Netflix. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and decided that I wanted to explore the source material. From watching reviews of the movie, I learned that it's story was compiled from different arcs in the comic, so that had me even more interested in seeing how things were orginally structured. The first thing I noticed about Tsutomu Nihei's first story is that it's told through imagery; most of the time things are left up through the reader to try and piece together. Sometimes the reader can't put the pieces together. You're left with questions while working you're way through the story, but their good questions. For me it added to the mysticism of the world. Without trying to give away too much of the first volume, I quickly realized that this world is unforgiving and that one false move will lead people in this world to a quick demise. There is a huge sense of despair and hopelessness in this world, but with a hint of perserverance, tenacity, and unconquerable will that comes from the main character, Kyrii (aka Killy).I loved the rough grittiness of the artwork. The reader is presented with unique character designs that helps give this world a sort of fantasy-cyberpunk feel. But the real star of the artwork in the panels is the architectual design of everything. The expanding "city" that this world takes place in is amazingly detailed and drawn with given a real sense of grandness. At other times it's also presented in a way that portrays a claustrophobic feeling. It's just a despairingly beautiful world, if that makes sense.If you're hesitant about jumping from the movie to the books, then don't be. With a sequel already announced, reading the series should help you appreciate everything more. BLAME! is a gold mine for those who are clamouring for more cyberpunk in their world.

This is my first manga and holy crap I picked the right one for me! Bought this on prime day for $18 and I’ve only read the first chapter but it’s great so far! Super dark and gritty, huge picturesque landscapes really pull you in and get you locked into this world. You really have to take your time on the pictures and pay attention. I probably spent a hour on just the first chapter of only like 15 pages with mostly just pictures, this comic has very little dialogue to read but the story telling through the artwork is amazing. I recommend reading in a room with your own special lighting and while listening to a mechanical ambient type of dark music.Gory, Action packed, cryptic storytelling, cyborgs with floor melting arm plasma cannons need I say more?

FINALLY got my hands on this thing! I have been a devoted fan of Tsutomu Nihei ever since I picked up the first book of Biomega a few years ago. After devouring that series (it’s still my favorite) and the succeeding Knights of Sidoni, I tried to track down his original, but now out-of-print Blame!, but I found the cost of these rare editions to be prohibitive.Thankfully, the publisher was aware of this problem and decided to reissue the whole thing in it’s entirety in these massive (actual size?) omnibus editions. As far as I can tell, there will be three, of which this is the first. And what a beginning it is! It’s got everything I love about Nihei comics: fantastic organic artwork, blistering action and almost no dialogue, backstory or context. That’s not to say it is hard to understand, just mysterious and interesting. I love it! Of course I will buy all of these. I am left with only one question: Do you think the main characters mighty handgun is in any way inspired by the Noisy Cricket from Men in Black? The world may never know.