A visual Manga feast - compelling to the eye though I'm not sure I quite followed the story. I think this may be due to the fact I don't read many Manga stories and also that there wasn't too much text.

This is both visually stunning while at the same time deeply visually disturbing. There is almost no dialogue, which adds to the overall atmosphere of gloom and doom.
Word of warning - BECAUSE there is so little dialogue involved it is very easy to get lost and confused if you do not play very close attention to the images.

A manga that I first set my eyes on at the tender age of 11 years in an early 2000s otaku magazine, but, despite my fascination for it, never got around to actually read. Back then, I had first discovered my taste for dark, richly detailed art styles, and the covers of the original volumes were exactly that. They made up my own early art goals, even though I had not even taken a look inside the manga so far! So here are my thoughts after reading it for the very first time, 15 years later:

(+) You can say what you want, but Nihei definitely excels at backgrounds and technology. The nightmarish panels give off a threatening, toxic atmosphere of dystopian horror. The pages are remarkably void of text, while filled to the brim with shading. There are no explanations whatsoever, which leaves you to puzzle together what little pieces of dialogue the author decided to include. Mostly, the reader has to think of their own plot and accept that Blame is simply an outlet for the artist's cyber kink.

(-) I... absolutely hated the way the faces are drawn. The discrepancy between the perfection of the multistory tech-labyrinth - basically anything that isn't alive - and the beginner level facial anatomy is almost comical. Another case of cover catfishing. The action wasn't well-executed either, especially when biological movements were involved. Most of the time I didn't know what was going on and had to backtrack to previous pages to make sense of the gore. Later on I skimmed through the manga, because there wasn't any text to miss anyway. Altogether, I would say that I'm pretty indifferent towards Blame!, but I'm glad I can cross it off my manga bucket list.

As I had been meaning to get a copy of this manga and get started reading it, I appreciate getting this here. It's an entertaining and interesting story with good artwork. Definitely recommended.

I have no idea what I just read but the artwork is excellent. Kyrii is a young man on a quest. He is looking for the Net Terminal Gene. I have no idea why he is looking for this gene or what he will do with this once he finds it but his search leads him through a world made of various levels (strata) encountering alien creatures, robotic monsters and other weird beings. Despite all the encounters and battles he is quite dogged in his determination to find this Gene.

The artwork is brilliant and it conveys the strangeness of this futuristic world. We are not given much detail about who Kyrii is or why he is searching. There is little prose here and Kyrii's adventures are told through the graphics, I guess the story will unfold in other volumes but for now this is an excellent start. Definitely a must for fans of sci - fi manga.

Copy provided by publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

It is a very dark, futuristic tale of a man searching for Net Terminal Genes, to control the Netsphere. There is not a profound amount of dialogue, so readers have to rely on the visuals for a narrative. "Blame!" is for those who enjoy a profound amount of action.

Thank you Net Galley for providing this copy in trade for an honest review.

This review is also posted in my blog : https://onewordtoomuch.wordpress.com/2018/02/25/blame-vol-1-blame-1/

Cyberpunk style manga is quite new to me. This book is a silent read, not many words to tell the story. Fantastic graphic though, to pictured a dying world made of steel and concrete. It’s scary but at the same time feels surreal. The character of Killy is also pictured very silent. The entire world is silent, not a sound, only like falling rocks, shots, footsteps or metal. Come to think of it, it’s kind of creepy! Imagine if you have to walk through an empty building/city and then suddenly got attacked from behind the wall or from above.

As for the story, I have to give it 3 stars. I don’t quite feel it. It doesn’t really tell the beginning or what is really happening. What is the net terminal genes? Why is Killy looking for it? Why is he being chased by every robot that he encounters? Are those robots or androids or human with machine enhancements? So confusing and yet not a single clue until the end of the book. It might be possible that I have to read the entire series to understand the story.

Many surprises waited at every turn of each chapter. However, I would prefer some preliminary story so I don’t get confused about the story. What kept me going is because the way Nihei pictured the world. It’s very detailed and dark. Great imagination on the city and the creatures. I have to give 5 stars for the illustration style. The movement, the action is also very detailed and feels real.

Recommend for those who loves manga with cyberpunk style, dystopian theme, and absolutely great graphic!

I won’t lie, I was bored with this from beginning to end. The illustrations were interesting but there was next to no character development and plot. I was bored and incredibly confused about what was happening and how it all linked together.

Please see my Goodreads review for a more comprehensive report of how I experienced this manga. However, I would like to say that this is a piece of art - it is revolutionary in its genre and visually beautiful.

Recently, I’ve had Blame! recommended to me a few times so when I had the opportunity to read the first volume of the Master Edition, I jumped on it. Blame! Vol. 1 by Tsutomu Nihei is a manga set in a post apocalyptic world which follows a lone man on his search for the Net Terminal Gene.

Blame! follows Kyrii, a man who lives deep within a city so large it has encompassed everything. There is nothing but metal, level after level, with no ground to speak of. Kyrii is searching for the Net Terminal Gene – a mutation that connected humans to the cybernetic NetSphere long ago. Alone, he searches the vast city for any clues to the gene.

The world this manga is set in is fascinating. The entire world is cold metal. Everything takes place within an immense, labyrinthine structure, a city that, while once great, has now fallen into ruin. Corridor after corridor, floor after floor Kyrii searches for any clues about the Net Terminal Gene. Only a sliver of sky is seen, and even then only once. A once thriving, highly technical world is now gone. Humans – true humans – are incredibly rare. Cyborgs exist, but even then, the vast majority of this vast complex remains uninhabited.

The sheer size and scope of the ruins Kyrii explores is best understood later within the volume. Depictions of long corridors and an endless expanse of floor upon floor of metal causeways truly show just how vast this world is, and, beyond that, just how empty. The city is unnervingly empty. Even enemies aren’t plentiful. Characters met in one section don’t always know about the pockets of civilization found in other sections. No one knows just how high the floors reach. Those on higher floors have no idea how many floors lie below them. Floors that lie across bridges house creatures so different from Kyrii that they might as well be, and probably are, entirely different species.

I was held completely captive by the dilapidated sci-fi world alone. I love this aesthetic, and I am always on board for mysterious pasts and fallen civilizations. While little of the world and either its current or former inhabitants is known in beginning chapters, more information does come to light as the manga continues. Later in the manga more information is given as the main character himself comes closer to his goal. Inferences can also be made by what the characters don’t know, and its these inferences that can be the most unnerving.

Now, the art can be a bit gory. Kyrii comes into contact with multiple groups of enemies throughout the story. Due partially to the type of weapon he wields – a Gravitation Beam Emitter – the destruction is a bit intense. Enemies are, at times, quite monstrous. They are unsettling at best and grotesque at worst. This is something I love, but do be aware that there are blood, guts, and some terrifying looking monsters within this manga.

Kyrii isn’t one for emotions. He is stoic, calm in the face of terrible danger and grotesque monsters. Thus far little is known about his personal history. He isn’t necessarily a character one follows because he is likable or easily relatable. He’s the sort of character one reads about simply because he’s so incredibly good at what he does. If utterly decimating hordes of bad guys is what you like the most in a main character, Kyrii fits the bill rather well.

There is very little dialogue in this manga. The main character is often on his own exploring the far reaches of his world, ever in search of his goal. He doesn’t talk to himself as he traverses one level after another nor are any of his thoughts outlined in text. There is dialogue when Kyrii comes across pockets of civilization, or another lone wanderer.

Yet, no dialogue is needed most of the time. The setting itself speaks volumes, more than any sort of info dump or self-reflection could. For example, there is a line where a character says that they don’t know what dirt is. The following cells and pages show exactly why.

Events begin to really pick up towards the end of the volume. More characters are introduced, more dialogue is present, and more world building occurs. Some of the earlier chapters, while visually interesting, do feel as if little progress is being made. This does change towards the latter half of the manga.

I really enjoyed Blame! Vol. 1 by Tsutomu Nihei, and will definitely be continuing with the series. One thing of note if you’re planning on purchasing this volume. This particular edition is the Master Edition, which an over-sized, very lovely edition. However, it is pricey, so keep in mind that it is also available in digital format on platforms such as Comixology.

I like manga but this one wasn't really for me. Im not a huge fan of action manga and this was an example of why i tend not to enjoy them. The action scenes were nicely designed but i just found the overall story a bit samey and i got bored with the action scenes after the end of the second part.

I just had to ditch this one - I don't normally have a problem with reading manga, but I got to the end of Log One (or whatever it was called) knowing what had gone on in about half the images at most. I'm sure it's a smart book of its kind, but for me the action scenes were impenetrable.

'Blame! Vol. 1' by Tsutomu Nihei is a massive 408 page story of a man trapped in a huge city, and this is only volume 1!

In a book that has more visual than narrative, we meet a man named Kyrii that is travelling through a strange environment. We eventually learn that he is living in a huge city that seems to have grown out of machines. No one knows what land is. Kyrii has a gun called a Graviton Beam Emitter that can take out the threats to him. He is looking for the Net Terminal Gene, though I never felt like I knew why.

It's a vast sprawling city, but after 400 pages, I felt a bit weary of it all. Sure the main character is interesting, and the environment and cybercreatures are horrific and strange, but I felt like there was just a lot of the same. I did like the art quite a bit. I'd also like to find out what happens to Kyrii.

I received a review copy of this manga from Vertical Comics, Kodansha Comics, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this manga.

This is definitely not a graphic novel for everyone but I really enjoyed it. I first heard of this series after a friend started watching the anime movie of the same title. I'm not big on watching things usually so when I had the chance to read this through Netgalley, I jumped at it. I really enjoyed the storyline, although for the first while there's not a lot of dialect. This just makes way for the haunting and gorgeous visuals. Once you get further in, the story unfolds and more makes sense but still leaves many questions unanswered, leaving the reader wanting more. Since this is a machines versus human story, there's quite a but of violence and gore on both sides. Because of this, thus series would have to be a teen, possibly older teens, to adult series. Either way, it's one I want to read more of.

I would like to thank the publisher, author, and Netgalley for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Blame is a beautiful, violent manga that has very little dialogue but keeps your attention with its gritty art-style and action that keeps pulling you forward. Did I mention it’s violent? Not for everyone, I enjoyed it and had an idea of what I was getting into after having seen the anime recently. Kyrii is on the hunt for a gene that allows a person to interact with the technology that runs amok in this scary future-ish world where there are few humans and no one knows quite where the surface is or can even travel very far because it’s just that dangerous. Kyrii is both super durable and has a very powerful gun which allows him the ability to go where no one else quite can and he’s determined to get that gene.

I'm a huge fan of the original BLAME! and this edition does it decent justice. Nihei isn't an amazing storyteller, but God if his artwork isn't some of the best, most unnerving things in the world. I love the grungy, apoc-future detail, the Giger-looking cyborgs, and his gorgeously desolate landscapes. If anything, the manga is a very quick, pretty good overall read, especially for those will reading disabilities; the manga is focused less on narration and more on mood and art. Just be careful, it can get violent, so it's not something for younger kids.

If you're looking for thrilling story and dialog, you won't find it in BLAME! (maybe try Biomega which has the same sort of futuristic feel) but you'll definitely get a kick out of it if you like science fiction manga.

An intense manga with some strong sci-fi elements. A lot of fun!

I am flummoxed. I very much wanted to like this book. I feel like it would increase my "cool" factor exponentially if I did, but alas I was confused and slightly perturbed.  As a reader I don't have a whole lot of experience with Manga as a genre. I have dabbled in it, but never went swimming. That being said, I have quite a bit of experience in reading the cyber punk genre which is one of my favorites. Manga absolutely excels in it. "Ghost in the Shell," and "Akira" are bonafide classics and rightly so.  But "Blame!" just didn't do it for me. I can appreciate the quality of the artwork and the simplicity of the dialog: the dialog is minimalistic and it relies on the stark visuals to convey meaning and tone. But, I think it reached to far into starkness and loses any sort of context for the story. I got lost repeatedly and the characters ended up meaning nothing to me. Any die hard manga fan should check out this novel but the average reader trying to branch out would be well served to check out "Akira" or "Ghost in the shell".

Eh maybe I am just not cool enough.

Breathtaking in scope, unreal in how imaginative it is. There isn't a tremendous amount of dialogue, yet, the artwork, the world and everyone and everything in it holds your attention. I understand the love people have for this epic comic. This is a masterpiece.

Well, Nihei is Nihei. I've read Knights of Sidonia, so I kind of knew what I got into. Blame! is a dark and suffocating manga in which nothing really happens. It's very similar to Sidonia and it's not about the plot either, but more about the atmosphere. Nihei is a master at creating these horrific feelings that are hard to pinpoint. The story is set in the future and there are hardly any humans around, and the city is so big that no one knows where the surface even is anymore. Kyrii travels trying to find humans with a gene that can access the cybernetic NetSphere and along the way he kills whatever he finds and everyone tries to kill him. There's hardly any text and the hollowness eats away everything. The manga is old and Nihei's art isn't all that jazz, but aside the weird long faces, it looks good or at least the age doesn't show.

I'm glad Blame! is back on the market, since it was hard to find for a long time. Nihei's style is one of a kind so it's great that Vertical publishes it. I do wish we'd get more seinen manga on the market and not only the dark and oppressive ones. The pace in Blame! is great though, since it's deadly slow and works well and we surely need more slow comics. In a way the series is very philosophical even. An interesting read, surely.