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Blame!

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This article is about the Japanese science fiction manga. For the anime film based on the manga, see Blame! (film). For other uses, see Blame (disambiguation).

Blame![a] (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese science fiction manga series written and illustrated by Tsutomu Nihei. It was published by Kodansha in the seinen manga magazine Monthly Afternoon from 1997 to 2003, with its chapters collected in ten tankōbon volumes. A six-part original net animation (ONA) by Group TAC was produced in 2003, with a seventh episode included on the DVD release. An anime film adaptation by Polygon Pictures was released as a Netflix original in May 2017.

Blame!
First tankōbon volume cover, featuring Killy
Genre
Manga
Written byTsutomu Nihei
Published byKodansha
English publisher
ImprintAfternoon KC
MagazineMonthly Afternoon
DemographicSeinen
Original runJanuary 25, 1997 – July 25, 2003
Volumes10
Original net animation
Blame! Ver. 0.11
Directed byShintarō Inokawa
Produced byKazuki Nakamura
Written byMayori Sekijima
Music by
  • Hiroyuki Onogawa
  • KIYOSHI (BORN'S) (#3)
StudioGroup TAC
Licensed by
Released2003
Runtime6 minutes (each)
Episodes6 + OVA
Manga
Blame Academy!
Written byTsutomu Nihei
Published byKodansha
MagazineMonthly Afternoon
DemographicSeinen
Original runFebruary 25, 2004 – May 25, 2008
Volumes1
Manga
NetSphere Engineer
Written byTsutomu Nihei
Published byKodansha
MagazineBessatsu Morning
DemographicSeinen
PublishedDecember 16, 2004
Original net animation
Blame! Prologue
Directed byShigeyuki Watanabe
Music byYuichi Nonaka
StudioProduction I.G
ReleasedSeptember 7, 2007
Runtime4 minutes
Episodes2
Manga
Blame!2
Written byTsutomu Nihei
Published byKodansha
MagazineMandala
DemographicSeinen
PublishedMarch 21, 2008
Manga
Blame! Denki Ryōshi Kiki Kaisō Dasshutsu Sakusen
Written byKotaro Sekine
Published byKodansha
MagazineMonthly Shōnen Sirius
DemographicShōnen
Original runApril 26, 2017 – October 26, 2017
Volumes1
Anime film
icon Anime and manga portal

Synopsis

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Setting

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Double page from Blame!

Blame! is set in "The City", a gigantic megastructure occupying much of what used to be the Solar System. Its exact size is unknown, but Tsutomu Nihei suggested its diameter to be at least equal to Jupiter's orbit, or about 1.6 billion kilometers (a detail suggested in the manga by having Killy cross an empty, spherical room roughly the size of Jupiter, suggesting that it had housed the planet before its disassembly.)

According to the prequel manga NOiSE, the City began as a much smaller structure erected on Earth by the robotic "Builders". Humanity controlled the Builders through the Netsphere, an advanced computer network whose access was restricted to human use only, and authenticated by a genetic marker known as the Net Terminal Gene. Anyone who attempted to access the Netsphere without the marker was eliminated by an automated security force known as the Safeguards. However, a terrorist cult known as "the Order" released a retrovirus that deleted the Net Terminal Gene from all humans, thus cutting off their access to the Netsphere and their control over the Builders. Without specific instructions, the Builders began to build chaotically and indefinitely, while the Safeguards' programming degraded into a mandate to kill all humans without the Net Terminal Gene, whether they wanted to access the Netsphere or not.

By the time of the events of the manga, the City has come to resemble a series of layered, concentric Dyson spheres, filled with haphazard architecture and largely devoid of life. These layers compose the supporting scaffold of the City, known as the Megastructure; the underside of each layer periodically illuminates the overside of the one below to provide a day–night cycle. The Megastructure is extremely durable, with only a direct blast from a Gravitational Beam Emitter being able to penetrate it. Travel between layers is challenging, both due to the City's chaotic layout and the risk of provoking a Safeguard response; due to the size of the City, it is also extremely time-consuming, despite such amenities as elevators that can reach relativistic speeds. The buildings on each layer are largely uninhabited, although scattered human and post-human tribes, rogue Builders, hostile Safeguards, and Silicon Life can be found throughout the entire City.

Plot

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See also: List of Blame! characters

Killy, a silent loner possessing an incredibly powerful weapon known as a Gravitational Beam Emitter, wanders a vast technological world known as "The City". He is searching for Net Terminal Genes, a (possibly) extinct genetic marker that allows humans to access the "Netsphere", a sort of computerized control network for The City. The City is an artificial structure of immense volume, separated into massive "floors" by nearly-impenetrable barriers known as "Megastructure". The City is inhabited by scattered human and transhuman tribes as well as hostile cyborgs known as Silicon Life. The Net Terminal Genes appear to be the key to halting the unhindered, chaotic expansion of the Megastructure, as well as a way of stopping the murderous robot horde known as the Safeguard from destroying all of humanity.

Along the way, Killy meets and joins forces with a resourceful engineer named Cibo. Their quest is indirectly supported by the City's Authority, which is unable to stop the Safeguard from opposing them. Together, Killy and Cibo meet a young girl named Sanakan and a tribe of human warriors called the Electro-Fishers. Killy's cybernetic abilities are restored after he is attacked by a high-level Safeguard, which turns out to have been Sanakan in disguise. She transforms into her Safeguard form and attacks the Electro-Fishers' village when discovered. Killy and Cibo defend the Electro-Fishers by bringing them to the cylindrical megastructure of Toha Heavy Industries. Here they meet Mensab, an AI independent from the Administration, and her guardian Seu, a human. The megastructure is ultimately destroyed due to attacks by Silicon Life and Sanakan, but Mensab is able to give Cibo a sample of Seu's DNA.

Killy and Cibo next come to a region of the City ruled by a group of Silicon Life, where they ally with a pair of "provisional Safeguards" named Dhomochevsky and Iko. Seu's DNA is stolen by the Silicon leader, Davine, who uses it to access the Netsphere. Dhomochevsky sacrifices his life to kill Davine, but not before she downloads an extremely powerful Level 9 Safeguard from the Netsphere which manifests in Cibo's body. The Cibo Safeguard destroys the entire region.

14 years later, Killy's body repairs itself from the attack and he continues his journey. He meets a human whose physical body is dead and whose consciousness is preserved in a device resembling a USB stick, and takes her with him. Upon eventually finding Cibo again he discovers that she, having lost her memory, was eventually rescued by Sanakan, who is now allied with the Authority against the rest of the Safeguard. Cibo's body is incubating a "sphere" which contains both her and Sanakan’s genetic information. Ultimately, Cibo and Sanakan both die in a final confrontation with the Safeguard, but Killy survives and preserves the sphere. The digital consciousness Killy picked up earlier is seen in human form in the Netsphere, recounting Killy’s quest to other entities an unknown amount of time in the future. She is told that Killy’s journey to the outside of the City will be longer and harder than anything that came before. Killy finally reaches the edge of the City, where he is shot in the head and incapacitated, but a flood of water carries him to the surface of the City where stars are visible and the sphere begins to glow. In the final page, Killy is seen fighting in the corridors of the City again, alongside a small child wearing a hazmat suit.

Media

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Manga

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Blame! was written and illustrated by Tsutomu Nihei. The series ran in Kodansha's Monthly Afternoon from 1997 to 2003.[5] Its chapters were collected in ten tankōbon volumes by Kodansha's Afternoon KC imprint.

In February 2005, Tokyopop announced that it has licensed Blame! for U.S. distribution, with publication beginning in August 2005. After releasing the final volume in 2007, the series has gone out of print with several volumes becoming increasingly hard to find. In February 2016, Vertical announced that it had licensed the series.[1]

Volumes

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Tankōbon release
No. Original release date Original ISBN English release date English ISBN
1 June 20, 1998[6]4-06-314182-9August 9, 2005[7]1-59532-834-3
2 December 16, 1998[8]4-06-314194-2November 8, 2005[9]1-59532-835-1
3 August 20, 1999[10]4-06-314218-3February 7, 2006[11]1-59532-836-X
4 March 21, 2000[12]4-06-314235-3May 9, 2006[13]1-59532-837-8
5 September 20, 2000[14]4-06-314251-5August 8, 2006[15]1-59532-838-6
6 March 21, 2001[16]4-06-314263-9November 7, 2006[17]1-59532-839-4
7 October 20, 2001[18][19]4-06-314277-9
4-06-336342-2 (limited edition)		February 13, 2007[20]1-59532-840-8
8 April 20, 2002[21]4-06-314289-2May 8, 2007[22]1-59532-841-6
9 December 18, 2002[23]4-06-314310-4August 7, 2007[24]1-59532-842-4
10 September 18, 2003[25]4-06-314328-7November 13, 2007[26]1-59532-843-2
Master's edition
No. Original release date Original ISBN English release date English ISBN
1 April 23, 2015[27]978-4-06-377201-2September 13, 2016[28]978-1-942993-77-3
2 April 23, 2015[29]978-4-06-377202-9December 13, 2016[30]978-1-942993-78-0
3 May 22, 2015[31]978-4-06-377203-6March 21, 2017[32]978-1-942993-79-7
4 May 22, 2015[33]978-4-06-377204-3June 27, 2017[34]978-1-942993-80-3
5 June 23, 2015[35]978-4-06-377210-4September 12, 2017[34]978-1-942993-81-0
6 June 23, 2015[36]978-4-06-377211-1December 12, 2017[34]978-1-942993-82-7

Blame Academy!

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Blame Academy! (ブラム学園!, Buramu Gakuen!) is a spin-off series of Blame!. Set in the same "City" as Blame!, it is a parody and comedy about various characters in the main Blame! story in a traditional Japanese school setting. Various elements in the main Blame! story are being parodied, including the relationship between Killy and Cibo, and Dhomochevsky and Iko. It was irregularly published in Monthly Afternoon. A compilation volume, titled Blame Academy! and So On was published by Kodansha on September 19, 2008.[37]

Blame!2

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Blame!2 (ブラム!2, Buramu! Tsū, stylized as BLAME!²), subtitled Chronicle of the Escape from the Megastructure by the Eighth Incarnation of Pcell (第八系子体プセルの都市構造体脱出記, Dai-hachi Keikotai Puseru no Toshikōzōtai Dasshutsu Ki), is a full-color, 16-page one-shot. Like NSE: NetSphere Engineer, Blame!2 is a sequel to the original Blame!, taking place at a point in the distant future. It was published March 21, 2008 in the second volume of Kodansha's Weekly Morning Special Edition magazine, Mandala. This one-shot was also compiled in one volume with Blame Academy!, titled Blame Academy! and So On in 2008. Set an undefined but long time after the events of Blame!, it follows an incarnation of Pcell. After Killy's success in Blame!, humanity has begun to dominate The City once more and began wiping out most Silicon Life. After P-cell escapes the extinction as the sole survivor of her kind (which is beset by humanity and the Safeguard), she is saved from death by Killy. She eventually makes it to the edge of the City, where it is implied she travels to another planet and restarts Silicon Life civilization using the stored gene-data of her dead companions.

NSE: NetSphere Engineer

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NSE: NetSphere Engineer (ネットスフィアエンジニア, Netto Sufia Enjinia) is a sequel to Blame!. It was originally published as a one-shot in the Bessatsu Morning magazine. This one-shot was compiled in one volume with Blame Academy!, titled Blame Academy! and So On in 2008. NSE: NetSphere Engineer follows a "Dismantler", a NetSphere Engineer in charge of disabling the remaining nexus towers that summon Safeguard interference upon its detection of humans without the net terminal genes. Like Blame!2, NSE is set in a long but undefined time period after the events of Blame!. However, it is implied it is even later than Blame!2 as Safeguards are now very rare encounters.

Blame! Denki Ryōshi Kiki Kaisō Dasshutsu Sakusen

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A manga adaptation of the Blame! film illustrated by Kotaro Sekine was serialized in Kodansha's Monthly Shōnen Sirius from April 26 to October 26, 2017,[38][39][40] and collected into one volume, released on February 9, 2018.[41]

Blame!: The Ancient Terminal City

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A trailer revealing a special Blame! short, appearing at the beginning of the 8th episode of Knights of Sidonia: Battle for Planet Nine (the second season of the anime adaptation of Knights of Sidonia), was released in November 2014. The episode aired in May 2015. The short is contextualized as a TV program that the people of Sidonia tune in for.[42]

Film

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Main article: Blame! (film)

Plans for a full-length CG animated film were announced in 2007.[43] However, this proposed CG film project was not released before Micott and Basara (the studio hired) filed for bankruptcy in 2011.[42] It was announced in November 2015 that the series would get an anime theatrical film adaptation.[44] The film is directed by Hiroyuki Seshita and written by Tsutomu Nihei and Sadayuki Murai, with animation by Polygon Pictures and character designs by Yuki Moriyama. It was released globally as a Netflix original on May 20, 2017.[45]

On October 5, 2017, Viz Media announced at their New York Comic Con panel that they licensed the home video rights to the film.[46] They released it on DVD and Blu-ray on March 27, 2018.

Reception

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Jarred Pine from Mania.com commented "[it] is not an easy task" to talk about the story in the first volume as "it leaves quite a gamut of questions open for the reader, nothing on the surface to give the reader a sense of direction or purpose".[47][48] Pine said Blame! doesn't have a mass appeal and "there will be quite a strong line dividing those who love and hate Nihei's unique and convoluted cyberpunk journey".[48]

In 2006, the Tokyopop distribution was nominated for a Harvey Award in the category "Best American Edition of Foreign Material".[49]

Notes

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  1. ^ Pronounced "Blam" like the gunshot.[4]

References

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  1. ^ a b Hodgkins, Crystalyn (February 13, 2016). "Vertical Licenses Blame!, Dissolving Classroom, Immortal Hounds Manga". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on September 11, 2020. Retrieved February 13, 2016.
  2. ^ Martin, Theron (May 23, 2017). "Blame! – Review". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on May 23, 2017. Retrieved April 6, 2020. the 1998 cyberpunk manga Blame! Although it was adapted into a series of six ONA shorts back in 2003
  3. ^ Santos, Carlo (July 29, 2005). "Blame! DVD - Review". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on September 11, 2020. Retrieved April 6, 2020. the setting of Blame! isn't so hard to understand; it's the usual post-apocalyptic science fiction fare.
  4. ^ Brothers, David. "Tsutomu Nihei, A Manga Creator for America". Comics Alliance. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
  5. ^ 弐瓶勉が劇場版「BLAME!」のために描いた設定資料が1冊に、本日発売. Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. May 22, 2017. Archived from the original on April 16, 2021. Retrieved February 7, 2021.
  6. ^ ＢＬＡＭＥ！（１）. Kodansha (in Japanese). Archived from the original on July 27, 2020. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
  7. ^ Nihei, Tsutomu (August 9, 2005). Blame! Vol. 1. TokyoPop. ISBN 1595328343.
  8. ^ ＢＬＡＭＥ！（２）. Kodansha (in Japanese). Archived from the original on July 27, 2020. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
  9. ^ Nihei, Tsutomu (November 8, 2005). Blame! Vol. 2. TokyoPop. ISBN 1595328351.
  10. ^ ＢＬＡＭＥ！（３）. Kodansha (in Japanese). Archived from the original on July 27, 2020. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
  11. ^ Nihei, Tsutomu (February 7, 2006). Blame! Vol. 3. TokyoPop. ISBN 159532836X.
  12. ^ ＢＬＡＭＥ！（４）. Kodansha (in Japanese). Archived from the original on July 27, 2020. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
  13. ^ Nihei, Tsutomu (May 9, 2006). Blame! Vol. 4. ISBN 1595328378.
  14. ^ ＢＬＡＭＥ！（５）. Kodansha (in Japanese). Archived from the original on July 27, 2020. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
  15. ^ Nihei, Tsutomu (August 8, 2006). Blame! Vol. 5. TokyoPop. ISBN 1595328386.
  16. ^ ＢＬＡＭＥ！（６）. Kodansha (in Japanese). Archived from the original on July 27, 2020. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
  17. ^ Nihei, Tsutomu (November 7, 2006). Blame! Vol. 6. TokyoPop. ISBN 1595328394.
  18. ^ ＢＬＡＭＥ！（７）. Kodansha (in Japanese). Archived from the original on July 27, 2020. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
  19. ^ ＢＬＡＭＥ！（７）限定電装版. Kodansha (in Japanese). Archived from the original on July 27, 2020. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
  20. ^ Nihei, Tsutomu (February 13, 2007). Blame! Vol. 7. TokyoPop. ISBN 978-1595328403.
  21. ^ ＢＬＡＭＥ！（８）. Kodansha (in Japanese). Archived from the original on July 27, 2020. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
  22. ^ Nihei, Tsutomu (May 8, 2007). Blame! Vol. 8. TokyoPop. ISBN 978-1595328410.
  23. ^ ＢＬＡＭＥ！（９）. Kodansha (in Japanese). Archived from the original on July 27, 2020. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
  24. ^ Nihei, Tsutomu (August 7, 2007). Blame! Vol. 9. TokyoPop. ISBN 978-1595328427.
  25. ^ ＢＬＡＭＥ！（１０）. Kodansha (in Japanese). Archived from the original on July 27, 2020. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
  26. ^ Nihei, Tsutomu (November 13, 2007). Blame! Vol. 10. TokyoPop. ISBN 978-1595328434.
  27. ^ 新装版 ＢＬＡＭＥ！（１）. Kodansha (in Japanese). Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
  28. ^ "BLAME! 1". Penguin Random House. Archived from the original on March 7, 2016. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
  29. ^ 新装版 ＢＬＡＭＥ！（２）. Kodansha (in Japanese). Archived from the original on September 8, 2016. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
  30. ^ "BLAME! 2". Penguin Random House. Archived from the original on April 28, 2016. Retrieved April 16, 2016.
  31. ^ 新装版 ＢＬＡＭＥ！（３）. Kodansha (in Japanese). Archived from the original on January 22, 2016. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
  32. ^ "BLAME!, 3". Penguin Random House. Archived from the original on September 19, 2016. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
  33. ^ 新装版 ＢＬＡＭＥ！（４）. Kodansha (in Japanese). Archived from the original on August 26, 2016. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
  34. ^ a b c "BLAME!, 4". Vertical Comics. Archived from the original on July 15, 2017. Retrieved July 11, 2017.
  35. ^ 新装版 ＢＬＡＭＥ！（５）. Kodansha (in Japanese). Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
  36. ^ 新装版 ＢＬＡＭＥ！（６）＜完＞. Kodansha (in Japanese). Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
  37. ^ ブラム学園！ アンドソーオン 弐瓶勉作品集 (in Japanese). Kodansha. Archived from the original on December 13, 2013. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
  38. ^ 映画「BLAME!」のコミカライズがシリウスで始動、夜桜×デュラポスターも. Comic Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. April 26, 2017. Archived from the original on August 13, 2023. Retrieved February 6, 2024.
  39. ^ Ressler, Karen (September 25, 2017). "New Blame! Manga Reaches 'Last Battle' Next Month". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on December 7, 2023. Retrieved October 24, 2023.
  40. ^ 次号シリウスで「怪物王女」新シリーズ始動、「A.I.C.O.」コミカライズも. Comic Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. October 26, 2017. Archived from the original on August 13, 2023. Retrieved February 6, 2024.
  41. ^ 弐瓶勉が描く愉快で不思議なフルカラー作品集「ブラム学園！」新装版に. Comic Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. February 9, 2018. Archived from the original on April 24, 2021. Retrieved February 6, 2024.
  42. ^ a b Loo, Egan (November 23, 2014). "Tsutomu Nihei's Blame! Anime Previewed With English Subtitles". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on November 25, 2014. Retrieved November 23, 2014.
  43. ^ "BLAME!, Cyberpunk CG Animated film Announced". twitchfilm.net. Archived from the original on July 12, 2010. Retrieved August 11, 2008.
  44. ^ Hodgkins, Crystalyn (November 19, 2015). "Tsutomu Nihei's Blame! Manga Gets Theatrical Anime Adaptation". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on July 29, 2020. Retrieved November 19, 2015.
  45. ^ "Blame! Movie Adaptation Coming to Netflix Original in 2017". Nagame Digital. Archived from the original on October 9, 2016. Retrieved July 10, 2016.
  46. ^ Ressler, Karen (October 5, 2017). "Viz Media to Release Blame! Anime Film on Home Video". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on October 6, 2017. Retrieved October 5, 2017.
  47. ^ Beveridge, Chris (May 3, 2005). "Blame! (also w/T-shirt)". Mania. Archived from the original on March 9, 2014. Retrieved February 17, 2013.
  48. ^ a b Pine, Jarred (September 1, 2005). "Blame! Vol. #01". Mania. Archived from the original on March 15, 2013. Retrieved February 17, 2013.
  49. ^ "The Harvey Awards 2006 nominees and winners". harveyawards.org. Archived from the original on May 22, 2007. Retrieved March 15, 2008.
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