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).
Cover of the first manga volume
ブラム!
(Buramu!)
Sci-fi, action, cyberpunk, post-apocalyptic[1]
English publisher
Tokyopop (former)
Original run
November 25, 1998 – July 25, 2003
10 (List of volumes)
Original net animation
Shintarō Inokawa
Kazuki Nakamura
Mayori Sekijima
Hiroyuki Onogawa
KIYOSHI (BORN'S) (ep. 3)
Group TAC
AnimeWorks
6 + 1 OVA
Net Sphere Engineer
Morning Extra
Blame! Academy
February 25, 2004 – May 25, 2008
Blame! Prologue
Shigeyuki Watanabe
Yuichi Nonaka
Blame!²
Blame! (2017 film)
Anime and Manga portal
Blame! (Japanese: ブラム!, Hepburn: Buramu!), pronounced "blam", is a ten-volume Japanese science fiction manga by Tsutomu Nihei published by Kodansha from 1996 to 2003. A six-part original net animation 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.
1.1 Setting
2.1 Manga
2.1.1 Volumes
2.1.2 Blame! Academy
2.1.3 Blame!²
2.1.4 NSE: Net Sphere Engineer
2.2 Blame!: The Ancient Terminal City
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 immense volume of artificial structure, 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 Creatures. 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 horde known as the Safeguard from destroying all humanity.
Along the way, Killy meets and joins forces with a resourceful engineer named Cibo and several groups such as a tribe of human warriors called the Electro-Fishers. Cibo and Killy are often pursued by the Safeguard, who view any human without Net Terminal Genes as a threat to be extinguished on sight. Because of the size and nature of The City and the violent lives led by its inhabitants, there are virtually no recurring characters and any alliances made are short-lived.
Setting[edit]
Double page from BLAME!
The City is actually a structure that began on Earth. The mechanical beings known as Builders, which move around renovating and creating new landscapes, appear to have begun building without end, creating an enormous structure with little internal logic or coherence. The City appears to be organized into distinct floors, with layers of an unknown nigh-indestructible material called "the megastructure" between them. Traveling between floors is extremely difficult as the megastructure is almost indestructible and approaching the floor boundaries results in a massive safeguard response. Only a direct Gravitational Beam Emitter blast is known to have been capable of penetrating the megastructure.
Each floor consists of a crust of kilometers high buildings haphazardly built together. Above the crust is an empty sky all the way to the floor of the next level. Descending from the sky are staircases which take upwards of 10 days to climb. The floor of the next level is made of megastructure, but also serves as sunlight/night sky for the floor below.
The City, and the Builders, were once controlled by the Netsphere and the Authority but they have since lost the power to control the expansion of The City due to the chaotic and dangerous manner of its growth. Without intervention by a user with Net Terminal Genes they cannot reestablish control over The City nor the Safeguards, whose original job was to eliminate any humans who try to access the Netsphere without Net Terminal Genes. The Safeguard now attempts to destroy all humans without the Net Terminal Gene as the degradation of The City has corrupted their true goals.
In regard to the scale of the structure, NOiSE, the prequel to Blame!, states in its final chapter that "At one point even the Moon, which used to be up in the sky above, was integrated into The City's structure". It has been suggested by Tsutomu Nihei himself in his artbook Blame! and So On that the scale of The City is beyond that of a Dyson sphere, reaching at least Jupiter's planetary orbit (for a radius of around 5.2 AU, or 778,547,200 km); this is also suggested in scenarios such as Blame! vol. 9, where Killy finds himself having to travel through a room roughly the size of Jupiter (roughly 143,000 km).[2][3]
Media[edit]
Manga[edit]
The original Japanese manga was collected into 10 volumes (tankōbon) by Kodansha's Afternoon KC division. 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 2006 the Tokyopop distribution was nominated for a Harvey Award in the category 'Best American Edition of Foreign Material'.[4] In February 2016, Vertical announced that it had licensed the series.[1]
Volumes[edit]
Tankōbon release
Japanese release date
Japanese ISBN
English release date
English ISBN
June 1998 ISBN 4-06-314182-9 August 2005 ISBN 1-59532-834-3
August 1999 ISBN 4-06-314194-2 November 2005 ISBN 1-59532-835-1
December 1999 ISBN 4-06-314218-3 February 2006 ISBN 1-59532-836-X
March 2000 ISBN 4-06-314235-3 May 2006 ISBN 1-59532-837-8
September 2000 ISBN 4-06-314251-5 July 2006 ISBN 1-59532-838-6
March 2001 ISBN 4-06-314263-9 November 2006 ISBN 1-59532-839-4
October 2001 ISBN 4-06-314277-9 February 2007 ISBN 1-59532-840-8
April 2002 ISBN 4-06-314289-2 May 2007 ISBN 1-59532-841-6
December 2002 ISBN 4-06-314310-4 August 2007 ISBN 1-59532-842-4
September 2003 ISBN 4-06-314328-7 November 2007 ISBN 1-59532-843-2
Master's edition
April 23, 2015[5] ISBN 978-4-06-377201-2 September 13, 2016[6] ISBN 9781942993773
April 23, 2015[7] ISBN 978-4-06-377202-9 December 13, 2016[8] ISBN 9781942993780
May 22, 2015[9] ISBN 978-4-06-377203-6 March 21, 2017[10] ISBN 9781942993797
May 22, 2015[11] ISBN 978-4-06-377204-3 June 27, 2017[12] ISBN 9781942993803
June 23, 2015[13] ISBN 978-4-06-377210-4 September 12, 2017[14] ISBN 9781942993810
June 23, 2015[15] ISBN 978-4-06-377211-1 December 12, 2017[16] ISBN 9781942993827
Blame! Academy[edit]
Blame! Academy (ブラム学園!, Buramu Gakuen!) is a spin-off series of Blame! by Tsutomu Nihei. 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 Afternoon. A compilation volume, titled Blame Gakuen! and So On was published by Kodansha on September 19, 2008.[17]
Blame!²[edit]
Blame!² (ブラム!², Buramu! Tsu), 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: Net Sphere 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 Gakuen! and So On in 2008. Set an undefined but long time after the events of Blame!, it follows an incarnation of P-cell. 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 & the Safeguard), she is saved from death by Killy. She eventually makes it to the edge of The City, where Killy gifts her a digi-amulet holding the gene-data of her dead companions. It is implied she travels to another planet and restarts Silicon Life civilization.
NSE: Net Sphere Engineer[edit]
NSE: Net Sphere 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 Gakuen! and So On in 2008. NSE: Net Sphere Engineer follows a "Dismantler", a Net Sphere 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!: The Ancient Terminal City[edit]
A trailer revealing a special Blame! short, appearing at the beginning of 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.[18]
Film[edit]
See also: Blame! (film)
Plans for a full-length CG animated movie were announced in 2007.[19] However, this proposed CG film project was not released before Micott and Basara (the studio hired) filed for bankruptcy in 2011.[18]
It was announced in November 2015 that the series will get an anime theatrical film adaptation.[20] 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 the 20th of May 2017.[21]
It was announced in June 2017 that the Netflix original Blame! movie would be receiving a sequel and it was already 'in the works'. [22]
On October 5, 2017, Viz Media announced at their New York Comic Con panel that they licensed the home video rights to the film and plans to release it on Blu-ray Disc and DVD.[23]
Jarred Pine from Mania.com commented "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."[24][25]
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."[25]
^ a b "Vertical Licenses Blame!, Dissolving Classroom, Immortal Hounds Manga". Anime News Network. February 13, 2016. Retrieved February 13, 2016.
^ "Translation from the Blame! artbook". Archived from the original on 2008-03-09. Retrieved 2008-03-15.
^ Blame!, Chapter 58
^ "The Harvey Awards 2006 nominees and winners". harveyawards.org. Archived from the original on 2007-05-22. Retrieved 2008-03-15.
^ 新装版 BLAME!(1). Kodansha (in Japanese). Retrieved February 29, 2016.
^ "BLAME! 1". Penguin Random House. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
^ "BLAME! 2". Penguin Random House. Retrieved April 16, 2016.
^ "BLAME!, 3". Penguin Random House. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
^ "BLAME!, 4". Vertical Comics. Retrieved July 11, 2017.
^ 新装版 BLAME!(6)<完>. Kodansha (in Japanese). Retrieved February 29, 2016.
^ ブラム学園! アンドソーオン 弐瓶勉作品集 (in Japanese). Kodansha. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
^ a b "Tsutomu Nihei's Blame! Anime Previewed With English Subtitles". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2014-11-24.
^ "BLAME!, Cyberpunk CG Animated film Announced". twitchfilm.net. Archived from the original on 2010-07-12. Retrieved 2008-08-11.
^ "Tsutomu Nihei's Blame! Manga Gets Theatrical Anime Adaptation". Anime News Network. 2015-11-19. Retrieved 2016-07-24.
^ "Blame! Movie Adaptation Coming to Netflix Original in 2017". Nagame Digital. Archived from the original on 2016-10-09. Retrieved 2016-07-10.
^ https://www.inquisitr.com/4310262/blame-2-anime-movie-sequel-confirmed-new-upcoming-netflix-blame-season-2-manga-spoilers/
^ "Viz Media to Release Blame! Anime Film on Home Video". Anime News Network. Retrieved October 5, 2017.
^ Beveridge, Chris (May 3, 2005). "Blame! (also w/T-shirt)". Mania. Archived from the original on March 9, 2014. Retrieved February 17, 2013.
^ a b Pine, Jarred (September 1, 2005). "Blame! Vol. #01". Mania. Archived from the original on March 15, 2013. Retrieved February 17, 2013.
Blame! (manga) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
Pine, Jarred (November 14, 2005). "Blame! Vol. #02". Mania. Archived from the original on March 15, 2013. Retrieved February 17, 2013.
Pine, Jarred (March 13, 2006). "Blame! Vol. #03". Mania. Archived from the original on November 23, 2013. Retrieved February 17, 2013.
Pine, Jarred (May 17, 2006). "Blame! Vol. #04". Mania. Archived from the original on November 23, 2013. Retrieved February 17, 2013.
Works by Tsutomu Nihei
Biomega
Abara
Wolverine: Snikt!
Space Battleship Yamato (1974–1975)
Huckleberry no Bōken (1976)
Manga Ijin Monogatari (1977–1978)
Space Battleship Yamato II (1978–1979)
Space Battleship Yamato III (1980–1981)
Tokimeki Tonight (1982–1983)
Igano Kabamaru (1983–1984)
Touch (1985–1987)
Hiatari Ryōkō! (1987–1988)
Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water (1990–1991)
Sunset on Third Street (1990–1991)
Yadamon (1992–1993)
Tama of Third Street: Do You Know My Tama? (1993–1994)
Jungle King Tar-chan (1993–1994)
Gakkō no Kowai Uwasa: Hanako-san ga Kita!! (1994–1995)
Soar High! Isami (1995–1996)
Street Fighter II V (1995)
Bonobono (1995–1996)
Those Who Hunt Elves (1996)
YAT Anshin! Uchū Ryokō (1996–1998)
Fair, then Partly Piggy (1997–1998)
Those Who Hunt Elves 2 (1997)
Android Announcer Maico 2010 (1998)
Flint the Time Detective (1998–1999)
Super Doll Licca-chan (1998–1999)
Legend of Himiko (1999)
Kyorochan (1999–2001)
Oruchuban Ebichu (1999)
Ippatsu Kiki Musume (1999)
Monkey Magic (1999–2000)
Miami Guns (2000)
Fighting Foodons (2000–2001)
Grappler Baki (2001)
The Family's Defensive Alliance (2001)
Cosmic Baton Girl Princess Comet (2001–2002)
Gyōten Ningen Batseelor (2001–2002)
Grappler Baki: Maximum Tournament (2001)
Captain Tsubasa: Road to 2002 (2001–2002)
Gilgamesh (2003–2004)
Twin Spica (2003–2004)
Area 88 (2004)
Viewtiful Joe (2004–2005)
Ton-Ton Atta to Niigata no Mukashi Banashi (2004)
Grenadier (2004–2005)
Gakuen Alice (2004–2005)
Nanami-chan (2004–2009)
Kage Kara Mamoru! (2006)
Hanbun no Tsuki ga Noboru Sora (2006)
Ballad of a Shinigami (2006)
Tokko (2006)
Tama and Friends: Search For It! The Magic Puni-Puni Stone (2006)
Black Blood Brothers (2006)
Tetsuko no Tabi (2007)
Happy Happy Clover (2007)
Space Battleship Yamato (1977)
Farewell to Space Battleship Yamato (1978)
Yamato: The New Voyage (1979)
11 Piki no Neko (1980–1986)
Be Forever Yamato (1980)
Zō no Inai Dōbutsuen (1982)
Final Yamato (1983)
Nine (1983)
Nine the Original (1983)
Nine 2: Sweetheart Declaration (1983)
Nine 3: Final (1984)
Captain Tsubasa: Europe Daikessen (1985)
Night on the Galactic Railroad (1985)
Captain Tsubasa: Ayaushi, Zen Nippon Jr. (1985)
Captain Tsubasa: Asu ni Mukatte Hashire (1986)
Touch: Sebangō no Nai Ace (1986)
Captain Tsubasa: Sekai Daikessen!! Jr. World Cup (1986)
Touch 2: Sayonara no Okurimono (1986)
Touch 3: Kimi ga Tōri Sugita Ato ni (1987)
Murasaki Shikibu Genji Monogatari (1987)
Hiatari Ryōkō! Ka - su - mi: Yume no Naka ni Kimi ga Ita (1988)
White Wolf (1990)
Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water (1991)
Tama of Third Street: Please! Search for Momo-chan!! (1993)
Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie (1994)
Spring and Chaos (1996)
Touch: Miss Lonely Yesterday (1998)
Street Fighter Alpha: The Animation (2000)
The Laws of the Sun (2000)
Touch: Cross Road (2001)
The Golden Laws (2003)
Arashi no Yoru ni (2005)
The Laws of Eternity (2006)
The Rebirth of Buddha (2009)
OVAs/ONAs
Tama and Friends: Third Street Story (1988–1990)
Manga Edo Ero Banashi (1989)
Everyday is Sunday (1990–1992)
Nozomi Witches (1992–1993)
Tenshi Nanka Ja Nai (1994)
Princess Minerva (1995)
Strange Love (1997)
Grandeek (2000)
Submarine 707R (2003)
Blame! (2003)
Ajisai no Uta (2004)
Shinran-sama: Negai, Soshite Hikari (2008)
Works by Production I.G
Appleseed XIII: Ouranos
Appleseed XIII: Tartaros
Attack on Titan - Part 1: Crimson Bow and Arrow
Attack on Titan - Part 2: Wings of Freedom
Book Girl
Cyber Team in Akihabara: Summer Holidays of 2011
Fate/Grand Order - Wandering; Airgetlám / Paladin; Airgetlám
Garm Wars: The Last Druid
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - Solid State Society
Ghost in the Shell: The New Movie
Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade
Kick-Heart
Kill Bill: Volume 1 (animated sequence)
Kuroko's Basketball The Movie: Last Game
Loups=Garous
Nadesico: Prince of Darkness
Mass Effect: Paragon Lost
Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death & Rebirth
Oblivion Island: Haruka and the Magic Mirror
MiniPato
Patlabor: The Movie
Patlabor 2: The Movie
Pokémon the Movie: Black—Victini and Reshiram and White—Victini and Zekrom
Pokémon the Movie: Kyurem vs. the Sword of Justice
Psycho-Pass: Sinners of the System
Sakura Wars: The Movie
Sengoku Basara: The Last Party
Shika no Ō
The Sky Crawlers
Tachigui: The Amazing Lives of the Fast Food Grifters
Tales of Vesperia: The First Strike
Tennis no Ōjisama – Futari no Samurai
The Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Die Neue These Seiran
Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle the Movie: The Princess in the Birdcage Kingdom
The Weathering Continent
xxxHolic: A Midsummer Night's Dream
Ani*Kuri15 (animated sequence)
Ace of Diamond
Atom: The Beginning
Blue Seed
Blue Spring Ride
Bunny Drop
Genshiken: Second Season
Ghost in the Shell: Arise - Alternative Architecture
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. 2nd GIG
Idaten Jump
Immortal Grand Prix
Kabukichō Sherlock
Kimi ni Todoke
The Beast Player Erin
K-tai Investigator 7
Lagrange: The Flower of Rin-ne
Library War
Magical Circle Guru Guru
Medabots Damashii
Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit
Moshidora
Otogi Zoshi
Pikaia!
Pokémon Origins
PoPoLoCrois
Run with the Wind
Sands of Destruction
Shining Hearts: Shiawase no Pan
Sisters of Wellber
Tales of Eternia: The Animation
The Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Die Neue These Kaikō
Vampiyan Kids
Windy Tales
xxxHolic
Yondemasuyo, Azazel-san
Zillion (produced by Tatsunoko)
Original net/video animations
The Ancient Magus' Bride: Those Awaiting a Star
Attack on Titan: Lost Girls
Batman: Gotham Knight (animated sequence)
Bronze: Zetsuai Since 1989
Chocolate Underground
Combustible Campus Guardress
Dragon Half
The Enemy's the Pirates! (episodes 3 and 4)
Eyeshield 21: The Phantom Golden Bowl
Ghost in the Shell: Arise
Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045
Halo Legends (animated sequence)
Hiyokoi
Kai Doh Maru
The King of Fighters: Another Day
Kodoku no Gourmet
Leave it to Chocola
Moshi Moshi, Terumi Desu
Neo Yokio
Noblesse: Awakening
One Piece: Defeat The Pirate Ganzak!
Please Save My Earth
The Special Duty Combat Unit Shinesman
Tokyo Marble Chocolate
Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle
Yagami-kun no Katei no Jijō
Zillion: Burning Night (produced by Tatsunoko)
Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere
BlazBlue: Central Fiction
Infinite Space
Lethal Enforcers 3
Love & Destroy
Namco × Capcom
Power Pros
Professor Layton and the Curious Village
Psychometrer Eiji
Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love
Sakura Wars 2: Thou Shalt Not Die
Sakura Wars 3: Is Paris Burning?
Sakura Wars 4: Fall in Love, Maidens
Star Ocean: Second Evolution
Summon Night 4
Surveillance Kanshisha
Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria
Valkyria Chronicles III
Wario Land: Shake It!
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Blame!&oldid=901293678"
Manga series
1998 manga
2003 anime OVAs
Action anime and manga
Manga adapted into films
Science fiction anime and manga
Seinen manga
Tokyopop titles
Vertical (company) titles
Cyberpunk anime and manga
CS1 uses Japanese-language script (ja)
CS1 Japanese-language sources (ja)