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I enjoy graphic novels and manga just as well as typical wordy books. Were I younger I might have been embarresed about such things, but now Im old enough to not really care about what random people think. There is nothing to be ashamed about in admiring art. I apreciate the artistic talent that goes into the nature of illustration, as well as the effort it takes to craft an engaging story. Some graphic novels/manga are nothing if not the pinnicle of art and story telling. Most of them are average, but every once and awhile you come across a jewel which resonates with you personally one way or another. Blame! by Tsutomu Nihei is a breath of fresh air to me. In this review, my aim is to express why I enjoy the series. Hopefully convince some people to check it out.
First, its worth considering that I am a fan of science fiction especially the cyberpunk genre. Super futuristic technology, synthetic lifeforms, space travel, pushing the creative limits of engineering and biology. Ghost In A Shell is probably the most influencial movie Ive ever seen in that regard which is still one of my top 10 if not 5 favorite movies. So I have a predisposition to enjoy cyberpunk action type stuff, which Blame! (pronounced BLAM! like a gun) most certinly is. If you dont like absurd high-tech weaponry,
One thing unique to Blame! is the main character. Arguably the true main character of the story is arguably the set piece enviroment: A continuously expanding city that has existed for MANY thousands of years, which has long since lost all sense of scale or purportion. While the actual main character is a person named killy, they are almost more of a vehicle for us to wander around and explore the city. Killy is a silent protaganist, rarely do they ever have any facial expressions or emotions with a few notable exceptions.
This goes against the grain of most stories which rely mainly on character interactions with the enviroment as a supporting piece. In Blame! its quite the opposite. There are character interactions and story beats, but they are more rare and do not take center stage. Blame! is more about showing than telling, and thats suprisingly very refreshing to me. And boy does it show! I cant help but gush at the detail in the landscapes.
But thats okay, because their character design is alright and more importantly his signature weapon throughout the series is just about the coolest and most rediculously over the top thing ive ever seen.
is the vast archetectural landscapes depicted with such detail that one can spend minutes soaking in a single page trying to appreciate what is being looked at. This is largely due to the authors previous career as an archetect before becoming a manga artist. I suppose an archetect truly understands the spirit of buildings with all their purposeful geometry and stable hugeness. A proper artist can distort that spirit into its logical extreme, create an infinite landscape of never-ending, impossibly huge and seemingly meaningless structures.