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Blame! [ブラム!]
Blame! And So On
L'Art de Tsutomu Nihei À l'occasion de la grande exposition hommage organisée au Festival international de la bande dessinée d'Angoulême, découvrez le recueil d'illustrations du meilleur des auteurs de manga de science-fiction ! Cet album compile les visuels couleurs de ses premières œuvres Blame et Noise , des collaborations avec Wolverine ou Hellboy, les visions architecturales fantastiques de Tokyo du projet Megalomania, la nouvelle inédite Dead Heads et cerise sur le gâteau, des interview croisées avec Enki Bilal et Guillermo Del Toro. Un indispensable pour découvrir ou approfondir l'univers unique de ce grand maître.
151 pages, Paperback
First published October 23, 2003
3 people are currently reading
149 people want to read
About the author
Tsutomu Nihei
226 books722 followersSee also 弐瓶 勉.
Tsutomu Nihei (弐瓶 勉 Nihei Tsutomu, born 1971) is a Japanese manga artist. His cyberpunk-influenced artwork has gained a strong cult following. He has a relatively large community of fans in Germany where his manga Blame!, NOiSE and Biomega were published by Ehapa. Blame! was also published in France and Spain by Glénat, in the US by Tokyopop and in Italy by Panini Comics.
At first he studied architecture and later it is shown up in his manga works with drawing huge structures. This became one of his general theme that makes his manga unique. His works are usually in black and white. He is also an avid fan of the video game series Halo, as he mentions in his commentary section in the Halo Graphic Novel.
Taken from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsutomu_...
Tsutomu Nihei (弐瓶 勉 Nihei Tsutomu, born 1971) is a Japanese manga artist. His cyberpunk-influenced artwork has gained a strong cult following. He has a relatively large community of fans in Germany where his manga Blame!, NOiSE and Biomega were published by Ehapa. Blame! was also published in France and Spain by Glénat, in the US by Tokyopop and in Italy by Panini Comics.
At first he studied architecture and later it is shown up in his manga works with drawing huge structures. This became one of his general theme that makes his manga unique. His works are usually in black and white. He is also an avid fan of the video game series Halo, as he mentions in his commentary section in the Halo Graphic Novel.
Taken from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsutomu_...
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
November 12, 2013
As expected, this artbook is a feast to the eyes.
However, the really amazing thing of this book, are these 4 pages full of text in the middle, dealing with quantum physics, computation, philosophy of mind, technology, theology, sci-fi classics and inspirations, etc...
Nihei's goes in depth explaining the megastructure/netsphere world of Blame! and NOiSE... And it's unbelievable! It adds so much in order to fully understand his complex world building, cryptic character development and lots of details about the thematic-myriad he is exploring in his masterpiece (Blame!).
It actually made me rethink my opinion on the series. To fully dive into Nihei's fantasy world you shouldn't just be a reader, you need to hack through it.
However, the really amazing thing of this book, are these 4 pages full of text in the middle, dealing with quantum physics, computation, philosophy of mind, technology, theology, sci-fi classics and inspirations, etc...
Nihei's goes in depth explaining the megastructure/netsphere world of Blame! and NOiSE... And it's unbelievable! It adds so much in order to fully understand his complex world building, cryptic character development and lots of details about the thematic-myriad he is exploring in his masterpiece (Blame!).
It actually made me rethink my opinion on the series. To fully dive into Nihei's fantasy world you shouldn't just be a reader, you need to hack through it.
April 7, 2024
(Edition: French)
English Translation: https://gist.github.com/Nordskog/1255...
English Translation: https://gist.github.com/Nordskog/1255...
January 3, 2011
Excellent artbook by one of my favorite artists. Interesting to see Nihei's depiction of an EVA too
July 20, 2024
TL;DR: a collection of Nihei's short stories and failed projects that is a must read for any of his fans but a harder pitch for someone new to his works.
I will start by speaking about the rating I gave to "Blame! and So On". This might seem a little bit off topic, but I'm doing it to point something that I have said in the tl;dr: That this is a great book for Nihei's fans, but no recomendable for the uninitiated in the crazy works of this mangaka.
I rate it with 5 stars (a 10 on my eyes) as a big Nihei fan. I have read the vast majority of its works (From Blame! to his running series Aposimz) and enjoyed them all. I see in this book as a great-- but small-- anthology of his ideas.
But, If a was someone who didn't know about Nihei prior to buying this book, what I would find inside it is a strange collection of even stranger humour in its first chapters (Starting with the inside joke heavy Blame! Academy wasn't a great idea), and incredibly obtuse and incomplete stories afterwards. If I was that reader, I would give it a 6, maybe a 7 or even 8 just for how great the art is.
Thankfully, I'm not such reader. I'm someone who loves Nihei's works (Yes, even Sidonia and Aposimz, dear old Nihei purist).
So, I would reiterate my point: this is a book for the fan. As a newcomer, you will enjoy the great art inside it–you could even enjoy the surreal humour of Blame! Academy and the great concepts show in the rest–But you will be completely lost.
With this "small" introduction clearing my general thoughts, let's jump into the details.
Although I have said that the book starts with Blame! Academy, that's not completely true. With first start with a small story name ZEB-NOID. In it–and in Winged Armor Suzumega, another story in this book–we see the concept what will become Knights of Sidonia. In it we see the end of the war that ends with an unexpected happy ending. On Winged Armor Suzumega (that could be considered part of the same story) we see instead the combat that preceded it. The artstyle can only be described as "old Nihei but in colour", something that it use on their advantages. While some fights in Nihei early works (specially in Abara) could get quite confusing, the use of colour in this two shorts and the other two combat heavy shorts (Netsphere Engineer and Blame^2) allows the fight to be clear.
After ZEB-NOID, we find the largest story in the book: Blame! Academy. In this 4 chapters we find ourselves reading some really surreal humour that will probably turn down the majority of people that haven't read any of Nihei's works but that I found strangely hilarious (although this is partly because of how strange everything is more than Nihei's own attempts at humour). In this chapters we can see one of Nihei's signature that was lacking on ZEB-NOID and Winged Armor Suzumega: the megastructures that fill his work.
Moving quickly to the next story–as there's not much too say about Blame! Academy, as its main attraction is too see Blame! characters in surreal situations–we reach Parcel–as story with even less to say about. In it, we see a man looking for his brother.
Nothing else, nothing more.
Just like Blame! Academy, we see in Parcel another of Nihei's signature: how obscure his stories can be. We know nothing about the world this man inhabited, and even less about the man's brother that we see at the end of it. The story only serves to give an unease and pseudo nightmarish atmosphere, and it doesn't try anything else.
jumping one story, we find another one (Pump) that–just like Parcel–centers on one thing: an atmosphere of despair and otherworldly. Shown as a animal documentary, the short story centers on the life of a human male in this hellish future and the repulsive reproductive cycle of humanity. We also see a different use of colour compared to the other stories. Compared to Blame! Academy, Parcel, ZEB-NOID and Winged Armor Suzumega–where we find a great diversity of colour (albeit in a quite bleak version of them)–Pump only has one single colour: red, colour that it use to accentuated (or even create) the sense of despair that the hole story is filled with.
Going a story back and another forwards, we find Netsphere Engineer and Blame^2. I'm talking about both of them together for one single reason: both are sequels for Nihei's more popular (and sometimes considered Magnus Opus) series: Blame!
Both of them happen after the end of the main story, with humanity becoming the dominant species once again. In Netsphere, we follow a Killy-like character that is killing the remains of the Netsphere, while in Blame^2 we follow the last of the synthetic life while she looks to escape the Megastructure. Although both of them can be considered "complete", Blame^2 feels more finished than Netsphere, while Netsphere could be read by someone who doesn't know about Blame! Overall, I find Netshere more interesting, as it less exposition heavy than its metaphorical sibling, with an even more interesting use of colour–as it is more monochromatic than Blame^2, changing the dominant colour of the scene to convey different feelings.
The next story–Numa no Kam–is the only purely fantasy story that Nihei has written to my knowledge. It is a twisted take on The Gold Ax and the Silver Axe...and nothing else. It is only worth it if you are interested on seeing fantasy from Nihei.
Finally–and skipping the afromention Winged Armor Suzumega–we find a strange story where the protagonist of Knight of Sidonia is watching an episode of a Blame! anime. I find this short to be the most interesting one of the entire book.
The first reason why I do so is because a Blame! film was released in 2017 and the ending of it follows this short quite fucking close. It's quite bizarre.
The second–and more important–reason is that it is the only story in the book that is made in digital art.
Made in Nihei's new artstyle.
Many fans of his old works had been bashing Nihei's new works since the second half of Biomega. Although I can't deny that Biomega's ending half has problems linked with the change from traditional to digital (It was his first digital work, afterall) I will defend it 'til the end. This is because Biomega second half is the moment where Nihei starts his evolution to a black heavy and ultra detailed style to a white heavy and minimalistic style.
The Blame! one shot in Blame! and so on is a great representation of what this new style gains...And what it looses. Gone is the bleak atmosphere of the original and the dark colours of the previous chapters in this book. In its disappearance we find a more welcoming world–although not less deadly–coloured in a paler–but also more attractive–palette. New Nihei exchanges the oppressive air to replace it with a clearer reading of the action without losing one of the things that makes his works unique: the vastness and greatness of the architecture. In new Nihei we don't find a degradation nor improvement if his art, but an evolution into a different–but yet linked–new style that centers on different strengths.
Overall, I have enjoyed Blame! and so on greatly. But, just as I said. This is a work for Nihei's fans.
So read his other works and become one.
I will start by speaking about the rating I gave to "Blame! and So On". This might seem a little bit off topic, but I'm doing it to point something that I have said in the tl;dr: That this is a great book for Nihei's fans, but no recomendable for the uninitiated in the crazy works of this mangaka.
I rate it with 5 stars (a 10 on my eyes) as a big Nihei fan. I have read the vast majority of its works (From Blame! to his running series Aposimz) and enjoyed them all. I see in this book as a great-- but small-- anthology of his ideas.
But, If a was someone who didn't know about Nihei prior to buying this book, what I would find inside it is a strange collection of even stranger humour in its first chapters (Starting with the inside joke heavy Blame! Academy wasn't a great idea), and incredibly obtuse and incomplete stories afterwards. If I was that reader, I would give it a 6, maybe a 7 or even 8 just for how great the art is.
Thankfully, I'm not such reader. I'm someone who loves Nihei's works (Yes, even Sidonia and Aposimz, dear old Nihei purist).
So, I would reiterate my point: this is a book for the fan. As a newcomer, you will enjoy the great art inside it–you could even enjoy the surreal humour of Blame! Academy and the great concepts show in the rest–But you will be completely lost.
With this "small" introduction clearing my general thoughts, let's jump into the details.
Although I have said that the book starts with Blame! Academy, that's not completely true. With first start with a small story name ZEB-NOID. In it–and in Winged Armor Suzumega, another story in this book–we see the concept what will become Knights of Sidonia. In it we see the end of the war that ends with an unexpected happy ending. On Winged Armor Suzumega (that could be considered part of the same story) we see instead the combat that preceded it. The artstyle can only be described as "old Nihei but in colour", something that it use on their advantages. While some fights in Nihei early works (specially in Abara) could get quite confusing, the use of colour in this two shorts and the other two combat heavy shorts (Netsphere Engineer and Blame^2) allows the fight to be clear.
After ZEB-NOID, we find the largest story in the book: Blame! Academy. In this 4 chapters we find ourselves reading some really surreal humour that will probably turn down the majority of people that haven't read any of Nihei's works but that I found strangely hilarious (although this is partly because of how strange everything is more than Nihei's own attempts at humour). In this chapters we can see one of Nihei's signature that was lacking on ZEB-NOID and Winged Armor Suzumega: the megastructures that fill his work.
Moving quickly to the next story–as there's not much too say about Blame! Academy, as its main attraction is too see Blame! characters in surreal situations–we reach Parcel–as story with even less to say about. In it, we see a man looking for his brother.
Nothing else, nothing more.
Just like Blame! Academy, we see in Parcel another of Nihei's signature: how obscure his stories can be. We know nothing about the world this man inhabited, and even less about the man's brother that we see at the end of it. The story only serves to give an unease and pseudo nightmarish atmosphere, and it doesn't try anything else.
jumping one story, we find another one (Pump) that–just like Parcel–centers on one thing: an atmosphere of despair and otherworldly. Shown as a animal documentary, the short story centers on the life of a human male in this hellish future and the repulsive reproductive cycle of humanity. We also see a different use of colour compared to the other stories. Compared to Blame! Academy, Parcel, ZEB-NOID and Winged Armor Suzumega–where we find a great diversity of colour (albeit in a quite bleak version of them)–Pump only has one single colour: red, colour that it use to accentuated (or even create) the sense of despair that the hole story is filled with.
Going a story back and another forwards, we find Netsphere Engineer and Blame^2. I'm talking about both of them together for one single reason: both are sequels for Nihei's more popular (and sometimes considered Magnus Opus) series: Blame!
Both of them happen after the end of the main story, with humanity becoming the dominant species once again. In Netsphere, we follow a Killy-like character that is killing the remains of the Netsphere, while in Blame^2 we follow the last of the synthetic life while she looks to escape the Megastructure. Although both of them can be considered "complete", Blame^2 feels more finished than Netsphere, while Netsphere could be read by someone who doesn't know about Blame! Overall, I find Netshere more interesting, as it less exposition heavy than its metaphorical sibling, with an even more interesting use of colour–as it is more monochromatic than Blame^2, changing the dominant colour of the scene to convey different feelings.
The next story–Numa no Kam–is the only purely fantasy story that Nihei has written to my knowledge. It is a twisted take on The Gold Ax and the Silver Axe...and nothing else. It is only worth it if you are interested on seeing fantasy from Nihei.
Finally–and skipping the afromention Winged Armor Suzumega–we find a strange story where the protagonist of Knight of Sidonia is watching an episode of a Blame! anime. I find this short to be the most interesting one of the entire book.
The first reason why I do so is because a Blame! film was released in 2017 and the ending of it follows this short quite fucking close. It's quite bizarre.
The second–and more important–reason is that it is the only story in the book that is made in digital art.
Made in Nihei's new artstyle.
Many fans of his old works had been bashing Nihei's new works since the second half of Biomega. Although I can't deny that Biomega's ending half has problems linked with the change from traditional to digital (It was his first digital work, afterall) I will defend it 'til the end. This is because Biomega second half is the moment where Nihei starts his evolution to a black heavy and ultra detailed style to a white heavy and minimalistic style.
The Blame! one shot in Blame! and so on is a great representation of what this new style gains...And what it looses. Gone is the bleak atmosphere of the original and the dark colours of the previous chapters in this book. In its disappearance we find a more welcoming world–although not less deadly–coloured in a paler–but also more attractive–palette. New Nihei exchanges the oppressive air to replace it with a clearer reading of the action without losing one of the things that makes his works unique: the vastness and greatness of the architecture. In new Nihei we don't find a degradation nor improvement if his art, but an evolution into a different–but yet linked–new style that centers on different strengths.
Overall, I have enjoyed Blame! and so on greatly. But, just as I said. This is a work for Nihei's fans.
So read his other works and become one.
October 29, 2020
Big fan of BLAME! and Knights of Sidonia. For me at least this wasn't a great introduction to Nihei. His cover art or portrait stuff was never really the main draw for me but I guess all the gigastructure stuff is already in the manga and so they focused on stuff you couldn't get easily there. A great creator but I felt that, while definitely a good one for completionists, this didn't really play to his strengths.
February 2, 2020
Me encanta el estilo de dibujo de este autor y toda su estilo cyberpunk. Me leí Blame y lo que más me gustó fue lo ambiciosos de desarrollar muy pocos dialogos y que las imagenes hablaran por si mismas en ese mundo de acero. Y dentro de esas imagenes ver los robots, cybors y megaestructuras es lo mejor dentro del manga.
May 13, 2023
Obwohl Niheis kommerzielle Arbeit als auch seine Interpretation der X-Men Reihe, eine angenehme Abwechslung zu den nihilistischen und brutalistischen Zeichnungen von BLAME! waren, hätte der Schwerpunkt, wenn nicht allein durch den Namen des Artbooks, bei seinem erfolgreichsten Werk liegen sollen.
September 27, 2022
Wish there wasn't so much white space and the prints were full-page. Otherwise beautiful, what else did you expect from old Nihei?
September 3, 2025
favorites: 25, 73, 76-80, 112-115.
May 1, 2012
How to describe this book... can't use my usual "so pretty" as Nihei's art isn't exactly that
It has gorgeous pages of Blame! and NOiSE art, megastructure/architecture illustrations followed by a few pages of Wolverine. Yes, Wolverine! Its like someone had a meeting, "hmm.. all this cyber-punk art is great, but how can we really get Anna's attention. Oh yeah, she loves that crazy Marvel chara, throw that in!"
It has gorgeous pages of Blame! and NOiSE art, megastructure/architecture illustrations followed by a few pages of Wolverine. Yes, Wolverine! Its like someone had a meeting, "hmm.. all this cyber-punk art is great, but how can we really get Anna's attention. Oh yeah, she loves that crazy Marvel chara, throw that in!"
February 23, 2016
Letto nell'edizione italiana della Planet Manga, in sostanza si tratta di un piccolo artbook con illustrazioni inerenti a Blame, se non ricordo male contiene anche un episodio aggiuntivo, ma non dovrebbe essere rilevante ai fini della storia principale. Consigliato ai fan di Nihei.
January 28, 2018
Hermoso artbook de Blame! y otros mangas del autor (hasta ese momento). También hay trabajos de arte único para películas y otras series.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews