I recently heard the argument that movies aren't really "narrative delivery devices", but rather "vibe delivery devices." Blame! is an excellent example of an artistic work being the latter.

I could explain the broad plot of Blame! if asked to, but I'd have difficulty describing its more intricate details. This is a weird, inhuman world, and the lack of specifics only enhances that strangeness. Still, Nihei is very clearly a student of architecture, and he's able to convey a lot to the reader via a silent landscape.

The world of Blame! takes place in an endless, ever-growing city that has long grown past the needs of humans. The architecture here has its own reasons for existing, and anyone or anything that exists within this city is on its own. This series is definitely one of the more interesting fictional worlds I've visited recently. I really appreciate it's eeriness and emptiness. The Master Editions are great because they really showcase Neihi's artwork. I feel modern media has a tendency to over explain things, getting too caught up in lore over storytelling, and I think Blame! works so well precisely because of it's obtuse world building. ( )

OK, I had a feeling this was coming.

Previous volumes had that Lovecraft/W40K vibe - ever evolving monstrosity known as the City, bizarre creatures evolving and devolving in its bowels, AIs working without disclosing their true motives, entire area broken into separate warzones and in each of them humanity hunted and targeted for extermination by what seems to be everyone involved - Safeguards, Silicon Life, other humans turned predators...... total insanity, it reads like adventures near the Eye of Terror.

And in the middle of it Kyrii and Cibo, Knight Errant and ..... something, I am not so sure Cibo is alive any more but her features persevere .... to mark new age unlike the women from Babylon Babies (Baylon AD movie) with a twist - it is not so much humanities evolution as reclaiming the humanities past fame. Kyrii is also showing more and more abilities that prove he is more than he seems to be.

And end..... heh, I gotta admit only way it could end. Hero's quest is never done. And to be honest we are left with lots of question marks and what-a-heck moments as this book closes down. But again this is something I find refreshing to be honest. Lately there is this need that everything needs to be explained, everything i dotted and t crossed. I am for leaving something to imagination and author accomplishes just that.

Art is pretty good, again depressing at moments but epic in depicting vats parts of the City and Kyrii's recoveries and battles. It is incredible how author manages to capture utter silence as graviton beam breaks through only to detonate in a jaw dropping way.

Highly recommended to fans of Lovecraftian/W40K like SF/fantasy cross with very unique art. ( )

完全看不懂啊！ ( )

O último volume de Blame! possui os problemas do anterior, no sentido que - quadros de explosões confusos, história tênue, personagens vazios, excesso de lutas - vão se tornando cansativas. Mas há aqui ao meu ver dois agravantes: o elemento novo - a gestação de Cibo, não atinge o mesmo nível de estranheza que vários elementos da série; como a série há de terminar, lemos com uma pressão maior sobre o que seria um possível desfecho, e o episódio em um mundo medieval virtual não é de longe suficiente. (oportunamente: muitas coisas que investem fortemente e enfaticamente em construção de mundo falham mais quando se aproximam do ponto de finalização. Aquele mundo parece querer permanecer imperturbável por qualquer acontecimento que nele possa ocorrer). ( )

Very visually stunning final installment to the manga - with a lot of expansive vistas (and a penultimate chapter that feels like a reference to Angel's Egg - which I appreciated). ( )