View Full Version : NOISE! BLAME! SNIKT! And other such mangas/comics by Tsutomu nihei
Well, its a very small fanbase for such a comic. I'm beginning to wonder if i'm the only one in this entire board that likes it. Regardless, I feel it needs some loving. I'd link to a source to try it out but, all the ones i know are either down or contain questionable(possibly liscensed) matierial....so google away.
The synopsis for BLAME!
In a dark cyber dungeon there is Killy, a quiet man with a gun exploring.
[End horrid description, just read it ;)]
Although I'll admit it can be vague at times, the story does make sense. Basically Killy is searching for "net terminal genes", as some sort of infection has prevented humans from connecting to a bio/mech interface long ago. And now..the review:
Storyline: 7 out of 10
Nothing incredibly intricate, but without the "i must become better than my ancestors" crap.
Art: 15 out of 10
Yes, I can count. but the art is THAT GOOD. (http://starcraftmods.kicks-ass.org/badass.jpg)(link only up for tonight)
Dialogue: 8 out 10
Its no R.A. Salvatore(I'm tired of saying shakespeare), but it reflects the environment around them very well.
Atmosphere, characters, and overall mood control: 10 out of 10
A bleak, hopeless atmosphere where rampaging creatures kill off the humans without mercy, and the rusted, junk heaps that they live in.
Gore level: BRUTAL
Not for the light of stomach.
Well, I'll see if i can manage to host a chapter or two if ya'll can't find a link yourself.
Edit: BLAME! (and i think NOISE!) are liscensed in france, sorry, sway :(.
AnimeFangirl
2004-01-27, 00:14
I tried reading Blame! last month and I didn't like it much, really. Normally I don't have anything against dark, moody, ultra-violent titles, but Blame! just put me to sleep. I was just turning page after page looking for that "something," that "anything" that would make it worth my while. Not one of my better experiences :heh:. Nevertheless, I think you can get all the Blame! scanslated in English so far from www.omanga.net, though the page was down for a bit. Omanga is usually very good about taking down licensed titles and if it's licensed in France, well there's nothing we can do about that!
I tried reading Blame! last month and I didn't like it much, really. Normally I don't have anything against dark, moody, ultra-violent titles, but Blame! just put me to sleep. I was just turning page after page looking for that "something," that "anything" that would make it worth my while. Not one of my better experiences :heh:. Nevertheless, I think you can get all the Blame! scanslated in English so far from www.omanga.net, though the page was down for a bit. Omanga is usually very good about taking down licensed titles and if it's licensed in France, well there's nothing we can do about that!
Bold 1: You can't even describe it...can you =p.
BLAME! requires a certain perception, i'd have to admit. Each to his(or her) own. *shrug*
Bold 2: (see quote)
all the ones i know are either down or contain questionable(possibly liscensed) matierial
Read all of my post next time ;)
AnimeFangirl
2004-01-27, 00:39
I did, I just didn't see the point in not mentioning Omanga just because it was down. If it's down today, it'll be up tomorrow. The other way to get Blame! while Omanga would be irc, and that's where the questionable material comes in. Personally, I think it's all a matter of self-discipline.
I did, I just didn't see the point in not mentioning Omanga just because it was down. If it's down today, it'll be up tomorrow. The other way to get Blame! while Omanga would be irc, and that's where the questionable material comes in. Personally, I think it's all a matter of self-discipline.
Bold 1: I wish! :(
Bold 2: No kidding...
Last line: :heh: ..... wait...you were serious? :eek:... Well, most people don't have the self-discipline, especially if they're dling gigs worth of unliscensed anime a day ;).
I think Noise! and Blame! are awesome simply for the artwork and the atmosphere alone. When I first read it I couldn't help but just look at the how detailed the backgrounds and action sequences were. Very good artwork. The dark, moody, cyberpunk atmosphere is really what drew me into this manga. I've only been able to read a few volumes so far, since I'm catching up with a bunch of others (namely GANTZ and 20th Century Boys :p ). It's kind of hard when it's 10 volumes long! Personally I like this sort of genre, so I think it's worth the download. It'd be nice if alot of the projects on Omanga would get picked up.
Like that would be the day.
I think Noise! and Blame! are awesome simply for the artwork and the atmosphere alone. When I first read it I couldn't help but just look at the how detailed the backgrounds and action sequences were. Very good artwork. The dark, moody, cyberpunk atmosphere is really what drew me into this manga. I've only been able to read a few volumes so far, since I'm catching up with a bunch of others (namely GANTZ and 20th Century Boys :p ). It's kind of hard when it's 10 volumes long! Personally I like this sort of genre, so I think it's worth the download. It'd be nice if alot of the projects on Omanga would get picked up.
Like that would be the day.
Yay! I'm not alone :p.
As for the other comic, SNIKT! I used the word 'comic', since its licensed and distributed (i think only) by marvel comics. It's basically throwing Wolverine(xman) into a blame-ish setting, but in color. So...it doesn't look as good. I had a look at a few pages, it didn't look worth buying, but right now i'm tearing over my to buy list:
1. All of BLAME!s volumes once their in english...if ever >.<.
2. All of Narutaru/Shadow Star's volumes once I get the money, which is soon to get some of them :).
3. River's Edge, if its ever going to be in english, which is unlikely due to the unfavorable drawing style. But, on the other hand, the manga is (loosely) based on something that happened in the US. Go look up the Keanu movie River's edge. It's...somewhat the same as the manga in respects to scenery and some characters. But overall they are very different from each other.
tsurumaru
2004-01-27, 09:31
Blame was my second favourite series running in Afternoon magazine after Narutaru!
:)
Bloody cryptic ending though.......!
I hope one day we will see the continuing adventures of Killy and Co.
PS did you check out the Blame Wallpapers on my website? (That is if Free-host.com is working)
Briareos
2004-01-27, 10:21
Blame was my second favourite series running in Afternoon magazine after Narutaru!
:)
Bloody cryptic ending though.......!Oh crap. Don't tell me Blame! just stops? Is Volume 10 the last one for now?
Oh crap. Don't tell me Blame! just stops? Is Volume 10 the last one for now?
Yeah, its done after volume 10. Probably due to Tsutomu getting bored of drawing it, or not getting paid enough, or running out of ink..i dunno..*shrug*
Blame was my second favourite series running in Afternoon magazine after Narutaru!
Bloody cryptic ending though.......!
I hope one day we will see the continuing adventures of Killy and Co.
PS did you check out the Blame Wallpapers on my website? (That is if Free-host.com is working)
Bold: I hope too....:(....I hope too....
The PS: No, it doesn't.
tsurumaru
2004-01-27, 12:27
Yeah, its done after volume 10. Probably due to Tsutomu getting bored of drawing it, or not getting paid enough, or running out of ink..i dunno..*shrug*
Bold: I hope too....:(....I hope too....
The PS: No, it doesn't.
Harrass me in IRC if you see me ;)
tsurumaru
2004-01-27, 12:33
Harass me in IRC if you see me ;)
Briaereos - Yes sadly it finished at Vol 10 (with only two issues notice) Its an ambiguous ending but not the worst I've seen (its much better than Narutaru's was :frustrated: ).
I believe there is an art book out now by tsutomu-san you might be interested in checking out:
http://shop.store.yahoo.com/animebooks-com/blameandsoon.html
Better Pic of cover: http://store6.yimg.com/I/animebooks-com_1777_177953203
Title is "Blame and so on....."
Long day at work so clicked reply rather than edit - Sorry about the double post! :twitch: :heh: :eyespin: :innocent:
You've stirred my ernest in picking up where I left off of the manga. It's been awhile since I last read it. Time to go download me the next volume. :D
Speaking of which, have any of you seen the Blame web anime? I've gone to the website but I have yet to actually watch the eps.
tsurumaru
2004-01-27, 19:19
You've stirred my ernest in picking up where I left off of the manga. It's been awhile since I last read it. Time to go download me the next volume. :D
Speaking of which, have any of you seen the Blame web anime? I've gone to the website but I have yet to actually watch the eps.
They should be listed on AS by "Wizzu" I thnik as that group subbed 'em.
Apparently they are meant to be a precursor to a Blame! movie due out this year however I've never got an concrete confirmation of this although it would be good if that was the case.
Speaking of which, have any of you seen the Blame web anime? I've gone to the website but I have yet to actually watch the eps.
Yes, I, unfortunately have seeen it. It's bad....very bad... Like...imagine logs 1-(3)? being taken out, random scenes thrown in, cheapened graphics(and animation), some weird fish, and little static and popping noises for a soundtrack. Thats the menacing horror that is the BLAME! anime/preview. I hope the movie is better, although I doubt it'll ever come to the U.S., due to the manga not even coming to the US yet >.<.
Pardon me for reviving an old thread, but I finally got around to finishing the Blame! series and all I have to say is "wow, I want more!" XD This has become one of my favorite manga and Tsutomu Nihei's artwork is, in my opinion, brilliant!
It's not so much the plot, but the atmosphere that really brings this manga together. Nihei has this obsession with megastructures that are apparent in alot of his work and the detail he puts into them really stands out. While reading Blame!, one can't help but be sucked into the vastness and emptiness of the world Nihei has created. The whole complexity of the Netsphere really gives the basis of Killy and his quest to locate the net terminal gene and stop the chaos of the World created by the safeguard. The action is very cool and the characters, while lacking in development, are interesting design-wise. I think the picture Deralti-san had up was this. (http://www.imageshack.us/img2/5985/maeve.jpg) And here's another one (http://www.imageshack.us/img2/3091/ivyandmaeve.jpg) of my own.
Are those not wicked cool or what?! :heh:
I also found scans of the artbook tsurumaru-san talked about on the net and saw the art for Snkit! and other stuff Nihei drew, such as Matrix and Evangelion art. It also includes the comic Deadheads, which I didn't really know what happened because it wasn't translated. To any who have read it, can you tell me what was going on there? The artbook is a must-have!
Anyway, I agree the ending really left it kind of open. I can see many more adventures of Killy, or even new characters that can be made. The whole Netsphere can last forever, so we should see more Nihei manga! :D It’s just chock full of questions, theories, and speculations, isn’t it? Some that I won’t go into right now, but I’m beginning to understand Blame! little by little. That Blame! Gakuen is gonna be something else. Gosh I love Nihei’s stuff. :love:
Yes, I, unfortunately have seen it. It's bad....very bad... Like...imagine logs 1-(3)? being taken out, random scenes thrown in, cheapened graphics(and animation), some weird fish, and little static and popping noises for a soundtrack. Thats the menacing horror that is the BLAME! anime/preview. I hope the movie is better, although I doubt it'll ever come to the U.S., due to the manga not even coming to the US yet >.<.
I actually saw the Blame! OVAs just out of curiosity, and I agree I did not like them one bit. A lot of it was randomness and a bunch of scenery with the big blue fish swimming around. And they were so short! Anyone who’s never read the manga would not understand what the hell was going on. I think it was made by fans of the manga for the fans? I don’t know, but I hope this Blame! movie that’s expected to come out will be much more pleasing, with better graphics, a coherent plot, and better music.
Edit yeesh...I apologize for the rambling and fangirl-ness. I posted this like at 3am. No sleep makes me all...weird. :eyebrow: :heh:
I didnt get the point in BLAME! i watched the anime :sad:
Since people are revisiting this thread, I'll take this as an occasion to post this question :
Are there any other works by Tsutomu apart from Blame and Noise, and is he working on a new title?
JOJOS'STAR
2004-03-23, 16:39
BLAME! is my favourite "dark" mangas. Very intelligent and the Art is superbe. Tsutomu Nihei is an Architect so its not unusual for his to draw structures and all.
The flow of the story is realy special. Yes its way long before the action or the plote moves on but I find it realy cool since it puts you into a realy cool atmosphere. For example he'll show you how hight he goes..like 3 pages of Killy climbing :heh: but then you realy get the perception of how big the Netsphere is.
Noise is a side story to "Blame!" where that new character appears.
Intresting. Probably very important character in the future books. I read till book 9. Someone read further then that?
I've read all 10 books, and I really wish there were more. :( Blame! just stops at vol 10 and it really kinda leaves the story open. Noise! is more of a precursor to the Blame! series, since it takes place around the time when the contamination began spreading. It sets the world of Blame!, but the characters are unrelated.
Are there any other works by Tsutomu apart from Blame and Noise, and is he working on a new title?
Yes, aside from those two, he's also partnered up with Marvel and created Snkit!, which is basically Wolverine in a Blame-ish setting. He's also done a manga called Deadheads, which I think has something to do with zombies (I'm not sure since it was untranslated). If you check out Nihei's artbook, the Deadheads comic and his other work are featured in it, along with an explanation of the whole Blame! world. Here's (http://www.angelfire.com/comics/jenshin/blame.html) a translation from the artbook in case anyone's interested. :)
Oh and there might be something new from Nihei called Blame Gakuen. Check out the thread. ^_^
http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?t=8627
skunkworks
2004-05-20, 08:04
Yeah, its done after volume 10. Probably due to Tsutomu getting bored of drawing it, or not getting paid enough, or running out of ink..i dunno..*shrug*
Bold: I hope too....:(....I hope too....
The PS: No, it doesn't.
So volume 10 is the last book he's putting out? Does it actually end, plot-wise?
Briareos
2004-06-01, 08:44
So volume 10 is the last book he's putting out? Does it actually end, plot-wise?Well, the mini story arc that's happening at the time finishes, but it's certainly not a proper ending. There's a lot more story left in Blame!
As for the Blame anime shorts, they can best be described as commercials for Blame! They are similar in some ways to the YKK anime in that they show brief highlights of the manga out of their proper context. However, the Blame! shorts are so brief that one is simply left confused, and (perhaps) wanting to know more.
I hope that the Blame! movie (if it ever comes into being) is much better animated as well. My guess is that the shorts were done in a minimalistic style for online streaming purposes. (I hope so anyhow.)
Dhomochevsky
2004-06-01, 09:40
I`m only at vol 9 yet, 10 is still to be released here. :frustrated:
I got the impression BLAME! is getting better and better till the end.
I like that sniper duell in vol 9 for example and the fight against silicium-lifeforms in vol 8. The fact that Nihei would end the series now that it became that great are terrible news. :twitch:
At least I could finally get the artbook this week. :) What are those "other work" things in the book? Only short works for afternoon or anything bigger (like a series you could go for after you`re done with Blame! :( )??
Personaly I won`t buy that Marvel/Nihei stuff. Killy-style-Wolverine looks ok, but I don`t like marvel comics at all.
And for newer "other work":
Anyone have seen the Blame! Academy?
"miss Sanakan, have you shot at your students again?" :D
Ialdaboth
2004-06-01, 15:27
A Blame thread ? Count me in ! ^^
I absolutely loved the first volume (and Noise), and I like very much the whole series. ^^
I don't think it cryptic or difficult to read : IMO, it's a completely atmospheric experience. Something you are not supposed to understand, but that play with your brain in some funny ways... o_O
I just laid my eyes on volumes 9 & 10 and not actually "read" it, but don't think the ending to be very rewarding, both for the reader and for Killy... ^^
The Blame academy was... curious, to say the last.
I'm going to repeat myself from another thread, but there's also the "So on" artbook. Pretty (the "cities" pictures seem to be coming straight from Italo Calvino's "Invisible Cities" novels - I like it), but i'm still trying to figure the interest behind the small "zombies in the city" comic.
Snikt was not as bad as i though. More dialogues than all Blames volumes put together, yet a scenario that goes nowhere. ^^
But the colours were splendid.
The Blame anime is a must in the "mind-fuck", psychedelic category of anime.
btw have you heard about Biomega, Nihei's (hopefully) next series ? Do someone have some info to share ? ^^
> Briareos : Hi, another YKK fan... But I don't see the connection between the two ?
Briareos
2004-06-01, 15:50
> Briareos : Hi, another YKK fan... But I don't see the connection between the two ?The similarity comes from the brevity of the scenes, and the fact that what happens in both the YKK and BLAME! anime segments is only part of a larger story and context. Even when I was watching the BLAME! and YKK anime for the first time -- before having read either manga -- I had an overwhelming feeling that I was missing a larger picture in the background of what was going on.
The stories of YKK and the BLAME! manga obviously have nothing to do with each other, but there are strange paralells. Take for example the slow revelation of background details of each world (each being a future version of Earth -- okay, in Blame! it's maybe in the future and maybe on Earth). Each manga relies a great deal on atmosphere and being stirred by one's surroundings (although for greatly different reasons).
I've either illustrated my comparison, or opened a can of worms that says that you can draw paralells between anything. :uhoh:
Ialdaboth
2004-06-01, 16:20
The similarity comes from the brevity of the scenes, and the fact that what happens in both the YKK and BLAME! anime segments is only part of a larger story and context. Even when I was watching the BLAME! and YKK anime for the first time -- before having read either manga -- I had an overwhelming feeling that I was missing a larger picture in the background of what was going on.
The stories of YKK and the BLAME! manga obviously have nothing to do with each other, but there are strange paralells. Take for example the slow revelation of background details of each world (each being a future version of Earth -- okay, in Blame! it's maybe in the future and maybe on Earth). Each manga relies a great deal on atmosphere and being stirred by one's surroundings (although for greatly different reasons).
I've either illustrated my comparison, or opened a can of worms that says that you can draw paralells between anything. :uhoh:
No, it more me who failed to perfectly understand your point.
I would just say that YKK relies as much on the atmosphere as characters interaction & development, whereas Blame's interest relies mainly on the atmosphere. Apart from that, the comparaison is entirely valid (and one marvel at the possibility of a whole Blamish city hidden into the Tappaon - it would be quite a sight ^^)
And you can even add that the two main characters, in both mangas, are not human...
Two very differents versions of Earth's future, both as far as possible from the other...
I know which one I'd take. ^^
Briareos
2004-06-01, 16:40
Uhhh...YKK, right? ;) Am I right? I just know I'm right. :D
I was going to make the character comparison, but Alpha is a human-like machine, whereas Killy is...well I know he pre-dates the Safeguards. It's obvious that he's no longer human anyhow. No human could survive the pummeling and falling he takes. :D
Ialdaboth
2004-06-01, 16:47
If I remember well what I read of Blame 10,
Killy was said to be some kind of safeguard. Now I always tough that most safeguards were some kind of robots/cyborgs cannibals mutants ? ^^
Dhomochevsky
2004-06-01, 20:29
There must have been a good reason to create the safeguard in the first place, to fight the siliciums maybe. (Killy is pretty aggressiv towards them :) )
They only went rampage when the people with network-gens disapeared, like a vehicle without a driver.
In Vol 7 or 8 Iko scans Killy and says "his initiation codes were deleted" or something (my Blame! vols are german, so I have to guess the correct english texts ;) ).
That sounds like someone took a safeguard and manipulated it`s programming. You know, like the humans took a T800 in the Terminator movies and used it for their own cause. :hmm:
Maybe that was done by that pre-safe guard institution, which may be a backup system for the case that anything goes wrong... well, that`s my theory but keep in mind that I didn`t read Vol 10 yet, so I could be missing something important.
:heh:
Briareos
2004-06-01, 23:24
If I remember correctly, in the Omanga (English) translation, a construct of some kind is asked if Killy is a Safeguard. The response is something like, "No. He is part of a system that pre-dates the Safeguards."
If that is correct, then his code is unique and like nothing else we've seen in the manga. It could be that his system and the system of the Safeguards simply don't interface, which insulates him from being taken over like the Safeguards can be.
tsurumaru
2004-06-02, 13:46
I have returned from a short holiday bursting with news,
First of all for you tsutomu fans general alround nice guy Kotonoha has scanslated a recent short (and I mean short) story of his " Zebnoid".
BT is here for this short manga. :)
http://www.downloadanime.org/torrents/%5BKotonoha%5DZeb-Noid.(1-shot).(Tsutomu.Nihei).zip.torrent
Secondly after the madness that was Blame Gakuen, August's Afternoon magazine is to feature a CD rom with a collection of Desktop wallpapers of series by other manga artists, including a Blame! wallpaper from the author and artist of the Afternoon serialised Love Roma manga!!!
(Picture to follow)
Hmm think I'm gonna have to post a new thread for the remainder of the news....
Briareos
2004-06-02, 14:06
I have returned from a short holiday bursting with news,
First of all for you tsutomu fans general alround nice guy Kotonoha has scanslated a recent short (and I mean short) story of his " Zebnoid".
BT is here for this short manga. :)
http://www.downloadanime.org/torrents/%5BKotonoha%5DZeb-Noid.(1-shot).(Tsutomu.Nihei).zip.torrent (http://www.downloadanime.org/torrents/%5BKotonoha%5DZeb-Noid.%281-shot%29.%28Tsutomu.Nihei%29.zip.torrent)
Thank you for the heads-up! I found downloading the file (through Mozilla) much easier from this location: http://64.62.145.165:6969/
The name (at least in the file) is hyphenated -- "Zeb-noid"
Sanjuronord
2004-06-03, 04:49
The story in Snikt! didn't really move very well and dialogue was pretty limited but the art was fantastic. Best, most feral, rendition of wolverine I've seen in a long time shame it was so short.
Briareos
2004-06-03, 08:34
Well, I'm not sure how much plot you would get out of a story named after the sound of Wolverine's claws extending. ;)
Ialdaboth
2004-06-03, 14:23
And what about a story named after the supersonic sound of a detonating gun, hummm ? :)
Briareos
2004-06-03, 14:57
I think you mean BLAM! Blame is when you assign the responsibility for the result of an action or event (usually negative) to someone or something.
I don't think that BLAME! is supposed to represent the sound of his gun. Besides, a gravitational beam emitter wouldn't make the BLAM! sound of a conventional gun since no gunpowder or explosives are used in the design. Since the gun emits a beam, there probably isn't even a projectile. I'd imagine the sound is more of a WHAAP!, which would make an awful manga title. :) I'd imagine that there'd possibly be some sort of sonic boom resulting from the air displacement the emitter seems to create.
Snikt! on the other hand tells me that the story may consist simply of Wolverine extending (ouch) and retracting his claws, and maybe killing a few people (or beer cans) with them inbetween. ;)
Ialdaboth
2004-06-03, 17:06
... i see what you mean but i don't really understand what Nihei would use the word blame for. Blame who ? And for what ? And why the bloody exclamation point ? "Blame!", a manga about a young delinquent cyborg guilty of robot blasting and degradation of public property ? :)
I *do* think that Blame refer to an explosive sound. Blame it to the engrish. :heh:
Even if Killy's weapon doen't go "BLAMMMMEEEE!!!" but more something like "WHAAP!", "BIZZZZ!!" or "TIUUUUM" whenever he uses it, it would be a good reference to the violence and the darkness of the manga. :D
Briareos
2004-06-03, 18:04
Maybe the crux of the story is who (or what) is to blame for......the growing city that seems to cover the entire Earth. Killy is looking for the Terminal Gene that will enable the stoppage of the growth, so it makes sense.
BLAMO! is a much more common sound effect. Much stronger than BLAM! ;)
Dhomochevsky
2004-06-03, 18:05
Remember that he called it "Killy in cyber-dungeon quest" or something like that in the begining. What a stupid name... :heh:
Given that, he may think that naming a manga after a sound is the greatest idea ever, so he used it for both BLAME! and SNIKT!. :thinker: :)
Edit:
We know who`s fault it is from very early in the manga.
The evil, evil siliciums are to BLAME! (and that`s what he does... :bash: blame!blame!blame!... uhm :heh: )
tsurumaru
2004-06-03, 18:47
Actually this always confused me as the Katakana for the series is:
ブラム
bu ra mu "blam"
Whereas I had expected it to be:
ブレイム
bu re i mu "blame"
Mind you it took me ages to work out that
ウイルス
u i ru su
was actually garaigo for "Virus" :heh:
Briareos
2004-06-04, 08:05
So, the proper English translation should be BLAM! I wonder why he's doing the sound effects for titles thing? (Okay, the first one isn't a sound effect, but a general description.) I guess Engrish really is to blame here. :heh:
maxthelostboy
2004-06-04, 18:10
Yay! I'm not alone :p.
As for the other comic, SNIKT! I used the word 'comic', since its licensed and distributed (i think only) by marvel comics. It's basically throwing Wolverine(xman) into a blame-ish setting, but in color. So...it doesn't look as good. I had a look at a few pages, it didn't look worth buying, but right now i'm tearing over my to buy list:
1. All of BLAME!s volumes once their in english...if ever >.<.
2. All of Narutaru/Shadow Star's volumes once I get the money, which is soon to get some of them :).
3. River's Edge, if its ever going to be in english, which is unlikely due to the unfavorable drawing style. But, on the other hand, the manga is (loosely) based on something that happened in the US. Go look up the Keanu movie River's edge. It's...somewhat the same as the manga in respects to scenery and some characters. But overall they are very different from each other.
snikt i read it. I thought it was cool for what its worth but i also read almost all of marvels most popular monthlies:) I dont think its worth buying if you didn't read it issue by issue but i dont see why you cant call it manga since its the same thing as a comic
dreamless
2004-06-05, 07:25
I like BLAME! However I don't quite understand it... I can understand some bits here and there, but there's a lot of confusing stuff... so Noise is a prequel to BLAME!? guess I'll go find it and read it, hope it can answer some questions in BLAME!...
Dhomochevsky
2004-06-05, 08:08
Noise won`t help you understand Blame! :heh:
Though it`s a prequel, it`s hard to understand Noise itself. It seems like it`s set in the same world as Blame! but before that "accident" which caused the people with netgens to disapear. (or maybe not...and it`s just some random city where a couple of humans survived). There are siliciums and safeguards involved... but I`m not sure if that`s the original thing, that caused all the trouble. I`ll have to read it over again. :help:
It`s more the other way around: I wouldn`t have understood a bit if I didn`t read Blame! before Noise. ;)
tsurumaru
2004-06-05, 21:35
So, the proper English translation should be BLAM! I wonder why he's doing the sound effects for titles thing? (Okay, the first one isn't a sound effect, but a general description.) I guess Engrish really is to blame here. :heh:
Well this is the point I don't understand, althought its written phonetically as "Blam" in katakana it also appears in English (romaji) as Blame!
Therefore I'd still opt for "Blame!"
dreamless
2004-06-09, 09:51
just finished reading Noise, and although it doesn't answer all the questions, I think it answered the questions about the origin of the silicon creatures and the nature of mega-structure.
Also I think the girl in Noise could be Sanakan in BLAME! they look quite alike IMO.
The thing that confuse me most in BLAME! is the part about that parallel world (?) generated by the gravity generator and the parallel Cibos (?) So there are many many Cibos in many many parallel worlds? :twitch:
I also enjoyed BLAME!. I really like the moods created by brush-based manga art. I get "Afternoon" regularly and I'll always go through BLAME! after reading YKK and AMG!. No manga beats Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou though. :)
Dhomochevsky
2004-06-26, 21:40
What exactly is afternoon btw?
Some kind of anime magazine with lots of text and a little part for manga, or the other way around?
What is the connection between Nihei and afternoon? It seems all his work was in this afternoon once and he did a couple of shorts for them.
jennwenn
2004-06-27, 01:35
What exactly is afternoon btw?
Some kind of anime magazine with lots of text and a little part for manga, or the other way around?
What is the connection between Nihei and afternoon? It seems all his work was in this afternoon once and he did a couple of shorts for them.
Afternoon is a huge phonebook size manga magazine. Its mostly manga and ads. I've never seen a copy IRL, but I assume there may be a few articles in there as well. Mostly manga though, LOTS of manga. You can even purchase a subscription here (http://www.akadotretail.com/shop/shop_showbook.php?id=13871-07) from Akadot retail.
Perhaps Nihei has a good business relationship with the publishers of Afternoon, so most of his stuff gets published in their magazine. Mangaka tend to be published in more than one magazine, though they may stick to the same publisher. It could be a contractual issue. Or maybe Nihei just likes Afternoon's style and reputation (and the readers like his work) so he sticks with them.
Kotonoha
2004-06-27, 07:44
Secondly after the madness that was Blame Gakuen, August's Afternoon magazine is to feature a CD rom with a collection of Desktop wallpapers of series by other manga artists, including a Blame! wallpaper from the author and artist of the Afternoon serialised Love Roma manga!!!
Check this thread for the picture in question and some other amusing illustrations from the CD-ROM:
http://www.monkey-pirate.com/kotonoha/index.php?topic=8.0
Noise won`t help you understand Blame! :heh:
Though it`s a prequel, it`s hard to understand Noise itself. It seems like it`s set in the same world as Blame! but before that "accident" which caused the people with netgens to disapear. (or maybe not...and it`s just some random city where a couple of humans survived). There are siliciums and safeguards involved... but I`m not sure if that`s the original thing, that caused all the trouble. I`ll have to read it over again. :help:
It`s more the other way around: I wouldn`t have understood a bit if I didn`t read Blame! before Noise. ;)
So then I should definitely wait to read Noise until after I've finished Blame! (which I am loving )?
JOJOS'STAR
2004-10-28, 18:08
So then I should definitely wait to read Noise until after I've finished Blame! (which I am loving )?
Yes, well.. it helps to get familiar with the atmosphere but not with the storyline at all so if you read like 2-3 books already you can read Noise You won't miss or spoil anything important, its two completely diffrent story. Exept for the end(Killy's story I guess?) that I don't perfectly recall I understood lol :uhoh:
Dhomochevsky
2004-12-13, 04:42
Anyone here read BioMega , the newest Nihei project, yet?
I got volume 1 just now. The art is beautiful, scenes are more crowded. Some of the characters are actual humans now, they talk much more than in BLAME! and there are even some little JOKES in there. wow ;)
But hes reusing the same main charas again! Killy is in there, hes got inhuman strength again, hes indestructibal and kind of cyborg again, but hes got some new weapons including a badass bike. Cibo is his sidekick...again... shes the techgeek as we know her. Of course theyre not named killy and cibo but... they look alike. ;)
In addition the girl in Vol1 reminds me a lot of Sanakan (but shes very cute with her teddybear-suit ;) ).
There are new charas though. Some very cool ones, like the guard-boss, who is some kind of witch hunter.
Overall this is very promising, check it out as soon as you can. :)
Thanks for the info, I'll check this out as soon as I get back from work. I didn't even knew he had started a new project in earnest, I'm so clueless :o
I read the first volume of Biomega while ago (thanks to the guys of evil-genius) and it's great. The art is beautiful and the story is, er, at least very Nihei-ish. The bear is an interesting character and if you thought in Blame! Killy's weapon was funky wait until you see the Zouichi's one in the end of the volume 1, now that's a big ass gun. Zouichi are Killy are like long lost brothers though. Can't wait the following volumes.
Moon The Cat
2004-12-24, 17:13
Finalyy read the first volume. I still get chills when reading Nihei's manga. I can't wait to figure out how is the whole story going to develop. OMG...What a cool gun....
BTW, don't you guys think Zouichi doesn't look as creppy as "Bad Ass MF Killy"? He even has some bishi looks. :D
"I haven't seen a human being for the past 100 years" -Musubi, NOiSE
And I haven't seen anybody post here for the past 2 years. :heh:
The similarity comes from the brevity of the scenes, and the fact that what happens in both the YKK and BLAME! anime segments is only part of a larger story and context. Even when I was watching the BLAME! and YKK anime for the first time -- before having read either manga -- I had an overwhelming feeling that I was missing a larger picture in the background of what was going on.
The stories of YKK and the BLAME! manga obviously have nothing to do with each other, but there are strange paralells. Take for example the slow revelation of background details of each world (each being a future version of Earth -- okay, in Blame! it's maybe in the future and maybe on Earth). Each manga relies a great deal on atmosphere and being stirred by one's surroundings (although for greatly different reasons).
I've either illustrated my comparison, or opened a can of worms that says that you can draw paralells between anything. :uhoh:
Other parallels:
1) Both manga require lots of reading between the lines (i.e. minimized spoonfeeding, lots of implying through small details) in order to understand the story and themes.
2) When you think about, a lot of the chapters could begin with the words, "Another day in the life of Killy..." In a sense, it's also a slice-of-life manga every now and then.
3) Killy and Alpha are both prototypes yet they are more "special" than the later models. Killy can still take on the latest Safeguard and Silicon Creature models though he is over 3,000 years old. Alpha (A7-M2) is somehow more "human" than her A7-M3 sisters.
4) The both wield guns.
Somebody deserves to be shot with a gravitational beam emitter. :heh:
tsurumaru
2007-03-30, 18:01
Just wondered if anyone had checked out the Blame! sequel and their thoughts on it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net_Sphere_Engineer
2H-Dragon
2007-03-31, 04:40
Personally I'm not really a fan of his work he should work with story writers. :O So sad that good artists feel the need to do everything alone. Same with Oh!Great actually.
Blame is good next to the story which is just bad. Maybe its, because I didn't understand it, but a lot of people seem to fail too understand it. I didn't know wtf was going on. It ended flashy, but what the hell happened in the end?
Just wondered if anyone had checked out the Blame! sequel and their thoughts on it
Read 2 versions of the first chapter about 2 or 3 years ago. It's more like an epilogue featuring none of the characters from the main series, it merely shows how the Netsphere has stabilized somewhat after the events of Blame! though how Killy's actions may have affected the Megastructure is not given.
I've been keeping track of Nihei's other works ever since I finished reading Blame! (scanlated by Omanga back then). Unfortunately, once you've read Blame! and NOiSE, you've already seen it all. As 2H-Dragon mentioned:
Personally I'm not really a fan of his work he should work with story writers. :O So sad that good artists feel the need to do everything alone.
It seems as if Nihei's already used up all of his ideas for Blame! and he's stuck recycling/ripping off his own ideas from his most successful series. Like a magician repeating the same trick over and over, it eventually gets rather tiring: the same silent/semi-invincible protagonist with a powerful gun, the same faces, the same insane architecture, another group trying to bring ruin upon mankind, etc, etc, etc.
To sum it all up: Everything after Blame! (volumes 1-10, NOiSE, Blame! Gakuen, Blame! And So On) feels half-assed.
Blame is good next to the story which is just bad. Maybe its, because I didn't understand it, but a lot of people seem to fail too understand it. I didn't know wtf was going on. It ended flashy, but what the hell happened in the end?
Hmm... I guess it depends on the reader's attitude towards open endings. One of Blame!'s unique features is its lack of narration: only a few details are tossed in and it's up to the reader how to connect the dots (the "no spoonfeeding" policy). Because the author doesn't specify how everything comes together, there are multiple interpretations of how/why events actually happened. The story parallels the Megastructure itself in having endless possibilities and the imaginations of the readers are given plenty of room and materials to roam freely and do as they wish. If you're really interested in the theories, you could try researching and browsing through other forums (http://www.heeen.de/blame/) (if you could tolerate bad english).
Soconfused
2008-09-07, 22:40
Sorry to super Necro this thread from the grave but I didn't want to start a new thread for such a random question, which concerns volume 2 of Biomega....
"W....What the hell happened in chapter 18? There was a duel of sorts? The 3 random guys who appear earlier get owned right off the bat? I'm so confused... :("
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