Blame! A Visually Stunning but Confusing Anime Adaptation

The genres of action and sci-fi go hand in hand, giving birth to numerous titles that can excite you. Throw in some cyberpunk aspects into the setting of a dystopian world, and you have the recipe for a darker story meant for more adult audiences. There are many things to juggle at once, so the resulting product can be hit or miss depending on many factors. It’s common for manga of this type to reach new heights, but the anime adaptation often fails to live up to the hype. So, let’s see how this particular one fares.

Blame! Movie | A Visually Stunning but Confusing Anime Adaptation | Pinnedupink.com

“Blame!: The Movie”, also known as ”Blame!: The Ancient Terminal City” and “Blame!: Tanmatsu Ikou Toshi”, is a movie that aired on May 20, 2017. It was produced by Starchild Records, Kodansha, KlockWorx, and Glovision, licensed by VIZ Media, and brought to life by Studio Polygon Pictures.

The central staff behind it includes Seshita Hiroyuki as director, Murai Sadayuki on script, Iwanami Yoshikazu as sound director, and Shimazu Hiroyuki on storyboard. It features the genres of action, drama, and sci-fi alongside the themes of mecha and psychological.

The movie has a runtime of 1 hour and 45 minutes, is targeted at the Seinen demographic, and received a rating of PG-13 for teenagers 13 years of age or older. It is based on Tsutomu Nihei's manga series of the same title but follows an alternate story instead. Although Nihei wrote the screenplay, the plot combines various manga story elements.

The movie is based on the manga titled “Blame!: Denki Ryoushi Kiken Kaisou Dasshutsu Sakusen” (“Blame!: The Electrofishers' Escape”). This single-volume manga was published from the 26th of April until the 26th of October, 2017. Sekine Koutarou, an artist, created it focusing on the Shounen demographic and serialized it in Shounen Sirius.

Vertical Inc. published this manga in English on April 2, 2019. An alternative version titled “Blame!’ aired in October 2003 as a 6-episode ONA series featuring clips meant as a bonus to the manga. The original manga, titled “Blame!” also spanned ten volumes, which were published from the 25th of January 1997 until the 25th of July 2003. Nihei Tsutomu handled both the story and the art here, and his work was serialized in Afternoon.

The story hones in on a young girl named Zuru, who has set out on an expedition in a desperate search for food. The problem is that in order to get what she needs, she must navigate a machine-run post-apocalyptic city. As expected, things don’t go well, and her team accidentally sets off the city's AI defense program, dubbed "Safeguard.”

Brutally attacked by the machines, she and her companions are on the verge of death when a mysterious man named Killy arrives on the scene and exterminates the hostile units. Considering everything, Zuru hesitates to trust Killy fully and questions his true motives despite his heroic intervention.

Killy reveals that he came from thousands of levels (6,000) below the city to find humans possessing the Net Terminal Genes. This trait allows humans to regain control of their civilization and shut down the Safeguard. Convinced by his story, Zuru and her friends join Killy and embark on a perilous journey to seek out the genes that could be humankind's last hope of survival.

Before we start, let it be known that this movie is an absolute treat for fans of the original manga, especially if you’ve read the entire manga. For such viewers, just don’t expect the same experience you got from the manga. This is one of the first significant arcs of the series, and since they didn’t finish the entire story here, things were added and changed to suit the medium.

Anyway, this Netflix original movie is about a dystopian, post-apocalyptic sci-fi world where death is expected. Even if you haven’t read the manga, this movie has a lot of hype, and you will likely like it. But let’s break it down and see how it fares…

The “Blame! Movie” story can be hit or miss, depending on the viewer. But I think most would agree that it has an epic start and kicks off pretty darn well. The world looks and feels grim, dark, and lonely, giving viewers a solid idea about the setting. We also see how the people are struggling in desperate attempts to survive.

These first few minutes of the movie make you feel interested and immersed in this world, which is a huge plus. But as the movie progresses, it needs to adequately explain the core concepts governing it, making you lose the initial intrigue. All the talking and exposition about the Netsphere, Net Terminal Gene, and so on are all interesting initially, but they don’t get explored enough and leave you lost.

As it approaches the finale, things become even more convoluted and confusing, leaving you thinking, "What on earth just happened?" in a bad way. I guess this is where the manga readers can shine because they already have all the concepts down, but the rest of us are simply left scratching our heads.

The characters just move from one location to another and get involved in problems that need resolving. The story is also highly open-ended, so much so that it leaves a hollow feeling. It has good action sequences and exciting issues to tackle, but the execution needs to improve. As a result, you lose the initial attachment to the story, and everything starts to feel stale.

The characters suffer the same fate as the story; they catch your attention immediately, but we lose interest in them thanks to the lack of exploration or depth. The movie doesn’t seem to care about most of the supporting cast, and I don’t think there was enough time to flesh them out, either. As a result, most of them are just placeholders that can be replaced at any given time.

Sadly, this actually happens to them, and you don’t feel much for those who die, either. Their blatant lack of backstory, purpose, and development is more tragic than their deaths. The protagonist, Killy, isn’t much better off either because we have no idea who he is, even at the end. We know his name; he has a badass gun and is probably humanity’s last hope. He is a Terminator-like, emotionless robot, but I’ll give credit to his sheer badassery.

The best thing about this movie is its art and animation department, which is simply spectacular. The CGI animation is solid and easy to get used to; the backgrounds are vibrant with clever use of colors, and the cinematography is simply stunning.

As for character designs, Killy got a redesign that made him look more rugged, adding to his character. Zuru had a cute design, but it appeared that they only intended for her to be eye candy. The remaining characters lacked any distinguishable features to make them stand out or feel memorable.

The action sequences and some fantastic music are epic and smooth, with vibrant shades of red and blue. Overall, the movie looks incredible from start to finish, including the color palette, lighting, and special effects, which expertly capture the vibe of this dark and desperate world. The character models and their animation were smooth and praise-worthy as well.

The sounds and music department is expertly handled; props to Yugo Kanno. All the audio blended into the world’s atmosphere well, and Killy's soundtrack was a grade above the rest. The ending theme was "Calling you" by angela, which was nice too.

The sound effects for the action scenes were on point, and I enjoyed those moments. The OSTs are unique, living up to the hype of the manga and making the movie much more enjoyable. They even give off nice, cozy feels at the right moments and help immerse you in this catastrophic world where people are simply trapped. There are no issues with the voice acting either; everyone did their job well.

There’s nothing to hate about Blame! The movie has a fantastic atmosphere and is stunning from start to finish. It leaves many unanswered questions, so a sequel to answer these queries, explore the world further, and develop the characters more would be a welcome addition.

It doesn’t give us enough through this movie and leaves you thirsting for more, prompting some to turn to the manga. Either way, it doesn’t do well as a stand-alone movie despite being enjoyable. As I mentioned earlier, fans of the Blame! Manga would absolutely love this, and so would anyone who enjoys a mindless action flick. The ending is open-ended, too, so be ready to accept that. If you can stomach the subpar plot and confounding characters, I recommend this one!