BLAME! | written and illustrated by Tsutomu Nihei

To this day, the manga series BLAME! is celebrated for its world building. It takes place in the far future where humans have built autonomous robots called Builders. These Builders have, in turn, built The City, a construct billions of kilometers in diameter, made of metal and concrete. Its inhabitants are a variety of creatures, humans, and artificial life forms, ranging from humanoid to insect-like. The world's strange and vast architecture, as well as the diversity among its denizens, is indeed quite notable. Some double-page spreads simply leave the reader in awe.

The protagonist of the series is named Killy. In stark contrast to many other characters, who boast imaginative designs, he looks like any generic male manga protagonist: average build, black hair, no distinguishing features. His personality is similarly flat: he talks very little and does not seem to care about anything. Even the character guide doesn't know what to say about him:

You could imagine this working as a "drifter" type character, as is popular in many Westerns, but unlike those kinds of characters Killy isn't carrying the burden of his past—he doesn't know his past! Drifter characters also need to be propped up by a strong supporting cast, which BLAME! is thoroughly lacking.

Most of the characters Killy meets on his journey fall into one of three categories. First, there's neutral characters living in their settlements. They are mostly concerned with their own survival, and Killy is really not the protagonist to find out more about them. Rather, he quickly abandons them once they start to show any more personality. Next, there are the Safeguard, a synthetic life form with one directive: to kill Killy. Not very interesting, and they themselves mostly get killed within a couple of panels. There are some exceptions, Safeguard that get a flicker of individuality, but they similarly extinguish mere pages later. Finally, there are some major characters that follow Killy for multiple chapters. But they are also written to barely reveal anything about themselves before being abandoned sooner or later.

The action scenes, which could be the last saving grace, also disappoint. Here, the series' strengths already work against it: because the architecture, as well as the characters, are so varied and imaginative, it's tough to read the panels. In addition, establishing shots for the opponents as well as the location are often missing. Even during the action, the location often changes as characters get thrown around by the heavy recoil of their weapons or by jumping for cover. Finally, many weapons dismember and decapitate the characters, confusing their anatomy even more. There's also little consequence to these action scenes. Mostly it's just some enemies showing up and being disintegrated by Killy. Even when Killy loses a limb, it will be repaired or grown back a few pages later, leaving not even a scar.

The way the central driver of the plot—the thing Killy is looking for—is handled is equally frustrating. Killy keeps asking people for the "Net Terminal Gene," and proceeds to kill them when they don't have it, don't know about it, or sometimes when they take too long to answer. The exposition as to what the Net Terminal Gene is and why it might be useful is delayed for much too long, making it hard to care.

The pacing being off for this one plot detail is no exception. The reader is often left wondering why some characters, locations, or developments get so much spotlight while others are left by the wayside. The biggest failure in that regard is the way in which Killy's travels are presented. Again, the selling point is the city and its incredible scale—the vast scale, the potential to walk for years, becoming lost. It seems straightforward to spend time showing the silent protagonist simply wandering these seemingly infinite and empty hallways, stairs, and bridges. In reality, it's quite the contrary. First, the journey is interrupted at every turn by Killy stumbling upon some village, the Safeguard, or some other character sitting there. In stark contrast to the idea of a vast and empty structure, this makes it almost feel overcrowded.

The other thing making the city feel small is that between panels there often are huge jumps in time and location, making traversal seem quick and easy. This is best illustrated with an example. At one point, Killy enters an elevator. Inside the elevator lives a character whose whole purpose is to operate it. Killy asks him about the Net Terminal Gene, the whole exchange taking about four pages. When he's informed of a distress signal, he asks the operator to take the elevator there. The operator says it will take 800 hours, and one page later informs Killy that they have arrived. When I first read that I was confused whether this might just be a joke, but it does not seem to be one. A short conversation gets four times as many pages as a month-long elevator ride.

In all, this series was a huge letdown. I was looking forward to getting lost in the megastructure but found every other aspect, which could have elevated the manga—character, action, plot—working against it. Ultimately, the whole experience is rather cumbersome and disappointing, almost like the reader is exploring their own never-ending, bland domain.

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