Blame! is a new name for a Netflix adaptation of its classic manga. The movie that is fresh has not the old gloomy realism but it’s own punch as a sci-fi action. It tells the story of Killy, who is an unknown person traveling through the huge and empty ruins of megacity to look for human beings who have ‘Net Terminal Genes’ which enable them to control the AI gone rogue in the city. Along his way he meets a small group of humans known as Electro-Fishers, who hide themselves from terrifying guardians that protect the city.
I cannot review this movie without mentioning the original manga so I will do it below. But first let me share my thoughts on this film itself as if it was presented in isolation. Well I enjoyed it. So, they took an interesting approach by doing full CGI, which had been tried before but had never really appealed to traditional anime fans. Its still kind of creepy and disturbingly so given how abnormal all of this seems. Actually though, there was some lack of purpose to the movie because it essentially boiled down to one arc from the manga; nevertheless by its conclusion it did come out quite well with regards to that arc. Of course, action, characters and music were all strong but for those unfamiliar with source material there might be problems with figuring out just what is happening in Blame!’s weird world.
To understand Blame!, let me draw back slightly on why this manga became such a cult classic. Imagine a future where everything lives in one huge mega-city including all life ever known .The city maintains itself through automated processes that keep expanding therefore creating immense wastelands forevermore .But since time immemorial ,these authorizations are no longer valid and instead these programs are now hunting humans as intruders up till their extinction .In this barren techno-wasteland walks a lone figure ,his only features being his seemingly small gun and black outline. Ahead , nothing but challenge after challenge of increasingly demented machine life forms which seek to deny him and the last remnants of humanity .Killy moves on for countless centuries, always following his ancient mission that is almost forgotten.
I want to describe Tsutomu Nihei’s moody, existential, deformed and troubling world this is vital in understanding Blame! 2017. There was something about the manga that made it so special; we were observing a massive unknown world collapse in front of our eyes. This new movie cannot, and does not try to recreate that level of epic gloom. It is actually a very different animal from the manga, yet it gets enough right while doing its own thing to be successful. However, what I missed most from this film as it failed to capture the uncomfortable style against readers at times offensive weirdness with which I loved from the manga is really sharp tastelessness. Nonetheless I must accept that myself it falls a little bit short when judged independently.
Meanwhile, the film only considers the Electro-Fisher arc from the manga and includes some earlier parts that incorporate their first meeting between Killy and Cibo. While legendary arcs like Tohha Heavy Industries are left untouched with a possibility of being examined later (something I was so much interested in seeing). First of all let me talk about the characters. This is one area where I stated in introduction that new viewers might suffer from not knowing the backstory. Our hero is Killy, who is a silent but deadly traveler who just doesn’t have time to be fleshed out in the movie. The Electro-Fishers almost become him as main character. They are adorable as the last humans alive, finding anything they can use to scrounge through life in this City resourcefully. Yuru is a young woman who we spend most of our time with, she’s talented and ambitious and does whatever she can for them. The older Fisher leaders and other young characters are all nice enough but they aren’t very deep or go on an arc like theirselves either. However, the best character was Cibo: She’s an enhanced human scientist from another era who claims she may possibly solve all their problems.. As one of the major characters in the manga it was great to see her again and she definitely comes off as very composed yet still breathtakingly powerful in this film.
The plot and pacing were pretty good; indeed they took a complete arc with some sequencing that worked pretty well at moving things along smoothly without any hiccups here and there. It wasn’t too lengthy because all big beats of stories converged at appropriate points thus raising tension level for readers with vast changes occurring systematically.The only thing here really is that since it was just one self contained arc then it didn’t really progress further on Killy’s journey into anything else so therefore its ending couldn’t be as climactic as it should have been for a standalone film.
The visuals and sound were both solid. With the sound, it was a bit more hit or miss. There were times when I noticed the music and thought that it was doing great however at some points the big orchestra sound seemed out of place. Im not sure how much a traditional type of score really suits this incredibly weird post-techno-apocalypse scenario. On the other hand, CGI visuals are much better off. They are still very different from the original style but employing 100% CGI creates an entirely consistent world and offers up some spectacular shots and sequences. For me, its just so different to the excessively detailed and shaded manga that it was a bit unsettling to watch this new smooth animation style. Nevertheless, overall I think this movie brought to life manga pretty well in my view.
Blame! 2017 has been harshly criticized by some people. Yes, unlike the manga, it is a big action movie with sci fi elements which is more quiet, more disturbing and generally spikier but for a big sci fi action movie it really works at drawing you in as well as stunning you with its reveals. However, I know that my review has been completely influenced by my affection for the manga, yet I was excited to see something that I love so much being introduced to a new audience in an interesting and exciting way. In case words like post-apocalypse, techno-dystopia, action-adventure mean anything to you check this out please. And maybe the manga too.
Watch Blame on Kimcartoon
