Manga Reviews (2010-2019): Blame! The Electrofishers' Escape by Toha Heavy Industries cinematic Division and Sekine Koutarou (a Neo-Tokyo 2099 Manga Review) (2018)

With this one-shot manga, I felt there is a bit more background on the characters and their emotional response to others. In addition, the manga also featured an interesting way to end “Blame! The Electrofishers’ Escape” with a certain character and giving readers a timeline to the future and if Killy ever succeeded on his mission. But for the most part, if you are a fan of Tsutomu Nihei’s work, I definitely recommend reading “Blame! The Electrofishers’ Escape”!

MANGA TITLE: Blame! The Electrofishers’ Escape

STORY BY Toha Heavy Industries Cinematic Division

ART by Sekine Koutarou

FIRST PUBLISHED IN JAPAN: Kodansha Ltd.

PUBLISHED IN USA BY: Vertical Comics

RATED: ALL

RELEASE DATE: April 2, 2019

Steel and rust. The City structure has endlessly propagated itself for so many years that the reason for such growth has long since been forgotten. Even within such a techo-dystopia, humans still exist: The Electrofishers.
Driven to the brink of extinction, they are visited by a traveller—a man named Killy. But will his presence bring the Electrofishers ruination or hope..?

A manga series adaptation of the animated film “Blame!” (produced by Polygon Pictures) is based on Nihei Tsutomu’s (“Knights of Sidonia” and “Biomega” creator) 10-volume manga “Blame!”.

Featuring an adaptation by Toha Heavy Industries Cinematic Division and featuring artwork by Sekine Koutarou and direction of Nihei, the manga has been released in North America courtesy of Vertical Comics.

“Blame!” was released as a Netflix original back in May 2017 and now the animated film “Blame!” will be released on Blu-ray and DVD courtesy of Viz Media.

The manga begins with a voice of how a contagion stopped humans from connecting with the city and afterward, the city expanded on its own and humans were seen as illegal residents and exterminated.

We are introduced to a tribe of human warriors known as Electrofishers (which include a girl name Tae and another named Zuru) investigating an area, trying to find food as supplies have run very low in their village. Also, trying to avoid huge monstrous mechanized things known as “Builders” but specifically hostile cyborgs known as “Safeguard” who try to destroy anything human (as humans are seen as viruses).

Unfortunately, their mission goes wrong and the Safeguards discover their position.

As a few are killed, Zuru manages to destroy a few but three chase after her. She is saved by an anonymous man.

The anonymous man is named Killy, who happens to possess a powerful weapon known as a Gravitational Beam Emitter. Even more to their surprise is that he is not wearing a special suit or head gear.

Killy asks them to take off their head gear because he wants to see their eyes. And he asks them if anyone of them possesses the Net Terminal Gene (an extinct genetic marker that allows humans to access the “Netsphere”, a network for The City and may have the ability to stop the builders from expanding the city).

Zuru’s tribe has a hard time believing a human survived because it’s rare to meet any living humans, especially one who came from more than a thousand floors down but knowing other humans have survived, gives them hope. Killy is the first human they met for their generation and have not seen any humans at all aside.

Knowing that Killy is trying to find the Net Terminal Gene and knowing that they need food supplies badly, the Electrofishers decide to assist Killy

Will they find humans with the Net Terminal Gene?

I am a big fan of Tsutomu Nihei’s work. A lot of his work are sci-fi, futuristic and intelligently written.

And the concept of “Blame!” is very interesting about how humans have created a network that builds its own cities through mechanical beings known as Builders but unfortunately, a contagion somehow entered the system, separating human and machine and now with no connection to the network, the Builders are continuing it’s building and have sent defense robots known as Safeguards to target humans.

Long ago, humans had a gene to control the network, but not anymore and now humans try to survive in the city with dwindling food supplies.

That is until a group of villagers met another human who has traveled from many floors down and has given them hope that there are areas where humans may live, a safe area with food supplies.

For the most part, the manga is a faithful adaptation of the animated film. While the animated film focused a lot on depicting the action and dread that goes on and how humans are easily killed, I felt the manga series was much easier to follow than the animated film.

But for the most part, if you are a fan of Tsutomu Nihei’s work, I definitely recommend reading “Blame! The Electrofishers’ Escape”!