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[BuckRobotron]

This was one of those actually relevant Netflix recommendations for me. Quite liked Knights of Sidonia (and have both seasons on the shelf). This obviously has a similar look, and a similarly solid English dub, as is the case with most Netflix-proffered anime at release.

Have actually played it twice but too much multitasking...so will watch again for some sequences I didn't fully engage with.

 

[Moongazer]

That was a lot better than I was expecting seeing that it was cgi I was prepared for the worst. It's much better than any of the cgi Berserk adaptions for instance which I know is a very low bar but I was expecting something on that level which it isn't thankfully. I read the manga years ago so I vaguely remember some parts of it. I hope they plan on doing more of these films and that this isn't just a one off. It definitely regained my interest in re-reading the manga again.

 

[IrrelevantAlex]

Watched it last night and enjoyed it. Hoping theirs another movie in the future as I need more. Got me to reread the manga, I read 4 volumes today which wasn't hard as I have it all sitting right next to me for years now.

 

[DangerMouse]

Was this meant to be the first in a series of films? I wish Polygon talked about their plans more. I mean what are they working on next?

Thought it was a great movie but it just ended without any real conclusion.

Hope they are able to do a Sidonia season 3 after this. But my main request is a Biomega series!

Yeah, I hope they plan to make more.

Agreed, I also want a Sidonia season 3 and hell yes I'd absolutely LOVE to see a Biomega series too.

 

[TheGameshark]

I really want polygon pictures give us more Blame material after watching this. I do hope they do Biomega at some point down the line.

 

[Hjod]

I haven't finished watching it yet, but it looks great in HDR at least!

 

[140.85]

Watched this last night. The CG characters hardly ever looked good. Especially the hair. Felt very dated. I kept wishing they had just gone for hand drawn. Backgrounds were beautiful though and the design overall was good. The world itself is interesting.

Story was...ok, I guess? Killy is painfully "silent badass anime character" trope but I didn't hate him. I really liked Cibo. Far and away the best character. The ending was an exciting climax but ultimately unsatisfying.

 

[Barkley's Justice]

Story was...ok, I guess? Killy is painfully "silent badass anime character" trope but I didn't hate him. I really liked Cibo. Far and away the best character. The ending was an exciting climax but ultimately unsatisfying.

Silent badass trope to be sure. But I really did enjoy the painfully long silences in his replies. They were extra "extra" to satisfying effect.

The opening sequence was amazing. The rest of the movie never reaches the same level of hype. The sequence in the "make anything" factory almost gets there. And the ending was quite good, dont get me wrong. But that intro was just like "woah."

Would like to see more of The Builders.

 

[Stahsky]

Watched it last night and enjoyed it. Hoping theirs another movie in the future as I need more. Got me to reread the manga, I read 4 volumes today which wasn't hard as I have it all sitting right next to me for years now.

I have everything in that picture, but also add all of Hellsing and Biomega.

thumbs up

 

[Foolworm]

Spoiler

But the real offender for me was the straight-up Tron Legacy music ripoff in the final act. I was immediately taken out of the world when that happened.

Really? I was thinking

Spoiler

Interstellar, not Daft Punk.

I really liked Cibo. Far and away the best character.

I'm a bit torn over her new cyborg look, but the way she clanks around is UUUMPFH (especially the part where she

Spoiler

sets up the synthetic terminal and

jacks in - it's so refreshing to see a different take on the usual neckport). I also thought it was interesting how she seemed to know who Killy was straight off the bat, explaining his idiosyncrasies to the villagers

Spoiler

and waking him up via bluetooth

.

The exterminators are appropriately menacing, but they feel reminiscent of the bomb-bots of GITS: Arise. Sanakan did not get enough screentime, and the Authority looked more like a Gauna - perhaps because it was so static.

That being said, I'm slightly disappointed by the ending - I think it should have stuck more closely to the manga

Spoiler

with Cibo taking over Sanakan's body and following Killy on his journey

. It would set up nicely for a future sequel, say,

Spoiler

Toha Heavy Industries

should they ever get the go-ahead.

 

[Ushay]

Just finished it, and I want MOAR! So good.

Wish Berserk was done with this kind of attention

 

[Kvik]

I wish Killy talks a bit more though, or at least interact more often with Zuru.

The world-building is so interesting though, I almost wish it had regular series of 24 episodes.

 

[Snakethesniper]

Just watched it and really enjoyed it. How different is from the manga?

 

[GuitarAtomik]

Thought it was kind of boring. Haven't read the manga so I'm probably missing a lot of context and that didn't help. Killy was fine but there wasn't enough to figure out his motivations. One minute he's saving people, the next he doesn't seem to give a shit, the next he drops everything to save people. The main girl was cool except for her weird obsession with Killy (a guy with literally zero personality) that only makes sense as an anime trope. Some concepts weren't well explained like the rules of how the watchtower can see you or why the Safeguard can just

Spoiler

walk through the barrier when disguised

. I thought the action when fighting the crawling bots was pretty boring except when they managed to get in close. At least most of what Killy does is pretty badass and the final battle is pretty good (and kind of horrifying). I don't know. Was hoping for more.

 

[Arkeband]

This movie felt like a boring version of the Gantz adaptation - the color palette is so washed out and Killy really isn't that cool until much later, he's just a guy who has a nonsensically powerful gun. The other characters have barely more personality than he does, if you can even tell them apart.

The funniest part is literally every time Killy raised the gun to shoot something he'd stare straight into the camera and it'd play that piano lilt, like there was some unspoken significance... and then he'd just fire a death laser (again).

 

[Chaos2Frozen]

Thought it was kind of boring. Haven't read the manga so I'm probably missing a lot of context and that didn't help. Killy was fine but there wasn't enough to figure out his motivations. One minute he's saving people, the next he doesn't seem to give a shit, the next he drops everything to save people. The main girl was cool except for her weird obsession with Killy (a guy with literally zero personality) that only makes sense as an anime trope. Some concepts weren't well explained like the rules of how the watchtower can see you or why the Safeguard can just

Spoiler

walk through the barrier when disguised

. I thought the action when fighting the crawling bots was pretty boring except when they managed to get in close. At least most of what Killy does is pretty badass and the final battle is pretty good (and kind of horrifying). I don't know. Was hoping for more.

"I'm looking... for a human... with the net terminal genes..."

 

[Valdfellgar]

Just watched it and really enjoyed it. How different is from the manga?

It's been a bit since I read the manga, but refreshing my memory via wikipedia, the anime takes a lot of liberties. It's very much the same world, and same characters, but they combine various different arcs, elements, and reorder sequences of events to form a more coherent story. Blame! the manga can be very obtuse with its narrative, offering up very little information much of the time. So the anime is a re-imagining of events, while keeping the mechanics and world building mostly intact.

"I'm looking... for a human... with the net terminal genes..."

I think it's a fair point though, and it's something that's never touched on in the manga if I recall. We know what he's looking for, and can kind of peace together a why (save humanity) but what was his personal reason for setting out? I think the anime adds a lot to Blame! and gives it more depth than the manga really has, but that is a problem with the story, it's a lot of flashbang and low on substance. Heck I mean, supposedly Blame! is a mistranslation of the title (It's supposed to be Blam, like the sound a gun or explosion would make) which I think the 'real title' actually makes a lot of sense when looking at what the focus is of the manga. It ties into what Arkeband was saying, about how every time Killy points the gun it feels like there's some big significance. Well there is, him shooting that super powerful weapon is kinda of one of the biggest aspects of appeal.

 

[Ascheroth]

It's been a bit since I read the manga, but refreshing my memory via wikipedia, the anime takes a lot of liberties. It's very much the same world, and same characters, but they combine various different arcs, elements, and reorder sequences of events to form a more coherent story. Blame! the manga can be very obtuse with its narrative, offering up very little information much of the time. So the anime is a re-imagining of events, while keeping the mechanics and world building mostly intact.

You should add that this movie also isn't the entirety of the manga in condensed form, but a re-imagined early arc.

The funniest part is literally every time Killy raised the gun to shoot something he'd stare straight into the camera and it'd play that piano lilt, like there was some unspoken significance... and then he'd just fire a death laser (again).

That was the best though.

 

[Valdfellgar]

You should add that this movie also isn't the entirety of the manga in condensed form, but a re-imagined early arc.

That was the best though.

That's true, my bad. But yeah, as you say it's not even the entire manga. They could easily make two more films out of the manga.

 

[HStallion]

Thought it was kind of boring. Haven't read the manga so I'm probably missing a lot of context and that didn't help. Killy was fine but there wasn't enough to figure out his motivations. One minute he's saving people, the next he doesn't seem to give a shit, the next he drops everything to save people. The main girl was cool except for her weird obsession with Killy (a guy with literally zero personality) that only makes sense as an anime trope. Some concepts weren't well explained like the rules of how the watchtower can see you or why the Safeguard can just

Spoiler

walk through the barrier when disguised

. I thought the action when fighting the crawling bots was pretty boring except when they managed to get in close. At least most of what Killy does is pretty badass and the final battle is pretty good (and kind of horrifying). I don't know. Was hoping for more.

Even though some of this isn't out right explained but you can figure out most of the reasons pretty easily if you pay attention. The Watch Towers need to have actual line of sight contact to see someone when they're wearing the electro fisher armor but they can see much farther and through physical objects, much like Killy can as well, and can easily pick up unarmored humans. Thus when the barrier goes down the watch tower immediately picks up on all the unprotected humans. Several characters make big deals about keeping their helmets on whenever near a watch tower or a place where the Safeguard is monitoring.

The Safeguard is quite literally human when she passes over the barrier or at least her exterior is, that's how she can enter. When she destroys the generator she transforms back into her safeguard form which is what the swirling cloud around her means. Its the same way the normal executioners are created, that cloud of whatever actually uses the material around them to create something and why the old man loses his arm trying to interfere.

 

[Rumblebones]

This was okay.

 

[Coriolanus]

I think it's a fair point though, and it's something that's never touched on in the manga if I recall. We know what he's looking for, and can kind of peace together a why (save humanity) but what was his personal reason for setting out? I think the anime adds a lot to Blame! and gives it more depth than the manga really has, but that is a problem with the story, it's a lot of flashbang and low on substance. Heck I mean, supposedly Blame! is a mistranslation of the title (It's supposed to be Blam, like the sound a gun or explosion would make) which I think the 'real title' actually makes a lot of sense when looking at what the focus is of the manga. It ties into what Arkeband was saying, about how every time Killy points the gun it feels like there's some big significance. Well there is, him shooting that super powerful weapon is kinda of one of the biggest aspects of appeal.

His

Spoiler

directive. Killy's an older safeguard model. Programmed to look for it.

Also explains everything else about his very particular phisyology.

 

[spineduke]

The Safeguard is quite literally human when she passes over the barrier or at least her exterior is, that's how she can enter. When she destroys the generator she transforms back into her safeguard form which is what the swirling cloud around her means. Its the same way the normal executioners are created, that cloud of whatever actually uses the material around them to create something and why the old man loses his arm trying to interfere.

The obvious plothole - if that's all it took, they should have claimed the village generations ago.

Not that I am particularly fussed about such details, but it was the first thing that rung out to me.

 

[Chaos2Frozen]

The obvious plothole - if that's all it took, they should have claimed the village generations ago.

Not that I am particularly fussed about such details, but it was the first thing that rung out to me.

That would assume that Safeguard was targeting them specifically but it's more likely that they only drew their attention because they were at the automated facility.

 

[Valdfellgar]

His

Spoiler

directive. Killy's an older safeguard model. Programmed to look for it.

Also explains everything else about his very particular phisyology.

Is that stated in the manga? It's been a couple years since I read the whole thing and I was never that into it. I know the movie makes a similar mention, very brief and only on his physical nature not his origins.

 

[Ascheroth]

That would assume that Safeguard was targeting them specifically but it's more likely that they only drew their attention because they were at the automated facility.

Yep, that was my takeaway too. I mean, the villagers would have starved soon anyway.
It was just them going to the automated facility and wanting to access the Net-Sphere which made them a higher priority threat.

 

[HStallion]

The obvious plothole - if that's all it took, they should have claimed the village generations ago.

Not that I am particularly fussed about such details, but it was the first thing that rung out to me.

Its not a plot hole. They had never been to the automated factory before and never encountered anything like a high ranking safeguard. Even if they had they would have never gotten inside with out Killy and Cibo to bypass the initial defenses. The barrier meant the regular watch towers didn't even know the electro fishers were even there to begin with. So until they stepped foot into the factory they were unknown to the safeguard.

 

[Arkeband]

The only problem I see with this plothole discussion is there was a scene early on where the humans watched Killy step over the barrier and that "proved" to them he was safe, inferring that a safeguard has pretended to be human before and got zapped at the barrier.

But then the other safeguard gets past because she made her exterior human which is flimsy as fuck OR the barrier never worked on advanced ones and the humans just assumed it would, but then that means the advanced safeguard know where they are.

The whole thing doesn't seem to make sense when you really try to break it down.

 

[Chaos2Frozen]

The only problem I see with this plothole discussion is there was a scene early on where the humans watched Killy step over the barrier and that "proved" to them he was safe, inferring that a safeguard has pretended to be human before and got zapped at the barrier.

But then the other safeguard gets past because she made her exterior human which is flimsy as fuck OR the barrier never worked on advanced ones and the humans just assumed it would, but then that means the advanced safeguard know where they are.

The whole thing doesn't seem to make sense when you really try to break it down.

Why would the advanced safeguard know they are there when the advanced safeguard never met them till they went to the facility?

 

[Arkeband]

Why would the advanced safeguard know they are there when the advanced safeguard never met them till they went to the facility?

Because they state "some of them pretend to be human" and the only ones we see doing that are the advanced ones, although why a race of machines wouldn't pass information from the shitty ones to the advanced ones is also weak.

 

[Chaos2Frozen]

Because they state "some of them pretend to be human" and the only ones we see doing that are the advanced ones, although why a race of machines wouldn't pass information from the shitty ones to the advanced ones is also weak.

Where did they say this? You mean the humans?

 

[Nephtis]

Just saw the movie.

It was amazing.

 

[hogendaz85]

Can't support 3D trying to be 2d. God I miss cel animation...

 

[Foolworm]

Is that stated in the manga? It's been a couple years since I read the whole thing and I was never that into it. I know the movie makes a similar mention, very brief and only on his physical nature not his origins.

Yeah, Cibo asks the Authority point blank in the manga.

The only problem I see with this plothole discussion is there was a scene early on where the humans watched Killy step over the barrier and that "proved" to them he was safe, inferring that a safeguard has pretended to be human before and got zapped at the barrier.

But that doesn't make sense - if they were really pretending to be human then the barrier wouldn't work anyway. They did say that the village was only settled 300 years ago, so their ancestors were wanderers before that and met a humaniform safeguard then. I don't think it's a plot hole so much as it is foreshadowing.

In any case there are way more plot-holey things to mull over than that.

 

[Valdfellgar]

Yeah, Cibo asks the Authority point blank in the manga.

Huh. Guess I forgot or missed that chapter. Well, I'm sure then if the movie gets a sequel they'll probably go into more than the manga did, or at least offer up as much as that then.

 

[GuitarAtomik]

I think it's a fair point though, and it's something that's never touched on in the manga if I recall. We know what he's looking for, and can kind of peace together a why (save humanity) but what was his personal reason for setting out? I think the anime adds a lot to Blame! and gives it more depth than the manga really has, but that is a problem with the story, it's a lot of flashbang and low on substance. Heck I mean, supposedly Blame! is a mistranslation of the title (It's supposed to be Blam, like the sound a gun or explosion would make) which I think the 'real title' actually makes a lot of sense when looking at what the focus is of the manga. It ties into what Arkeband was saying, about how every time Killy points the gun it feels like there's some big significance. Well there is, him shooting that super powerful weapon is kinda of one of the biggest aspects of appeal.

His

Spoiler

directive. Killy's an older safeguard model. Programmed to look for it.

Also explains everything else about his very particular phisyology.

Yeah, this is what I was specifically speaking of. I don't think it would have hurt the movie to include that info. It's not exactly a big revelation or anything.

Even though some of this isn't out right explained but you can figure out most of the reasons pretty easily if you pay attention. The Watch Towers need to have actual line of sight contact to see someone when they're wearing the electro fisher armor but they can see much farther and through physical objects, much like Killy can as well, and can easily pick up unarmored humans. Thus when the barrier goes down the watch tower immediately picks up on all the unprotected humans. Several characters make big deals about keeping their helmets on whenever near a watch tower or a place where the Safeguard is monitoring.

The Safeguard is quite literally human when she passes over the barrier or at least her exterior is, that's how she can enter. When she destroys the generator she transforms back into her safeguard form which is what the swirling cloud around her means. Its the same way the normal executioners are created, that cloud of whatever actually uses the material around them to create something and why the old man loses his arm trying to interfere.

That makes sense. Thanks for the explanation.

 

[duckroll]

Watched it. Not bad. I think Polygon Pictures really excels in capturing the bleak dirty and dark scifi look. They did it really well in Sidonia too. The action is a bit hit or miss but mostly hits because of the beam weapons. Still prefer the melee action in Tron Uprising though.

So like, this is a really loose adaptation of the manga stuff right? I guess it makes sense if they wanted to do a film and nothing else. They do have 3 Godzilla films lined up now so I guess they'll be really busy for a while.

 

[Valdfellgar]

Watched it. Not bad. I think Polygon Pictures really excels in capturing the bleak dirty and dark scifi look. They did it really well in Sidonia too. The action is a bit hit or miss but mostly hits because of the beam weapons. Still prefer the melee action in Tron Uprising though.

So like, this is a really loose adaptation of the manga stuff right? I guess it makes sense if they wanted to do a film and nothing else. They do have 3 Godzilla films lined up now so I guess they'll be really busy for a while.

Yeah, Cibo is from the manga, and I think something similar to the events of the film happens in the manga, but it is pretty loose and there's a lot of potential content left on the table for a follow up if there's still call for one after all that Godzilla.

Even more excited for that after this film.

 

[Ascheroth]

Yeah, Cibo is from the manga, and I think something similar to the events of the film happens in the manga, but it is pretty loose and there's a lot of potential content left on the table for a follow up if there's still call for one after all that Godzilla.

Even more excited for that after this film.

Sana-kan too. As are the electro-fishers, although they weren't that prominent and the arc went a little differently.

 

[TalonJH]

Watched this two nights ago while playing Dragon Quest builders on my Vita. I'm not familiar with the manga but thought I would check it out after seeing it at the top of Netflix.

It was pretty visually stunning and it really does the 3d modeled anime style right. I just didn't care for the story as much as the fiction that they were telling. I could tell that there was a lot more that they cut out to fit in the smaller timeframe. Would probably be into the manga a lot more.

 

[Foolworm]

Sana-kan too. As are the electro-fishers, although they weren't that prominent and the arc went a little differently.

Yeah - like I said, the storyline of the movie is actually lifted from Net Sphere Engineer

Spoiler

(stuff like the villager protagonist, watchtower, automated factory and Killy's choker were all from it)

I just noticed that the helmettals are Tsumugi heads, which is a nice touch.

The first Godzilla anime film is supposedly releasing end of this year, which is in line with the 2 year production cycle they seem to be keeping for feature films.

I agree about the potential for future films - this movie only covered roughly 1 volume of the manga out of 10. They could easily do a tetralogy like Rebuild of Evangelion.

BTW, is that picture from Aposimz?

 

[Ascheroth]

BTW, is that picture from Aposimz?

Sure is.

 

[convo]

Watched it. Not bad. I think Polygon Pictures really excels in capturing the bleak dirty and dark scifi look. They did it really well in Sidonia too. The action is a bit hit or miss but mostly hits because of the beam weapons. Still prefer the melee action in Tron Uprising though.

So like, this is a really loose adaptation of the manga stuff right? I guess it makes sense if they wanted to do a film and nothing else. They do have 3 Godzilla films lined up now so I guess they'll be really busy for a while.

They can safely take more liberties with the source material, time and space aren't so absolute in the manga to annoy fans when they do things differently.

 

[Trojita]

The Blame! netflix movie is an alternate retelling of how he met

Spoiler

Cibo and his interaction with the electro-fishers

.

The city Cibo mentioned she came from

Spoiler

is where she meets Killy in the manga in human form.

My favorite parts of the manga that unfortunately couldn't be in the manga due to time constraints is Killy's encounters with Silicon Life, how much they hate him, and how much of a dick he is to them.

 

[Lumpy Onion]

I liked this. Plot moved along nicely and the world was presented well. The setting alone was the most interesting thing to me. It reminds me of Breath of Fire Dragon Quarter.

Some of the character faces and body movement was a bit iffy at times, but overall it looked pretty good.

 

[TacticalHotdog]

It's kinda weird that the ending is based on

Spoiler

a one shot that was included with a volume of Knights of Sidonia

 

[zswordsman]

Man, I wanna watch this but for some reason it's not there on Korean Netflix :/ it's there but just the trailer and with a 1hr46m run time but no movie :'v

 

[Onemic]

So is this actually good? Or is it fake good like that Gantz hype train that went by when that movie released?

 

[Valdfellgar]

So is this actually good? Or is it fake good like that Gantz hype train that went by when that movie released?

I would say actually good.

 

[Lumpy Onion]

.