Blame! (2017)
Darkly beautiful but intense and violent anime.
Kids say
Based on 3 reviews
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Blame! (2017)
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A Lot or a Little?
The parents' guide to what's in this movie.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Blame! is an anime originally in Japanese but dubbed into English as a Netflix Original release. It's based on a manga series of the same name. There's a lot of violence in fighting between humans and cyborg and robot-like machines in a post-apocalyptic far future. Limbs get severed and blood is seen spattering, pooling, and spewing. Also lots of large-scale destruction of buildings, etc. The atmosphere is also very dark and scary, and even one of the good guys is scary and grotesque. There's no sexual content except for how the women's bodies have the exaggerated breasts and long legs typical of anime. Infrequent use of "damn" or "dammit." A couple of references to having too much to drink, but no drunken behavior is shown.
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What's the Story?
In BLAME!, a small group of people have managed to survive for generations after the machines took over the city and began exterminating all humans. But the village is quickly running out of food, and each new foraging mission is more dangerous than the last as they venture farther and farther away from the safety zone. A group of teens on a rogue expedition are about to be wiped out by robots when they're saved by a mysterious loner who goes by the name Killy. Grateful for his help, the group leads Killy back to the village, where he's cautiously welcomed. Killy's looking for something, but if he finds it, will it help the village or destroy them completely?
Is It Any Good?
This dark, intense, and beautifully-animated story of a post-apocalyptic far future has a lot of appeal for mature teens who are fans of anime. Blame! draws the viewer in to its strange world right away, and doesn't hold back on the action, either. It's always visually intriguing, and sometimes even stunning. The story slows a bit in the middle, but there's enough eye candy to see fans of the genre through to the last third, when the action picks back up.
The ending is somewhat unsatisfying in that there's no happy-ever-after, but it's also hopeful about the future of the human race. There's plenty of action and adventure here, and viewers might want to check out the manga it's based to delve deeper into its world, if they haven't already.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the violence in Blame! Does it matter if it's cartoon violence or not?
What other anime movies have you seen? How does this one compare?
Why are so many animated movies based on manga or graphic novels? Do movies and manga tell stories in the same way? Which do you like better?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming: May 20, 2017
- Cast: Cristina Vee, Johnny Yong Bosch, Cherami Leigh
- Director: Hiroyuki Seshita
- Studios: King Records, The Klockworx
- Genre: Action/Adventure
- Topics: Magic and Fantasy, Adventures, Robots
- Run time: 106 minutes
- MPAA rating: NR
- Last updated: February 18, 2023
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