Interview with Tsutomu Nibei, author of the original manga, on the appeal of the film version of "BLAME! Tsutomu Nibe, the author of the original story, talks about the appeal of the movie version.

BLAME!" is the debut work by Tsutomu Nibei, a brilliant manga artist who has produced a series of hard-hitting science fiction works, including "Knights of Sidonia," which became a TV anime, and "Ningyo no Kuni," which is currently serialized in "Sirius Monthly" (Kodansha). Since its release 20 years ago in 1997, this work has attracted many readers and creators both in Japan and abroad, and is now being made into a movie, which will be screened for two weeks starting May 20, 2017. The film will be produced by Polygon Pictures, a leading company in the 3DCG animation industry that has produced the TV anime "Knights of Sidonia" and "Ajin".

To commemorate the release of "BLAME!", Akiba Research Institute conducted interviews with the original author Tsutomu Nibei, sound director Miwa Iwanami, and the voice actors Takahiro Sakurai and Mamoru Miyano who will be voicing the characters in the movie "BLAME!　In this first installment, we asked Tsutomu Nibei, the original author who also supervised the film, about the appeal of the movie "BLAME!
⇒The first key visual of the anime film "BLAME! 　 Sci-fi action film by Tsutomu Nibei, supervisor, and Hiroyuki Seshimo, director.
⇒Write a review and apply! BLAME!" cast (Takahiro Sakurai, Mamoru Miyano) and a poster autographed by the original author, Tsutomu Nibei, for two winners!

Why "BLAME!" now?

--What are your honest feelings about making a movie of "BLAME!" 20 years after its serialization?

Tsutomu Nibei (Nibei): It was so long ago that it is hard to read it again, so there were many things I wanted to fix before making the film version. When I was working on the original work, I didn't really think that I would make it interesting. ...... I really wanted to punch myself in the face back then (laughs). So, in the very early stages of the theater version project, we decided on the concept of "making it interesting," and it is almost a new work. The story and setting have changed quite a bit.

--What were your thoughts when you were writing the original work?

Nibei: It sounds a bit like a kitchen disease, but I wanted to draw "my idea of a strong protagonist" (laughs). (laughs) I also wanted to draw the background. There was a time when I hired a staff, but I basically draw all my manga by myself. So I thought that if I was going to put in the same amount of effort, I would like to draw different backgrounds each time, preferably without looking at the materials. That's how I ended up with this manga.

--The setting of "BLAME!" is a huge "hierarchical city" that continues to multiply, but even when reading the original, the backgrounds and structures seem fetishistic.

Nibei: I think there may be a lot of fetishism. I drew the pipes and so on, sticking to my own rules. I think that is a part of the film as well (laughs).

--By the way, have you read the original work?

Nibei: To be honest, I can't say that I read it over thoroughly. I just couldn't do it (laugh). Of course, I remembered most of the story and scenes, and the director, Hiroyuki Seshimo, and the main staff had all read the original story, so I had no problem with that.

--BLAME!" has been made into short animated films several times, and there have been high expectations for a feature-length animated film. What made you decide to make it into a feature film?

Nibei: The reason why "BLAME!" was made into a movie is that the "BLAME! Terminal Remnant City" was made to appear as a play within the "Knights of Sidonia" story. In the original "Knights of Sidonia," the story was based on my own manga, but the producer said, "Why don't you make it into 'BLAME! I had a vague idea of what I wanted to do from then on. Actually, since that time, I had a vague idea that in the future I would like to work on it as one complete work. That became a reality thanks to the support for "Knights of Sidonia.

--I understand that through "Knights of Sidonia," you and Polygon Pictures were able to get a good response from the project.

Nibei That's right. And, more importantly, thankfully, everyone wanted to make "BLAME! (BLAME!) was not a work that would be widely read, and it was hard to say that it would be interesting to anyone who saw it, so I felt that it would be better not to do it. This may sound contradictory to what I said earlier (laughs). (laugh). So I was worried, but we all talked together to solve that problem head-on, and I think the result was a good work.