BLAME! Manga: The Six-Book Master Edition
BLAME! is complete in English in six large Master Edition paperbacks from Vertical Comics. Older Tokyopop copies are a different edition.
BLAME! is complete in English in six books, the Master Edition published by Vertical Comics and now listed by Kodansha. Kodansha lists one current print edition, so the choice is simpler than for most series: start at Vol. 1 and finish at Vol. 6. The two things to know before buying are the size of the books and the older Tokyopop edition, which Kodansha calls long out of print.
The Master Edition
| Book | Pages | Released |
|---|---|---|
| Vol. 1 (9781942993773) | 408 | September 13, 2016 |
| Vol. 2 (9781942993780) | 382 | December 13, 2016 |
| Vol. 3 (9781942993797) | 354 | March 21, 2017 |
| Vol. 4 (9781942993803) | 370 | June 27, 2017 |
| Vol. 5 (9781942993810) | 346 | September 12, 2017 |
| Vol. 6 (9781942993827) | 330 | December 12, 2017 |
Every book lists at $34.95 in print, $209.70 for all six. Kodansha’s series page marks the series “Complete” and rates it 16+, and the Vol. 6 page calls it “this final installment.” The product titles say only “BLAME!” and a number; the Master Edition name is on the cover, so search by ISBN rather than by edition name.
The size
Penguin Random House lists Vol. 1 at 10½ × 7½ inches, much larger than a standard manga paperback. Check your shelf height before ordering the set. Our trim size guide explains the common formats.
The Tokyopop edition
Kodansha’s 2016 announcement says BLAME! was “Originally published by Tokyopop, then long out of print,” and returned “in a luxurious new premium print edition courtesy of Vertical Comics.” The sources we checked do not say how the old Tokyopop volumes map onto the six Master Edition books, so a Tokyopop volume number tells you nothing about where to continue in the Master Edition. If you own part of the old run, either finish it secondhand or restart at Master Edition Vol. 1. The edition-switching guide covers the check.
What it is
Kodansha’s description: in a city “grown so chaotically massive that its inhabitants no longer recall what ‘land’ is,” the “silent, stoic Kyrii is on a mission to find the Net Terminal Gene.” It quotes Jason Thompson’s Manga Encyclopedia that the book “has almost no story or characters. It’s all about the art and the experience of being there.” That is worth knowing before spending $209.70: the appeal Thompson describes is the art. Tsutomu Nihei also created Knights of Sidonia, which is in our catalog too.
The BLAME! catalog page lists all six ISBNs.