The Japanese release of the Blame! feature has been scheduled and with it coming up in just a few weeks we now have a look at the packaging for it. The two releases are mostly the same in appearance with some differences along the bottom just in listing what’s in each site but I really like the non-standard approach its taking, going for a more artistic and creative design than just splashing the key visual on it. The film is getting a limited edition release priced at 9,800 yen while the regular edition is 5,800 yen, both on Blu-ray only. The release is noteworthy in Japan as the first anime release to be dong using the Dolby Atmos encoding. The limited edition comes with the Japanese track in Atmos while there’s also a PCM stereo mix, a PCM commentary track, and the English 5.1 mix in Dolby TrueHD.
A bonus disc comes with a making of segment and a gallery. The limited edition also comes with a 1/35 scale figure of the five main characters.
Hiroyuki Seshita directed the film at Polygon Pictures while original creator Tsutomu Nihei is on board to work on the character designs and the script itself as a creative consultant.
The Japanese cast includes Takahiro Sakurai as Killy, Kana Hanazawa as Cibo, Sora Amamiya as Zuru, Kazuhiro Yamaji as Pop, Mamoru Miyano as Sutezo, Aya Suzaki as Tae, Nobunaga Shimazaki as Fusata, Yuki Kaji as Atsuji and Aki Toyosaki as The Authority.
The original manga ran between 1998 and 2003 for a total of ten volumes, which TOKYOPOP released. There were a few short incarnations after that which have not been picked up, and a six episode ONA from 2003 that Media Blasters licensed and released previously.
Plot concept: In the distant technological future, civilization has reached its ultimate Net-based form. An “infection” in the past caused the automated systems to spiral out of order, resulting in a multi-leveled city structure that replicates itself infinitely in all directions. Now humanity has lost access to the city’s controls, and is hunted down and purged by the defense system known as the Safeguard. In a tiny corner of the city, a little enclave known as the Electro-Fishers is facing eventual extinction, trapped between the threat of the Safeguard and dwindling food supplies. A girl named Zuru goes on a journey to find food for her village, only to inadvertently cause doom when an observation tower senses her and summons a Safeguard pack to eliminate the threat. With her companions dead and all escape routes blocked, the only thing that can save her now is the sudden arrival of Killy the Wanderer, on his quest for the Net Terminal Genes, the key to restoring order to the world.
[Source: Blame!]
