I would like to see Nihei's Blame Academy. Cuz, there are too many pokerFaces in his other works.

HALF-LIFE by Tsutomu Nihei

BATMAN by Tsutomu Nihei

(style of the animated series or Arkham Asylum)

If we're talking about Nihei working on non-creator owned material, I think a perfect fit would be something using Giger's Alien, and the previous Lovecraft suggestion was a good idea too.

Though I have no desire to see him abandon sprawling apocalyptic sci-fi references if that's what he works with - and really, he could do the same with fantasy universes as well - I would be interested in seeing him turn perhaps to a more contemporary vision, though with a touch of pervasive surrealism, as that seems to work in his favour.

So long as he keeps creating bizarre worlds and architecture, I'm happy.

Though it would be interesting if he ever turned his hand to games, whether as a concept artist or level designer.

A war story.

Actually, still in the fantasy and adaptation mould, Nihei's unreal nihilism could easily turn to something like a graphic adaptation of Drakengard.

I don't see why Nihei couldn't pull off Lovecraftian themes either way, chromax (). Though I'm not sure that was your point? Or what you mean by "that wouldn't be Nihei anymore".

And yes, of course there's an arguable Giger touch to his oeuvre. I'm just saying if we're talking adaptations of franchises outside of those he created, I would very much like to see how he'd approach Alien.

Drakengard is also unrelentingly nihilistic, every single one of your actions only making the entire situation worse and each ending only making the apocalyptic tone even more bleak and totally hopeless

And yeah, if you look to fantasy off the beaten track you can find all sorts of gold. I highly recommend looking into novels like the Gormenghast trilogy, the Book of the New Sun and the Night Land, even Vladimir Nabokov's Invitation to a Beheading.

I'd hesitate to call Drakengard nihilistic. It's incredibly bleak but there is always that flicker of hope that through nearly endless uphill battles one can spare just a fraction of order and ballance. Nihilism suggests that all actions ultimately do not matter or will amount to nothing, but Drakengard suggests that while the world is a brutal and uncompromising place, that your actions do matter and have effect, even if that outcome is tragic.

Nihilism does not describe insurmountable odds or failure to achieve what one aims to, but rather that, regardless of the outcome, everything is ultimately morally and quantifiably pointless. As the story of Drakengard suggests a definite goal and that this goal has value, such a description is inaccurate.


Back on topic though, I'd love to see Nihei do something so demented and bleak, fantasy or otherwise. Looking at how he's slowly moving towards more populated and less surreal works, I think he's losing sight of what made BLAME! so appealing. I felt like Abara captured the same cerebral and moody feel, but Biomega was just confusing and needlessly complex. I'm not saying he should resurrect the BLAME! universe, it's time to move on, but a shonen mech series seems so shallow compared to what he's shown us he's capable of.