#ibm reference

And here we are--the last of the IBM reference sheets. This one’s for Satou’s IBM, also known in the fandom as blep because of his insistence on sticking out his tongue all the damn time.

Blep has a pretty standard build (clawed nails on feet and hands, normal sized arms and torso, etc) with two really unique features which I’m going to ramble on about in depth.

First, the head. Several people have noted that Satou’s IBM’s head is shaped kind of similar to Satou’s many, many hats. It’s also been described as an upside down shoe, and a variety of other ways.

Personally I’m more interested by what is inside the hat/shoe.

First, the tongue. The tongue is pretty similar to a snakes, although forked at the end. That said, it’s not quite a snakes--it’s almost definitely intended to be a Gila Monster.

Gila Monsters range through the southwestern United States, including, wouldn’t you know it, California, where Satou grew up.

I couldn’t quite decide on the teeth. Something like a crocodile or alligator sort of makes sense, but the shape is different, so it might be totally original.

It’s also just interesting in that Satou’s IBM actually produces saliva. You can see it dripping, and it’s got a full throat that extends down into its body, rather then dead-ending like Tanaka’s does.

It also has a VERY prominent adam’s apple.

There is one other feature that often gets missed but has some pretty interesting story significance:

See that thing I’ve badly circled in red? It’s a part of the body known as a glottis. Humans have them, but the specific way it’s designed--a small tube at the back of the mouth--shows up in snakes.

The glottis, you see, is used to swallow things whole. A snake’s glottis is movable, and while the snake swallows something even bigger than its body, the glottis extends out the side of its mouth to ensure it can continue reading. So basically, what I’m saying is that Blep is built for vore.

Onto the other prominent feature: The hands.

At first glance the hands seem pretty normal, and this is probably the IBM trait I see most missed. Here are two panels showing it off. One, here’s Kei’s IBM punching Satou’s IBM:

And here it is holding a gun:

Satou’s IBM actually has postaxial polydactyly, which means it has six fingers rather than five. Rather than four fingers and a thumb, Satou’s IBM has five fingers and a thumb, laid out so neatly that almost no one notices.

This trait shows up a lot in fiction, but there’s a pretty obvious reference in here: Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs has this exact variety of postaxial polydactyly, where the character in question has a duplicated middle finger. It’s worth noting that Hannibal Lecter only has this on their left hand (Satou’s IBM has it on both), but considering the fact that Blep’s eaten humans combined with the references to Silence of the Lambs, I really doubt this wasn’t the intended reference.

Izumi’s IBM is the only IBM in the series that gets it’s own name. Izumi calls it ‘Kuro-chan’.

Kuro-chan has claws on their feet, but they don’t have claws on their hands. Their head is vaguely triangular shaped, but otherwise they don’t have much in the way of distinct features, following the usual IBM template.

One of the most unique traits about Kuro-chan isn’t what they look like, it’s about what they did look like.

Time for some even more blatant bias, because Tanaka’s IBM has FOUR ref sheets and yet still isn’t the last one I’m putting up.

Tanaka’s IBM (sometimes known as ‘Bitey’ by the fanbase) is the IBM tied for most appearances so far in the series (tied with Kei’s IBM). However, while Kei’s IBM has a lot of early appearances that are just it being creepy, Tanaka’s IBM moves the plot a lot. They fight Izumi (twice), they snipe Kei, they murder snipers, they break into the meeting... It’s a major plot mover for sure.

Tanaka’s IBM has a normal lower half, but has two distinct features overall--one on its hands, and one on its head.

Tanaka’s IBM has anisodactyl claws. That means they have three forward claws, and then one back claw. The claws themselves seem to vary in size, but are definitely significantly larger than a human hand should be. It’s hard to estimate with the references we have, but the full length of these has to be around a foot and a half each (45cm, approx). 

These are also notable because at one point Tanaka’s IBM doesn’t have them.

When he shoots at Kei he just has totally normal IBM hands (complete with nails and a full five fingers). It’s not clear if all IBM can shapeshift away their unique features, if only Tanaka’s IBM has this attribute, or if this was simply an art error that was never corrected.

The other unique feature is the head. While Tanaka’s IBM effectively has the exact same shape as Kei’s IBM’s head, Tanaka’s IBM is instead split in the middle like an egg, creating a zig zag pattern that looks like sharp teeth.

These ‘teeth’ both A) don’t fit together properly, B) extend around the entire of its head, and C) literally hang off the face. While sometimes simplified a bit for ease of drawing, any time we get a detail shot, the jaws (especially lower jaw) literally hangs off the head. This is best emphasized by Sakurai’s art of the volume 2 cover.

There’s also nothing inside the ‘mouth’ either. It leads to an inner white space that is simply empty, dead ending where the esophagus would be.

Despite what you’d assume, Kei’s IBM doesn’t actually have a ton of unique features. In fact, it’s pretty much has no unique features. Kei’s IBM is the ‘stock template’, the IBM that so many IBM seem to be based off of. It’s a human. It has a grey head and a pure black face on the front. It’s got five fingers and five toes, all with prominent claws (most have claws, unless otherwise mentioned really). It’s a smidge taller than Kei himself (who is, if the manga and the anime use the same heights, 168cm).

Everything really unique about Kei’s IBM isn’t something that gets reference material.

Kei’s IBM is almost entirely independent from him. It ignores his orders and does as it pleases. It babbles far more than other IBMs do. It can be summoned an absolutely absurd number of times (we’re talking 10+, but it hasn’t been strictly measured), and back to back while you’re at it.

At times it even seems to summon itself, which is pretty damn interesting.