Blade of the Immortal

Author: Hiroaki Samura
Publisher: Kodansha
English Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Review Type: Manga
Status: Ongoing
Genre: Seinen, Chanbara, Supernatural
Volumes: 24
Vintage: 1994-ongoing

Synopsis

Our tale follows the adventures of Manji, a skilled samurai with a decisive factor against his enemies, no wound would kill him save a rare poison. Manji was an evil samurai before he obtained his immortality, with his past criminal acts involving the death of 100 other samurai, including his sister's husband. Consequently obtaining immortality at the hands of an 800 year old nun named Yaobikuni, Manji is compelled to undo all of his past criminal acts following the death of his sister, accepting a quest that would end his agelessness. Vowing to kill 1000 evil men in order to make amends, Manji is kept alive and virtually indestructible by a rare species of 'sacred bloodworms' called the kessen-chu. These worms are remarkable creatures that are capable of healing any injury and reattaching any limbs severed during battle, even after hours of amputation. The kessen-chu are bred to be as accurate in their genetical makeup to humans as possible, and work by sacrificing themselves to seal or reattach the wound. Although the kessen-chu does experience regrowth in Manji's bloodstream, it doesn't occur on a large scale and takes time to regenerate, and could perform miracles such as reattach an arm or seal a bullet hole in the brain.


The manga starts during one of Manji's travels, where he crosses paths with a young girl named Asano Rin, whose parents were killed by a group of rogue but extremely skillful samurai led by Anotsu Kagehisa. Anotsu proceeded to kill Rin's father and his entire dojo, and upon learning this, Manji agreed to assist her in her plight. Anotsu's quest is to gather outcasts from rival dojos and form an extremely powerful dojo dubbed the Itto-ryu (a school focused on only winning swordfights, regardless of how exotic or unorthodox the technique), and has since started destroying and assimilating other dojos into his own.


Coincidentally, another group calling itself the Mugai-ryu has emerged, with its intent on opposing the Itto-ryu. While its methods are similar to the Itto-ryu's, its true leadership and motives are a mystery. The Mugai-ryu then tried to enlist Manji's cooperation as they seem to have the same motives (destruction of the Itto-ryu), and even though Manji does eventually join the Mugai-ryu, he quickly pulls out after discovering that a fellow member named Shira was too sadistic in his methods for his liking. Soon Manji discovers that the Mugai-ryu are working for the government, with its members being death row inmates who are only allowed to live if they agree to serve the bakufu (or shogunate). While Manji and Shira eventually grow to despise each other, with Shira running off, he maintains a good relationship with the Mugai-ryu.

To put it in a much broader perspective, Blade of the Immortal covers the effects of death and also the consequences of the inability to die, as well as the meanings behind living, and most of the main characters have a purpose in which they discover through a series of events.


Chibi's Immortal Comments

I first stumbled upon Samura-sensei's manga way back in '94 when visiting a local comic book store on my monthly Spiderman run (yes folks, I used to read AMERICAN comics....oh the shame), and although it looked pretty interesting at first, I never picked a copy of it up, due to my idiotic prejudice against black-and-white comics at the time. Cut through to 2006, and it was a time when I was turning into an uber-otaku for the first time in my life, I came across the tankobons (or manga volumes for you noobs) again, and finally decided to pick one up.

So here I am 20 volumes later, still reading intently on the goings on of Manji and co. With Blade of the Immortal probably the only manga ever to win an Eisner award (the Pulitzer of comic books for creative achievement), I had pretty high expectations for this manga. I was not disappointed as it repaid my expectations in spades. Although the Immortal or indestructible thing has been done over and over again in American comics (Wolverine comes to mind) and movies (Connor Mcloud anyone?), Samura-sensei's chanbara epic does give a very interesting twist to the concept by it's settings and plot layout.


What makes Blade of the Immortal so distinct from all the other samurai manga out there is the setting itself. Samura-sensei has laid out a very vibrant and stylistic look of feudal Japan, where every samurai is so individually different, each wearing outlandish kimono coupled with an outlandish weapon, and aren't restricted to the traditional Japanese swords, garments and formalities that other manga of its kind tend to showcase. Samura-sensei's version of feudal Japan is a harsh and corrupt place, much like most slums across the globe today, with the notable absence of the traditional stereotype of the samurai with a code of honor they abide to, instead showing us a more of a dog-eat-dog scenario where they'll take anything they can get in order to survive.

We are also introduce to many interesting and unique characters such as Magatsu (one of my favourites in this series), with his funky hairdo and dressing giving me the impression of feudal Japan's equivalent to Konoha's Hatake Kakashi (Naruto guys....DUH), Giichi, wearing string tied sunglasses and long range circular blades, and even the protagonist Manji, with an arsenal of unique swords, and seemingly able to conceal more than ten of them in his kimono. The harshness of this Japan results in a bloodbath where combatants prefer to slowly hack their opponents to pieces in a display of skill rather than a swift kill often found in standard samurai manga fare, and the authorities seem to just let the criminals kill each other rather than taking them out themselves. The gore in this manga is pretty excessive, but they contribute to the feel of the plot, consequently separating this samurai manga from others of its kind.


The gore is balanced by the colorfulness strewn throughout the manga, where this version of Japan is a dangerous, but extremely psychedelic place. Samura-sensei's extremely distinct style probably had a lot to contribute to this effect, where he seemingly uses pages of rough sketches meshed with beautifully inked ones, with strikingly beautiful results. The rough penciling style gives his male characters a rugged and edgy feel to them, whilst the women characters look much more elegant with his bold ink lines. The whole manga gives off this unfinished feel, like a sketchbook linked together by a story, and you could practically spend hours examining the beautiful panels Samura-sensei has created.

In conclusion, Blade of the Immortal stands as one of my favorite samurai mangas out there, with grizzly action that blends in perfectly with its revenge themed plot. Truly a cut above the rest, I do recommend this to veterans of this genre, and also to newcomers looking to see what a samurai manga is all about.



Chibi's Review


Storyline: 4/5
Character Development: 4/5
Art: 5/5
Originality: 5/5