Finally, Blade of the Immortal – and my impression is…

…hurried, a little jumbled up but not confused. Nope, not at all.

In just under 25 minutes, I learned about Manji, his long life, his power of undoing death, his relationships, and very quickly, the end of one of them.

I’ve always wanted to get into the manga but I never got to it, mostly because back in US, I felt it was a little expensive buying the graphic novels, because I knew there were cheaper Asian originals and authorized versions in Taiwan, or in Chinese to be exact, which I could read.

But the Taiwanese copy of Vol.1 has been out of print for too damned long.

In any case, I knew there were over 20 volumes available and from watching episode one, I began realizing a fear that they may have to rush stuff. Of course, maybe not, maybe they’re not rushing at all. I’ve never read the manga and I don’t know. But,

I know about Rin, with her family dojo destroyed, and I know the person who destroyed it. I read about their relationship on the road. I also read that Manji isn’t as strong as before he was immortal. Oh, and he rather die (I can relate to that sometimes) than live on, but he can’t (I can related to that as well).

The beginning of the story isn’t something fanciful, rather, it’s more down to earth –

Manji’s lord is a brutal man, hence he can’t tolerate his rule anymore after a certain massacre, and he kills him.

But in the samurai code, Manji must kill himself. But he refuses to follow the code. Later, we discover that even if he wants to, he can’t, because now he cannot die. So he’s destined to be an outlaw of the society, as well as human norms. He’s cursed to walk the earth like Cain, except I also remember that he can leave after he kills one thousand criminals/sinners.

I felt a sense of irony as I watched him in a confession booth trying to confess, gets shot, and telling the fake priest: “I didn’t want to kill you.”

Well, but you told him about your secret! If you told him, you’d have to kill him anyways!

That’s my twist on an old joke.

It seems to me ironies play a big role in this story. I think I’ve finally found a show that I want to blog that isn’t your run-of-the-mill otaku shows catering to panting otakus. Yipee!

Oh and,

Manji kicks some serious ass and he gets his ass killed often. That seems rather popular these days as I just finished watching Mnemosyne, but,

The sexy tortures of Noto Mamiko’s Rin was fun to watch, and I cared more to guess how she’s going to die in each episode. The gimmick is interesting.

Thankfully, Blade of the Immortal don’t use that as a gimmick.

I expected Mad House be producing this but Bee Train is, with the help of production IG. That’s fascinating to me because Bee Train usually did gun fights. The eye catcher showed some incredible fighting sequences and the characters’ fighting in it showed some personalities without having to speak. I felt the OP sequence is simply great – telling something important in a short time.

(gosh this review is turning long – don’t forget the shots in this are wonderful as well.)

Lastly, I have been wondering why I saw buildings of today in the OP. Perhaps Manji is still struggling somewhere inside many of us.

Life goes on.

Author: Ray

I'm a hardcore Anime Fan and I'm proud of it. I know so many things and I've acquired so much knowledge you wouldn't believe. But my love is anime. I've been drifting in this world for so long that I don't even know what an anchor means. I've seen so many shows that I've lost count. The only thing I'm sure of myself is that I care for the lowly and disenfranchised. I hate the rich and powerful and I love what I do, or what I can do. I like anime and I don't mind watching different types of shows. I have experience in different types of Japanese animation. I would be called an "expert" in a bizzaro world. One day, I'd like to start a revolution. I love the US, pizza, beer, sashimi, Chinese food, and steak. But I love freshly baked bread more than a well-aged steak. In reality, if I were born Japanese I'd be a real, hardcore Otaku. I love to love and I can hate strongly. I'm passionate in nature and I don't mind shedding tears. I can be reached at rayyhum777 at animediet. My Twitter is rayyhum777 at twitter.