Mugen no Juunin (Blade of the Immortal)

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Alternative Titles

Synonyms: Inhabitant of Infinity

Japanese: 無限の住人

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Information

Type: Manga

Volumes: 30

Chapters: 207

Status: Finished

Published: Jun 25, 1993 to Dec 25, 2012

Genres: Action, Adventure, Drama, Supernatural

Themes: Historical, Martial Arts, Samurai

Demographic: Seinen

Serialization: Afternoon

Authors: Samura, Hiroaki (Story & Art)

Statistics

Score: 8.42¹ (scored by 19,227 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #204²

² based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #185

Members: 83,235

Favorites: 3,000

Resources

Wikipedia

8.42

Ranked #204Popularity #185Members 83,235

MangaAfternoonSamura, Hiroaki (Story & Art)

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Volumes: /30

Chapters: /207

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Synopsis

Manji is an infamous swordsman in feudal Japan who is known as the "Hundred Man Killer," as he has killed one hundred innocent men. However, there is something far more frightening than his ominous reputation: the fact that he is immortal. This is the handiwork of eight-hundred-year-old nun Yaobikuni, who placed bloodworms capable of healing almost any wound in Manji's body.

To atone for his crimes, Manji resolves to kill one thousand evil men. Yaobikuni agrees to this proposal, saying that if he succeeds, she will undo his curse of immortality. Soon after this promise, Manji meets Rin Asano, a 16-year-old girl who requests Manji's assistance in killing those who slaughtered her parents.

Initially reluctant, Manji refuses Rin's desperate plea. However, owing to her evident lack of strength, Manji changes his mind and agrees to protect Rin for four years. With this partnership set in stone, the two embark on a perilous journey of bloodshed, vengeance, and redemption, each to fulfill their own life's cause.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Note: Originally published with 219 chapters, which were then recollected into 207 chapters in the tankoubons. Please do not change the chapter count.

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Background

Mugen no Juunin won the Excellence Prize at the Japan Media Arts Festival in 1997.

The series was published in English by Dark Horse Comics as Blade of the Immortal in 31 volumes from March 1, 1997 to April 1, 2015. The release featured the unusual method of cutting out and rearranging panels, which was done so to have the series read left to right while still appealing to Hiroaki Samura's request of not flipping the pages. The series was first released in monthly comics issues from June 1, 1996 to November 14, 2007 but was stopped after 131 issues. Dark Horse has been republishing the series in 3-in-1 omnibuses since January 10, 2017. The final omnibus will contain the novel Blade of the Immortal: Legend of the Sword Demon. The series has also been published in Brazilian Portuguese by Jbc in a 2-in-1 edition since December 2015.

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Characters

Manji

Main

Anotsu, Kagehisa

Main

Asano, Rin

Main

Otono-Tachibana, Makie

Supporting

Magatsu, Taito

Supporting

Hyakurin

Supporting

Shira

Supporting

Giichi

Supporting

Yoshino, Doa

Supporting

Habaki, Kagimura

Supporting

Reviews

Jul 9, 2024

Kenzolo-folk

Recommended

PEAK . FICTION
SO FIRE I LOVE THIS MANGA SO MUCH ITS SO GOOD IF YOU LIKE BADDIE WOMEN AND A LOT OF FIGHTSCENES AND DERANGED VILLIANS PLEASE READ SHIT IS FIRE ITS ACTUALLY FIRE I LOVETHIS MANGA ITS SO GOOD

story: simple premise but it does a lot with it so yeah
artstyle: anybody would edge to this artstyle (jk ofc) this shit is beautiful tasty delectable its vagabond levels of good and the author progressively gets better and better. hes really REALLY good at drawing hands
characters: ALL THE CHARACTERS ARE EXTREMELY WELL ROUNDED. if you love naruto tragic type characters then beholdd

warninggg if u get triggeredd ...

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Mar 24, 2024

Stadtfeldi

Recommended

Even from the perspective of somebody who has negative interest for feudal Japan and actively tries to stay away from stories in that time period, Mugen no Juunin offers a much more contemporary approach to the typical honor-bound samurai/warrior idea. At first, the series seems unassuming and slow, but given enough time and it pays you in spades with it's glorious and compelling back-to-back character arcs, starting and resolving all right next to each other. The aid of the world-building surrounding these arcs as well as the ever-looming main story arc of Rin's revenge eventually ties everything into one *very* neat knot, which is just ...

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Apr 19, 2024

Polyman

Not Recommended

Preliminary (41/207 eps)

Spoiler

You can't have a competent story with a horribly written protagonist.

Manji isn't the main character. His goal isn't the focus. Manji's goal isn't even worth mentioning. He'll complain and moan, but go along with some dumb girl and accidentally flirt with her because he's an unambitious hobo that stopped putting effort into fights due to being carried by immortality. At least he's honest about being a bloodthirsty adrenaline junkie gremlin. Despite being an immortal who's literally claimed to have met a ton of idiots like Rin before and turn them down, he warms up to Rin by projecting his dead sister on her. He ... doesn't actually like Rin (I mean who would tbh) but he does but he doesn't but he does since no actions are taken out of any hint towards the idea of him disliking or not valuing Rin.

The protagonist is a meandering indecisive girl who doesn't put substantial thought into her values or actions. Rin is genuinely so trite and insufferable whenever she decides on something before quickly backpedaling at an obvious drawback to a decision and/or mindset. She's overly sentimental, even getting bogged down by thoughts of dead people her bodyguard kills despite them being known murderers and rapists. She can come off as pretentious by how she loves to indulge in the moral and social high ground, the scene where she demands an apology from a rapist serves my point. When Anotsu points out an obvious contradiction in the relationship between her ideology and actions with the use of her weapons, I was left wondering why she never chose to train with a sword for 2 years instead of the one trick pony throwing knives. She had 2 years to think about all of this, and her thought process sucks. She had 2 years to train for this, and she can't fight no name thugs. Rin considers an alternate history, one where if she could know her weakness from the start she wouldn’t go on a revenge path. This is blatantly so asinine so I just won't go into detail why. The story goes through the motions of a typical revenge story with everyone telling Rin it's not worth it multiple times, just beating it over her head really. Rin is insufferable. She'll genuinely be baffled when a clearly stronger opponent rocks her world, then cry after being bailed out. Somebody tell this braindead sack of tears to hit the lab or hit the hay.

Anotsu deserves a better manga. He's somebody who rightfully grew to hate traditional samurai values but took the best aspects of them to form his own ideology. I've grown fatigued of the term "deconstruction" but that's what he brings to the table and it's quite entertaining. His ideas were well thought out and he had an honestly heartwarming relationship with Makie who was another interesting character.

This manga isn't worth your time due to the played out ideas behind Rin and her insufferable characterization.

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THIS SHIT IS PEAK Kenzolo-folk - Jul 9	7 replies	by Kenzolo-folk »» Jul 13, 10:06 AM
Manji Thecrot - Jul 5	3 replies	by 24846 »» Jul 6, 5:28 AM
Poll: Blade of the Immortal Chapter 207 Discussion kusushi - Feb 24, 2013	25 replies	by currycurry1999 »» Jun 9, 2:48 AM
Poll: Blade of the Immortal Chapter 206 Discussion VitaX - May 11, 2013	7 replies	by astoneon »» May 13, 3:11 PM
Poll: Blade of the Immortal Chapter 204 Discussion a1oner - Apr 23, 2013	7 replies	by astoneon »» May 13, 2:51 PM

Mugen no Juunin
Blade of the Immortal
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Blade of the Immortal
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