There are a great many stories that revolve around the concept of revenge. A great many writers have written a great many tales about revenge, each expressing their own sentiments towards the topic. Some glorify it, others ridicule it as a fool’s quest and others tell a more sympathetic story. Blade of the Immortal however simply tells it how it is, at no point is the author ever forcing his beliefs onto the story. The writer prefers to allow the reader to reflect on the story themselves and come to their own conclusions. An engaging, exhilarating yet quietly contemplative quest for vengeance, Blade of the Immortal is one of the greatest seinen manga ever created. Allow me to explain to you why I believe this is the case...
The story of Blade of the Immortal centres around the young Rin Asano’s journey to avenge the death of her parents at the hands of a sword school whose influence is growing within Japan: the Itto-ryu. Unable to deny her own powerlessness in the face of her powerful foe she seeks out the skills of a swordsman who has been cursed with immortality. A man known as Manji. He has his own aims and beliefs that make him more than just a simple bodyguard. Throughout the series we watch as Manji acts as a sort of mentor to Rin and we also watch as the relationship between the two changes and develops.
The premise is quite simple, chances are you can think up some series with similar plots, and the mention of immortality may seem a little silly to some but you shouldn’t write this series of just because of that. The story is an amazing journey for both characters and readers; it’s a grim tale of blood, violence and complex yet savage emotions, a story filled with political intrigue and numerous rival factions all gunning at one another. The premise may be basic but it is simply a backdrop for a deep, emotive, memorable and epic quest.
The only criticism I have with the story is that the pacing was a little bad. Initially the story didn’t really grab me and I took a little break from reading. In my opinion the story doesn’t really get into its stride until around about chapter 30, but once the story gets going it is a nonstop rollercoaster of pure awesomeness. Similarly at later parts of the story I feel that certain events were dragged on for a little longer than I would have liked, but this is a very small criticism it must be said.
The thing that really makes the story of Blade of the Immortal so captivating is without a doubt the characters. The cast of Blade of the Immortal is simply amazing. I would go as far as to say that this series has the best cast of characters I have ever come across. Over the course of the series the two main characters, Manji and Rin, go through a tremendous amount of development but that’s only to be expected really. While the development of the two main characters is exquisite, it is the side characters that really make this series extraordinary. With most series you can consider yourself fortunate if even a single character receives a good amount of development but in this series there are about are around 5 or 6 characters that receive just as much development and characterisation as you would expect of a main character. Ironically, on a personal level I was more interested in some of the side characters and their struggles than I was in the main characters (and the two main characters are really amazing). This is really a testament to how well written the characters in this series are.
All of the significant characters in this series receive a great deal of development and with this there is no clear divide between which characters are the ‘good guys’ and which are the ‘bad guys’. They all have their own circumstances, ideals, determination and reasons for fighting and because the author shares the limelight equally between all of the significant players there is truly no telling who will come out on top and during some of the fight sequences it becomes near impossible to determine whether a particular character may win or lose which really makes things genuinely tense.
Personally, I always like to see those badass female characters who know how to hold their own as in anime especially female characters are more often than not just waifu bait. So I just wanted to give this series props for having some of the most awesome female characters I have ever seen in Makie and Hyakurin, that being said I did feel that Rin sometimes came across as being a typical damsel in distress but this was really only in the earlier parts of the story.
This amazing story and these spectacular characters are all presented to us in Hiroaki Samura's fantastic artwork. It is a little difficult for me not to start gushing over his artwork because subjectively speaking this series has the best artwork that I have ever seen. I have always had a preference for old school art as opposed to the more moe art style that is prevalent in modern anime and well Blade of the Immortal is just about the least moe thing you will ever find so it gets a big thumbs up from me.
The artwork is just so perfectly styled and this series has the most well drawn action sequences you will see in any manga. Seriously, the fights in this series are absolutely brutal - blood and limbs are seen flying all over the place. There are so many great fights in this series and the flow of action in the panels makes it easy to follow the action, the fights are ridiculously intense and will have you on the edge of your seat. The scenery art in this series is also worth mentioning. The backgrounds are quite well detailed on the whole and the traditional Japanese landscapes that you will see over the course of the journey are all captured perfectly.
With all this being said, I cannot say that the art style will be to everyone’s taste. If you dislike sketchy artwork and prefer clean drawings then you may not like it. I really like it because it matches my personal preferences but that doesn’t mean everyone will think it’s as great as I do.
Also, as I have already alluded to, this series contains a lot of gore so if that is not your thing then this may not be a series for you. This series really doesn’t pull its punches when it comes to violence but unlike similarly violent manga series, such as Gantz and Akame ga Kill just to name two, this series never gave me the impression that there was just violence for the sake of it or that it was being used for shock value. While this series is very visceral I don’t think that it ever became excessive.
In my opinion this series is the pinnacle of the seinen genre. It is dark and it is brutal but it remains human. With a well constructed and deceptively complex plot, one of the most well fleshed out cast of characters you are likely to find and artwork to die for I cannot recommend this series highly enough to anyone who enjoys seinen manga. Although, if you are looking for or are expecting a story that is actually focused on samurai culture then I would point you in the direction of Lone Wolf and Cub instead. Blade of the Immortal is more focused on telling its own story than it is about what life was like in this time period and the way of the samurai and the all that sort of stuff.
Anyways, I hope you found this review helpful. Any and all feedback is welcomed (unless you are going to criticise me that is).
