Hiroaki Samura's BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

This comic book series was originally published in Japan from 1994 onwards. Dark Horse has been publishing the English translations since 1996.

It's one of the most striking mangas I've read yet - incredibly stylish and complex, it has a layered and intriguing storyline, a large cast of well-rounded characters, and lots of ultra-violent samurai action.

It's a historical drama in the sense that it is set in the later days of the old Shogunate. The mysterious immortal ronin, Manji, has decided to seek his redemption by aiding a youg girl named Rin to help her visit vengeance upon the dojo that has killed her parents. Numerous twists and turns, plots and counter-plots ensue.

I've only read three of the dozen or more volumes that make up this story, but the story itself has already drawn me in.

Even more striking than his story is Samura's deft, elegant black-and-white art. An impresssive mastery of line and texture lets him create frames that keep the action moving, capture small human details and make for very memorable visuals. I was quite surprised to learn that Samura knows nothing of martial arts at all -the fight sequences in these comics are absolutely breathtaking.

It's not an earth-shakingly original story, perhaps, but its complex storylines, ambiguious moral tone, believable characters and beautiful art all add up to one of the most immediately engaging and memorable mangas I have read. Manga comics are not very easy to come by here, but this is a series I'd hope to eventually have the entire set of.

Have any of you come across these books? What do you think of them?

 

[Brian G Turner]

Never heard of it, I'm afraid!

 

[Lacedaemonian]

It looks stunning! My cup of tea. I've downloaded the first two issues and will be purchasing them from Amazon as soon as I can find where I've put my damned wage cheque.

 

[Sci-fi_gEEk]

Boy it's been awhile since I posted anything. School and work keep'n me busy *sigh*. Anywho, I've been reading a lot of manga lately and Blade of the Immortal was one of the series that I started and really got into. I bought volumes 1-3 first then went back and bought the rest!! It put a large but worthwhile hole in my wallet. I hear 12 is out now too!!

I particulatly like the full page spreads that Samura uses, they're so full of detail that I can look at them for hours...well maybe not hours but a really long time

Over here in Hawaii I'm pretty lucky when it comes to manga and anime. Because the Japanese culture is so integrated here you can find alot of places to buy. By far the best I've found is called Collector Maniacs, 25% off all titles!! And they've got all kinda of other neat manga/anime stuff.

If your looking online I'd reconmend http://www.rightstuf.com yes thats stuf with one f, not a typo. It took me awhile to realize that when I first got the link from a friend. Doh!!

In conclusion, Blade of the Immortal rocks

gEEk

 

[Lacedaemonian]

I just bought the first volume last week. It is excellent. The worms still make me cringe though.

 

[Jaggy Jai]

Glad to see someone has mentioned and brought to light this terrific series!!!!!!

 

[Magatsu-San]

I've read Blade since #1 and have collected it until it's present issues...and I have to say the fact that I've collected the individual issues instead of the collections (and I live in Bermuda, where it is WAY harder to get single issues) is testimonial in itself...Samura's artwork is stunning to say the least, and I think that the combination of this and the sometimes subtle/sometimes action heavy storytelling as well as the depth of his characters is the reason that I love it. Highly recommended..

 

[Talysia]

That looks pretty good - I'll have to keep my eyes open for it.

 

[JoanDrake]

This is really among my all time favorite manga. I collected the comics for years but then got sick and missed a lot of them. I keep meaning to buy the collections to catch up but I've got these other fripperies that I keep foolishly spending my money on, like food.

The story is a good example of the genre called 'magical realism'. It has this main storyline where Manji is kept alive no matter what happens to him by these magical bloodworms; but except for that it's a pretty well researched historical novel. One of the most interesting aspects of the story, in fact, is the late Edo subtext that Samura puts in about how the Samurai fighting skills were declining from lack of use, (the year is 1782, he actually dates it from the battle if Sekigahara at one point) and the Tokugawa were concerned about it, and the Itto-ryu are this school that have no artistry but just want to win. This has become a lot more prominent as the tale has developed. (I try to keep up to see where this is going, but I hear the comics are being discontinued in favor of collections, Booo....).

One really great line. "Vengeance, seen from the outside, is just mindless cruelty"

I also think the character Shira, a sadist, is possibly the most truly despicable villain I've ever seen, talk about love to hate, but at least he's not a pussy.

There's also the way they talk, like they switch back and forth from sounding like modern day Tokyo street thugs and then go right into classical phrases without missing a beat, it's great.

And Shamura not knowing martial arts is just wonderful, he's constantly coming up with these weird weapons that never existed and probably wouldn't even work, but he fits them right in and he's so good with action scenes you just can't help but believe them.

Just all in all a great story