In Kodansha’s Monthly Afternoon magazine and The Anime Insider, it has been confirmed that the samurai and ronin action manga, Blade of the Immortal will become an anime series starting this summer. It will be directed by Koishi Mashimo, and produced by Bee Train. This saga involving historical action, drama, revenge, philosophy, as well as excellent art by Hiroaki Samura is a masterpiece in many aspects, and is one of my favorites.
BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL IS NOW AN ANIME!
For those who haven’t read the manga, Blade of the Immortal has around 18 or so volumes published by Dark Horse in English. The story surrounds a ronin named Manji and a teenage girl named Rin who journey through Japan in the Edo Period (1604 - 1860’s) to find Anotsu, the man responsible for the killing of Rin’s father and mother. The daughter of a sword dojo master, Rin hires Manji as a bodyguard in her vendetta against Anotsu, the ambitious leader of the new Itto-ryu sword school that is taking over or eliminating nearly all the sword schools of Japan. How does a 16 year old girl fight against the Anotsu and his skilled and ruthless swordsmen of the Itto-ryu? Luckily, her bodyguard, Manji is immortal and invincible (virtually), a curse he received for killing a hundred men. On their journey, they meet skilled, crazy, determined Itto-ryu enemy swordsmen, another invincible swordsman, a doctor set upon finding the secret of Manji’s invincibility, and convicts working for the government (?!). With complex character relationships, a realistic historical setting, and breathtaking artwork by Samura (who had a traditional art training, opposed to specifically learning to be a manga-ka), Blade of the Immortal is nothing short of amazing - a tour-de-force recommendable for readers older than 16 (there is lots of gore, blood, and some disturbing topics/scenes). While the violence may entertain some, paying attention to the relationships and author’s revelatory view on the usually reputable image of samurai is rewarding.
I really can’t wait to see the anime - I usually get bored by some anime based on manga if I’m already deep into the manga, but I’m excited to see how the anime will turn out. Due to my laziness, read the following list of voice actors that I did not write myself:
Tomokazu Seki (Escaflowne’s Van, Gungrave’s Beyond the Grave) will voice the main character Manji — a rōnin swordsman condemned to immortality unless he kills a thousand evil men for all the good men he killed (100). Rina Satou (Negima!’s Negi, Bamboo Blade’s Satori) will play Manji’s fellow traveler Rin. Hirofumi Nojima (Kagehisa Anotsu), Kazuya Nakai (Taito Magatsu), Masashi Ebara (Sabato Kurui), Katsuyuki Konishi (Eikū Shizuma), Daisuke Namikawa (Araya Kawakami), Mamiko Noto (Makie), Megumi Toyoguchi (Hyakurin), Toshiyuki Morikawa (Giichi), Shinichiro Miki (Shira), and Maaya Sakamoto (Machi) complete the cast.
Koichi Mashimo will direct the animators on Bee Train as he did for the .hack// franchise and Noir. Hiroyuki Kawasaki (The Irresponsible Captain Tylor, Sorcerer Hunters) will oversee the scripts, and Yoshimitsu Yamashita (Murder Princess, Samurai Champloo animation director) will design the characters. Kō Ōtani (Ayakashi Ayashi, Mobile Suit Gundam Wing) will compose the music.
(from
the Anime News Network)
Hopefully the anime will be as impressive in visual and storytelling quality as the manga!
Direct all questions either to Rho(me) or the Wikipedia article
-Rho
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I really wanna watch this!!! XD
ME TOO!
this looks good. i havn’t read it, but since you called it a “tour-de-force” i guess I have to watch it this summer.
correction Manji is not immortal because of a curse for killing 1 thousand men. He cannot die untill he kills 1 thousand.
let me quote rho… “the main character Manji — a rōnin swordsman condemned to immortality unless he kills a thousand evil men for all the good men he killed.”
never read the manga and haven’t torrented any anime for a while. hope this anime gets subbed within a month of release and i’ll be sure to download
Ryo, look earlier in the text, and let ME quote Rho: “Luckily, her bodyguard, Manji is immortal and invincible (virtually), a curse he received for killing a thousand men.”
He only killed a hundred before receiving the curse. :p
well thats just saying that rho’s earlier statement is wrong >_>. i was saying that he DID say that he has to kill 1000 men to break the immortality… youre talking about two entirely different points… well I guess the part where he said “he is not immortal for killing 1000 men” is true to i missed that point but still
i didnt write this XD.
sigh. thank you Ryo for your support, thank you MoneyGrip for your astute observation, and thank you Exerci for pointing out my mistake (hey, I don’t remember everything from the series, but this was an important point). Yes, according to the all-knowing Wikipedia, Manji got his curse for killing a 100 samurai, and can only have it removed upon killing a 1000 bad men:
In the past, his criminal actions led to the death of 100 other samurai (including his sister’s husband). He becomes immortal at the hand of a 800-year-old nun named Yaobikuni, and is compelled by the death of his sister to accept the quest that will end his agelessness. He has vowed to make amends by killing 1000 evil men, and until he does Manji will be kept alive by kessen-chū (血仙蟲 “sacred bloodworms”)
Lo siento, My mistake has been fixed.
Heh heh - I just bought the anime series. AND IT IS AWESOME! Trust me, if you have read Blade of the Immortal - YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.
I have always been worried that if the series did become an anime that it would be slashed *pun* and runined in the way that some animes have runined manga. Though there were some parts left out and the ending leaves you wanting more (T.T) IT IS WELL WORTH THE MONEY!
you mean the anime series is already over? i thought it was still going?
The only and probably one of the best Managa to ever be created. I have have completed all twenty volumes so far and I have to just say that I really think this might fail badly. The art style is not very japanese even though it is, meaning it’s very realistic. A lot of violence is involved throughout the Manga with such epic battles. I feel that everything will be cut out…But…It would be great to see it succeed! I hope the creators stay true to the Manga. Well…at last it aint as bad as SONY, which announced that shadow of the collossus will be a movie now…
Agreed!!