Broken Anime

Boys and girls, it’s finally here. Bee Train presents Blade of the Immortal, in style.
NOTE: I apologize for any technical difficulties you may have experienced when browsing thumbnails - they have been fixed (FO’SHO), and now you can mouse-over any thumbnail (small) to see the larger image of it right below without having weird testing messages or pseudocode pop out at you. You may, as always with B.A., click on the images to see the original screenshots in larger form. Comments are also open. Thank you for your patience, and sorry. -RHO

A suiting image, for a badass series.

Slice ‘n Dice

I will not lie. I have not really been that impressed with new series that have been coming out recently. Generally I see a lack of artistic attention to detail and so-so plots that I feel need to be worked on. However, I do think the new series of late have potential to be amazing, and I do believe the new stuff I’ve seen is quite entertaining. That being said, I was hesitant to watch Blade of the Immortal because I was afraid the anime might disappoint, as I am actually quite endeared to the story and art that Hiroaki Samurai has created in his manga. Blade of the Immortal, the manga, is a story of revenge and redemption, reaching into history and emotion. After watching this first episode, I can safely say, Bee Train (the production studio) will not let Blade of the Immortal fans down. In fact, while watching,
I HAD A FIESTA IN MY PANTS.

Whatchu lookin’ at

Episode 01 - Relatively Detailed Synopsis (to see a much shorter summary, skip below)
We begin the episode (past the OP) with a scene of a samurai-looking individual slicin’ up some peeps, who then gets hit on the head with a pebble by a kid who calls him a murderer. Then a huge reverse swastika (aka “manji” - kudos to Kazeryu) appears, with a declaration of the episode’s title, “Criminal”. The scene I just described was a flashback of Manji, a hard-boiled, rugged swordsman who is now recalling himself killing a lord and a hundred guys in a confession booth to a priest. The priest, who is actually a fake, pulls a pistol and pops a cap in Manji’s head. Too bad Manji is invincible, and little worm things (kessen-chu) heal over his wound. Priest -1, Manji +1. See below.

Then we switch scenes to see Rin, Anotsu, and Habaki. Rin, a young girl, is by her father’s grave, thinking back to her father’s death at Anotsu’s hands. Habaki, a government top dog, converses with Anotsu, offering Anotsu and his sword “school”, the Itto-ryu, the opportunity to guard the Tokugawa dojo (I’m assuming the subber meant training students of the Tokugawa’s dojos). For those who haven’t read the manga at all, I think this was supposed to be kind of vague. That’s ok, because this will all hopefully become more clear later.

Our attention is then turned back to Manji, who discusses his curse of immortality and “quest for redemption” with Yaobikuni the nun, who has the same kessen-chu worms within her that keep them alive. Then, Machi, Manji’s crazy yet also gorgeous sister comes in spreading flowers and insanity everywhere. Night falls and again, we see yet another flashback of Machi’s husband confronting, rebuking, then promptly getting killed by Manji. Machi, who had observed this happen, lost her wits soon after.

Manji, who enjoys long walks in the park, takes a little walk only to discover more thugs wanting to slice him through. This time, they have Machi (who thinks this all is kinda funny) as a hostage to tempt Manji to fight the twenty of them. The following pictures should be explain the outcome.

The episode ends with Rin at her father’s grave, promising to avenge him.

SUMMARY
This first episode introduces the audience to the main players of this series: Manji, the near invincible/immortal swordsman pursued by many wanting his head; Rin, the young woman with a vendetta against the Itto-ryu; Anotsu, the leader of the Itto-ryu responsible for Rin’s father’s killing; and Habaki, the mysterious government official. Manji slices up some baddies using Manji’s crazy sister as bait, and Rin promises to avenge her father. Look forward to Manji and Rin meeting and joining up to find the Itto-ryu!

The OP is REDONK

IMPRESSIONS
The Good
From start to finish, I was not really disappointed with anything at all. The refined look of the characters and backgrounds, a soundtrack both epic and elegant, and some awesome fight scenes are just some of the praiseworthy things I’ve seen. The team working on this series, including character designer Yoshimitsu Yamashita (who worked on Samurai Champloo), Maaya Sakamoto as Machi, Rina Satou as Rin(Satori from Bamboo Blade), and composer Ko Otani (Mobile Suit Gundam Wing) just make this anime more bomb.

Hella Inuyasha

The Bad
This episode might be confusing for those who have not read the manga before (which I highly recommend), as the episode introduces a handful of important characters right off the bat. Also, though I personally don’t have a problem with it, Manji is portrayed here much more as a soul-searching, conflicted ronin rather than the gruff anti-hero that he is in the manga. He’s still badass, but I never really imagined him as much of a thinker…
NOTE: Thought it may seem so after just one episode, Blade of the Immortal, at least in the manga, is NOT just mindless violence. Hiroaki Samura (the manga-ka) has put in much artistic and storytelling skill, expressing his unconventional views on samurai prestige, love, and good vs. evil.

This is…who? Hyakurin just appears randomly after Manji slices up some baddies. People may be slightly overwhelmed by all the characters introduced this episode, especially when their significance is not fully explained.

Cute. Except for the OP song lyrics…those are odd.

Insanity is pretty sexy.

Whose hands are dirty…?

~Wheeeeeere’s your heaaaaaaaad at?~

Too many mutha uckas, ucking with my shi

Blue? Orcs!

~Blinded by the light~

Too bad in this ep we don’t actually get to see that much action, which BOTI is known for

Champloo that shi’

Keep watching…the power of the Reich compells you