Blade Of The Immortal: A Deep And Violent Graphic Manga

Hiroaki Samura's runaway manga hit, "Blade of the immortal" is a deep and engrossing epic saga of a young woman's quest for revenge with her immortal bodyguard Manji. Spanning over 20 beautifully drawn volumes published by Dark Horse Comics, you'll find yourself drawn into the storyline filled with plot twists, betrayals, forbidden love, despair, hatred, and ultimately the limits of human suffering and pain.

It all starts with Rin, the only surviving heir to her families sword school. Her parents were butchered right in front of her by another rebel faction, the Itto-ryu. Bent on revenge, Rin seeks a bodyguard, ultimately coming upon Manji, the thousand man killer.

Manji, a distinct character with his trademark black and white kimono embroidered with the "Manji" symbol (many may be wrongly offended by this insignia, since it looks like a swastika. Keep in mind though, that the Nazi swastika's arms were counter clockwise, as opposed to the Asian religious motif. That ones arms go clockwise). He is also only has one eye and is covered with scars from previous sword fights. He is also armed to the teeth with various swords, daggers, sickles, and other strange weapons. All of these he has taken off of his defeated foes bodies, naming them after the previous owner.

But the most outstanding feature of Manji, is his ability to close any wound afflicted to him. He's been shot in the head, impaled, eviscerated, dismembered, and beaten. No matter what, he will not die. He cannot die until he kills a thousand evil men to atone for the thousand good men he had killed. He became immortal when an old mountain nun contaminated his water with the kessen-shu, or "Holy blood worms". This parasite shares a symbiotic relationship with Manji, multiplying in his body and closing every wound with their wriggling bodies.

Manji agrees to join Rin on her journey, hoping to make his atonement in the process. During their journeys, they cross paths with various characters, some become valuable allies, others become deadly enemies. With enough swordplay, violence, and suspense, you'll be glued to each page as you follow the story.

What makes Hiroaki Samura such a sensation, is his breathtaking art style. Sticking to a medium consisting only of pencil, ink, and charcoal, his artwork is amazingly detailed and juxtaposed with awe inspiring backdrops of lush Japanese scenarios from the Feudal era. At times, when a character pulls off a graceful "Finisher" technique, Hiroaki takes up two whole pages of his book to sketch, ink, shade, and tone the scene.

Did I mention it was gory? It is extremely gory, with buckets of blood, flying body parts and intestines, it's not just the bad guys getting hacked and chopped. Manji tends to take a lot of punishment while fighting,occasionally losing a limb or two, or even four! But he still won't die.

In the end though, no one is invincible, Manji still feels pain, he still writhes and cries out. Along with the physical pain, comes the emotional pain that is felt by the characters. Manji fights for Rin, he bleeds and hurts for her as well. Although he is only her bodyguard, she develops a strong relationship with him, and holds deep feelings for him that she would never admit to.

There are a few way to defeat Manji, even a way to disable and kill him! Each new opponent carries a different weapon, fighting style, attitude, and background. Eventually, they're going to learn of his weakness and exploit it.

I have to warn you though, this series is extremely addicting, once you pick up the first volume, you're going to want to get more. Up to date, it's twenty one full volumes, but they are definitely worth it.