BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL (VOLUME 1)

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BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL (VOLUME 1)

April 16th 2010 01:33

Category: Videos

Based on the original manga ‘Blade of the Immortal by Hiroaki Samura
Director: Koichi Mashimo
Chief Writer: Hiroyuki
Producers: Takuya Matsushita, Tetsuya Kinoshita, Katsuji Morishita & Noboru Yamada
Starring: Keith Silverstein (Manji), Mela Lee (Rin), Dave Mallow (Sori), Louise Chamis (Yaobikuni), Artt Butler (Sabuto Kuroi) & Ethan Murray (Anotsu)
Produced by: Asano Dojo Fukkokai
English Version produced by: Media Blasters
Released by: Madman Entertainment
Running Time: 125 minutes Rating: MA 15

On the surface this particular anime series would seem to be following a rather straightforward kind of story, one that you could easily pigeon hole into very violent, historical action drama. And as tempting as that would be I suggest that this is not quite the case with this particular anime. Naturally it doesn’t take much for the audience to realise that there is a bit more depth than some samurai dude roaming the highways and byways of Tokugawa Era Japan but I suspect that even here most will latch on to the obvious rather than the possible subtext. Or it could be that I’m reading far too much into the story than is actually there – it can happen, after all this is only the first volume in the series. So just what is happening in Blade of the Immortal then, according to viridian vision of the Green Lantern?

As I said at the start this is a samurai drama, one set if I have my facts right, in the later stages of the Tokugawa Shogunate – probably prior to the events of the Meiji Restoration. There has been contact established albeit intermittently and clandestinely with the lands of the West. This is a time of ferment, a time when various interests in the Land of the Rising Sun feel change is needed whilst others feel that a maintaining of the status quo is exactly what is required and if it means that force is to be employed then so be it. Frankly I find it a fascinating period of history, although it’s one that I have only come to know through anime and manga, history books tend to pass over this period focusing more on the past or the contemporaneous era. Historians are a funny bunch.

So there are comparisons to be drawn here between this series and Samurai X due to their historical setting as well as various other factors, the quest for salvation by the key male protagonist, the fact that the story revolves around a male and female protagonist and the fact that lets face there is a lot of fighting which was also a major hallmark of Samurai X. Where the two obviously diverge is in the nature of the redemption sought by the lead male character and his own unique abilities, but more of that later. The other big divergence between the two series is the lack of any political allegiance by either of the two lead characters, their tales have become intertwined but they are tales that are driven purely by personal rather than ideological reasons. In Samurai X the lead character Kenshin was always fighting for a cause, namely that of the Chosu rebels whereas in Blade both Rin and Manji are fighting for their own personal reasons – Rin for revenge, Manji for salvation.
Actually as far as protagonists go Manji would have to be one of the more interesting characters I have come across in the last couple of years of watching anime, reading manga etc. It would be easy to pigeon hole him into the anti hero category but that would only mean that the surface of the character has been appraised and no thought given to whether there is any more depth to him. Despite the fact that he is a literal walking engine of carnage and bloodletting, in fact he is frequently referred to as Manji of the Hundred Killings or the Hundred Kills guy; he is not just some meathead with a plethora of various pieces of lethal ironmongery. I quite like the character; he is a man with no illusions, a cynical world weary individual who sees through much of the pretension and hypocrisy of his class and the society in which he dwells.
But apart from his world and irreverent perspective on life the other interesting thing about Manji is that he cannot be killed, countless have tried but no one has ever come close. This is all due to some kind of bug that dwells within his body, bugs placed there by the enigmatic Yaobikuni, a wandering wise woman whose main role in this particular volume is to bring together the two main protagonists, Manji and Rin. These bugs keep Manji alive even if he has limbs severed and they will keep him going for many centuries to come, assuming of course that he actually lasts that long. So in essence he is immortal, a warrior without a means of dying and yet he is someone who seeks a way to atone for his sins and the one way that his class would have ingrained into him has now effectively been denied to him through the intercession of Yaobikuni and the bugs she implanted in him. Bit of a bummer, still it seems that despite the seeming impossibility of the situation Manji has not given up.
Death seems to be well and truly beyond his grasp but that may not be the only road to salvation, after all as they used to say all roads lead to Rome. Although his decision to kill one thousand bad men as an effort to atone may not be the best way forward, certainly this is what Yaobikuni points out to him. In the end she directs the young girl Rin to find Manji, Rin has lost her family to the machinations of the sinister Itto Ryu dojo, a gang of villainous types who are hell bent on pursuing the agenda of their leader; Kagehisa Anotsu. She asks Manji to help her seek revenge against the Itto Ryu and restore the honour of her family’s dojo. Manji accepts he has no illusions that this will be a tough task but it is a way for him to seek the salivation he desires, something that he can understand. In taking this on board he has strangely taken the first step towards his goal, he has perhaps unconsciously realised that his strength and skills as a warrior are to be used in defence of those weaker than himself, that the nobility of his ability stems from that and not the brutal killing and carnage that he previously perpetrated in ‘honour’ of a worthless master.
Within Buddhism, as far as my limited knowledge can recall, there is the concept that reality is but illusion and it is our continued attachment to this illusion, to Maya, that causes much of the suffering we endure. Only when we can shed that attachment can we seek to move beyond the illusion and walk the path of enlightenment. Assuming that I have the correct end of the stick here one could say that Manji has managed to shed himself of the illusion that is life in Tokugawa era Japan, he sees things more clearly than others, the only problem is can he see clearly enough to make the right moves towards his salvation? Blade of the Immortal Volume 1 was an interesting viewing experience, although this is definitely not for anyone under the age of sixteen, it is graphic in its fight scenes and its language gets a bit fruity at times. The MA 15 rating is definitely justified with this series.

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