Blade of the Immortal is a bloody, violent affair. We can remember when we were kids, wandering through a comic book store, looking at the manga section to see copies of both Lone Wolf and Cub and Blade of the Immortal lining the shelves. Though the series was originally created in 1993, it still lives on to this day with a recently release live action movie from the acclaimed director Takashi Miike and an upcoming anime series dropping later this year. Now, the first trailer for the story of Manji has dropped, promising a continuation to the tale of immortality and revenge via the streaming service of Amazon Prime.
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The story itself follows a ronin named Manji who is cursed with immortality, both free from dying for old age or from violence, thanks to an 800 year old nun. To attempt to undo the fate that has befallen him, Manji vows to take the lives of one thousand evil men to hopefully reverse his immortality and find peace in death. What follows is a story that is one of the bloodiest seen in manga history, with Manji unable to die thereby taking on some extreme injuries along the way.
As mentioned earlier, Blade of the Immortal was made into a live action from the legendary director Takashi Miike, whose ability to direct the grotesque certainly worked wonder for the gruesome world on display here. The franchise has also continued its story with a recent sequel in manga form with the “Bakumatsu Arc”, that continues following Manji struggle with defeating his immortality but during a new environment and time period. There were 30 volumes of the original run that had been brought to the states thanks to Dark Horse Comics and we’re sure the franchise will continue long into the future.
Will you be watching the upcoming Blade of the Immortal anime dropping in October of this year? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and immortality curses!
Blade of the Immortal was originally created by Hiroaki Samura for Kodansha’s Afternoon magazine in 1993, and the series was later adapted into an anime in 2008 by Bee Train and Production I.G. The series has been licensed for an English-language release by Dark Horse Comics, and even had a live-action film directed by Takashi Miike in 2017.
The series is described as such: “Manji, a ronin warrior of feudal Japan, has been cursed with immortality. To rid himself of this curse and end his life of misery, he must slay one thousand evil men! His quest begins when a young girl seeks his help in taking revenge on her parents’ killers…and his quest won’t end until the blood of a thousand has spilled!”
