Blade of the Immortal

Template:Nihongo is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hiroaki Samura. It was serialized in Kodansha's [[Seinen manga|Template:Transliteration manga]] magazine Monthly Afternoon from June 1993 to December 2012, with its chapters collected in 30 Template:Transliteration volumes. The series is set in Japan during the mid-Tokugawa Shogunate period and follows the cursed samurai Manji, who has to kill 1,000 evil men in order to regain his mortality.

A 2008 anime television series adaptation was produced by Bee Train. Also in 2008, the novel Blade of the Immortal: Legend of the Sword Demon was released by Kodansha. A live action film adaptation of the same name was released in April 2017. A second anime adaptation by Liden Films was broadcast from October 2019 to March 2020. In North America, the manga has been published by Dark Horse Comics. The first anime series was licensed by Media Blasters. The second anime series is licensed by Amazon Prime Video.

By May 2019, the manga had over 7.5 million copies in circulation. In 1997, Blade of the Immortal received the Excellence Award at the first Japan Media Arts Festival.

Plot

Template:See also Manji is a skilled Template:Transliteration cursed with immortality. After his violent past results in the deaths of 100 samurai, including his sister's husband, an 800-year-old nun named Yaobikuni grants him agelessness through Template:Nihongo. These creatures heal even fatal wounds by merging with his body, enabling severed limbs to be reattached, though they cannot regenerate large-scale tissue loss. Seeking redemption, Manji vows to kill 1,000 evil men to end his immortality.

He allies with Rin Asano, a girl whose parents were murdered by Anotsu Kagehisa, leader of the rogue swordsmen group Template:Nihongo. Anotsu's philosophy embraces any technique that ensures victory, and his conquest of rival Template:Transliteration forces survivors into exile. Opposing them is the shadowy Template:Nihongo, which employs similarly ruthless methods. Though Manji briefly joins them, he abandons the group upon learning its members are death row convicts serving the shogunate. Despite his disdain for their most brutal agent, Shira, he maintains ties with other members while continuing his quest alongside Rin.

Creation and conception

Samura stated that Tange Sazen was the largest influence on his characters and narrative style.<ref name="Samuraint">Template:Cite web</ref> In regards to the overall work he stated that he wanted to create a new style of manga, with his intended style being "Don't obsess about the details—just look at the story."<ref name="Samuraint"/>

Media

Manga

Template:Main Written and illustrated by Hiroaki Samura, Blade of the Immortal started in Kodansha's [[Seinen manga|Template:Transliteration manga]] magazine Monthly Afternoon on June 25, 1993,<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> and finished on December 25, 2012.<ref name="end">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Kodansha collected its 207 chapters in 30 Template:Transliteration volumes, released from September 22, 1994,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> to February 22, 2013.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> A 15-volume Template:Transliteration edition was released from August 23, 2016,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> to February 23, 2017.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

A sequel, titled Template:Nihongo, written by Kenji Takigawa and illustrated by Ryū Suenobu, with Samura's collaboration, was serialized in Monthly Afternoon from May 25, 2019,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> to May 24, 2024.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Kodansha collected its chapters in ten Template:Transliteration volumes, released from October 23, 2019,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> to August 22, 2024.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Dark Horse Comics release

File:Blade of the Immortal manga sample.JPG

Panel of the first "death" of Manji (Dark Horse Comics edition), arranged in a left-to-right orientation and with the onomatopoeia translated

The English language version of the manga was published by Dark Horse Comics. The manga began its publication in individual monthly issues, with the first issue being published on June 1, 1996.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> These issues were later collected into individual volumes, and the first one was published on March 1, 1997.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On October 11, 2007, Dark Horse Comics announced that they would drop the monthly issues publishing, with issue #131, released on November 14, 2007, being the last one.<ref name="drop"/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The series continued publishing through trade paperback volumes only, starting with the 18th volume, released on February 6, 2008.<ref name="drop">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The 31st and last collected volume was published on April 1, 2015.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

To preserve the integrity of his art, Samura requested the publisher Dark Horse Comics not to "flip" the manga, that is, reverse the pages as if in a mirror.<ref name="AskJohn"/><ref name="Ex"/> At the time, flipping was an almost universal practice for English-translated manga.<ref name="answerman"/> Instead, Blade of the Immortal was modified for Western readers by the unusual method of cutting up the panels and rearranging them on the page in order to have the action flow from left to right.<ref name="Ex">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="AskJohn">Template:Cite web</ref> Another reason for not "flipping" the English version is Manji's clothing, which features a Template:Transliteration symbol, that if the pages were "flipped" would resemble specifically the Nazi swastika, instead of the ancient Eurasian swastika (that can be of any orientation), which for many cultures represents concepts such as peace and harmony.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Although American industry practice has largely changed over to publishing translated manga in its original right-to-left orientation,<ref name="answerman">Template:Cite web</ref> Blade of the Immortal had retained the labor-intensive cut-and-paste method.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="ICv2"/> The publisher cautions that rearranging the panels is not foolproof, and can lead to continuity errors; this usually occurs when the flow of text bubbles is dependent upon character placement within panels.<ref name="vol31:FC">Template:Cite web</ref> Some sound effects within the panel were retouched out and re-lettered in English.<ref name=roughguide/><ref name="AICN"/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Japanese sound effects that are an integral part of the artwork were usually left as is.<ref name=roughguide/><ref name="AICN"/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Additionally, some text bubbles or panel borders were redrawn, and script pacing subtly altered in order to understand the story or the placement of text bubbles.<ref name=roughguide>Template:Cite book</ref>

In the monthly Dark Horse serialization, colored versions of title pages from the corresponding manga chapter were often featured as cover art,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="PhilipR">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="AICN">Template:Cite web</ref> though in some cases different pieces of artwork, such as a Template:Transliteration covers, were used as well.<ref name="PhilipR"/> The original Japanese Template:Transliteration volumes also collected more chapters than the English volumes published by Dark Horse, as such, they are longer and do not directly correspond to the English numbering scheme.<ref name="ICv2">Template:Cite web</ref>

In July 2015, Dark Horse Comics announced an omnibus edition of Blade of the Immortal, each volume containing three original volumes, maintaining the left-to-right format.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Ten volumes were released from December 28, 2016,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> to November 13, 2019.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In March 2020, Dark Horse announced a deluxe re-release of the omnibus edition in hardcover.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The volumes were released from October 7, 2020,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> to October 18, 2023.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Novel

A novel, titled Template:Nihongo, written by Junichi Ohsako, with illustrations by Samura, was released by Kodansha on July 18, 2008.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In North America, the novel was published by Dark Horse Books on January 27, 2010.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Anime

Template:Main On March 23, 2008, it was announced that an animated television series adaptation of the manga would be directed by Kōichi Mashimo and produced by Bee Train in 2008.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="ANN_anime">Template:Cite web</ref> The series aired from July 14 to December 29, 2008, on AT-X.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The opening theme is Template:Nihongo by Makura no Sōshi, and the closing theme is "Wants" by Grapevine. In North America, Media Blasters licensed the series and released it on September 29, 2009.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

A second anime adaptation titled was listed on the cover of the July issue of Monthly Afternoon on May 10, 2019.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It was later announced that the anime adaptation would be a complete adaptation.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The series is animated by Liden Films and directed by Hiroshi Hamasaki, with Makoto Fukami handling series composition, Shingo Ogiso designing the characters, and Eiko Ishibashi composing the music. It aired from October 10, 2019, to March 25, 2020 on Amazon Prime Video.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Kiyoharu performed the series' opening theme song "Survive of Vision".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On October 15, 2020, Sentai Filmworks announced that they had licensed the anime for home video and released it on Blu-ray Disc on January 19, 2021.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Film

Template:Main In 2017, the manga was adapted into a live action film, directed by Takashi Miike with the screenplay by Tetsuya Oishi and starring Takuya Kimura as Manji.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Reception

By February 2017, the manga had five million copies in circulation.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> By May 2019, it had over 7.5 million copies in circulation.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Blade of the Immortal won the Excellence Prize at the first Japan Media Arts Festival in 1997;<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and the Will Eisner Comic Industry Award in 2000 for Best U.S. Edition of Foreign Material.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Manga authors Masashi Kishimoto and Tatsuki Fujimoto have mentioned the series as an influence on their works.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

External links

• Template:Official website Template:In lang
• Template:Official website Template:In lang
• Official 2008 anime website Template:In lang
• Official 2019 anime website Template:In lang
• Official 2008 anime blog Template:In lang
• Template:Anime News Network