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Blade of the Immortal (US) #16
Blade of The Immortal, Volume 16: Shortcut
As Rin frets over her bodyguard Manji's disappearance, she is surprised by the arrival of two traveling warriors, the feisty, headstrong Doa Yoshino and her huge, brutish companion, Isaku Yasono-okami. Rin quickly regrets her decision to let this strange couple stay with her, but her detective work takes priority when she returns to the stronghold of Habaki Kagamura to search for Manji. Meanwhile, Kagimura's medical examiners begin to test the seemingly immortal Manji, who is imprisoned, chained and a very unwilling toy in their merciless hands!
200 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
4 people are currently reading
179 people want to read
About the author
Hiroaki Samura
485 books248 followersHiroaki Samura ( 沙村広明) is a Japanese cartoonist and illustrator. He is best known for writing and illustrating the manga Blade of the Immortal (1993-2012). Among his other manga series Die Wergelder (2011-2018) and Wave, Listen to Me!, the latter serialised since 2014.
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
April 22, 2013
Blade of the Immortal enters Body Horror. Perhaps this was inevitable, but I didn’t see this story coming through the fog of political plots. Manji is abducted by the leader of the Mugai-Ryu, who hires Burando and Mozen, two unscrupulous physicians, to dissect him until the nature of his immortality is understood and replicable. What follows are some highly disturbing scenes that put Saw films to shame, and least once it put me in the mindset where I could laugh at how horrific Samura’s art had become.
How is Manji affected by blood loss? What about anesthetics? Is his miraculous healing a reaction to pain? How would a vivisection or transplant behave with his unique immune system? It’s stuff most people wouldn’t want to read, and had you pitched it to me at the beginning, I might not have picked up the first volume. It’s only by rolling this out here that I can’t look away.
The worst part is that I’m compelled to place this volume in league with films like Silence of the Lambs and I Saw the Devil. What you’ll witness is profoundly disturbing and graphic (graphic well beyond what Thomas Harris’s novels described), and yet delivered with painstaking craft. Hiroaki Samura is not a hack with a hard-on for violence; he’s an artist who imbues enormous meaning into facial expressions, the tension in a hand or the tendons of an arm, and so brings alternating levels of realism and gratuity to his gore. This is absolutely not for all audiences, but it is rendered with purpose, probing what the Mugai-Ryu have secretly been like behind the scenes of much of this series, and putting supreme weight on the secrets of Manji’s immortality. If the secrets are stolen, it’ll be because of incredible violations that we go through with Manji.
The deeper achievement is akin to Hitchcock’s Psycho. Our physicians have eight days to study and replicate Manji’s condition, or they’ll be killed. At first I thought it impossible, but with how they fear and envy each other, and how curious I am for the precise workings of Manji’s immortality, I came to root for them in the slightest degree. Still I wanted Manji free, and to avenge himself, but there was another part of my head, the same one that rooted for Norman Bates to not get caught, who wanted to see them figure this mystery out. Deeply sanguine, something that can only ever exist in fiction, and still reprehensible, but this is something art can afford that real life ought never.
Then there’s that last achievement, and perhaps the weirdest one. On the last three pages, Samura drops a totally different plot-beat with Rin, separated from Manji and living out a nearly comical existence. She’s definitely in a comedy of errors compared to him. And with that beat, I was instantly curious for what was coming into her life. No spoilers. Only dynamite storytelling on a totally different wavelength.
How is Manji affected by blood loss? What about anesthetics? Is his miraculous healing a reaction to pain? How would a vivisection or transplant behave with his unique immune system? It’s stuff most people wouldn’t want to read, and had you pitched it to me at the beginning, I might not have picked up the first volume. It’s only by rolling this out here that I can’t look away.
The worst part is that I’m compelled to place this volume in league with films like Silence of the Lambs and I Saw the Devil. What you’ll witness is profoundly disturbing and graphic (graphic well beyond what Thomas Harris’s novels described), and yet delivered with painstaking craft. Hiroaki Samura is not a hack with a hard-on for violence; he’s an artist who imbues enormous meaning into facial expressions, the tension in a hand or the tendons of an arm, and so brings alternating levels of realism and gratuity to his gore. This is absolutely not for all audiences, but it is rendered with purpose, probing what the Mugai-Ryu have secretly been like behind the scenes of much of this series, and putting supreme weight on the secrets of Manji’s immortality. If the secrets are stolen, it’ll be because of incredible violations that we go through with Manji.
The deeper achievement is akin to Hitchcock’s Psycho. Our physicians have eight days to study and replicate Manji’s condition, or they’ll be killed. At first I thought it impossible, but with how they fear and envy each other, and how curious I am for the precise workings of Manji’s immortality, I came to root for them in the slightest degree. Still I wanted Manji free, and to avenge himself, but there was another part of my head, the same one that rooted for Norman Bates to not get caught, who wanted to see them figure this mystery out. Deeply sanguine, something that can only ever exist in fiction, and still reprehensible, but this is something art can afford that real life ought never.
Then there’s that last achievement, and perhaps the weirdest one. On the last three pages, Samura drops a totally different plot-beat with Rin, separated from Manji and living out a nearly comical existence. She’s definitely in a comedy of errors compared to him. And with that beat, I was instantly curious for what was coming into her life. No spoilers. Only dynamite storytelling on a totally different wavelength.
January 19, 2020
Rating: 9.29/10.00 | 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕
March 22, 2014
significant theme of this volume is, the author is playing with the magic system of the immortality.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 10, 2022
(Zero spoiler review for the deluxe edition collecting this volume) 3.75/5
Sadly I've gotta say, I'm a smidgey bit disappointed with this one. It didn't help that volume 5 was pretty much god tier. It didn't help it that I've literally been creaming my jeans about this series since the moment I cracked open volume 1. Surprisingly, it didn't even help it we got four volumes instead of the usual three here, bargain though it was. This will be the first volume I don't give five stars to (although volume 4 only just scraped it from memory). This will be the first volume I don't include in my favourites list. This will be the first volume I am not looking forward to rereading. So why is that?
Well, basically, the central plot running through this 'four' volume collection was interesting, although drastically outstayed its welcome, and its still not even resolved. We got some new characters, so that some of the previous main characters can retire to the background to prevent over exposure and boredom setting in (and to have them around for the narratives ultimate conclusion). The commensurate characters we are given are less interesting versions of other characters we have seen at various points. Some of which were fine, although they suffered from the plot being dragged out longer than it should have.
Blade of the immortal has been at its strongest when it goes balls to the wall with its very beautiful, very idiosyncratic historic Japanese-ness. When the story and the art come together to make something that can be little short of breathtaking. There was little if any of that throughout this entire arc, with the narrative, the execution, and the art being the closest thing to 'generic manga' that Samura has offered me, and I wasn't terribly impressed with it. It had occasional highlights, but they were more than drowned out by 800 or so workmanlike pages of nuts and bolts, not terribly amazing manga. But again, this book has so exceeded my expectations up to this point, that good is nowhere near good enough anymore.
Don't let my new found disappointment stop you from starting this exceptional series. It's still an absolute must read. Hopefully this is just a temporary blip on what has been a near flawless record thus far. 3.75/5
OmniBen.
Sadly I've gotta say, I'm a smidgey bit disappointed with this one. It didn't help that volume 5 was pretty much god tier. It didn't help it that I've literally been creaming my jeans about this series since the moment I cracked open volume 1. Surprisingly, it didn't even help it we got four volumes instead of the usual three here, bargain though it was. This will be the first volume I don't give five stars to (although volume 4 only just scraped it from memory). This will be the first volume I don't include in my favourites list. This will be the first volume I am not looking forward to rereading. So why is that?
Well, basically, the central plot running through this 'four' volume collection was interesting, although drastically outstayed its welcome, and its still not even resolved. We got some new characters, so that some of the previous main characters can retire to the background to prevent over exposure and boredom setting in (and to have them around for the narratives ultimate conclusion). The commensurate characters we are given are less interesting versions of other characters we have seen at various points. Some of which were fine, although they suffered from the plot being dragged out longer than it should have.
Blade of the immortal has been at its strongest when it goes balls to the wall with its very beautiful, very idiosyncratic historic Japanese-ness. When the story and the art come together to make something that can be little short of breathtaking. There was little if any of that throughout this entire arc, with the narrative, the execution, and the art being the closest thing to 'generic manga' that Samura has offered me, and I wasn't terribly impressed with it. It had occasional highlights, but they were more than drowned out by 800 or so workmanlike pages of nuts and bolts, not terribly amazing manga. But again, this book has so exceeded my expectations up to this point, that good is nowhere near good enough anymore.
Don't let my new found disappointment stop you from starting this exceptional series. It's still an absolute must read. Hopefully this is just a temporary blip on what has been a near flawless record thus far. 3.75/5
OmniBen.
September 12, 2023
That cover has nothing to do with anything inside this volume and while there is a lot of set up here, nothing really happens. Rin has 2 house guests now who were formerly Itto-Ryu, but it doesn't come up. Manji is being held captive and the body horror of this condition finally finds it's way into the story. It could be far worse than it is here, but it's pretty dark. There is a lot of set up in this volume that alllllllll gets held till the next installment. I'm curious to see how the author deals with people trying to "take" Manji's immortality. It's all potential at this point since nothing was really resolved, but it's going to really affect the rest of the story from here on out.
December 20, 2024
A solid addition to the series, though it doesn’t quite reach the heights of some earlier volumes. The artwork remains as stunning as ever, showcasing the level of detail and intensity you'd expect.
This volume focuses heavily on Manji’s harrowing ordeal of being captured and experimented on as his captors seek to uncover the secret of his immortality. While the premise is compelling, the pacing felt slower than anticipated, and the resolution lacked a satisfying payoff. I found myself wishing for a bit more action or story development to balance the introspective tone.
That said, it’s still an engaging read even if it doesn’t deliver a standout moment. The artistic brilliance alone makes it worth picking up for sure.
This volume focuses heavily on Manji’s harrowing ordeal of being captured and experimented on as his captors seek to uncover the secret of his immortality. While the premise is compelling, the pacing felt slower than anticipated, and the resolution lacked a satisfying payoff. I found myself wishing for a bit more action or story development to balance the introspective tone.
That said, it’s still an engaging read even if it doesn’t deliver a standout moment. The artistic brilliance alone makes it worth picking up for sure.
October 23, 2020
This is a review of the entire series.
Manji is a ruthless ronin stricken with the curse of immortality. To undo his curse, he must take the lives of a thousand sinners. He's a wandering sword for hire that kills without mercy and hunts down evil warriors all over feudal Japan. He wanders and kills without purpose for quite some time, but his long journey to end his own life takes an unexpected turn when he meets a compassionate young girl named Rin who is seeking revenge for her parents after they were murdered by members of a brutal new sword school called the Itto-ryu. Manji accepts the role of Rin's guardian and their drastically different ideals and personalities begin to change each other in ways neither of them could've foreseen as they clash with one merciless sinner after another.
The story cycles between several groups of samurai warriors each with their own moral codes and objectives. Other than Manji and Rin, there is Anotsu Kagehisa; the leader of the Itto-ryu and his band of rogues that openly defy old traditions as they seek to revolutionize the way of the samurai through force. Hyakurin and her partner Giichi who work as government cutthroats under a faction called the Mugai-ryu along with a serial killer named Shira, and so on. There are also hundreds of assassins, criminal gangs and shady individuals that wish to learn the secrets of Manji's immortality for their own nefarious purposes. With so many vicious people on the loose, it's no surprise that this ends up being one of the most brutal and bloody samurai tales ever told.
Blade of the Immortal makes ultra-violence look like a poetic art form. Blood and limbs fly like scarlet paint. Blades cut through flesh and bone like knives through butter. The use of clever battle poses and finishing techniques against the backdrop of hyper-stylized Edo period art makes for some museum-worthy battle and death scenes.
Despite how glamorized violence and bloodshed is throughout the series, it does not shy away from exploring the aftermath of said violence and how it impacts the psychological state of the characters. A sweet girl like Rin seeks revenge against Anotsu of the Itto-ryu for leading an assault that resulted in the murder of her family and slowly grows accustomed to the constant brutality that the path of revenge leads to. Anotsu himself isn't the one-dimensional evil monster that Rin believes him to be as he is driven by a sense of revenge himself; his revolution against outdated traditions begins only because people he loved were hurt, killed and outcasted by the harsh rules and teachings of the old sword schools. Even those who live through vicarious swindling and assassination such as Hyakurin and her partner Giichi have very traumatic upbringings and take no joy in their work.
We see how violence warps these characters into killing machines and then we see how the violence they inflict on others leads to more tragedy and bloodshed. Whether it be physical, mental or sexual, the violence throughout the series never goes unexplored or unpunished. It somehow manages to be brutally elegant and mature at the same time, the bloody battles are fantastic and the effects it has on the characters is even more so.
What seems to be a cliche samurai revenge story subtly transforms into an exploration of the psychological effects that violence has on many different types of individuals. Some are defined by it, some are bound to it, some love it while others allow themselves to grow from it or be destroyed by it. Violence and revenge are never fully justified nor condemned. It's presented from a very neutral and realistic point of view, allowing you to see it from every angle possible and judge for yourself whether it can be justified or not.
The story is simple, but the webs of conflict between many groups of complex and dangerous characters is where it truly shines. Strong development, elegant violence, moral ambiguity and an unusually modern punk tone in the dialogue and mannerisms of the characters offers a unique way of exploring a feudal-era drama that defies the expectations of a traditional revenge story.
***
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Manji is a ruthless ronin stricken with the curse of immortality. To undo his curse, he must take the lives of a thousand sinners. He's a wandering sword for hire that kills without mercy and hunts down evil warriors all over feudal Japan. He wanders and kills without purpose for quite some time, but his long journey to end his own life takes an unexpected turn when he meets a compassionate young girl named Rin who is seeking revenge for her parents after they were murdered by members of a brutal new sword school called the Itto-ryu. Manji accepts the role of Rin's guardian and their drastically different ideals and personalities begin to change each other in ways neither of them could've foreseen as they clash with one merciless sinner after another.
The story cycles between several groups of samurai warriors each with their own moral codes and objectives. Other than Manji and Rin, there is Anotsu Kagehisa; the leader of the Itto-ryu and his band of rogues that openly defy old traditions as they seek to revolutionize the way of the samurai through force. Hyakurin and her partner Giichi who work as government cutthroats under a faction called the Mugai-ryu along with a serial killer named Shira, and so on. There are also hundreds of assassins, criminal gangs and shady individuals that wish to learn the secrets of Manji's immortality for their own nefarious purposes. With so many vicious people on the loose, it's no surprise that this ends up being one of the most brutal and bloody samurai tales ever told.
Blade of the Immortal makes ultra-violence look like a poetic art form. Blood and limbs fly like scarlet paint. Blades cut through flesh and bone like knives through butter. The use of clever battle poses and finishing techniques against the backdrop of hyper-stylized Edo period art makes for some museum-worthy battle and death scenes.
Despite how glamorized violence and bloodshed is throughout the series, it does not shy away from exploring the aftermath of said violence and how it impacts the psychological state of the characters. A sweet girl like Rin seeks revenge against Anotsu of the Itto-ryu for leading an assault that resulted in the murder of her family and slowly grows accustomed to the constant brutality that the path of revenge leads to. Anotsu himself isn't the one-dimensional evil monster that Rin believes him to be as he is driven by a sense of revenge himself; his revolution against outdated traditions begins only because people he loved were hurt, killed and outcasted by the harsh rules and teachings of the old sword schools. Even those who live through vicarious swindling and assassination such as Hyakurin and her partner Giichi have very traumatic upbringings and take no joy in their work.
We see how violence warps these characters into killing machines and then we see how the violence they inflict on others leads to more tragedy and bloodshed. Whether it be physical, mental or sexual, the violence throughout the series never goes unexplored or unpunished. It somehow manages to be brutally elegant and mature at the same time, the bloody battles are fantastic and the effects it has on the characters is even more so.
What seems to be a cliche samurai revenge story subtly transforms into an exploration of the psychological effects that violence has on many different types of individuals. Some are defined by it, some are bound to it, some love it while others allow themselves to grow from it or be destroyed by it. Violence and revenge are never fully justified nor condemned. It's presented from a very neutral and realistic point of view, allowing you to see it from every angle possible and judge for yourself whether it can be justified or not.
The story is simple, but the webs of conflict between many groups of complex and dangerous characters is where it truly shines. Strong development, elegant violence, moral ambiguity and an unusually modern punk tone in the dialogue and mannerisms of the characters offers a unique way of exploring a feudal-era drama that defies the expectations of a traditional revenge story.
***
My Social Media
My YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPPs...
My Instagram Account: https://www.instagram.com/michael_sor...
My Wattpad Account: https://www.wattpad.com/user/Michael-...
My Twitter Account: https://twitter.com/SorbelloHorror
My Facebook Account: https://www.facebook.com/michael.sorb...
November 21, 2020
The conceit of Rin and Manji being constantly separated, and Rin wringing her hands, worried about him, is beyond stale at this point. Most of the character interaction in the first half of this volume is just retreads of previous volumes' dialogue. It's incredibly boring.
The latter half, however, introduces a new character and a new scenario for Manji, as the new big bad guy from the previous volume has decided to find out how Manji has the power of immortality. In this storyarc, we actually see new interactions, character development, and a scenario that doesn't allow for the familiar plotting of the past few volumes. I wish there was more of this story and less of Rin meets new people who are likely also somehow involved with the Itto Ryo or want to dismantle the Itto Ryo, or whathaveyou.
Also, Samura is not very good at writing female characters, so the Rin-focused part where she mostly meets other female characters just rings false.
The latter half, however, introduces a new character and a new scenario for Manji, as the new big bad guy from the previous volume has decided to find out how Manji has the power of immortality. In this storyarc, we actually see new interactions, character development, and a scenario that doesn't allow for the familiar plotting of the past few volumes. I wish there was more of this story and less of Rin meets new people who are likely also somehow involved with the Itto Ryo or want to dismantle the Itto Ryo, or whathaveyou.
Also, Samura is not very good at writing female characters, so the Rin-focused part where she mostly meets other female characters just rings false.
February 23, 2025
Solid volume that gets brutal (body horror/experimentation) and likely to get more brutal based on where the experimenting was going. I am not too sure what to think of Doa (new character introduced in the last volume) - she seems a bit quirky so could be an interesting character.
June 20, 2017
Too much body horror in this one. Not nearly enough philosophising on the ethical implications of it all.
January 2, 2018
Good volume.
August 9, 2018
Ok manga....Overall story💩1/10 But on the plus side pretty decent samurai/Feudal japan type manga with lots of Explicit Violence(Heads,ears and other body parts flying all over the place)👌😅💀👂👃💕💕
October 8, 2018
forgot how much i disliked this arc
January 21, 2019
We love it when Manji is tied up and used for anatomy experiments.
April 20, 2020
7.5/10
January 24, 2024
Intriguing but felt slow.
April 26, 2024
Lo más bajo en cuanto a guión hasta ahora. Aburrido a más no poder en algunos pasajes; no se condice con las ilustraciones, basta decir.
January 13, 2025
I wish this book had a come back.
June 15, 2025
The story takes a turn towards personal character moments with a bit of body horror thrown in. I find the change interesting and am excited to see where this goes.
Want to read
September 26, 2025manga
November 9, 2013
This is definitely an interesting twist on the story, no real fights, but interesting.
11/9/13
Doctors experimenting with forces beyond their ken, while also addressing the move from folklore medicine to more Western approaches. Which fits with the theme of the book moving from traditional swordfighting to anything goes.
The parallel story involves making space for traditions from other places to influence one's house.
11/9/13
Doctors experimenting with forces beyond their ken, while also addressing the move from folklore medicine to more Western approaches. Which fits with the theme of the book moving from traditional swordfighting to anything goes.
The parallel story involves making space for traditions from other places to influence one's house.
September 4, 2007
Still incredible art, but as I'm missing 14 previous issues, it was harder to follow than Beasts, thus the lower rating. That might change once I've picked up the other books.
July 6, 2012
A serie with beautiful black and white visuals. The story is interesting but the lenght between each issue makes it hard to follow.
September 1, 2009
The beginning of the "Horror" story arc. Gruesome stuff.
June 23, 2010
I love this series. I don't really read it in order, but whatever I can get my hands on I read.
September 17, 2018
[REVIEW FOR THE SERIES...]
Blade of the Immortal (Vol. 1-31)
Blade of the Immortal (Japanese: 無限の住人 Hepburn: Mugen no Jūnin, lit. "The Inhabitant of Infinity") is a Japanese seinen manga series by Hiroaki Samura. The series is set in Japan during the mid-Tokugawa Shogunate period and follows the samurai Manji, cursed with eternal life, who now has to kill 1000 evil men in order to regain his mortality. The series ran from 1993 to 2012, and has garnered itself quite a fan following and now has several animated and movie adaptions.
The Blade of the Immortal series is perhaps one of my top favorite manga series of all time and I’ve read a lot of manga in my life. I’m still not completely sure what it is about this series that worked for me; all I know is it did. The truth is it is a very dark, violent, historical manga with elements of fantasy and mysticism. Much of it involves very gritty and gory sword fighting scenes and super fascinating cast of characters, heroes, villains and all shades in between. The story keeps you on the edge of your seat, if you manage push past the first few chapters, which can be very confusing honestly. Once you get into the meat of it though, it becomes enthralling, disturbing and even emotional. And the art...well it’s exquisite and only improves as you continue through the volumes... Check it.
WOW. Epic no? So this is Manji, our cursed yet extremely skilled samurai hero (anti-hero?) who is on a quest to kill 1000 evil men in oder to relieve himself of this curse and die peacefully. So it all starts when he is the cause of the death of 100 good samurai, due to his criminal actions, and is cursed to immortality, (by means of "sacred bloodworms" (血仙蟲 kessen-chū) that allow him to survive nearly every injury and even reattach dismembered limbs, by a 800-year-old nun. After a tragic turn of events he then vows to make amends for his sins that will allow his curse to be ended. This dark endeavor for redemption causes him much sorrow and suffering, but Manji always manages to persevere. His life only gets more complicated, however, when he meets Rin.
Manji later crosses paths with a young girl, named Asano Rin, and promises to help her avenge her parents, who were killed by a group of master swordsmen led by the mysterious and evil Anotsu Kagehisa. Anotsu killed Rin's father and his entire dōjō, making them a family of outcasts. Anotsu's quest is to gather other outcasts and form an extremely powerful new dojo, the Ittō-ryū (a school teaching any technique that wins, no matter how exotic or underhanded), and has started taking over and destroying other dojos, and threatens to defy the honorable system of the samurai realm.
Manji and Rin team up together to hunt down the savage Anotsu, which leads them on a perilous adventure, down a simultaneous path of revenge and redemption. I love the platonic dynamic between Manji and Rin. This series is a wonderfully thought out read, amazing illustrated and filled to the brim with action, excitement, mystery, and suspense and of course, a load of violent sword fighting scenes. There are a series of other interesting characters that I will not go into in this review, but suffice it to say, Blade of the Immortal is a read to remember. I highly recommend this to seinen manga fans, but not to the squeamish or faint of heart. This is a very graphic series.
[OFFICIAL RATING: 4.8 STARS]
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews