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Blade of the Immortal (US) #9
Blade of the Immortal, Volume 9: The Gathering II
This is a direct sequel to Volume 8: The Gathering, picking up seconds after Manji ran into the woods. While broken up into several chapters, but really comes in two parts: a battle and an interrogation. Samura conveniently lays them out in blocks, skipping the typical Fantasy and manga conceit of bouncing between multiple stories. We follow Manji until the conclusion of his battle, visit Rin until the conclusion of her drama at the checkpoints.
216 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
7 people are currently reading
184 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 - 24 of 24 reviews
January 7, 2019
Thank you Hiroka Samura for teaching me how to conceal my burafuma in three easy steps.
Also Rin is amazing.
Also Rin is amazing.
December 9, 2021
This book is split between the most intense fight we've seen yet and the most psychologically intense trail Rin has been through since her journey began. Both halves of this story are wrapping up what happened in the volume before them and both are compelling story telling. The art is evocative and kept me reading this very quickly. I'm well and truly hooked on this title.
October 31, 2024
This volume really digs into Manji's crazy, almost self-sacrificing fighting style. He doesn’t hold back at all, and you’ll see him lose limbs mid-fight as part of his strategy—he’s basically like, “Sure, hack off my arm; I’ll keep going.” It’s brutal and intense, and you can’t help but appreciate how far he’ll go to survive each encounter. If you’re here for raw, visceral action, this volume delivers that for sure.
But it’s not all action. Rin’s side of things slows down a bit and brings in some mental tension with the interrogation scene where she has to think quickly on her feet, and it all ties out in the end, with a great payoff for her answers and pretty much everything.
Her part doesn’t have the same level of bloodshed, but it’s tense in a totally different way and gives a nice balance to Manji’s all-out battles. Samura’s artwork once again is still just as impressive—he makes the chaotic fight scenes and the quieter, suspenseful moments both feel powerful in their own ways.
But it’s not all action. Rin’s side of things slows down a bit and brings in some mental tension with the interrogation scene where she has to think quickly on her feet, and it all ties out in the end, with a great payoff for her answers and pretty much everything.
Her part doesn’t have the same level of bloodshed, but it’s tense in a totally different way and gives a nice balance to Manji’s all-out battles. Samura’s artwork once again is still just as impressive—he makes the chaotic fight scenes and the quieter, suspenseful moments both feel powerful in their own ways.
February 28, 2024
მაინტერესებს, რინი რამდენჯერ გადაწყვეტს რომ სუსტია და უნდა გაძლიერდეს და მერე მაინც არ გაძლიერდება
November 6, 2020
The second half of this volume: the story of Rin trying to cross the border is well-written, clever, and shows quite a bit of character growth for Rin. On its own, I probably would have given it three or four stars.
Unfortunately, the beginning of this book: the continuation of a battle from the last volume is Potentially Interesting. I like the idea of starting a story in media res, almost as much as I dislike that the last volume ended in the middle of a battle. But the fight itself isn't depicted well. The sketchiness of Samura's style, which I usually love, just wasn't able to make the fight clear. It was like watching a fight scene from The Man Of Steel movie. The camera swings around wildly, you have no idea who is attacking whom, and what the results are. I had also lost all sense of the other characters by the time they showed up. It's only been a few days since I read the last volume but I couldn't remember where we'd last seen them, and what their current goals were.
This volume is about 1/3rd of the way through the series, so I'm going to continue to power through it, but I found both volumes of The Gathering a bit wanting. I think comic readers unfamiliar with manga will have an even more difficult time following the action and the story.
Unfortunately, the beginning of this book: the continuation of a battle from the last volume is Potentially Interesting. I like the idea of starting a story in media res, almost as much as I dislike that the last volume ended in the middle of a battle. But the fight itself isn't depicted well. The sketchiness of Samura's style, which I usually love, just wasn't able to make the fight clear. It was like watching a fight scene from The Man Of Steel movie. The camera swings around wildly, you have no idea who is attacking whom, and what the results are. I had also lost all sense of the other characters by the time they showed up. It's only been a few days since I read the last volume but I couldn't remember where we'd last seen them, and what their current goals were.
This volume is about 1/3rd of the way through the series, so I'm going to continue to power through it, but I found both volumes of The Gathering a bit wanting. I think comic readers unfamiliar with manga will have an even more difficult time following the action and the story.
June 2, 2013
much better than previous volume. Not only the fighting scenes of Manji & friends, but the Rin's plot acrossing the border.
November 19, 2019
Always on the edge of my seat every time.
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...
Read
June 12, 2022Does anyone else think the female characters look too similar (some of them)
May 7, 2022
(Zero spoiler review for the deluxe edition collecting this volume) 4.75/5
What an honour to be the first to write a review for this seminal and amazing series. I've previously expressed my mixed feelings with manga, and how despite a significant number of positives, I just keep finding far too many personal inadequacies within the overall industry to really fall in love with it. That said, if more manga was like Blade of the Immortal, then I would be man crushing on this shit so hard, it would be squeezing out the sides. Blade of the Immortal is one of the best things I have ever read, period! Not just in comics, but ever. I can't get enough. God knows how I waited a few months to find this volume at a decent price. I should have just bought it the second it came out at whatever ludicrous price this volume has been selling for since release. I devoured it with a ferocity that few other stories ever evoke, despite knowing that the sooner I finish it, the sooner it would be over. Praise be to Jebus I have volume four sitting a few feet away, and will be cracking it open as soon as I am done writing this.
Picking out individual points to highlight here seems an exercise in futility, as there really isn't anything I don't like about this. The characters continue to grow and expand, forming into pivotal figures within my mind like few have before. Samura's ability to make the fights, which are thankfully not over done or methodical (as becomes all too frequent in bog standard superhero fare). But rather, each is wholly unique and special to the story at the time. One criticism might be that occasionally it can be a little hard to discern every detail of his fight scene art, although that is a minor quibble in what is an amazing book. The final arc of this collection, which focused on Rin (probably my favourite character) had be so entranced, and was so well executed, that I read about 100 pages more than I intended to, and finished the book despite being dreadfully tired. I just couldn't put it down.
In short, even if you are a paid up member of the manga sceptics society like I am, you absolutely need to read this book. And preferably in this exquisite deluxe format, which is easily one of the prettiest looking books I own. I can't foresee any circumstance in which you would be anything but very glad you did. If Dark Horse doesn't finish out this series in this format, heads are gonna roll. 4.75/5
OmniBen.
What an honour to be the first to write a review for this seminal and amazing series. I've previously expressed my mixed feelings with manga, and how despite a significant number of positives, I just keep finding far too many personal inadequacies within the overall industry to really fall in love with it. That said, if more manga was like Blade of the Immortal, then I would be man crushing on this shit so hard, it would be squeezing out the sides. Blade of the Immortal is one of the best things I have ever read, period! Not just in comics, but ever. I can't get enough. God knows how I waited a few months to find this volume at a decent price. I should have just bought it the second it came out at whatever ludicrous price this volume has been selling for since release. I devoured it with a ferocity that few other stories ever evoke, despite knowing that the sooner I finish it, the sooner it would be over. Praise be to Jebus I have volume four sitting a few feet away, and will be cracking it open as soon as I am done writing this.
Picking out individual points to highlight here seems an exercise in futility, as there really isn't anything I don't like about this. The characters continue to grow and expand, forming into pivotal figures within my mind like few have before. Samura's ability to make the fights, which are thankfully not over done or methodical (as becomes all too frequent in bog standard superhero fare). But rather, each is wholly unique and special to the story at the time. One criticism might be that occasionally it can be a little hard to discern every detail of his fight scene art, although that is a minor quibble in what is an amazing book. The final arc of this collection, which focused on Rin (probably my favourite character) had be so entranced, and was so well executed, that I read about 100 pages more than I intended to, and finished the book despite being dreadfully tired. I just couldn't put it down.
In short, even if you are a paid up member of the manga sceptics society like I am, you absolutely need to read this book. And preferably in this exquisite deluxe format, which is easily one of the prettiest looking books I own. I can't foresee any circumstance in which you would be anything but very glad you did. If Dark Horse doesn't finish out this series in this format, heads are gonna roll. 4.75/5
OmniBen.
October 16, 2017
So tense. The Rin story is really good.
December 24, 2017
Good volume.
October 7, 2018
Rin at the checkpoint is, oddly enough, one of my favorite scenes in the series.
March 21, 2020
6.5/10
October 5, 2023
That last part was pretty suspenseful.
February 16, 2025
Another solid volume. This shows some growth with Rin which was nice to see. The fight was another that showed variety to prior ones again but would definitely be helped by clearer art.
July 9, 2025
Rin is getting better and better.
Want to read
September 26, 2025manga
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]
July 8, 2009
This is a direct sequel to Volume 8: The Gathering, picking up seconds after Manji ran into the woods. While broken up into several chapters, but really comes in two parts: a battle and an interrogation. Samura conveniently lays them out in blocks, skipping the typical Fantasy and manga conceit of bouncing between multiple stories. We follow Manji until the conclusion of his battle, visit Rin until the conclusion of her drama at the checkpoints. No matter how much I disliked some of it, I can't help but praise something that I read in one sitting by accident - I meant to read the first chapter, and finished it before I knew what I was doing. Even for sequential art, that's an achievement for a story of some 200 pages.
The first part is the kind of intricate combat you expect from Blade of the Immortal, though the pace of production is clearly wearing on Samura's skill. He had more ideas than time to draw them, and so at several points his hectic, sketchy style makes the eye move faster across the panels than is good for it. You can't comprehend everything that happens; several times I had to flip back pages to follow what was mostly a two-man duel.
The second half is both brilliant and convoluted. It's a traditional scene, with Rin posing as someone else during an interrogation. Will she be caught? How? Can she pull this off? What happens if she can't? It should be bad. The lead investigator comes off like he's watched too much Columbo, dropping tricky questions and investigations with a ludicrous sense of drama. Except, to be honest, I never thought it was ridiculous until I was done. I could not stop reading this hackneyed thing and kept trying to see around the next corner of their conversation. The revelation of Rin's plan helps spice up the ending, giving it the last necessary bit of redemption. It should have been bad. It wasn't.
What's striking now is Blade of the Immortal's dueling themes of humanity and inhumanity. The first story is gratuitous in its violence, culminating in an actual fountain spray of blood. Characters are sadistic, deserving these kinds of fates. But at the end of it there is a tinge of possible goodness in some of the survivors, despite a seed of possible betrayal. The second story, however, is all heart- why the inn keepers would help Rin, what they plan, how worried they all are at the ruse, and how Rin's deceptive use of history can tug at heart strings (or fail to do so). While condensing these particular chapters into one printed volume wasn't Samura's idea, it serves to highlight that the series is about the best we can do to support each other, the worst we can do to hurt each other, and their lasting effects. It's not heavyhanded in the broader themes, but they are there.
The first part is the kind of intricate combat you expect from Blade of the Immortal, though the pace of production is clearly wearing on Samura's skill. He had more ideas than time to draw them, and so at several points his hectic, sketchy style makes the eye move faster across the panels than is good for it. You can't comprehend everything that happens; several times I had to flip back pages to follow what was mostly a two-man duel.
The second half is both brilliant and convoluted. It's a traditional scene, with Rin posing as someone else during an interrogation. Will she be caught? How? Can she pull this off? What happens if she can't? It should be bad. The lead investigator comes off like he's watched too much Columbo, dropping tricky questions and investigations with a ludicrous sense of drama. Except, to be honest, I never thought it was ridiculous until I was done. I could not stop reading this hackneyed thing and kept trying to see around the next corner of their conversation. The revelation of Rin's plan helps spice up the ending, giving it the last necessary bit of redemption. It should have been bad. It wasn't.
What's striking now is Blade of the Immortal's dueling themes of humanity and inhumanity. The first story is gratuitous in its violence, culminating in an actual fountain spray of blood. Characters are sadistic, deserving these kinds of fates. But at the end of it there is a tinge of possible goodness in some of the survivors, despite a seed of possible betrayal. The second story, however, is all heart- why the inn keepers would help Rin, what they plan, how worried they all are at the ruse, and how Rin's deceptive use of history can tug at heart strings (or fail to do so). While condensing these particular chapters into one printed volume wasn't Samura's idea, it serves to highlight that the series is about the best we can do to support each other, the worst we can do to hurt each other, and their lasting effects. It's not heavyhanded in the broader themes, but they are there.
May 24, 2018
Picking up where volume 8,
The Gathering
, left off, and providing the final three chapters in the six-part Comrades arc, in which Manji and Hyakurin, the Mugai-ryū assassin, have to face off against some of Kagehisa Anotsu's Ittō-ryū followers. Meanwhile, in the remaining chapters and mini-arcs in the volume, Rin is making her own way across the country, albeit with some difficulties of her own.
All in all, another strong entry in Hiroaki Samura's somewhat unorthodox samurai manga with fantastical elements and dialogue which mixes old style with anachronistic slang.
All in all, another strong entry in Hiroaki Samura's somewhat unorthodox samurai manga with fantastical elements and dialogue which mixes old style with anachronistic slang.
September 7, 2013
Love it. Somehow they still find ways to explore taking away the main character's crutch powers AND Rin gets a big chunk of the book so there's a nice balance between sword fighting and emotional / social challenges.
December 2, 2012
Once again, Manji gets cut into pieces in battle but regenerates enough to take out his foes. The bulk of the book is how Rin gets pass a checkpoint in an intense interrogation.
October 12, 2025
8.5/10
My favourite volume so far
My favourite volume so far
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews