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Blade of the Immortal (US) #11
Blade of the Immortal, Volume 11: Beasts
After traveling a long and perilous road together, Rin and her immoral bodyguard, Manji, have become separated, Rin risking life and limb in her pursuit of her family's murderer, the ruthless Anotsu Kagehisa, leader of the outlaw Itto-Ryu sword school. Manji is slowly recovering -- and reassembling -- after being dismembered by Itto-ryu thugs, and has set off to find Rin. Meanwhile, both friends and enemies are also assembling. Manji's ally, the beautiful assassin Hyakurin has put a lot of Itto-ryu swordsmen under the dirt, but the tides are turned when she falls under the hands of a group of Itto-ryu killers who will go to any length -- and spare no agonies -- to get her to talk. Collecting issues #66-72 of the ongoing series.
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
7 people are currently reading
161 people want to read
About the author
Hiroaki Samura
476 books246 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 - 21 of 21 reviews
July 10, 2009
This is the boldest volume so far, for multiple reasons. The two protagonists and our main antagonist do not appear on a single panel of these entire two hundred pages. It is Hyakurin's story as she is caught, abducted and graphically tortured, while her partner lies dead on the floor and only one man in the world is out looking for her. By his cliche capability, we know he'll arrive, but from the way she is abused, we have no good idea if she'll be alive for the rescue.
And that's the rub. This story is disgusting, and it wants to be that. The monsters this narrative deals with treat the weak this way - we know that not only from past stories, but from the revelation of why Hyakurin killed her husband. She has enough likability and resilience that she avoids being some Horror movie damsel, but that doesn't blunt the feminist reaction. This is the third drawn out and fetishized torture of a woman in Blade of the Immortal. Perhaps it was the only way to make you seriously question if the heroine was going to make it, but it's repulsive, and not at all comforting that her captors enjoy it, discuss raping her, and that if she lives, her savior will be a cool and more capable man. People most sensitive to these issues will be repulsed. Yet as considerate as I try to be, I was gripped by the story, really caring for this atypical and tragic woman. From the poignant and bittersweet ending, it's clearly more than mere torture porn - it may, in fact, be what most torture fiction attempts to reach, testing and making you feel for a character. Whether you can read it is your judgment. Even repulsed, I couldn’t put it down.
And that's the rub. This story is disgusting, and it wants to be that. The monsters this narrative deals with treat the weak this way - we know that not only from past stories, but from the revelation of why Hyakurin killed her husband. She has enough likability and resilience that she avoids being some Horror movie damsel, but that doesn't blunt the feminist reaction. This is the third drawn out and fetishized torture of a woman in Blade of the Immortal. Perhaps it was the only way to make you seriously question if the heroine was going to make it, but it's repulsive, and not at all comforting that her captors enjoy it, discuss raping her, and that if she lives, her savior will be a cool and more capable man. People most sensitive to these issues will be repulsed. Yet as considerate as I try to be, I was gripped by the story, really caring for this atypical and tragic woman. From the poignant and bittersweet ending, it's clearly more than mere torture porn - it may, in fact, be what most torture fiction attempts to reach, testing and making you feel for a character. Whether you can read it is your judgment. Even repulsed, I couldn’t put it down.
November 10, 2024
Another solid addition to the series. The artwork continues to be top-notch, but I do feel a shift in style. The lines have gotten bolder with more ink, which works well overall, though I miss the softer, pencil-driven style from the earlier volumes. That said, the action choreography is still incredible and a highlight of the volume.
The story keeps its momentum with a new focal point: Hyakurin, the blonde woman who teams up with Manji to take on the Itto-ryu dojo. She's captured and subjected to disturbing acts as the men who have her seek revenge for their fallen comrades and some answers that she will not give up that easily. While there’s not much development for Manji or Rin in this volume, the plot remains engaging and progressive as well.
It's a solid volume overall—on to the next one!
The story keeps its momentum with a new focal point: Hyakurin, the blonde woman who teams up with Manji to take on the Itto-ryu dojo. She's captured and subjected to disturbing acts as the men who have her seek revenge for their fallen comrades and some answers that she will not give up that easily. While there’s not much development for Manji or Rin in this volume, the plot remains engaging and progressive as well.
It's a solid volume overall—on to the next one!
May 27, 2018
In-between the events in
Secrets
, the tenth volume of Hiroaki Samura's somewhat unorthodox samurai manga with fantastical elements and dialogue which mixes old style with anachronistic slang, the Mugai-ryū assassins Hyakurin and Shinriji (colleagues of the vile Shira) were given some subplot threads which really come to fruition in this volume, which interestingly features neither Rin nor Manji. Here Hyakurin and Shinriji are cornered by the Ittō-ryū, thanks to a vengeful Shira.
While the volume presents a lot of flashbacks into Hyakurin's past, it is also a tough read, given depictions of torture and rape, which could easily be a deal breaker for many readers. Narratively speaking, the story works and moves onward, and I do not doubt a certain level of historic accuracy in the attitudes and methods used, but still ... caveat lector!
While the volume presents a lot of flashbacks into Hyakurin's past, it is also a tough read, given depictions of torture and rape, which could easily be a deal breaker for many readers. Narratively speaking, the story works and moves onward, and I do not doubt a certain level of historic accuracy in the attitudes and methods used, but still ... caveat lector!
January 9, 2019
I’m crying, someone send help
June 30, 2019
Whoa, this was intense. Trigger warnings for torture an . Not a fan. Will continue series but I hope there aren't a lot of volumes like this.
December 17, 2021
*trigger warning: rape & torture
"Beasts" is an appropriate title for this volume because the people here aren't human.
Lead assassin Hyakurin and her tentative lacky Shinriji are visited by Shira (who's blonde now) who gives some cryptic warnings about not leaving a victim alive and says it's better that Giichi (the 2nd most menacing member of the group) isn't there. Thus kicks off one of the most intense sections of this story to date. A guy Hyakurin poisoned once gathered some other Itto-Ryu thugs and they kidnap her and torture her. There is another leader in the group who says this was supposed to be a secret from Abayama, but now there are a lot of bodies piling up. They paid Shira for the information on where to find them with a Tegata, opening a whole other can of worms.
From here the trigger warning mentioned above comes in and this book gets dark (even for this series) as they try to get information out of her. - Giichi isn't to be trifled with and the Itto-Ryu guys see Abayama Sosuke-Dono is their safety net. The Mugai are diminished, but not defeated.
"Beasts" is an appropriate title for this volume because the people here aren't human.
Lead assassin Hyakurin and her tentative lacky Shinriji are visited by Shira (who's blonde now) who gives some cryptic warnings about not leaving a victim alive and says it's better that Giichi (the 2nd most menacing member of the group) isn't there. Thus kicks off one of the most intense sections of this story to date. A guy Hyakurin poisoned once gathered some other Itto-Ryu thugs and they kidnap her and torture her. There is another leader in the group who says this was supposed to be a secret from Abayama, but now there are a lot of bodies piling up. They paid Shira for the information on where to find them with a Tegata, opening a whole other can of worms.
From here the trigger warning mentioned above comes in and this book gets dark (even for this series) as they try to get information out of her. - Giichi isn't to be trifled with and the Itto-Ryu guys see Abayama Sosuke-Dono is their safety net. The Mugai are diminished, but not defeated.
November 11, 2020
This is a particularly brutal chapter in the ongoing samurai series. There is an extended torture/rape narrative that won't sit well with some readers.
We get some peeks into the origins of some characters in this volume, and the return of someone who's been absent for several chapters. Personally, this was a volume where I enjoyed the art more than the story. There were some night sequences which were visually darker than anything I remember from the previous ten volumes, and I appreciated the break in style. I think the events from this volume will impact the story in a way that's ultimately interesting and allows growth but that hope doesn't make it any easier to struggle through while reading it.
If rape is a trigger for you, you might want to skip this volume. Otherwise, it's good but not as excellent as the previous volume.
We get some peeks into the origins of some characters in this volume, and the return of someone who's been absent for several chapters. Personally, this was a volume where I enjoyed the art more than the story. There were some night sequences which were visually darker than anything I remember from the previous ten volumes, and I appreciated the break in style. I think the events from this volume will impact the story in a way that's ultimately interesting and allows growth but that hope doesn't make it any easier to struggle through while reading it.
If rape is a trigger for you, you might want to skip this volume. Otherwise, it's good but not as excellent as the previous volume.
September 4, 2007
Hiroaki Samura's art really tells the story, with incredible, painful detail. There are good guys, bad guys, sword fights and angst, but the art, each expression, each shadow, worms into your heart.
October 5, 2010
I forget how amazing the animation is in these comics. still as disturbing and graphic as possible. the story line
is quite impressive and sweeping.
is quite impressive and sweeping.
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...
May 7, 2022
(Zero spoiler review for the deluxe edition collecting this volume) 4.5/5
Again I'm bestowed with the honour of writing the first review for this amazing series, and I would suggest reading my earlier review for greater context. Whilst this one would likely be my least favourite of the four so far. Evidently I still greatly enjoyed it, owing to the near perfect score, a few of my major gripes crept into this one, although said infringements were far less frequent or frustrating than the admittedly small number of other manga I've read. Overly long fight scenes with little dialogue or ability to discern what is happening would be the major culprit, although we focus less on the two main protagonists here, and instead, verge off to flesh out some of the secondary characters only casually featured or referenced in the earlier books. Now, given how long this series runs for (were not even halfway yet) this is clearly a cunning and calculated move, it's just that the execution here was a little hit and miss. And to have my favourite character barely feature throughout the majority of these three volumes was a tad disappointing. That said, quite a bit of the secondary character groundwork laid here will hopefully pay off with some very intriguing plots on the horizon. Plot armour for some characters became just a little toot hick in this one also, with several characters now able to sustain mortal wounds, often multiple mortal wounds, and yet survive. This will be an unfortunate blight on this series should this continue, as this severely impacts upon the investment during critical moments. If we've seen the character live through just about anything, why be worried when they are in danger.
I've strangely focused on a few of the downsides, but overall this was still a mostly excellent addition to the BotI storyline. It both started out and ended very strongly. It just went a little missing in the middle, there. I'm still psyched as hell for volume five. Just gotta put on my patient pants and breathe... 4.5/5
OmniBen.
Again I'm bestowed with the honour of writing the first review for this amazing series, and I would suggest reading my earlier review for greater context. Whilst this one would likely be my least favourite of the four so far. Evidently I still greatly enjoyed it, owing to the near perfect score, a few of my major gripes crept into this one, although said infringements were far less frequent or frustrating than the admittedly small number of other manga I've read. Overly long fight scenes with little dialogue or ability to discern what is happening would be the major culprit, although we focus less on the two main protagonists here, and instead, verge off to flesh out some of the secondary characters only casually featured or referenced in the earlier books. Now, given how long this series runs for (were not even halfway yet) this is clearly a cunning and calculated move, it's just that the execution here was a little hit and miss. And to have my favourite character barely feature throughout the majority of these three volumes was a tad disappointing. That said, quite a bit of the secondary character groundwork laid here will hopefully pay off with some very intriguing plots on the horizon. Plot armour for some characters became just a little toot hick in this one also, with several characters now able to sustain mortal wounds, often multiple mortal wounds, and yet survive. This will be an unfortunate blight on this series should this continue, as this severely impacts upon the investment during critical moments. If we've seen the character live through just about anything, why be worried when they are in danger.
I've strangely focused on a few of the downsides, but overall this was still a mostly excellent addition to the BotI storyline. It both started out and ended very strongly. It just went a little missing in the middle, there. I'm still psyched as hell for volume five. Just gotta put on my patient pants and breathe... 4.5/5
OmniBen.
January 1, 2018
Another 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)👌😅💀👂👃💕💕
January 21, 2024
Pretty good read.
April 16, 2024
Una maravilla visual.
May 28, 2024
This one was a grueling read. Samura's art panels strike some painful chords and you really feel for the characters.
Want to read
September 26, 2025manga
October 3, 2013
Completely focused on minor characters (despite the cover), but also includes great back story.
You can't have an epic about tough samurai without a few torture scenes to show it.
Still loving it.
You can't have an epic about tough samurai without a few torture scenes to show it.
Still loving it.
October 30, 2015
Top review by John says it perfectly.
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 - 21 of 21 reviews