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EP. REVIEW: Blade of the Immortal

Kagehisha's toxic hold on Makie

His special brand of weirdness hasn't even come close to being matched by anyone we've met since, and I don't even know if I want Blade of the Immortal to try.

I'm not entirely sure who the girl that killed 52 wolves after being assaulted and left for dead was supposed to be at the beginning of Episode 4 – was it a young Makie?

Luckily the characters and writing shine, even if they've toned the series' humor down a LOT (this is part of why Sori's story doesn't work as it's a lot more humorous and played partially like a black comedy)

Her identity was made crystal clear in the manga (at least that's how I remember it), I don't understand why they left her identity so ambiguous in the show.

I might be an outlier here but I don’t think Hiroshi Hamazaki was the best choice for a director. I think he’s a good director but I would have preferred someone like Masahiro Ando who gives more attention to fight scenes and choreography.

However. Can Rin please stop falling to the ground in a crying heap in every episode? Sometimes several times an episode! Even when she manages to remain on her feet (or is strung up), she still has to rain tears while she yells at people.

Oh, about the animation, they're doing all they can with the resources they have.
Lindenfilms is airing two other anime this season, it's unfair.

Ajc228 wrote:

I might be an outlier here but I don’t think Hiroshi Hamazaki was the best choice for a director. I think he’s a good director but I would have preferred someone like Masahiro Ando who gives more attention to fight scenes and choreography.

Ando would have been a two-edged sword I think. On the one hand, yeah, he did Sword of the Stranger and that sucker remains the best chanbara anime ever made imo -- but that would then put Blade of the Immortal (curiously similar names in English,so let's go with Mugen no Juunin) into that work's shadow, big-time...which is sort of unfair, given which came first. Hamasaki is nailing Mugen no Juunin's feel, which is something new to me. I remember watching Sword of the Stranger and thinking, 'damn, I really wish they'd adapt Manji's story someday'. Then they did, and it was awful. It was decent anime but terrible Mugen no Juunin. Bee-train somehow made it all feel generic, despite the killer seiyuu cast and top-shelf composer. Hamasaki's attempt is bad anime on a number of noted fronts but good Mugen no Juunin. Tsuda was the deciding factor for me. He's in so much this season but somehow his Manji sounds right. To say I was relieved by that is a gross understatement.

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Regarding the lack of Manji's backstory, which constitutes the first chunk of the manga and certainly dominates the slavish Bee-train adaptation's first episode: I think by making it all about Rin this time, LIDENFILMS are cleverly setting themselves up not to adapt all of the manga but instead what is essentially Rin's story within it. Those familiar with the entire manga will know just how much this might impact later volumes in terms of what needs to be in there and what doesn't. I may be wrong but even as much as I love the original work, I'm happy to admit there are some long, problematic segments later that I hope Hamasaki snapshots rather than focuses on.

I take very slight umbrage at certain characters being referred to as 'villain of the week' because Mugen no Juunin just isn't that sort of work but if that's how the likes of Taito Magatsu are coming across, that's a problem with the adaptation as well. I can't really judge because everyone I know who's watching it has at least seen the Miike film, so they know pretty much anyone who gets a name and a backstory will be a major part of the overall experience, even if they don't last long in the present.

Regarding the quick cuts and the background action: eh, it's fairly clear they're covering a lack of sakuga potency with these BUT they do suit the manga so I go with it. There's plenty else this season if I want off-model kinetic action-fests. For something like Mugen, I'm happy to take Samura-esque 'moving stills' if it keeps the tone right and the artistry preserved (if). Again, referring back to Sword of the Stranger: that was a full film and likely had time and resources that no adaptation of Mugen would ever get. I think I'd prefer a full Hamasaki style series unafraid to flex different muscles than pure animation than a seemingly inferior attempt at Sword of the Stranger struggling with its constraints.

Finally, I suspect the aim of this adaptation is to renew interest in the original work and thus boost sales of the new series, which means it doesn't have to be a particularly good anime to do its job. But it does have to be different and memorable on a budget, and I think they made the right choice in how they're doing that. Which is all to say, this is an incredibly honest adaptation in terms of representation of Samura's style, which like most great character-driven chanbara is punctuated with intense action rather than saturated by it.

It’s not perfect, but it’s still compelling enough to sit through. I’ll probably pick up the manga soon so I can have more concrete knowledge on how this adaption is being handled.

Is just the beginning of the story and justified when you don't forget the things the girl is seeing.