And that's when I knew I had to blog about it for posterity.
But anyway, Blade of the Immortal is unique in that none of the characters are black and white (MANGA IS GREYSCALE/shot) and it deals with a lot of dilemmas revolving around revenge, redemption, and mortality. And it does it brilliantly.
I mean in the beginning we see Anotsu and his gang killing Rin's father over a seemingly small grudge in their ancestral past, and raping her mother right in front of her. So immediately we think okay antagonist established she must now True Grit style hire a master swordsman seeking redemption and travel with him as his morality pet in order to defeat the Big Bad. But she kills people too. And Anotsu makes her question the consequences of her revenge. If so many died for her to achieve vengeance, doesn't her make that a hypocrite with her throwing knives being more assassin than samurai? And she isn't even sure, which is why she can't kill Anotsu in cold-blood, or even die trying. And you have people like Makie who questions Rin, but also herself and her fate. Even that one time geisha woman, O-Hatsu, who helped Makie out. And that was one of my favorite exchanges, where Makie comes to terms with her mother being a prostitute, and tells Hatsu to live proudly. You also have Kuroi who should be a sick bastard who sews people's heads onto his shoulders and shields little girls so they don't have to watch their mother getting raped -wait what. He also freely admits to being a sick bastard and tells chibi!Anotsu that his kind of people are the only kind who will follow him. There's Taito who was against the raping but feels happy when destroying samurai, and offers to take an injured guy to the doctor...even though he's the one who injured him in the first place. And that encounter in the forest ended up with me going "damn you for making me sympathize. Damn you Samura." And damn your unique art style, damn your questionable but human characters.
I was literally hyperventalating when reading the part where Rin crosses the checkpoint. I mean, obviously she makes it through but I was like omgomgomgomgogmomg. And I totally broke down when I found out they returned half of the 21 ryos she paid. In a series where people saw off limbs without blinking you have people like that innkeeper. And the women Anotsu get involved with. In fact, any of them. O-Ren, who was childish and naive, her purity shining through in her simple wish to be with Taito. Makie who is perpetually sorrowful and beautiful in her sadness. Hisoka who points out that the woman Anotsu needs is neither one who can fight by his side nor heal his heart but instead someone who will watch over him until the end, and to her very end she remains a samurai and his wife. And that is beautiful. (And Hisoka's just such a waif prophet, the first time she meets Anotsu and he's just asking for directions and she's all like 'for you there is no other way, you must continue down your path'.) And that period when Anotsu teamed with Rin I was just like AWWWW YEEEAAHHH. Too bad there's no romance between them because I would ship them harder than Fedex. But I'm also okay with them just being best friends forever or something because I just really like those two. That moment where they tag-teamed the group from the dojo and Rin's attack worked for once. And that moment when Rin offered him the poison and he refuses it's all just such a wonderful mutual respect on either side I love it. Goddamn it Anotsu you girly badass you make me want to love you. And just when I'm starting to ship them Manji shows up being all like 'Ya got some nerve, hurtin' my woman'. Dead. And then Taito shows up and I'm like deader. Big. Damn. Heroes. And then fricking Makie shows up and I'm like alskdjfalskdfjalsdkfjasd if I get any deader I'd be back to life. This is like the ultimate team. Makie, Taito, Anotsu, Manji and Rin. My dream team. (and of course immediately Taito helps two other guys kidnap Rin to lure Manji. That's what I love about it, there's no heel, no face, everyone's prepared to die. I wonder if Anotsu's like so first you and your bodyguard off twenty of my men and then you decide to befriend the rest or what)
You know I think the best thing to sum this whole thing up is "it's a small world." (because what the odds of rin meeting anotsu who tells her to go to mito and them meeting meguro and tanpopo chasing anotsu on habaki's commands and getting help from burando or shira meeting meguro and tanpopo and trapping manji and rin while magatsu and anotsu happen upon them) But hey I'm not complaining. I love Big Damn Hero moments and the noise I make when they happen is not human. Especially when they concern my dream team. Manji shows up with some intimate healing and he and Makie make a cool action pose and then Rin nearly takes an arrow to the knee and I don't think I have to tell you how loudly I squealed when Anotsu showed up and had a shippy moment with Rin before having a shippy pose with Makie. My god this OT4. (and another couple of action shots completely ruined by Rin looking confused and decidedly nonbadass)
There's horror and action in battles, there's drama and suspense facing challenges, there's tragedy and angst in their journey. But there's also romance and..comedy? I was so surprised in that scene where they were at Sori's house and Rin & Manji were being chased by mooks and Sori had that panel thing where he was completely ignoring all the swordfighting and thinking of his painting. That's like classic manga style gag, and then the one where an almost recovered Manji meets Taito in Sori's house again and they're about to start fighting when Tatsu walks in and they pretend they were just trying to kill mosquitos. I was like LOL WUT,. (Speaking of is Manji more of a revenge nut than Sasuke because he keeps helping these people with revenge) And an actual spit take by Meguro when Rin casually asks her if she's a spy for Habaki.
Shira that son of a bitch. Oh I see how it is. Who the real villains in this thing are. I think the Complete Monster entry on TVtropes for Shira sums it up the most. That whole arc with Shira and Renzo, and his dying moment. His speech to Renzo, and you can just imagine how Renzo feels, what with Rin who saved him, Manji who killed his father, Shira and all these guys. He's a complete monster, but he was there. And Rin who tells him that she killed his father, Rin who can't die until she repays someone, Rin who protects everyone, her eyes never wavering from the future. This is what makes her strong, stronger than those people who can chop up limbs. And it's beautiful seeing it because she wasn't like that in the beginning. She knows it, that she started out just like Renzo. No more than a little girl, angry and sad and afraid. But she's changed, through her meeting with Manji, and Anotsu and everyone on her journey. Magatsu tells Renzo that, and it's beautiful.
I'm glad how realistic it is. Okay maybe not the bodily dismemberment but the characters. For example they explain why girls have to work harder to use their body weight, and there's no buffed up chick in lingerie. Girls are at a clear disadvantage, but at the same time Samura puts in Makie as the best fighter in the series, ahead of the main anti-villain and the main anti-hero. (Well developed characters all go against expectations but make you love them anyways those scruffy dark horses) And Rin kind of sucks. But she gets moments where she shines too, and not just in fighting. When her and Anotsu parted ways after their journey and she declares her intention to kill him. That was beautiful, and so was Anotsu's answering smile. That feeling where they've come to a sort of respectful understanding was just so lovely. But she never loses herself, where she's a crybaby and weaker than everyone else and pretty childish and naive in some of her thinking. Reminds me of Until Death Do Us Part which is also about a killer bodyguard responsible for much of the gore, and a precognitive little girl. And although the villain is nowhere near Anotsu (except maybe for Zelm) the shipping is almost just as good ;D And both series are like if not for the gore and limbs flying everywhere I'd love it even more. And both series are like Rin/Haruka please take a level in badass already.
"Ya hellcat". The reunion made me tear up a bit. And talk about taking an adrenalin makeover. No wonder Manji couldn't recognize her at first. Hnnng. And FUCK YEAH Rin's attack actually doing something for once! I love the look on Hyakurin's face outside when she hears the explosion. And "I came here for something more important". But she gets completely overshadowed by the back to back badass of Doa and Manji. And so much squealing once Anotsu shows up, god I love that guy. And when he hears that Rin came with Doa, louder squealing. It's like intense tension and action during the whole infiltration and now it's just relief and squealing. And when Rin meets Anotsu and he asks her about how it went it was so awesome watching sworn enemies chatting like that. Casually chatting about how much Doa trusts her, and him asking her for a favour to bring the guy who killed like half of his old team. And the chapter before when she was sleeping with said guy and philosophizing on her future with him. (alloftheships)
Since the introduction of Ryo I've been pretty surprised at how nicely Habaki treats his illegitimate daughter, the genuine concern he has for her. I mean, he's the antagonist we're supposed to hate him unequivocally. But you really have to admire him, his intelligence and skill to match his foe. And that scene in the forest too with his wife and son, the devotion that all of his family show him! Both sides have people who are willing to lay down their lives for them. It kind of makes it harder to pick which side to root for in a fight. (Giichi vs Abayama because you don't want Anotsu to lose the Itto Ryu but you don't want Giichi to die but you don't want Habaki to win either alksdfjas) Just like those minor characters who left the Itto Ryu and you think 'ah minor characters abandoning them because they're afraid" but they're not. And the realization just slowly dawns on their resignation, their renouncing of the Itto-Ryu's law of fairness. Like Habaki's wife who is just a woman married to a samurai, but has the grace of one who married an extraordinary man. She says thank you to Ryo. She reminds me Hisoka who married Anotsu, who lived and died with the pride of a samurai. There's just something about the principles associated with harakiri, that sense of honour, of fierce pride and intense loyalty. The sheer bravery in the act, and one that is shown most often in the women, who aren't trained warriors and they can't kill their enemies but they decide that they have values worth protecting with their life. Beautiful.
Just like that parting scene in the snow between Makie and Anotsu and you have this gorgeous spread of all these kimono fabrics and poetic words overlapping with Hisoka's previous prediction. (And for the record I still ship Rin/Anotsu, because she seems like she'd be the one to just oversee the conclusion of his journey) And that spread of the raid on Edo castle with the four members of Itto Ryu fighting...I just sat there and stared at the black and white carnage for a good minute. The sense of motion in those strokes. And then that static shot of them walking towards the center UNF those guys are fucking awesome and cool as hell. They are just the coolest band of warriors ever to hit this place my god it should be illegal for murderous rebels to look that good. (imagine at their trial: anotsu kagehisa you are charged with multiple cases of homicide, treason against the shogunate and looking like a hot bishounen.)
I guess what I love most about this series is its constant ability to surprise me, especially with their characters. They are incredibly human in their unpredicatbly, being genre savvy won't help you here. You have scary looking characters who show up and anticlimactically get their head cut off a page later. You have minor characters preforming great acts of heroism because that's what its like in real life. Not everyone makes it into the history books but anyone has the strength to be a hero, just as they have the capacity to be a villain. There's no such thing as devils and angels, there's only humans. And the good and bad, their motivations and desires, their guilty pleasures and their deadly sins, everything that makes people people this series has explored. Set in an era where people carry swords and everyone is prepared for death you have fights that take place between people who genuinely hate each other, and people who simply wear two different symbols. And all of the sheer complexity of humanity, the sins and virtues, are all rendered uniquely in a black and white world. The beauty of movement, the motion of fighting, for survival, for victory, for a cause. That same beautiful jarringly clashes in its own battle with the horror of blood, of killing. Makie, who's said to be the strongest fighter in the series, dancing with her spears in a flowing choreography, beautiful in her attacks and in her sorrowful expression. Anotsu's fighting which captivates Rin, and leads his army. And Rin who is beautiful in her compassion, and naive in her kindness, weak and strong. Manji who fights like he doesn't fear death, living for one reason. It's not all beauty and kindness. Everyone of them has shown cruelty and ugliness. But it's not all blood and tears, there's laughter and love. This series captures the countless facets of everything that make up people, and itself is layered with so many different aspects that make it such a deep manga. The premise is deceptively simple: a girl who has had her family taken by a group of swordsmen desires revenge and hires an immortal bodyguard seeking to remove his immortality by killing one thousand evil men to atone for his past sins. But you soon forget this purpose because as the series shows you, you can't really define evil men so clearly. Nor is the idea of revenge and mortality as simple as it seems. The author gives us such a realistic representation of human society. There's drugs, rape, murder, torture, manipulation, disease and madness but not because he wants to shock us, but because these things really exist. And he never pushes it too far too quickly, and gives you room to breathe. There's cowardice, unselfishness, strength, and sacrifice, and like in real life, make no distinction between genders. Writing a seinen series, he manages to portray all those different aspects of people in women just as richly as vividly as he does in men -all the while mindful of the power structure of the historical era. If I took all the time to unravel each thread that make up this whole, it would be like delving into the nature of humans and society, and I would rather spend that time catching up on the rest of this incredible work and not making blog post another page long because I swear if I don't stop now I'll be adding something every time I read another chapter.
"Throughout history it is those who call themselves righteous who destroy their countries...and it is those who acknowledge the evil within who rise up to save the nation."
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