Blade of the Immortal

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Blade of the Immortal
Original title 無限 の 住 人
transcription mugen no jūnin
genre Drama , fantasy
Manga
country JapanJapan Japan
author Hiroaki Samura
publishing company Kodansha
magazine Afternoon
First publication 1993 - 2012
expenditure 30th

Blade of the Immortal ( Japanese 無限 の 住 人 , mugen no jūnin , German about inhabitant of infinity ) is a manga series by the Japanese illustrator Hiroaki Samura . The series was implemented in 2008 as a 13-part anime series by Bee Train . A Japanese real-life filming followed in 2017 and another 24-part anime series implementation by Liden Films for Prime Video in 2019 .

The work, a his own manga, contains historical elements, action, mythology and humorous elements and is set in feudal Japan .

action

Former samurai Manji has gone into hiding in historic Edo (former name of Tokyo ). For moral reasons, he has his master, Prince Shigenobu, and a hundred of his followers on his conscience. He had Manji killed not only criminals, but also citizens who had dared to rebel against the prince.

Now Manji is a ronin , an abandoned samurai, and meets one of his pursuers in the city. Too late he realizes that this is his brother-in-law. He kills him in front of his little sister Machi, who unfortunately has arrived. Machi then loses her mind and later her life. Manji is tired of life. He would love to just die, but worms, so-called kessenchu , live in him , which keep him alive and close his wounds again and again.

Desperate, he turns to the nun Yaobikuni , who gave him these worms, and asks her to take them back from him. But since everything has its price, he has to agree to a deal with her: if he manages to kill a thousand criminals, she will free him from his curse.

At the same time, a new martial arts school, the Itto-Ryu, is being built under the leadership of the gifted swordsman Kagehisa Anotsu. He wants to renew the Japanese art of swords, as most schools have long since fallen into unsuitable commercial institutions. So he forces other schools to join him - anyone who refuses must die. The same goes for the parents of young Rin, who swears vengeance. But she can't do it alone. Through Yaobikuni's advice, Manji and Rin meet and try to achieve their respective goals together.

particularities

In the manga, Hiroaki Samura uses the Sauwastika , a reversed swastika . This is a common Buddhist symbol. To avoid possible misunderstandings, the character was retouched to a simple cross in the German Manga edition.

Publications

Blade of the Immortal appeared in Japan from December 1993 to December 2012 in 219 individual chapters in the manga magazine Afternoon by Kodansha . These individual chapters are summarized in a total of 30 paperback books and were completed with the publication of the last volume in February 2013.

The manga was published in English by Dark Horse Comics , in French by Casterman and in Spanish by Glénat . It has also been translated into Portuguese, Swedish and Polish. The manga series was published in German by Egmont Manga and Anime until April 2013 .

Film adaptations

In 2008, the studio produced Bee Train a Anime - television series to manga, resulted in Koichi Mashimo Director. The character design was done by Yoshimitsu Yamashita and Yoshimi Umino was the artistic director. The series was broadcast in 13 episodes on July 13, 2008 by AT-X in Japan. The speaking role for Manji was fulfilled by Tomokazu Seki , that for Rin Rina Satō . The music in the series comes from Kō Ōtani . The opening title is Akai Usagi ( 赤 井 ウ サ ギ ) by Makura no Sōshi, Wants by Grapevine was used as the closing song .

Produced by Warner Bros and directed by Takashi Miike , a real-life version of the manga of the same name was made in 2017. The main roles were taken by Takuya Kimura as Manji, Hana Sugisaki as Rin and Sota Fukushi as Anotsu. The film has received widespread critical acclaim, with Rotten Tomatoes giving it an 85% positive rating based on 82 reviews.

In 2019 there was a new anime adaptation in Japan under the title 無限 の 住 人 -IMMORTAL - Mugen no Jūnin: Immortal , in the West simply again as Blade of the Immortal . Created for Prime Video by Liden Films, directed by Hiroshi Hamasaki with the character design by Shingo Ogiso and the music by Eiko Ishibashi, the entire saga was created for 24 wall-four episodes. The title song Survive of Vision comes from the rock musician Kiyoharu . The series premiered on October 10, 2019 and is also available with German subtitles. Visually and narrative, this “Amazon Original” implementation is more based on the manga template, also with regard to the drastic depictions of violence and sexuality.

reception

In 1997, Hiroaki Samura received the first Media Arts Award in the Manga category for Blade of the Immortal .

In the thesis Phenomena Manga. The history of the origins of Japanese comics and their significance for German publishers and libraries is described in the manga as a “bloody battle spectacle with fantasy elements”, reminiscent of films like Highlander .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ https://www.anime2you.de/news/322911/blade-of-the-immortal-episodennummer-der-neuen-serie-bekannt/
  2. ↑ The Manga phenomenon. The history of the origins of Japanese comics and their significance for German publishers and libraries. Diploma thesis by Andrea Ossmann, 2004. p. 65
  3. ↑ The Manga phenomenon. The history of the origins of Japanese comics and their significance for German publishers and libraries. P. 52

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