Mugen no jûnin: Immortal

I came to this because the manga was a big inspiration for the video game Sekiro. I thought the whole series was wonderful. There were a lot of characters, and I did get the feeling that some story lines would have made more sense if I'd read the manga. Which I might now do.

I loved the main characters and felt real concern for them. A lot of emotion was conveyed with very little dialogue and minimal animations. I found that very impressive. The violence was impeccable. And very graphic.

I imagine I will watch this again at some point.

BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL (Mugen no Jûnin: Immortal) (2019-2020) is a fantastic (remake/reboot) anime series that is based on the epic dark historical fantasy Japanese Manga series; created, written and illustrated by the brilliant mangaka, Hiroaki Samura, in 1993. This series, however short it is for an adaption, is completed, compared to the previous unfinished anime series. In my opinion, both have their charms, and I watch them both back to back for a good BOTI experience.

"In medieval Edo Japan, an 800 year old witch curses Manji, a master swordsman with immortality, after he commits sins that cause the death of 100 innocent samurai. After many years living as a wild Ronin, he grows tired and asks the witch to make him mortal again if he can manage to atone for his sins by killing 1000 wicked men and use his skills to protect the innocent. A young girl, Rin, who seeks revenge for the death of her family, hires Manji as her bodyguard and trainer, and together they go on a journey of revenge and redemption."

I'm a hardcore lover of the original Blade of the Immortal manga masterpiece in all its gory, brutal appeal. Samura is a brilliant genius. His characters are brilliant and creative, flawed and memorable. Manji and Rin especially so. For an anime adaptation this was a really great series, beautiful animation, moving music, and super dark twisted scenes according to the original series. Yes, it was super condensed, as most animes tend to be. Yes, it is a bit toned down (in violence and gore) comparatively. Yes, it skips scenes that are in the original manga, but it would probably take years upon years to accurately animate the original manga, scene by scene, caption by caption, panel by panel.

Would I love for this beautiful dark twisted manga story to be animated into a giant 800 episode beast? Of course! But until that day comes, we fans have to settle for these mini series, which you have to consider as a snack rather than the main course. PLEASE read the manga if you want the full story. Don't expect the anime to substitute (and spoonfeed) for any original piece of art. The original is nearly always best. In my opinion, these short anime series are more like snapshots of the epic journey the manga takes us on, a refresher not a replacement. I deeply enjoyed these series! Both series make great additions to my BOTI collection. So glad to have a completed anime, at last. Wish it was longer.

Beautiful, inspiring and true to the historical era it depicts, it is obvious why Amazon picked this absolute gem up from Linden Films. Blade of the immortal goes to wonderfully dark places brings to light the frailty of human nature, while awing you with the humorous brutality of it's main character and the slight young woman for whom he fights. Disturbing and violent in the best of ways, the story will keep you coming back for more. Appreciable by those anime enthusiasts and new comers, do not miss this wonderful series!

Thematically, the series(the manga, to be precise) is more like something that must have inspired some long running Shounen. It also feels like a straightforward version of Samurai Champloo.

The storyline and the characters are interesting, no doubt about that but be more careful because only few things are explained through dialogues, most of the events are subtly unfolded through the Graphics(those included mostly gory things). So, if you have a short attention span, there are chances that you will get bored easily. Having said that I wish I had got to see some more explanations of the Bloodworms or why they were so perfect and suitable only for the Manji's and probably Shira's body. The characters, even though, each of them are very well written and totally fit the storyline, I thought could've easily had either multiple or entirely different purposes but almost each character is surprisingly very loyal, something not so Edo-like.

The soundtracks are skippable and while the animation is inconsistent, it seems it hardly matters when they reveal things through flashy Graphics. Moreover, the cinematography felt tricky as well. While the characters have conversation, the camera many a times points at the surroundings.

It is probably one of the best anime I have seen in recent times but it seems lot depends on the preferences because it felt so different compared to the other shows I have watched. I don't know how many people would prefer this type. Perhaps I would say 'don't expect much.'

Some people might find the plot line(s) too disorganized. To a degree I don't disagree but I think this series was meant for people that are more familiarized with Japanese pre-1842 culture. Ronins and Samari have a very different code of honor and they would perform their duties or pursue their ideals to such an extent that they would show an ultimate disregard for human lives, others as well as their own. With that attitude in mind, this series' tone is somehow fitted in such a background vibe, that anything can be poetic and random, sometimes extremely romantic, and that vibe is well expressed.