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Can you imagine being immortal? It would be crazy, or at least, that's what one usually thinks, but the reality is that it is not so, in fact it is something very sad, imagine seeing your loved ones die over and over again, perhaps the time will come where you lose all human sensitivity and nothing matters to you, or simply become a “monster” and do much harm to other people. These are just a few scenarios, but this is what Hiroaki Samura leads us to reflect on through his manga Mugen no Junin, better known as Blade of the Immortal.
This story has an adaptation that is summarized in 24 chapters, and it is extremely good, at least I loved it because of the depth of its plot. First of all it takes us to the era where the Samurai existed, I have a weakness for that kind of stories because they are raw and bloody.
This one is no exception, there really is a lot of blood, but also many types of violence, including rape and torture. All this takes place when Japan had a type of government called Sogunate, and it is set in that era, so the animation shows off very well detailed landscapes and characters, which inspire a non-current time.
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The protagonist, Manji, is the one who possesses the curse of being immortal, although there are ways to kill him, they are not the common ones, so being a Samurai he is cut again and again by his enemies, until he finally gets the victory despite the adversity. Manji has a traumatic past, he could not protect his sister, which leads him to live a life of affliction, where he wants to redeem himself for all his faults, but he wants to do it by killing 1000 evil men.
The reality is that in that Samurai world there are no goodness, only ideals, and Rin, the co-protagonist suffers because of those ideals when her family is killed by a dojo of swordsmen who wanted to subdue all the Samurai dojos and impart their style of sword.
In this context, Rin hires Manji to help him destroy these swordsmen, and there begins a story of battles, dramas, outcomes and unexpected unions, although other things also happen that can be seen later in the battles.
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The truth is that chapter by chapter is loaded with action and character development, so much so that in 24 chapters you can meet many of the protagonists and other characters that also become very important, including the enemies to defeat.
I conclude that Blade of the immortal is a series that leads us to reflection, and the way in which the mangaka developed it is fascinating, so much so that I recommend it with eyes closed, plus the adaptation was very well done, so it's worth seeing and meditate a little on this kind of issues, which, although they are not all real, they are still interesting.
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Thanks for reading
Spanish Version
La dura vida de un hombre inmortal
¿Te imaginas ser inmortal? Sería una locura, o por lo menos, es lo uno suele pensar, pero la realidad es que no es así, de hecho es algo muy triste, imagina ver morir a tus seres queridos una y otra vez, quizás llegue el momento donde pierdas toda sensibilidad humana y nada te importe, o simplemente te vuelvas un “monstruo” y hagas mucho daño a otras personas. Estos son solo algunos escenarios, pero es lo que Hiroaki Samura nos lleva a reflexionar a través de su manga Mugen no Junin, mejor conocido como Blade of the Inmortal.
Esta historia tiene una adaptación que se resume en 24 capítulos, y es sumamente buena, por lo menos a mí me encanto debido a la profundidad de su trama. Primeramente nos traslada a la era donde existían los Samuráis, tengo mucha debilidad hacia ese tipo de historias porque son crudas y sangrientas.
Esta no es la excepción, realmente hay mucha sangre, pero también muchos tipos de violencia, inclusive violaciones y torturas. Todo esto ocurre cuando en Japón existía un tipo de gobierno denominado Sogunato, en esa época está ambientada, así que la animación hace gala de paisajes y personajes muy bien detallados, que inspiran un tiempo no actual.
El protagonista, Manji, es quien posee la maldición de ser inmortal, aunque hay formas de matarlo, no son las comunes, por lo que siendo un Samurái es cortado una y otra vez por sus enemigos, hasta que al final obtiene la victoria a pesar de la adversidad. Manji tiene un pasado traumático, no pudo proteger a su hermana, lo cual lo lleva a vivir una vida de aflicción, donde quiere redimirse de todas sus faltas, pero quiere hacerlo matando a 1000 hombres malvados.
La realidad es que en ese mundo de Samuráis no hay bondades, solo ideales, y Rin, la co-protagonista padece a causa de esos ideales cuando su familia es asesinada por un dojo de espadachines que querían someter a todos los dojos de Samurái e impartir su estilo de espada.
Teniendo este contexto, Rin, contrata a Manji para que le ayude a destruir a dichos espadachines, y allí comienza una historia de batallas, dramas, desenlaces y uniones inesperadas, aunque también ocurren otras cosas que más adelante se pueden ver en las batallas.
Lo cierto es que capitulo por capitulo está cargado de acción y desarrollo de sus personajes, tanto así que en 24 capítulos puedes conocer muchos de los protagonistas y de otros personajes que también se vuelven muy importantes, inclusive los enemigos a derrotar.
Concluyo, que Blade of the inmortal es una serie que nos lleva a la reflexión, y la forma en que su mangaka la desarrollo es fascinante, tanto así que la recomiendo a ojos cerrados, además la adaptación fue muy bien hecha, por lo que vale la pena verla y meditar un poco en este tipo de temas, que, aunque no son todos reales, no dejan de ser interesantes.
Gracias por leer
In Anime adaptations, Manji is not the protagonist. He is another main character along with Rin Asano (浅野凛), or even her supporting character.
You're right in a sense, although the plot revolves around what happened with Rin and his desire for revenge, it's just a context to give input to Manji and his weight in the story.
Interesting attribute of the tale is how little input and weight Manji adds to the story. Manji just hangs along with few desires of his own, but it is Rin's journey, Rin's growth, Rin's revenge. And Manji's immortality empowers Rin and allows her to continue.
(I'm going to post my review of 2019 "Blade of the immortal" in few days.)
Here is my mini-review: @onlyjob/mugen-no-juunin-immortal-immortal
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Anything that has to do with Samurais I'm going to sign up for. I was completely unaware of this but nothing, I'll give it a try and see how it goes. I like that there is gore, I don't know if it's because I'm a masochist but for me it gives more depth to the anime.
What happens in my opinion, is that, in the Samurai series, the gore has to be present if or if, because they bring a lot of realism, only in Samurai X it is not so, but it is due to the story surrounding Kenshin, but that is already a work of art, of those that come out only once hahaha.