Blade of the Immortal 4
Posted: March 4, 2010 Filed under: Blade of the Immortal 1 Comment »Hiroaki Samura – Dark Horse – 1999 – 25+ volumes
Ooh, this volume was really good. There were two stories this time, the first spotlighting Rin’s weakness and what she would do if she actually met Anotsu, and the second a strange face-off at a street festival with one of Anotsu’s men and Rin’s emotional growth from the first story.
I can’t say too much without spoiling what goes on, but I liked both of them for being very, very interesting. They take a hard look at the character motivations, and there is some light shed on alternate perspectives and how evil the bad guys really are. Rin has to face up to some hard facts both on her skills and reason for revenge, and then later decides that a touch of humility might be the right choice in some situations. There is a strange confrontation at the very end of the volume that depends a lot on knowing how the social system works in Japan. I didn’t realize all of what was going on in that scene until I read the end notes, but I liked it a lot more when I realized just how humiliating it was for Rin to do what she did.
There is no fight for Renji this volume, which is interesting, but he has his own chat with the Anotsu swordsman. The strange and evasive conversation they have with one another is also a high point in the series so far.
This volume was very different from everything that has come before, but I enjoyed it immensely anyway. What a great series.
[...] Robinson on vol. 2 of Bamboo Blade (Manga Jouhou) Rob on vol. 2 of Basara (Panel Patter) Connie on vol. 4 of Blade of the Immortal (Slightly Biased Manga) Todd on vol. 1 of Biomega (Anime Maki) Nicola on vol. 2 of Children of the [...]