Rating: 
Summary: 'Blade' cuts down the status quoe
Review: 'Blade of the Immortal' is one of the best books I've read in far too long. Mr. Samura's art and story-telling techniques blend to create the world of fudal Japan, with a human grip. 'Blade' tells the story of a cursed/blessed ronin, Manji, who must slay one-thousand evil men. But, the true artistry of 'Blade' is in the characters. Not since Victor Hugo have I seen a writer build and paint his characters so real and complex. Each character has a story, a life, of it's own - Manji isn't just a "good-guy" killing "bad-guy"s, he is a man trying to do something right and noble. Rin, Manji's protectorite, is touching and cute. Even the villianous Anotsu is, at times, warm and reasonably correct. Oppositly, Manji is a killer through-and-through, Rin is obsessed with vengence and Anostu is cold and twisted. This is a book I suggest at all times, to those who like novels, comics or just a beautifully drawn fight.
Rating:
Summary: Samura is a master story teller
Review: 'Blade of the Immortal' is the story of Manji, a vulgar, unvarnished, at times unethical ronin who has been granted immortality. To free himself of this curse, he must slay 1,000 evil men. Manji becomes the yojimbo of Rin, a young girl, hell bent on revenging her parents' death. It's a simple enough story, if you leave it at that. But Hirokai Samura's masterpiece is far more. To begin with, Samura's attention to detail (both in the artwork and in the story) gives this series a depth not often seen. The characters are multi-faceted, they can have subtle motivations. Each character has a human quality to them; one can feel understanding for both Rin and her enemies. When I first read 'Blade of the Immortal', it struck me as oddly similar to Frank Herbert's 'Dune' - or rather, 'Dune' from the perspective of the Harkonens. The more you read 'Blade of the Immortal', the more sympathetic you feel for Anotsu (Rin's enemy), and the less justified Rin seems. The attention Samura pays to detail in his storyline is comparable to that which he pays the artwork. Each frame not only moves the story along, but also tells us more about the characters. Samura at times focuses on hands and feet as indicators of a character's feelings. Oddly enough, some of Samura's most beautiful artwork is done in the death scenes. Manji slicing some one up is drawn with the elegance of a ballet! In short, 'Blade of the Immortal' is a beautiful, brutal, subltle, and vulgar masterpiece. I don't have the words to describe it. In my opinion it is great work of literature. Don't let the fact that it's a manga or a 'graphic novel' predjudice you.
Rating: 
Summary: What's all the hype about?
Review: After buying this book on the strength of the Amazon customer reviews I will be more cautious in the future. I was very disappointed in this book. The art work everyone was raving about I found to be O.K. In my opinion it wasn't nearly as good as Yukito Kishiro's work in the Battle Angel Alita books. Kishiro's work is much superior and his stories, generally, are more interesting and intellectually relevent. Blade of the Immortal is only so-so.
Rating:
Summary: A great example of Japanese comics
Review: Blade of the Immortal is by no means a major seller in Japan, as Dragonball Z, One Piece, or other younger-audience friendly Japanese comic books. Yet, the series has been quite popular in United States, perhaps selling more copies than it is in Japan. And it is not strange given the amazing artwork on every page, the violence of the content, and intriguing plot that runs through the whole series.
Blade of the Immortal follows the story of Manji, an immortal swordsman who vowed to kill a thousand men. (Hence the subtitle) He eventually helps an orphaned girl, Rin, to avenge her parents' death. While the plot itself has some rough edges to it, as Japanese comic book artists usually write the story and supply the artwork, the artist is able to carry the story along with some interesting confrontations, descriptions of the characters, and some jokes along the way.
The artwork, drawn in a sketchy method with pencils, effectively capture the Japanese landscape that is familiar with many samurai films, and is one of the strengths of the comic book. Amazingly, the guy keeps getting better at it as the series progresses. And since it deals with samurais, there are some explicit violence along the way- I'd say a high school audience would be able to handle it without much difficulties.
This is arguably one of the best the Japanese comic books offer, with its story easily approachable by the Western audience as well. Definitely worth the look, although the translation was a bit uneven at times. My gripe is that the graphic novels cost a bit too much.
Rating:
Summary: A great example of Japanese comics
Review: Blade of the Immortal is by no means a major seller in Japan, as Dragonball Z, One Piece, or other younger-audience friendly Japanese comic books. Yet, the series has been quite popular in United States, perhaps selling more copies than it is in Japan. And it is not strange given the amazing artwork on every page, the violence of the content, and intriguing plot that runs through the whole series.
Blade of the Immortal follows the story of Manji, an immortal swordsman who vowed to kill a thousand men. (Hence the subtitle) He eventually helps an orphaned girl, Rin, to avenge her parents' death. While the plot itself has some rough edges to it, as Japanese comic book artists usually write the story and supply the artwork, the artist is able to carry the story along with some interesting confrontations, descriptions of the characters, and some jokes along the way.
The artwork, drawn in a sketchy method with pencils, effectively capture the Japanese landscape that is familiar with many samurai films, and is one of the strengths of the comic book. Amazingly, the guy keeps getting better at it as the series progresses. And since it deals with samurais, there are some explicit violence along the way- I'd say a high school audience would be able to handle it without much difficulties.
This is arguably one of the best the Japanese comic books offer, with its story easily approachable by the Western audience as well. Definitely worth the look, although the translation was a bit uneven at times. My gripe is that the graphic novels cost a bit too much.
Rating:
Summary: Blade is the best!
Review: Blade of the Immortal is the best manga ever! (I'm assuming you know all of the backround information, so I'm going to dive right in.) This is one of the only stories where the "bad guys" seem to have a conscious. Instead of being just a bloody slice-and-dice samurai soap opera, the characters actually have deeply personal motives. Anotsu is trying to fulfill his father's dying wish, Rin is trying to avenge her parents in a vow she made at her father's grave, and Manji is trying to escape from the life he claims is miserable. Each of the main characters struggles with himself, which is something unusual. Each character does things they don't like, but they do it for a reason. Another great thing about this series is its supporting characters. Makie, Magatsu, Shira, and Hyakurin, and others show up later, making things much more interesting. Each of these characters has secrets and morals, too (with the exception of Shira). These characters show up more than once, so they can be rather important. Samura's art is the greatest! I like that the women he draws are not the common, unrealistic, top-heavy cartoons often found in other manga. In fact, Rin is teased by Manji as "having a body like a barked twig." I'm not saying there is no sex in Blade, but there is no nudity (Being a girl, I don't care for manga with nude chicks). His art seems to be constantly improving (if that's possible). Warning: there is a LOT of blood in this series, although it is drawn in black and white, which calms things down (a little). Samura's great story telling makes this series worthwhile, though. His characters go through some startling changes, which keeps things fresh and interesting. Like I basically said earlier, his characters are the best part. Samura makes them more than just pictures. He gives them so much individual personality and I like that. His characters feel regret, pain, and sadness just like anyone else. Okay, if you haven't bought Blade of the Immortal yet, you should do so now. This is the best manga I've read, and I highly recommend it. Buy it NOW.
Rating:
Summary: Impressive, but disgusting!
Review: Blade of the Immortal, Blood of a Thousand, was pretty amazing. Very interesting storyline and some of the best art I've ever seen in a manga, BUT the I was repelled from it rather quickly there is a lot of cursing and extremely graphic scenes. Numerous people are completly mutilated in detail. Of course it is about a samurai but more violent than I expected. Great book if you can deal with some vulgar language and gory battle sequences.
Rating:
Summary: A must for samurai fans
Review: For all the manga fans this is a very good piece of work, altough there are a few confusing spots in the story line, but nothing that could make this book a bad deal. The hand draws are very very well done ( not better than Masamune Shirow )and the fights are just as cool as the rest.
Rating: 
Summary: THIS IS THE FIRST US COLLECTION OF THE AWARD-WINNING SERIES
Review: Hiroaki Samura's critically-acclaimed BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL was recently awarded the Japanese Media Arts Award for outstanding manga by the Japanese Mininstry of Education Agency of Cultural Affairs. Along with other award winners, it was displayed at Tokyo's National Theater and the Tokyo City Opera. A representative of the Japanese Agency of Cultural Affairs said,"BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL can rightly be called a work of great ambition that at once inherits the best traditions of "the good old days" of Japanese story-telling manga, while taking the form to new heights of maturity and accomplishment."
Rating:
Summary: Blade kicks butt, pure and simple.
Review: I am an avid otaku, and I love all sorts of anime and manga, and yet this is one of my favorites. that would seem a little strange, seeing as how I'm usually given to more, well, cute things, but this is such a fine book I don't see how anyone couldn't get sucked in. The art is incredible. I can't begin to rave about it. Even nasty scenes where people are beheaded, disembowled, etc. look beautiful, and the art depicts real people and real situations. the main characters cry and have bad things happen to them and throw up and lose battles and all sorts of stuff not commonly seen in any kind of fiction these days. They are very real, even though the story has a fantastic element to it (manji's immortality and, to a certain extent, the battles.) I own this whole series (so far, anyway) in comic form and I am buying the book just to preserve this wonderful story. I really think it gets better as it goes along, but even this first book is very good. I also think the translation is some of the best I've seen and I apprieciate the cultural and historical notes they include. my only complaint with any of it is that they haven't released books for all of the comics, only 3 story arcs. grr.
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