Mugen no Juunin

I will start by saying that, having read the manga, I was very excited when I heard that there was going to be an anime adaptation, and I had high hopes/expectations for it. It is possible that my review will be biased in that regard. That being said, I'll begin my review. Art: The art was, in my opinion, not bad. The character designs were true to the manga, I didn't notice any particularly huge problems with inappropriate scenery or just general sloppiness. However, this anime was based on a very violent, sword-fight laden manga, but there were few fights scenes to get overly excited about. The fight scenes that were shown were brief and unsatisfying. For example, if Manji is fighting someone, the beginning of the fight will be shown, then they'll either switch to another character who is watching the battle or even to someone completed unrelated to the current battle. Then suddenly, oh! there's the end of the battle. It was completely unsatisfying. The gore was toned down tenfold. Sound: This was by far the worst part of the anime. If you like the opening theme, you'll love the sound. But whoever sings this song, her voice just grinds the gears in my head. And you'll hear her pipe up at the most random and inappropriate times. Sad? You'll hear her. Happy? Sounds the same as sad. Character: Overall character development, I'd say was average. Despite reading the manga, I didn't leave this show feeling super connected to any of the characters. There was room for improvement, but it really could have been worse too. I noticed a couple moments that were glaringly out of character from the manga, but I tried to give some leeway. Enjoyment: It was slow. There were times when I could have easily fast-forwarded several parts and not have missed any plot. One would think that by the twelfth episode, the penultimate episode, some sense of suspense would be building, or at least some problem that could feasibly end the series and/or set up a second season. Nooooope. Episode twelve left me with little desire to see the last episode. The slowness combined with the hideously poor sound and mediocre characters left me with little satisfaction at the end of this series. Overall: If you haven't read the manga, you may enjoy this series. It is my opinion that if you were a fan of the manga, you should avoid this entirely. Seriously, you won't laugh at how bad it is--it'll just make you sad. It made me sad. So very sad.

Stroy: About anime: Violence! Violent is not definite for the kids, but for an older audience. Nicely developed historical drama, but the theme unfortunately I have to say that I saw in anime called Samurai Champloo. This anime is quite cold, and similarities with the Samurai Champloo (revenge) again has no similarity in the drawing, the main characters and the coarse of this anime. The main character is a serious violator who is not good, even do some people may call it good because helped one girl and she seeks revenge. For this young girl, he shows little of its goodness that is left in him. But what is the goodness for a one person if he slay so much people that he don't remember the number. The main character, you will surely love. But it certainly is not a good person. I say, because you can see that his katana became the hand that catches flies around, there is no feeling for human life. He lost it because he killed too many people. He became immortal! His punishment is that he can not die. I did not read the manga, but he developed the story more. Because I do not believe that such a person as he is to have a peaceful night. He has hell on earth because he can't not die, but his sins haunt him. ART: Drawing is very nice! Artistic as well as an introduction to the anime. Sound: OST 10 for home collection. Character: There details characters, but not those I expected. Many are detailed supporting roles as the main role was left with an empty memory, and to regret his murdered sister. Enjoyment: One of the best anime that I watched. 10 Final is 10. If you love anime certainly do not miss this, it is very good. ********************************************** kiss from mokunica22 **********************************************

Blade of the immortal is a short 13 episode anime about an immortal samurai who because of past evil deeds must kill 100 evil men to free himself of this curse. So he meets this girl, and the two form a sort of friendship/partnership as he helps kill these evil men for her. The art is pretty decent though it feels right for the anime. You get a whole kind of classic feel from it. It takes place during samurai times japan so i suppose anywhere before 1868. The story really is simple, but it has elements of good and evil and a story that is entertaining enough to keep your interest. It's pretty dark and serious, bloody and gory it's the perfect anime for a guy. All it needs is boobs and i think i would give it a 8. But alas, i think it is a 7/10. Still good, and i think its worth checking out. You certainty wont be disappointed.

Story, 3/10: The story suffers from poor pacing, there are times when the show will cut to a random event or random people and never explain what's going on. on top of that the story takes a long time in the beginning to get moving, only to rush to a disappointing end. A character out for revenge joins with another that's immortal because of a curse/spell, nothing new there. Art, 5/10: The art, for me at least, was average. The main characters and villains were the most notable nothing else really caught my eye, my biggest gripe would be battle scenes....apparently they've decided to not really show them. Sound, 4/10: The music wasn't anything special either, there is pretty much only one song that use throughout the show regardless of tone, and it gets annoying. Character, 2/10: There is little to no development for characters in this show, I never really cared for any of them. This is probably the thing that angered me the most, my favorite part of Anime/Movies/TV Shows and etc. is well developed characters. Enjoyment, 2/10: I had to force my self to find something to enjoy, the only thing I did was what little fight scenes there were. Overall, 3/10: The lack of story and character development, the mediocre and average sound, this anime made me tear some of my hair out. Now I haven't read the manga but, it seems to me the only reason this anime exists is to get you to read the source material which is terrible, why would you try to cram so much into so little, instead of trying to fit maybe a small portion, and making itreally good? Oh well, thankfully I never have to watch this again.

Focusing on Manji and Rin's quest to slay members of a group of master swordsmen called the Itto-ryu out of atonement and revenge respectively, Blade of the Immortal attempts to explore the moral ramifications faced with killing and the ramifications of not being able to die, the latter being the case for Manji as his body is infested with a plague of bloodworms that grant him immortality. However for 13 episodes, the scope of this title's story is a bit too grand for only 13 episodes. To make things short and sweet, Blade of the Immortal's manga source material offers up a good deal of fleshing out with the various members of the Itto-ryu that Manji and Rin cross paths with to explore what purpose they have for their lives and the anime only covers much of the first arc to said series which is only about 20 of the 206 chapters that make it up. The anime structures each encounter in one to two episodes leading to some rather mixed results with how well the stories with each Itto-ryu encounter comes across. The majority of the first half episodes are not too well executed in their storytelling as their self-contained narrative prevents much connection that viewers can make to the characters, feels too much like a typical revenge story and Manji mostly getting by through exploiting his immortality for the element of surprise for each foe he slays. Also, the final two episodes don't add anything to the story as the anime adds on more hints of events yet t come, Rin still committed to revenge and the series ending inconclusively just as events are about to escalate in the series. In spite of its significant flaws, the anime does have its bright spots. The middle arcs of the series offer better story developments as Manji finds himself challenged by another immortal in the form of Eiku, Makie being conflicted over her role with the Itto-ryu and Araya trying to conceal his past from his family while forcing Rin to confront the flaws to her desires of revenge. Plus, the series is a beautiful one to see visually with gorgeous scenic shots, lifelike character designs and great sword fight choreography with Manji's encounters with the various Itto-ryu members. Still in spite of these minor praises, Sword of the Immortal still carries major issues stemming from its adaptation only being a small part of a larger series and it shows with the majority of the series not providing much fleshing out of our two leads, early episodes feeling a bit underwhelming in their developments and two final ones mostly being a tease for things to come later in the series. If you want to get the best out of seeing the series, I'm more inclined to recommend checking out the manga adaptation of the series over this one.

I'll start this by saying: I have not read the manga for this series. I'm sure that's fleshed out more than this show but going off the show itself? I don't think it's for me. The art was fine for the most part, good animation with most of the fights, decent dub, but the fact the show ends before the story is completed really kinda made me throw up my hands. The pacing felt really slow at times and with the lack of a real conclusion, I'm left thinking I wasted what time I sunk into the show (while also grateful it wasn't longer). Even after looking up more info on it and seeing a more complete adaptation was going to be made, I still think I'll pass on it unless it's highly recommended to me. I remember seeing this series was considered a great samurai series so that's why I watched it. I don't think it's awful, I just feel it didn't do anything for me personally. So, watch only if you're really into samurai anything (or just wait for the new one to come out).

Here’s another adaptation that missed the mark. Animation and sound are pretty standard with nothing particularly interesting to remember them for. This kills everything the manga was going for, meaning the rough pen artwork is gone and so is most of the gore. Turning that to a typical anime artstyle just kills the artistry. It’s like taking the Watchmen and changing them into Super Friends. Beyond that, this series is not even good as a standard action series. The main character is immortal and can never die no matter how many times he gets stabbed, clubbed or thrown into a huge blender. It doesn’t really matter how strong his opponent is or what technique he is using. The protagonist just stands still and gets hit without caring and waits for the adversary to leave an opening so he can kill him. Basically, he can’t lose while they can, and that makes all the fights boring. The protagonist is not even cool like Alucard from Hellsing or Dark Shneider of Bastard!! He leaves you with no real impression. Neither do his random enemies and allies. The story is a generic revenge quest you have seen a billion times already, made up of stand alone missions. Plus, it ends without concluding anything. TL;DR: A passable and forgettable series. Not even the aesthetics of the manga managed to keep me interested for long. The gore was fun and even that fell short when the all mighty protagonist who has no special features could never die.

The anime is good but we only get to see 13 episodes of this anime from a massive manga series that is around 30 volumes. It is essentially just the prologue of the story and doesn't get into the story, it just sets the premise for it. I don't recommend this series because from what I hear the Manga is amazing (And it does look amazing!) but the anime is only the first 6 volumes and the 7th volume is where an awesome villain is introduced and where the story really picks up. For me, I buy manga, not read it online and if I'm new to a series I want to read it from the start and I thought "Hey, I'll watch the anime then collect the manga" but the first 6 volumes (the anime) weren't really that exciting and I don't want to buy them just to get into the story. If you're thinking of really getting into Blade of the Immortal I definitely recommend reading the manga and avoiding the anime all together because as an anime series goes it wasn't THAT good so go and read the manga, I plan to.

Overall this is a pretty sad series. I don't mean sad emotionally, I mean it's pathetic. There isn't any real saving grace about it, it's not even an average action series because the actions scenes were pretty lame. It won't thrill you, but it won't kill you either. The story offers no real resolution, you're just cut off in the middle wondering what should have happened next. The music can be grating at times and ruin moments while you're watching, so that's a killer. The animation and art style is simply generic, it's typical of this type of series. If there were more action scenes this could have been a decent hack 'em up, but this was just an introduction to the actual story and progression of the manga. So there really isn't much to go on. I'd say skip it, go read the manga or do something else.

Mugen no Juunin (Blade of the Immortal Anime Adaptation, 2008) – An Exercise in Patience I'll start by saying that finishing 13 episodes in two years isn't just an accomplishment; it's a test of sheer survival. If you ever want to measure mental resilience, forget psychological tests — just sit someone down with this anime and watch the results. The story is so generic it feels like it was churned out by an automatic samurai plot generator. You've got the feudal Japan setting, a protagonist with godlike abilities who knows no weaknesses (except, perhaps, testing the limits of our patience), and a plot that seems to think it's taking us somewhere... but the GPS clearly broke halfway through. The so-called moral message at the end, where the characters reflect on life and mortality, is the narrative equivalent of being served an empty plate for dessert. You expect something substantial, maybe even satisfying, but instead, you're left with the chef smugly whispering, “The real depth was inside you all along!” And then there's the soundtrack—if you can even call it that. It feels like someone hit shuffle on a playlist of generic action anime music, ensuring that no scene had the right tone. The fight scenes? Oh, I had high hopes, but instead, I got a spectacle of clunky, poorly choreographed slow motion. Our protagonist moves like he left his joints at home and forgot to stretch beforehand. Now, to those of you who genuinely enjoy this adaptation: you're incredible. Not in a good way, though — more like the type of people who find joy in standing in endless lines at the DMV or waiting three hours at the registry office for a simple document. Sure, the protagonist starts the story trapped, but let's be honest — the only ones truly imprisoned here are the viewers, waiting in vain for something — anything—that makes sense. In the end, "Blade of the Immortal" isn't just bad — it's inspirational. No, really. It's a stark reminder that even the most painfully mediocre works can somehow find funding. And if someone out there believed in this, then maybe, just maybe, your wildest dreams aren't so far out of reach. After all, if this got made, what's stopping you?

Blade Of The Immortal, this anime althought short is interesting, gory, action packed, but sad in a way, as a samuarai has had to live for such a long time as he was cursed with immportality. But, eventually he finds a glimmer of hope in a young girl, determined to help her with her revenge, in turn making his own wish come true that he truly desires, in which he would be free of his this torturous fate he suffers from, that is "endless time". This man bares deep scars that won't heal, as a reminder of endless battles from his past and in his future as well, he both fights and encourages the young girl he's helping to both move forward with her revenge and continue on with her family's legacy. I don't think this anime ends like this, the last episode seems to be the beginning of something much bigger.

"Unlike Manji yours is not doubt, its perplexity. You lost the way you should go and your heart is simply in vain disorder and what divides doubt and perplexity is a firm strength. Having strength is what first allows you to live strong." Mugen no Jūnin (Blade of the Immortal) represented the fragile balance between masculinity and femininity in a way that feels raw and untouchable. Throughout the episodes, I get to see how both men and women are treated which sometimes as worthless and sometimes as invaluable. Brutal? yes. Sad? yes. Yet it is still undeniably reflective of reality. Rin, the main female character, stood out to me the most (well duh she is the main character) Her heart feels conflicted, yet still deeply human when she continues to carry vengeance as her goal but at the same time her compassion and tendency to think of others before herself make her journey extremely solid. In contrast, men in this story (Manji & Magatsu) pursue a single goal without any doubts regardless of the hardships they face. That contrast was beautifully represented and delivered successfully. The so-called villain, Anotsu Kagehisa not only is he a insanely hot and skilled samurai but his ideals made me a fan. He wasn’t evil for the sake of being evil (if u really see what the implied or reasoning behind his radicalised motive) his desire to expand the ways of learning and practicing samurai arts challenged the rigid conservatism of his peers (superiors). While I can understand the need to preserve tradition, I couldn’t see him as a true villain, he is just someone radical enough to embrace change in which not many will be brave as him to stand up and do so. This anime is heavy, violent, and emotionally intense, and that’s exactly why I enjoyed it so much. It’s been a long time since I felt so invested in an anime. While flashy action series are everywhere these days (KNY, Fire Force & JJK), it’s rare to find something this weighty and critical thinking worthy.

If you like Samurai Champloo you'll like this show. The story, action and animation is not as good but its a decent/good show. Basically a Walmart Samurai Champloo with a cool immortality concept. The colors are very dull, barley any contrast in the animation at all, so you got to watch with your brightness turned up to the max or else you don't know wtf is going on. The story is pretty predictable but that's fine if the concept is good which it was. Animation: 7 Action: 6 OSTs: 5 vibrancy: 0 Story: 6 Concept: 8 Plot: 7 Characters: 7 Overall: 7