Blade of the Immortal Vol. 10: Secrets

[pmpknface]

OK... Sorry this took so long! I'm just starting this one out and I'll have to come back to it later but here it goes...

After the suspense and blood-fest we had in the last 2 volumes Samura slows the pace down a bit and takes the story in a different direction. Sure, we get just enough face time with Manji as he heals and with Rin as she travels, but this is the beginning of Anotsu's story.

The battle Anotsu has in the dojo isn't the best we've seen, but the neato little images Samura uses to convey motion in the battle were fun and ineresting. It was like someone breaking down dance steps for you. And how about him getting offered a wife! :eek: Where did that come from? I dunno, but I like it! The most revealing part of his story came when he is talking to his "finacee(?)" and he tell us how even though he's accomplished so much, his journey has just begun. Great scene...

Manji learns a bit more about Hyakurin's group and he meets up with yet a different main character, Magatsu, as they go after Shira. Just the thought of that makes me smile.

Now, what did you all think? Let's hear it! :rolleyes:

[dancj]

It's getting quiet around here. Maybe people are reaching the end of the collections they have so far. Mine goes up to vol 12 so I'm here for a couple more.

I just read that over the weekend. TBH, this seemed like a bit of a weaker volume for me. I don't know if that's because it's the first one I read in isolation or just because it is weaker.

It set up a couple of interesting things so I'll just have to see where it leads before I can judge this.

Dan

[pmpknface]

Well, I'll be around until the bitter end! In fact, I think that vol 11 is due this week! I'll have to get right on that! ;)

This was very much a "set up" chapter though. The previous few volumes all built up to the end of The Gathering, and I think this does much of the same. Although I don't remember all the details of the next few volumes I do remember "Beasts" pretty well, and that volume isn't quiet.

Stay tuned...

[Augie De Blieck Jr.]

I'll catch up eventually, I promise.

Things are about to get Very Complicated, indeed, when the UPS man delivers the first BABYLON 5 script book to my door step tonight. But I'll find time for BOTI soon. I hope. I promise. I think.

-Augie

[Madame Manga]

Here's my usual long and hastily written ramble! ;-) Damn, I love this book...

After the balls-to-the-wall violence of Manji's dismemberment and the high tension of Rin's interview with the checkpoint official, this volume is a chance to sit down, breathe and look around.

Rin is progressing on her way to Kaga and doing all right until the very end of the book, when we're left with a simple but terrifying cliffhanger; her money has been stolen. We've already seen that she's tried and failed to live off the land and sleep rough. Rin often overestimates her abilities and then sensibly retrenches; this is a kid who attacked Anotsu Kagehisa with a couple of handfuls of tiny throwing knives! It was pretty funny to watch a slight 16-year-old girl attempt to lift hundred-pound rocks like her tough yojimbo, but hey, at least she gave it a good college try and then came to her senses. She can accept her limitations and work within them once they have been demonstrated to her. But without a particle of cash to her name, it looks like she's in for it now...

Anotsu has always been an interesting character. He's not a one-dimensional thug; he's carrying out a definite quest with the pride and ruthlessness of a very young man who possesses great skills and self-confidence. (He was only 22 when Rin's family was murdered.) But this volume and the next are where he becomes entirely human, with his own doubts and fears and limitations. It's no longer possible to just hope Anotsu will get his just deserts. You can see that he's Rin's counterpart in many ways: young and passionate and willing to use questionable means to accomplish the overriding goals of his life. Both of them are also starting to deal with the fallout of their quests and the personal implications of having killed for an ideal. The flashback Anotsu has of a tearful Rin accusing him of her parents' murder is marvelously placed.

This complication apparently irritates some fans. I've read comments from a few BotI readers that convey a preference for more artistic hack-and-slash and less of this "boring" character stuff! Now I don't mind mayhem in the least. But without character it can sustain a title only so far. After that, it's necro-porn. Samura has never let the violence degenerate into anything of the kind, and this part of the story is a large reason why.

Manji's literally taking a break since he has no other choice; apparently he's slow to regain the power of movement in his limbs if they have been separated from his body for too long. Naturally he's stewing in his own juices to some extent and taking it out on everyone who steps into his room. His humiliation at being cared for like an infant is both very much in character and extremely funny.

Hyakurin's not usually so solicitous--we've never seen her take such trouble or fuss over anyone, and her previous attitude towards Manji had taken a complete turnaround. Frankly, it looks like she has gone all the way and developed a bit of a crush on him. Hyakurin gazes dreamily at him and speaks suggestively. The room feels "steamy"; she constantly touches her hair and neckline. First Manji reacts philosophically to the ruined tegata he went through such pain to get and says it wasn't her fault. But a few minutes later he swears at her and orders her out of the room. There's a strong implication that Manji's heroism and interestingly helpless state turns Hyakurin on, and that she offered to make up for his disappointment in a way he didn't appreciate.

Master Sori's hospitality has a hidden undercurrent; he is not the kind of man to offer such large favors without gambling on some kind of return. As a government spy, he knows all about the Mugai-ryu and their mission. So then why does Magatsu Taito, hunting a former member of that group, end up only a room away from Manji, who knows them all by sight? Not a coincidence by any means...

MM

[De Carabas]

Welcome to my post. This is my fourth and final attempt at posting this. If I am thwarted, only I will ever know that it was attempted.

--I really enjoyed the art in this volume. The pace of the story was slower than last volume and Samura uses the art to reflect that. Numerous scenery shots that are some of the nicest we've seen in the series. We have a few of the un-inked pages that we all seem to love (I say "un-inked" because I think one is in pencil and the other might be charcoal). Even the inked pages have a much finer and cleaner line. Less rushed and chaotic, like the story. I'm generally more interested in story than art, but this is becoming a series where both are playing a strong role in my mind.

--Anotsu's duel in the dojo is going to be one of my all time favorite fight scenes in a comic. All for that double page, black border scene after Anotsu's sword is broken. Like Miller's Wolverine and Johnson's Way of the Rat, I love fight scenes that break down into a series of moves, or to use cinema terms, slo-mo. Manji's recent fight was more frenetic, but I enjoy the ballet-like nature of those two pages more.

--So the secret of the Mugai-ryu is out. It actually explains quite a bit. How they know what they know, why they seem to have certain restrictions, and (more importantly) why they're working with a [insert expletive here] like Shira. In short, they're the Suicide Squad. :p

--While far less intense than last volume, I enjoyed this volume slightly more for its character moments. Manji's recovery and interactions with everyone were interesting and enjoyable.

EM, who agrees that Magatsu's appearance seems too unlikely to be mere coincidence

[Augie De Blieck Jr.]

One book every two weeks. Doesn't seem so tough, does it? But now I'm a volume behind. I'll be catching up completely soon enough. The timing on this is interesting, though -- we don't have a New Volume to discuss on Thanksgiving night, and Christmas doesn't interfere with the reading schedule at all, either. Nor New Year's. Interesting how that works out. . .

I read volume 10 tonight. I see Volume 14 up on my bookshelf right now, by which time I think volume 15 might be coming out. I think. Don't take my word for that.

I mostly have to echo what everyone else has said here so far. I, too, loved the two pages of fight sequence with the six panel layouts, almost like TV screens showing the action in intimate detail. Since I followed the rest of the fight in only the most broad of strokes, it was nice to concentrate on one series of fluid motions like that, even if for just two pages.

Anotsu becoming more human reminds me a bit of LOST. There are a couple of characters in that show who have seemed villainous or lost or annoying, but who eventually get their equal time and due when a flashback story explains how they got that way and where they're coming from. (Think Sawyer or Shannon, for starters. Heck, even Locke follows this progression in the initial episodes of Season One.)

I loved also learning about the Mugai-Ryu and getting more clarity in everyone's position up the political ladder. Sometimes it helps me greatly to just have a character come out and spell it all out for me.

And, yeah, Rin's in a spot of trouble, isn't she?

It's a strong volume if -- to use my favorite cliche lately -- a little scattershot. There are at least three different stories in this volume, which ways in at a whopping eight issues collected.

-Augie