Dark Horse

Blade of the Immortal, Vol. 31: Final Curtain

May 8, 2015 by Ash Brown

Creator: Hiroaki Samura
U.S. publisher: Dark Horse
ISBN: 9781616556266
Released: April 2015
Original release: 2013
Awards: Eisner Award, Japan Media Arts Award

So, this is it. The Final Curtain of Blade of the Immortal, both literally and figuratively. Released by Dark Horse Comics in 2015, the volume is the thirty-first and final installment in the English-language edition of Hiroaki Samura’s epic manga series. After nearly two decades of publication, the entirety Blade of the Immortal has now been translated. Due to slight differences between the early English trade collections and the Japanese releases, Final Curtain is actually equivalent to the thirtieth volume of the original Japanese edition of Blade of the Immortal published in 2013. The manga has been well-received by both critics and fans alike, winning Samura many awards and honors including a Japan Media Arts Award and an Eisner Award. Blade of the Immortal was one of the very first manga that I began reading and collecting and the series has remained a personal favorite of mine ever since I discovered it. Because of that, Blade of the Immortal and its ending hold particular meaning for me. I have been looking forward to reading its conclusion for a very long time.

At its height, the Ittō-ryū was poised to become the official sword school of the shogunate, bringing the goal of the group’s leader Anotsu Kagehisa—the restoration of the way of the sword to Japan—tantalizingly close. But in the end they were betrayed and massacred by the very people who invited them to join the banshū. Since then the Ittō-ryū’s numbers have continued to dwindle as the survivors of that initial attack have been hunted down by the Mugai-ryū and Rokki-dan, forces largely made up of death row criminals commanded by Habaki Kagimura. The fighting has been fierce and casualties have been immense on both sides. Now only a few members of each group remain and they are locked in their final battles against one another. Though it appears as though Anotsu may have the upper hand, the outcome of the conflict is far from certain, especially as there are others interested in controlling the fate of the Ittō-ryū, including the young woman Rin and her near-immortal bodyguard Manji.

Final Curtain serves two main purposes: providing a resolution to the intense and bloody confrontations begun in the previous volume, Vigilance, and granting a conclusion to Blade of the Immortal as a whole. I feel the final volume is successful on both counts. Even though they aren’t as over-the-top or as brutal as some of the other fight sequences in the series, there are still plenty of surprises to be had in the final battles of Blade of the Immortal. They require incredible physical, mental, and even emotional fortitude from those involved, making the scenes very engaging to read. It’s not just fighting for fighting’s sake; there is deliberate purpose and reason behind the struggles. Lately, the series seems to have turned its attention to the dramatic demise of the Ittō-ryū and its leader, but Final Curtain manages to bring the manga full circle again by allowing Rin and Manji to once again become directly involved in how events unfold.

Blade of the Immortal has always had a large cast of characters as well as several intertwining plot threads. All of the survivors and the families and friends of those who have died have at least one moment in Final Curtain, even if it’s only a few panels, in which they become the focus of the manga, creating something akin to an epilogue. Loose ends are tied up and, while some ambiguity remains, the aftermath of the long struggle is revealed. Blade of the Immortal covered a lot of ground in its thirty-one volumes, the story twisting and turning and the characters and their relationships continually growing and evolving. The series can be read and enjoyed simply for its impressive action and fight sequences, but the manga also explores deeper, thought-provoking ideas. The characters are morally complex—very few can be said to be entirely in the right or in the wrong—and Blade of the Immortal questions what their or any person’s ultimate legacy will be. As for the last volume itself, I found Final Curtain to be a very satisfying conclusion to the series.

Blade of the Immortal, Vol. 30: Vigilance

January 2, 2015 by Ash Brown

Creator: Hiroaki Samura
U.S. publisher: Dark Horse
ISBN: 9781616554842
Released: October 2014
Original release: 2012
Awards: Eisner Award, Japan Media Arts Award

Vigilance is the thirtieth and penultimate volume in the English-language edition of Blade of the Immortal, the long-running and award-winning manga series by Hiroaki Samura. In Japan, the series was only thirty volumes long, but due to slight differences in how the manga was released early on in its English-language run, Dark Horse’s edition of consists of thirty-one volumes. Vigilance, published in 2014, is equivalent to the twenty-ninth volume of the series’ Japanese edition originally released in 2012. Blade of the Immortal is a series that has particular significance for me. It was one of the very first manga that I ever read and it was one of the first series that I decided to collect in its entirety. I have been reading and collecting Blade of the Immortal for years now. The previous volume, Beyond Good and Evil, marked the beginning of the series’ end and Vigilance brings it that much closer. I was very curious to see how Samura would continue to advance the series.

The final confrontation between the remnants of Anotsu Kagehisa’s Ittō-ryū and Habaki Kagimura’s Rokki-dan has begun. Numerous casualties have been incurred by each side and countless innocent lives have been caught in the fray as the two groups try to destroy each other. At one point they were fighting for their ideals–Anotsu striving to restore martial glory and the way of the sword to Japan while Habaki worked to prevent that from happening in order to maintain the dominance of the shogunate–but now they are fighting simply to survive long enough to crush the other. Even if they are successful in killing their foes they may not live to see the fruits of their victory. Habaki is challenging Anotsu head on while the Ittō-ryū’s strongest fighter, Makie, is left to face multiple opponents under Habaki’s direct command despite her failing health. And on the periphery of this all, Manji and Rin stand against one of Habaki’s most imposing men even though they, too, seek Anotsu’s demise.

At this point in Blade of the Immortal the series’ story is drawing very close to its ultimate conclusion. There is very little plot development in Vigilance, and there doesn’t need to be; the series has been building up to these final volumes. Instead, the focus of Vigilance is on the deadly battles currently in progress. Samura’s artwork has always been dynamic in Blade of the Immortal, conveying a tremendous sense of movement and drama, but the action sequences and fight choreography in Vigilance may very well be some of the series’ best. Makie’s fight against an entire team of adversaries is particularly impressive and breathtaking. Her talent is astounding and on full display. She is constantly in motion, with an acute awareness of her surroundings, using both her weapon and her body in tangent to strike and defend. While she may not have the brute strength that so many of the other fighters in Blade of the Immortal possess, her agility and martial skill far surpass any of them.

The other two battles being simultaneously waged in Vigilance are also well-developed and each has a different feel than Makie’s. Manji’s style of fighting has come to rely very heavily on his near-immortality, leading him to attempt feats that would otherwise be unthinkable. He is also able to put to good use in some rather curious ways the bizarre regenerative powers of his body. The manga’s horror elements are readily apparent in his fight. There’s even a hearkening back to the death mandalas of the early series, which is a particularly nice touch. The confrontation between Anotsu and Habaki is different still. Like all of the other fighters who have managed to survive this long they are both exceptionally skilled swordsmen, however tactics and strategy play a much more prominent role in their death match. The way they fight is both intelligent and refined. Manji, Rin, Makie, Anotsu, and Habaki are now locked into their final battles. It will be very interesting to see exactly how things will turn out in the series’ conclusion, Final Curtain.

Bookmarked: Satoshi Kon-a-thon

December 3, 2014 by Katherine Dacey

It’s not every day that an American publisher releases a manga by the late, great Satoshi Kon, so Brigid and I decided to mark the occasion with a roundtable discussion. Joining us is David Brothers, one our favorite comics journalists. David has written for Comics Alliance, Pop Culture Shock, Publisher’s Weekly, Wired, and The Atlantic Monthly, and currently works in the comics industry.

On our plate: Tropic of the Sea, which was published by Vertical Comics in 2013, and OPUS, which arrives in comic book stores today courtesy of Dark Horse. Both works date to an early stage of Satoshi Kon’s career, but explore themes present in such films as Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress, and Paprika–most notably the boundary between reality and imagination.

KATE: Let’s start the conversation with a basic question: which did you enjoy more, OPUS or Tropic of the Sea, and why?

DAVID: I definitely liked OPUS a lot more than Tropic of the Sea, I think owing to the fact that while both are stories in well-worn genres, OPUS is way more up my alley in general, since it was at least partly about storytelling as a creator. Tropic of the Sea felt fairly pat, with precious few surprises all the way down to the last panel. OPUS follows the blueprint of other stories in its genre, but it’s also funnier and warmer somehow, I suppose because it’s about the nature of free will and humanity, and to tackle those points you kinda have to have characters that are entertaining to watch.

I actually read these books back-to-back the first time I read both, Tropic of the Sea and then OPUS, with a break for cooking and dinner in-between. OPUS did a great job of sparking my imagination. I think it’s cool that the story works as both how we read it, as the story of a creator in his creation, and also a crazy deus ex machina ending for the manga Resonance. Tropic of the Sea sorta is what it is, which is a well-executed story to be sure, but OPUS goes places I really enjoy.

I’m focusing on OPUS, but I didn’t dislike Tropic of the Sea. It’s good, but it’s just not quite my bag. How was it for you two?

BRIGID: Wow, I’m actually feeling the opposite: I really liked Tropic of the Sea because I thought that it was very well done, even if the story had been done before. I’m finding OPUS much harder to follow, though. Maybe I’m just not good with action stories, but it seems like things are constantly exploding and flying apart without any visible cause. And right at the end of chapter 1 there’s this weird non-sequitur where Satoko’s leg is trapped under a stone column and then, without anything changing in the panel that I could see, she just pushed it off and jumped up. On the one hand, this manga has a pretty sophisticated sense of space, but on the other hand, I’m having a lot of trouble following the motion of people and things within that space, and in particular, why things are blowing up. As I write this, I haven’t finished the manga, so maybe there’s a resolution or explanation I’m not seeing yet, but right now it’s pulling me out of the story to have to stop and figure out what just happened. It’s weird, too, because you would expect an animator to be tighter about that kind of thing.

KATE: My experience tracks with yours, David: I liked OPUS more than Tropic of the Sea. I found the premise of Tropic of the Sea a little too familiar, in large part because the characters were all such obvious types–the skeptic, the unscrupulous developer, the wise old-timer–that none registered as individuals. The story’s length was also a contributing factor, as Kon didn’t have enough space to flesh out the cast beyond their specific plot functions. It’s a shame that the script wasn’t better, as the illustrations create a palpable sense of place.

As for OPUS, it irresistibly reminded me of the a-ha video for “Take on Me” and the Will Farrell/Emma Thompson flick Stranger Than Fiction, with a pinch of AKIRA for seasoning. I normally find these kind of meta-exercises tedious, but Kon infuses the story with a sense of playful urgency that thwarts the urge to deconstruct every page. (For me, at least; your mileage may vary.)

DAVID: Oh, I’m definitely knee-deep in that urge to deconstruct. Resonance feels like the anime and manga that was around when I was getting into this stuff, something halfway between Ryoichi Ikegami’s ’80s realism and Masamune Shirow’s willingness to blend weird tangents into his hard sci-fi worldbuilding. The haircuts, the fashion, the motivations, the poorly thought-out backstories, and somehow even the fourth wall breaking action are all my bag. Which I think is a big part of why I share the constant feeling of Things Are Happening All Over with you, Brigid, but have a different response to it. The story-in-the-story is something I know well and have read often (the cop mentor, the thug friend, the weird way the heroine keeps getting rescued instead of rescuing!), so I buy into that, and through that the rest of the story, maybe a little harder than others would. This feels a lot like a lost chapter of a comic I never read as a kid, from late enough in the story that doing a daring metafictional “let’s talk about comics stories by way of being in a comics story!” tale was not just feasible, but something you could dedicate 300+ pages to.

KATE: I agree with Brigid that the draftsmanship in Tropic of the Sea is crisper–in fact, I think that’s part of the reason that I’m so focused on the creakier aspects of the story. The illustrations are almost… well, “invisible” isn’t quite the right word, but they don’t call attention to themselves in the same way that the illustrations in OPUS do. I don’t always respond well to flashy artwork, but I found OPUS engaging enough that I didn’t linger on the busier images.

As for the story, I’m with you, David: OPUS is a fun throwback to the kind of manga that Dark Horse and VIZ were publishing in the 1990s, right before the Sailor Moon/InuYasha revolution. OPUS isn’t as gonzo as some of the Koike/Ikegami manga from that era, but it still has that same breathless, hyperbolic quality. I’m kind of surprised that I liked it better than Tropic of the Sea, actually, as Tropic seems like it would be more in my wheelhouse. But I thought the script was too on-the-nose–a little ambiguity would have made the ending more satisfying, and more in keeping with Kon’s mature work. (An aside: I wondered what Rumiko Takahashi could have done with the premise of Tropic of the Sea… sigh.)

Switching gears, how did you react to the ending? Was Dark Horse right to include Kon’s unfinished sketches, or should the manga have been left incomplete?

DAVID: I came into OPUS cold, not even knowing it was unfinished, so I was both surprised, disappointed, and glad to see them. Surprised at the lack of an ending, disappointed at the same, but glad there was some kind of resolution, even if it’s just a metafictional one. For a story about stories to end with “Welp, and I guess I just didn’t finish this one, but I might one day!” is the kind of serendipity you can’t plan for, but is sometimes thematically correct for the work. It worked here, and I especially liked to see the pages Kon did with no faces. I thought that was a cool and creepy touch, and when combined with the rest of the backmatter, it made for a satisfying, though not all the way satisfying, ending.

Bookmarked! 11/12/14

November 12, 2014 by Brigid Alverson

Welcome to another edition of Bookmarked! This week, Johanna Draper Carlson of Comics Worth Reading joins Kate and I as we talk about what’s on the top of our reading stacks this week. I’ll start:

Brigid: I have been reading CLAMP’s Legal Drug a few pages at a time, which is really not the way to read it. I know this manga was a big deal back in the 2000s, but I have to confess I don’t always get CLAMP, and I’m finding this story somewhat tiresome because the characters all seem like types. The lead character, Kazahaya Kudo, was dying in the snow (for reasons that aren’t at all clear) when he was rescued by Rikuo, a young man who is as sullen as he is handsome. Now they live together and work for a pharmacy, but they spend a lot of time doing side jobs for the overly winsome owner of the business. The tasks they are assigned seem impossible—catch an invisible firefly—and they are given no direction, although they do have special psychic powers to fall back on. The puzzle part of it is interesting, and the art is lovely, but I just can’t warm up to any of these characters. It is nice, though, that Dark Horse has collected it into a single, thick omnibus, and that makes it easy for me to keep on plowing through it.

Anomal, by contrast, is a slim volume filled with lots of interesting characters. It’s a collection of short stories about the interactions between humans and yokai, and although they are all by the same creator, they vary quite a bit in tone. The character on the cover is a hyaku-me, or “hundred-eyes,” and he only figures in the first story, which is a shame as he’s a striking character. Some of the tales touch on deep emotions such as love, loss, and indebtedness, but there are a couple of semi-humorous ones, too. Unfortunately, the longest story is also the most annoying, about a schoolgirl who wants to become a yokai master because she loves to hug yokai. Nukuharu has an interesting way of drawing yokai, but like the stories, the art is uneven. I would love to see a more polished work from this creator, but Anomal is an interesting work and very different from the usual run of yokai tales.

Kate: I read Legal Drug about eight years ago. Though I loved it then, I’m not sure I’d be as enthusiastic about Legal Drug now. I still find CLAMP’s artwork elegant, but I agree with your assessment of the characters: they’re paper-thin collections of tics and mannerisms that grow tiresome quickly.

My nightstand is overflowing with new Vertical Comics. First up for me is volume one of Witchcraft Works, a series that falls squarely under the heading of Manga for Teenage Boys. The story focuses on Honoka Takamiya, a nebbishy high school student who has inexplicably attracted the attention of the class queen, Ayaka Kagari. After Ayaka rescues Honoka from an army of vicious stuffed rabbits — yes, it’s that kind of manga — we learn that Ayaka has been tasked with protecting Honoka from her fellow witches.

I’ll give creator Ryu Mizunagi credit: he wastes no time on exposition, diving into the action in the very first pages. Later chapters are denser in explanation, but generally read like conversations, rather than convenient exchanges of information for the reader’s benefit. I’m a little “meh” on the art, as it’s been calculated to appeal to the male gaze; most of the female characters are comically well endowed. (Several would topple over in real life, given their otherwise slender proportions.) There’s a fair amount of mammary-oriented fanservice and silly outfits, as well as an element of male wish fulfillment that just doesn’t resonate with an older female reader like me.

More promising is Ajin: Demi-Human, a supernatural thriller that starts slowly but builds momentum quickly. The first ten or so pages are a chore to read, as author Tsuina Miura provides a detailed explanation of what demi-humans are–they’re immortal–and how many walk the earth. (Hint: not many.) After this clumsy intro, however, the author delivers a nasty jolt: seemingly ordinary teen Kei Nagai learns the hard way that he’s immortal when he survives a hit-and-run accident with a truck. The intense media interest in this discovery forces Kei to go on the lam to avoid bounty hunters, government agents, and evil scientists.

A story likes Ajin lives or dies by its artwork, and manga-ka Gamon Sakurai proves he’s up to the task of bring Miura’s script to life. Kei’s accident, for example, is suitably icky and unsettling, leaving the reader as dumbfounded as the characters who witnessed it. Sakurai’s action scenes are crisply rendered, too–a big plus, considering how many pages of volume one are devoted to high-speed chases and hand-to-hand combat. My only nit-picky criticism is the character designs: although the adults look good, some of the teenagers have serious Manga Hair. That’s a minor complaint, however, considering how much I enjoyed volume one.

Also on my nightstand are volumes three and four of Fumi Yoshinaga’s What Did You Eat Yesterday? I admit that I began this series fully expecting to love it, but have been mildly disappointed thus far. The issue, for me, is the ratio of drama to shop talk. The vignettes exploring the relationship between Shiro, an uptight lawyer, and his partner Kenji, a cheerful hairdresser, are lovely, capturing the normal rhythms of a middle-aged couple’s life. We also get glimpses of each man’s work situation, and how they interact with peers and clients—another winning touch. The food talk, however, is less compelling. Though some of the dishes sound appetizing, I found these passages as tedious as listening to someone give a blow-by-blow account of an expensive meal. Your mileage may vary; if you live to eat, you may find these stove-side rhapsodies more engaging than I have.

Johanna: It’s been a while since I’ve had a chance to read any manga—too much life stuff getting in the way—but the bright side of that is lots of volumes to catch up on over the holidays from series I expect to enjoy. I did manage to dive into a few books recently, plus try a new one-shot.

Let’s start with one of my current favorites, What Did You Eat Yesterday? Volume 5 is just out, and every new book for me is a reminder that I’m thrilled that we’re getting this series in English. I adore Fumi Yoshinaga’s art, and her combination of recipe how-tos and small moments of daily life for a gay couple works well. I keep thinking I’m going to try one of the dishes Shiro prepares, but they’re too domestic. They use short-cut bottled sauces and whatever he gets at the local grocery, which is realistic (someone who has to get dinner on the table every day doesn’t spend a lot of time making fancy dishes) and a great insight into his personality, but that makes them difficult to replicate in the U.S. Yet that cultural authenticity adds another level of enjoyment. I need to learn to mimic how he thinks about meals, with easy but balanced side dishes included, instead of getting caught up in the details. I’m not sure I could filet my own whole fish in my kitchen, the way Shiro does, either.

Ha! I originally typoed “meals” as “males” above, which leads into the other piece of the work, the comfortable relationship between the two men. It’s not about what Shiro and Kenji say, specifically, to each other in an evening, it’s that they’re sharing the details of their experiences. Some of them are dramatic, as when Kenji explains how his father abandoned his family. There’s a good deal of humor, too. Early on, a friendly housewife’s husband tries to make Shiro friends with the other gay guy he knows just because they’re both gay. Anyone who’s been matched up on a superficiality can ruefully relate to that. Overall, I never know what a new chapter will bring, which I like a lot.

Reaching further back, I also read Volume 5 of Genshiken: Second Season. I don’t always know exactly what’s going on with the characters, since they’re so fannish and detailed about media I’m unfamiliar with, but I can appreciate their dedication to their hobbies, even if this go-round for the series is a lot about cosplay and yaoi.

The one character I remember best from the previous series, the terminally nerdy Madarame, is still hanging around the college club, although he’s graduated. The younger club members have decided to do him a favor by orchestrating him being in the club room with the girl he’s had a crush on for four years. The encounter plays out in a way I found totally unexpected, but quietly charming and good-hearted. That’s why I’m still “hanging around” with these wackos—it’s like being part of your own group of fans, virtually. The details may vary, but the underlying love and dedication, even when taken to extremes, is similar. I also like the way each chapter is followed up by four 4-koma strips that comment on the events we’ve just seen.

In my own burst of fannish trivia, it’s part of the cosplay girl’s (I don’t know any character names beyond “Sue”) character that she’s very large-breasted, in contrast to her sweet, unassuming personality (when she’s not dressing up). In some of the outfits she wears here (and the chapter where she’s topless), I was reminded of what they used to say about Wally Wood drawing Power Girl, that he told his assistants that he was going to keep drawing her bigger and bigger until they made him stop … and they never did.

From sex to violence. I also read Judge, volume 5, although I am embarrassed to admit it. I only keep up with it because I’m lucky enough to get review copies. (If not, I’d be getting it out of the library, because I only want to buy series I expect to reread, and once the final villain is revealed, I suspect my interest will disappear entirely.) Next volume is supposedly the last, and I’m glad, the same way I’m glad when they cancel a TV show I should have stopped watching several episodes before but couldn’t quite break the habit on.

It’s one of those “a bunch of random people are told to kill each other one by one” stories—and why did Japan develop that genre?—that’s gone on too long. There are a couple of revelations in this book that I think are supposed to be interesting and provide twists, but I just want it to be over. Especially since it’s turned into a mini-harem, with our nice-ish guy protagonist mostly dealing with three girls. I expected more from it, with the original theme of the seven deadly sins, but I can’t keep up with who had which animal head which was what sin. Really bad pacing, this series has.

My one new read was The Garden of Words, which I failed. Remember when I said things had been really busy lately? As a result, I’ve been in a super-charged mood of “let’s get more stuff done,” and I want what I’m reading to keep up. This book is the exact opposite. It’s about an older woman and school-age boy who meet at a gazebo when it rains. It requires leisurely reflection and an awareness of connections in life and pondering how someone can affect our lives temporarily but then we move on.

I was in totally the wrong mood for it. I’m going to try reading it again when I can better calm myself and approach it on its terms before I decide whether it’s too much like other things I’ve read or has its own special qualities.

Blade of the Immortal, Vol. 29: Beyond Good and Evil

June 8, 2014 by Ash Brown

Creator: Hiroaki Samura
U.S. publisher: Dark Horse
ISBN: 9781616553371
Released: May 2014
Original release: 2011
Awards: Eisner Award, Japan Media Arts Award

Beyond Good and Evil is the twenty-ninth volume in the English-language release of Hiroaki Samura’s award-winning manga Blade of the Immortal. Published by Dark Horse in 2014, Beyond Good and Evil is equivalent to the twenty-eighth volume of the Japanese edition of Blade of the Immortal released in 2011. Blade of the Immortal is a long-running series. The collected volumes of the manga first began to be released in Japan in 1994 while the first collection in English was published in 1997. Personally, I discovered Blade of the Immortal in 2007 and have been reading it ever since. The series is now in its final volumes and is drawing closer and closer to its conclusion. Since I’m fond of Blade of the Immortal, I’m both excited and saddened to see it end. Beyond Good and Evil is the beginning of the series’ last battle as all of the surviving characters are brought together to face one another and to confront their destinies.

The members of the Ittō-ryū who were escaping Edō by way of the Mito road have been annihilated. They put up a magnificent fight against Habaki Kagimura’s Rokki-dan and there were casualties on both sides, but in the end it was the Ittō-ryū that was brought closest to its demise. A very small group of the Ittō-ryū’s most elite warriors, including its leader Anotsu Kagehisa, still remain and are on the run. They stayed behind in Edō long enough to wreak havoc at the city’s castle before fleeing, hoping to reunite with the rest of the Ittō-ryū at the port of Hitachi before sailing for Satsuma. But with their companions dead, a few unexpected allies, and no small number of enemies, Anotsu’s carefully laid plans will have to change. As for Habaki, who has very little left to lose, he is willing to do anything that it takes and to commit any atrocity necessary in order to ensure that Anotsu and the remaining Ittō-ryū members, as well as anyone who might lend them their aid, are completely wiped out.

One of the things that has always impressed me about Blade of the Immortal is its complex, morally grey characters. The protagonists and antagonists of the series are constantly shifting, making it difficult to strictly categorize them as being good or bad guys; they are simply extremely flawed people. The confrontation between Habaki and Anotsu and the rest of the survivors has been building over the last few volumes. They all finally meet again, likely for the last time, in Beyond Good and Evil. It’s an aptly named volume. None of the characters are entirely in the right and they are all guilty of countless deaths. There is no turning back for them and they must see their chosen paths through to the end, even knowing that there is a strong possibility that they will fail or have failed already. Anotsu, Habaki, and the others may or may not survive, but even if they do, survival does not necessarily mean victory.

With the final battle of Blade of the Immortal approaching, one might expect it to be a heroic showdown of epic proportions, except for the fact that there aren’t really any heroes in the manga. Instead, the atmosphere surrounding the characters and their confrontation is one of inevitability and futility. There will be a battle and because those who have managed to survive for this long are the most skilled fighters it will be intense. However, very little will be accomplished by the skirmish except for perhaps mutual destruction. The Ittō-ryū barely exists anymore and it is very unlikely that Anotsu’s hopes and dreams of restoring the way of the sword to Japan will come to fruition. For Habaki, destroying the Ittō-ryū won’t allow him to regain his lost honor or to erase his heinous deeds. At one point both men were fighting to change Japan and to right the wrongs that they saw in their society, but their ideals and ambitions may come to nothing in the end.

Blade of the Immortal, Vol. 28: Raining Chaos

March 7, 2014 by Ash Brown

Creator: Hiroaki Samura
U.S. publisher: Dark Horse
ISBN: 9781616553210
Released: January 2014
Original release: 2011
Awards: Eisner Award, Japan Media Arts Award

Raining Chaos is the twenty-eighth volume in the English-language edition of Hiroaki Samura’s manga series Blade of the Immortal. Because of slight differences between the Japanese and English publications of the series, Raining Chaos is actually equivalent to the twenty-seventh volume of Blade of the Immortal released in Japan in 2011. The English edition was released by Dark Horse in 2014. Blade of the Immortal is a multi-award-winning series, having earned Samura honors both in Japan and in other countries. The series was one of the first manga that I made a point of following, so I am glad that Dark Horse is seeing Blade of the Immortal through to its end. Raining Chaos is part of the fifth and last major story arc in Blade of the Immortal. With only a few volumes left in the series, Blade of the Immortal is quickly approaching its final climax and Raining Chaos is part of that approach.

The majority of the remaining Ittō-ryū members have steadily been making their way to Hitachi, but it was only a matter of time before those in pursuit would catch up with them. After encountering the Rokki-dan en route, the Ittō-ryū has once again split its members into smaller groups so that some of them may have a better chance of survival. Most stay behind to face the Rokki-dan warriors, hoping to at least delay them if not destroy them, while a smaller force forges ahead attempting to keep the Ittō-ryū’s current second-in-command, Abayama Sōsuke, alive and safe. What they hadn’t counted on was the involvement of the Mugai-ryū, the predecessor of the Rokki-dan. Only two members of that group are still alive, and neither of them are the fighters that they once were, but they are both still extremely skilled and dangerous. With the Ittō-ryū occupied with both the Rokki-dan warriors and the Mugai-ryū assassins, the continued existence of the radical sword school looks increasingly grim.

The Ittō-ryū isn’t so much a specific style of fighting as it is a philosophy. The only agreed upon “rule” is that battles are nominally to be fought one-on-one. Other than that, almost anything goes. In part because of this, the school has attracted a diverse group of fighters with different backgrounds, martial abilities, and motivations. Some, like the Ittō-ryū’s leader Anotsu Kagehisa and several of the other high-ranking members, have very honorable intentions; they fight against what they see as corruption, though their methods may be questionable. Abayama, for example, is very concerned about the welfare of the men who train and serve under him. Others, however, are more interested in their own personal vendettas and selfish desires. They don’t care about others as long as they get what they want. The differences between these two types of people–those with noble and lofty ideals and those who are completely without morals–can be clearly seen in Raining Chaos. Even so, they are all still Ittō-ryū.

In addition to having different goals and reasons for joining the Ittō-ryū, the individual members also have different styles of fighting, which is put to good use in Raining Chaos. There isn’t much plot development in this particular volume of Blade of the Immortal, but there is plenty of action as the confrontation between the remnants of the Ittō-ryū and the Rokki-dan and the Mugai-ryū is largely brought to a conclusion. Happily, the battles in Raining Chaos are quite good; they’re well-choreographed and interesting to watch play out. Samura has a tendency to introduce unusual weapons and techniques in Blade of the Immortal, but even the most fantastic and strange have some basis in reality; legitimate tactics and fighting techniques are still applied to the battles in the series. In Raining Chaos, the importance of range and distancing is particularly emphasized. With excellent fights and compelling characters, Blade of the Immortal continues to be a series that I enjoy. I’m looking forward to the next volume, Beyond Good and Evil, a great deal.

Blade of the Immortal, Vol. 27: Mist on the Spider’s Web

November 15, 2013 by Ash Brown

Creator: Hiroaki Samura
U.S. publisher: Dark Horse
ISBN: 9781616552152
Released: September 2013
Original release: 2010
Awards: Eisner Award, Japan Media Arts Award

Mist on the Spider’s Web is the twenty-seventh volume in the English-language edition of Hiroaki Samura’s Blade of the Immortal manga series. Released by Dark Horse in 2013, Mist on the Spider’s Web is more or less equivalent to the twenty-sixth volume of Blade of the Immortal published in Japan in 2010. Blade of the Immortal is an award-winning series. Over the course of its long publication history the manga has earned Samura a Japan Media Arts Award and an Eisner Award among other honors. Blade of the Immortal is also a series of which I am particularly fond, so I am glad to see Dark Horse sticking with the manga through to its end. Mist on the Spider’s Web takes place during the fifth and final major story arc of Blade of the Immortal. The previous volume, Blizzard, was particularly good and so I was very interested to see where Samura would take things next with Mist on the Spider’s Web.

While Rin, Manji, and the others are recovering from their final confrontation with Shira, the hunt for the remaining Ittō-ryū swordsmen continues. The main group is well on its way to Hitachi under the guidance of senior members Abayama Sosuke and Kashin Koji. Before making their escape they hope to reunite with their leader Anotsu Kagehisa who has been delayed after his attack on Edō Castle. The three other Ittō-ryū fighters who also took part in the strike are either dead, missing, or severely wounded. Habaki Kagimura is in pursuit, chasing down the Ittō-ryū and its allies. He and his Rokki-dan warriors–death row convicts with little choice but to aid Habaki in his quest–are charged with annihilating the rogue sword school. The pressure on the Ittō-ryū continues to mount as more and more of Anotsu’s enemies draw ever closer.

If it wasn’t already apparent, Mist on the Spider’s Web makes it very clear how far the Ittō-ryū has fallen since its glory days. The most talented swordsmen are slowly being killed off, the new members are few and inexperienced, and the group has had to abandon some of its core ideals and principles just for the chance of survival. It is becoming increasingly likely that the Ittō-ryū may simply cease to exist in its entirety. The sword school is a mere shadow of what it once was. The Ittō-ryū, which destroyed so many other martial groups and caused so much chaos, is now faced with its own demise. However, its members are prepared to fight to the very end and by any means necessary. Despite the questionable methods that the Ittō-ryū has employed to reach its goals, Anotsu wasn’t entirely wrong in his ambitions. It is a little disheartening to see the Ittō-ryū’s idealism fading away.

Mist on the Spider’s Web has some fantastic action sequences, but there’s also quite a bit of standing around and talking, too. It can be somewhat tedious at times, but it does make sense within the context of what is going on. In general the focus of Blade of the Immortal on the Ittō-ryū has been directed towards its fighters, but the group also has members that rely more on their mental capacities rather than on their martial capabilities. Anotsu has always been shown to be a particularly impressive strategist in addition to being a skilled swordsman, but in Mist on the Spider’s Web it is old man Kashin who demonstrates his worth through his devious intelligence. He doesn’t need physical strength to overcome his enemies, only careful thought, thorough planning, and little bit of time. Of course, time is one of the things that the Ittō-ryū has less and less of these days.

Blade of the Immortal: Legend of the Sword Demon

November 13, 2013 by Ash Brown

Author: Junichi Ohsako
Illustrator: Hiroaki Samura
U.S. publisher: Dark Horse
ISBN: 9781595823380
Released: January 2010
Original release: 2008

Hiroaki Samura’s Blade of the Immortal was one of the first manga series that I began reading and it remains one of my personal favorites. When I learned that a novel based on the manga had been written I immediately picked it up. However, it did take me quite some time to actually get around to reading it. Blade of the Immortal: Legend of the Sword Demon, written by Junichi Ohsako with illustrations by Samura, was originally published in Japan in July 2008–the same month the anime adaptation of Blade of the Immortal began airing. I don’t know much about the author (Legend of the Sword Demon is the only novel by Ohsako to have been released in English), but I do know that Ohsako is a fellow fan of Blade of the Immortal. The English-language edition of Legend of the Sword Demon was translated by Camellia Nieh and released in 2010 by Dark Horse. Unsurprisingly, Dark Horse is also the publisher responsible for releasing the Blade of the Immortal manga and artbook in English.

Rin was the only daughter of Asano Takayoshi, the head of the respected Mutenichi-ryū sword school. A few years past he was brutally murdered before her very eyes, her mother was raped and abducted, and Rin was abandoned and left alone to fend for herself. Her family was destroyed at the hands of a group of renegade swordsmen known as the Ittō-ryū and their leader Anotsu Kagehisa. Now Rin is seeking her revenge, hiring an outlaw known only as Manji as her bodyguard. Rumored to be immortal, Manji has vowed to kill one thousand evil men to atone for hist past misdeeds. But is the Ittō-ryū truly evil? Whether it is or isn’t, Manji and Rin aren’t the only ones seeking the group’s demise. This complicates matters a great deal and it becomes difficult for Rin and Manji to determine who are friends and who are foes. Any alliances made in the fight against the Ittō-ryū can only be assumed to be temporary.

Legend of the Sword Demon is a very quick read. The story is a re-imagining of the early part of the Blade of the Immortal manga series. While the novel has some unique content of its own, including a dangerous enemy not found anywhere else, many of the scenes will be familiar to those who have read the original. All of the most popular characters make an appearance in the novel as well. (This was actually one of the conditions set by the publisher when the novel was initially commissioned.) Legend of the Sword Demon mostly focuses on the action of the story. Very little descriptive detail is given and the characters aren’t particularly fleshed out, either. It is interesting to see a slightly different take on Blade of the Immortal, but Legend of the Sword Demon almost requires that readers have a fairly firm grounding in the original series to really appreciate what Ohsako is doing with the story and characters. There might be enough in the novel to entice new readers to pick up the manga, but I am not at all confident of that.

In the end, I was actually rather disappointed with Legend of the Sword Demon. I can’t really recommend the novel to anyone but those who are Blade of the Immortal completists (a group of people to which I admittedly belong). Ultimately, Legend of the Sword Demon is a very insubstantial work and somewhat shallow, lacking the depth present in the manga series. It feels as though the novel is nothing more than tie-in promotional material. Ohsako may be a devoted fan of Blade of the Immortal but Legend of the Sword Demon isn’t long enough nor complex enough to really establish itself as noteworthy. It’s fun in places, but Legend of the Sword Demon is largely forgettable. The real highlight of the volume is Samura’s cover art and the handful of full-page illustrations that he created specifically for the novel. Otherwise, Legend of the Sword Demon is something that most people probably won’t regret passing over.

Blade of the Immortal, Vol. 26: Blizzard

October 16, 2013 by Ash Brown

Creator: Hiroaki Samura
U.S. publisher: Dark Horse
ISBN: 9781616550981
Released: March 2013
Original release: 2009
Awards: Eisner Award, Japan Media Arts Award

Blizzard is the twenty-sixth volume in the English-language edition of Hiroaki Samura’s long-running, award-winning manga series Blade of the Immortal. Dark Horse originally released Blade of the Immortal by story arc rather than by number of chapters, so the volumes in the English-language release are slightly different from those in the original Japanese edition. Blizzard was published by Dark Horse in 2013 and is equivalent to the twenty-fifth volume of the Japanese series which was released in 2009. Blizzard takes place during the final major story arc of Blade of the Immortal and includes one of the series’ most important climaxes. I consider Blizzard to be a companion volume to the previous collection Snowfall at Dawn which leaves off partway through the battle between Shira and Manji. By the end of Snowfall at Dawn things aren’t looking at all good for Rin and Manji, so I was anxious to read Blizzard.

With Manji and Rin sunk beneath the pond’s freezing surface, Shira returns to the roadside where he left Magatsu incapacitated. Shira is not yet through with Manji, but he wants revenge against the young Ittō-ryū fighter as well and intends on making the most of their chance meeting. Magatsu is surprised to see Shira, too, having previously sent the sadistic killer plummeting from the top of a cliff during their last encounter. Shira once again finds himself interrupted when he is challenged by Meguro, one of Habaki’s shinobi. She has little hope of defeating Shira, especially now that he is semi-immortal, but her attack serves as a distraction. Shira isn’t aware of it, but back at the pond Meguro’s companion Tanpopo is doing all that she can to rescue and revive both Rin and Manji. At this point Manji is the only person who has even a slight chance of stopping Shira, but as Manji’s condition continues to deteriorate his success seems increasingly unlikely.

The beginning of Manji and Shira’s confrontation in Snowfall at Dawn was relatively subdued, focusing more on the psychological aspects of Shira’s attack and less on the physical combat. The conclusion of their battle in Blizzard is what I was really expecting and waiting for from their showdown. With two near immortals battling it out the damage that they inflict on each other is tremendous. Others can only look on astounded at the viciousness and brutality of the bloodbath occurring in front of them. Describing Manji and Shira’s final fight as intense would be putting it very mildly. At times it is difficult to see through all of the blood and guts as the two opponents literally rip each other apart. Samura’s artwork is unflinching and captures the entirety of their exceptionally violent battle as well as its bloody aftermath. Blizzard is extreme and gruesome and even those who make it through to the end of the volume barely survive.

While the duel between Shira and Manji is certainly the focus of Blizzard it isn’t the only important development in Blade of the Immortal to occur in the volume. I was happy to see Tanpopo and Meguro take on a more active role in the series. Up until this point in the manga they have generally been part of the series’ comedic relief–Meguro in particular frequently comes across as rather ditsy–but the women are shown to be quite capable martially in Blizzard. Another important development in the volume has to do with Renzō. His father, a member of the Ittō-ryū, was killed fairly early on by Manji in Blade of the Immortal. Since then Renzō has led a very difficult life, eventually becoming a broken and damaged young man partly due to the abuse he suffered at Shira’s hands and partly because he can’t forgive what happened to his father. His struggle isn’t over, but his story does begin to find a satisfying resolution in Blizzard.

Blade of the Immortal, Volume 25: Snowfall at Dawn

September 13, 2013 by Ash Brown

Creator: Hiroaki Samura
U.S. publisher: Dark Horse
ISBN: 9781595828835
Released: August 2012
Original release: 2009
Awards: Eisner Award, Japan Media Arts Award

Snowfall at Dawn is the twenty-fifth volume in the English-language release of Hiroaki Samura’s award-winning manga series Blade of the Immortal. Published by Dark Horse in 2012, Snowfall at Dawn collects the same chapters as the twenty-fourth volume of the original Japanese edition of Blade of the Immortal released in 2009. Blade of the Immortal first began serialization in 1993 and has covered a lot of ground since then. Starting as a story of revenge with a touch of the supernatural, the series mixes historical reality with the fantastic and later on even a healthy dose of horror. Snowfall at Dawn is part of the fifth and final major story arc of the series. With morally complex characters, dynamic artwork, and an engaging story, Blade of the Immortal continues to be one of my favorite manga series.

After their daring assault on Edō Castle, Baro Sukezane provides the diversion needed to allow his comrades Magatsu Taito and Anotsu Kagehisa, the leader of the Ittō-ryū sword school, to escape. They aim to rejoin the rest of the Ittō-ryū as quickly as possible while avoiding their pursuers. Among those trying to locate Anotsu are Asano Rin and Manji, her bodyguard and companion. Little do the pair know, but they are also being pursued. Shira, a sadistic murderer who holds a particularly intense grudge against Manji, is steadily getting closer to exacting his revenge. Accompanying Shira is Kawakami Renzō, a broken young man with his own reason for hating Manji. It’s only a matter of time before the four of them meet once again. The encounter is one that Shira has been preparing for and fantasizing about, taking great pleasure in anticipating and contemplating the pain and torment his plans will bring Manji and Rin.

The last few volumes have been building up to the confrontation between Shira and Manji. Unsurprisingly, their battle is the focus of Snowfall at Dawn. What did surprise me, however, is how comparatively tame it is physically when considering the perverse and barbaric nature of Shira’s past exploits and misdeeds. The potential for extreme physical violence between Shira and Manji is great. Shira is an unapologetic and twisted sadist while Manji is a man who is extraordinarily difficult to kill, making him an ideal victim and target. But Shira isn’t only interested in Manji’s physical suffering, he also takes great joy in causing mental anguish. Although there is still plenty of bodily harm and pain inflicted during the battle in Snowfall at Dawn, the psychological impact and agony caused by Shira’s attack on Rin and Manji is just as crucial to the fight. Out of all of the characters in Blade of the Immortal, Shira is easily the most unquestionably villanous and terrifying.

In addition to the showdown between Shira and Manji, Snowfall at Dawn also reveals Shira’s whereabouts during the long prison story arc as well as his involvement in the immortality experiments. Shira may be an utter bastard, but he’s had some unspeakable things done to him as well. As part of this, there is also a lengthy discourse in Snowfall at Dawn about the nature and limitations of Manji’s bizarre regenerative abilities. While vaguely interesting, it is largely unnecessary. Anyone who has been reading Blade of the Immortal should be well aware by this point that Manji’s immortality is imperfect; ample evidence can be found throughout the series. However, Samura hasn’t previously gone into such specific detail about it as he does in Snowfall at Dawn. Unfortunately, he has to interrupt the flow of the story in order to do so. Still, Samura soon returns to what really matters in Snowfall at Dawn–Manji and Shira’s battle, which will reach its conclusion in the next volume, Blizzard.

Manga: Introduction, Challenges, and Best Practices

September 8, 2013 by Ash Brown

Editor: MJ
Publisher: Dark Horse
ISBN: 9781616552787
Released: December 2013

The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF) is an organization based in the United States devoted to the protection of the freedoms to read, create, and provide access to comics. Manga: Introduction, Challenges, and Best Practices is a part of its education initiative funded by the Gaiman Foundation and was published by Dark Horse in 2013. Manga was edited by MJ and includes contributions from Katherine Dacey, Shaenon Garrity, Sean Gaffney, Ed Chavez, Erica Friedman, and Robin Brenner. It’s an excellent lineup of manga critics, scholars, and those who have worked in the manga industry in both Japan and North America. Being familiar with their work, in addition to being a card-carrying member of the CBLDF, I was very excited when I learned about the upcoming release of Manga. And because I also happen to be a librarian, I was able to snag an early copy of the guide.

Manga consists of nine chapters and a list of recommended resources. The first chapter, “What Is Manga?” provides a brief history of manga both in Japan and in the West, distinguishes manga from comparable comics traditions such as manhua, manhwa, OEL manga and other manga-influenced comics, and provides suggested resources for further reading. The following chapters survey the four major demographics of manga–shōnen, shōjo, seinen, and josei–as well as two additional categories–yuri and boys’ love. These chapters cover history, commonly found genres, special issues, and (except for the chapter devoted to yuri) notable artists. Another chapter, “Untranslated and Fan Translated,” addresses dōjinshi and scanlations. The final and longest chapter, “Challenges,” focuses on the collection and defense of manga by libraries and summarizes a few major North American court cases dealing with manga.

As is always the danger when writing about popular culture, some of the information in Manga–specifically some of the references to what has or hasn’t been licensed in English–is already out of date. That doesn’t make Manga any less valuable as a resource, though. It is, however, something to keep in mind while reading the guide. Manga is a fantastic introduction to and overview of manga and manga history, especially as it applies to the North American market. The book seems to be particularly geared towards libraries and schools which may be developing or maintaining a manga collection, but Manga should also be interesting and useful to already established fans of manga as a whole as well to as people who are unfamiliar with the form but who would like to learn more about it. Manga packs a lot of information into a slim volume but remains very accessible throughout.

The only thing missing that may have made Manga even more useful for the uninitiated would be a glossary of terms. More information about the contributors themselves would have also been beneficial. I knew who they were but someone less familiar with the subject area wouldn’t necessarily recognize them. Overall, Manga is short and to the point and is an excellent resource. The guide eases readers into the subject and avoids overwhelming them with too much information. There were a couple of generalizations that gave me pause and may have been overly broad, but Manga is meant as an introduction and so shouldn’t (and doesn’t) get bogged down in technicalities and exceptions. Manga is consistently accurate and informative for the audience it’s intended. The book may not be incredibly in-depth, but it is a great place to start learning about manga, its history, and its challenges. Manga is very easy to recommend not only to library professionals, but to general manga enthusiasts as well.

Disclosure: Experiments in Manga is a member blog of Manga Bookshelf; many of those who worked on Manga are also associated with Manga Bookshelf.

Blade of the Immortal, Volume 24: Massacre

August 14, 2013 by Ash Brown

Creator: Hiroaki Samura
U.S. publisher: Dark Horse
ISBN: 9781595827517
Released: October 2011
Original release: 2008
Awards: Eisner Award, Japan Media Arts Award

Massacre is the twenty-fourth volume in the English-language release of Blade of the Immortal, Hiroaki Samura’s long-running manga series. Earlier on in the series’ release, Dark Horse divided the volumes by storyline rather than by number of chapters. Because of this, many of the individual volumes are slightly different in the English-language edition compared to the original Japanese release of Blade of the Immortal. Massacre, published by Dark Horse in 2011, collects the same chapters as the twenty-third volume of the Japanese edition of the series which was released in 2008. At this point, the manga has entered its final major story arc. The previous two volumes, Footsteps and Scarlet Swords, provided the necessary set up which allows Samura to really let loose in Massacre. As can be assumed from the title, it’s a rather bloody volume.

As agreed, the Ittō-ryū is leaving Edō after being banished from the city. However, the rogue sword school is still being chased by Habaki Kagimura and his Rokki-dan warriors as well as by Rin Asano and her bodyguard Manji. But what the pursuers don’t yet realize is that there are key members missing from the group of Ittō-ryū said to be making its way to the port in Hitachi: the sword school’s leader Anotsu Kagehisa and three of its elite fighters–Magatsu Taito, Ozuhan, and Baro Sukezane. The four highly skilled swordsmen have their own task to complete, a bold raid on Edō Castle through one of its most heavily guarded entrances. It’s a brash move that, if successful, will leave quite an impression in its wake, not to mention a high body count. The Ittō-ryū has already been identified as a threat, but they are prepared to show just how dangerous they can be.

Samura’s artwork in Blade of the Immortal has always been something that has particularly appealed to me about the series, but his kinetic style works especially well in Massacre. A large part of the volume is devoted to the daring attack on Edō Castle; the sequence is one of the most effectively choreographed and visually executed battles in Blade of the Immortal thus far. The Ittō-ryū is a group of swordsmen sharing the same ideals and martial philosophy more than it is a strictly enforced style. This can especially be seen in Massacre simply by watching how the Ittō-ryū’s elite fight. They all use different weapons and techniques and each has his own aura. Anotsu’s elegance, Magatsu’s cruder dynamism, Ozuhan’s speed and uninhibited wildness, and Baro’s strength and power are all readily apparent. They fight well as individuals, but also work well together as a team.

Although the focus of Massacre is on the raid of Edō Castle–a quickly paced, action packed, violent, and rather impressive escapade–several other important things happen in the volume as well. For the last few volumes of Blade of the Immortal Shira has been on the fringe of the story, but his prominence is quickly growing. He may have lost a limb or two over the course of Blade of the Immortal but his extreme sadistic streak and penchant for sexual violence remain. Shira is as terrifying as ever. Also making his return to the series was Ayame Burando, which I was surprised but happy to see. He and Manji even end up having a heart-to-heart about atonement and the meaning of evil. These are themes that play a major role in Blade of the Immortal, one of the reasons that I like the series so well. As always, I’m looking forward to reading the next volume, Snowfall at Dawn.

The Immortal: Demon in the Blood

November 11, 2012 by Ash Brown

Author: Ian Edginton
Illustrator: Vicenç Villagrasa and José Luis Río
Original story: Fumi Nakamura
Publisher: Dark Horse
ISBN: 9781616550240
Released: October 2012
Original run: 2011-2012

I picked up the trade collection of The Immortal: Demon in the Blood for one reason–the comic series is an adaptation of Fumi Nakamura’s award-winning novel Ura-Enma, published by Vertical under the title Enma the Immortal. I have read, and absolutely loved, Enma the Immortal. I was interested in seeing how another team of creators would handle the story. Ian Edginton wrote the series script, working with the artists Vicenç Villagrasa, responsible for pencils, and José Luis Río, responsible for inks and colors. I know of Edginton’s work, but before reading The Immortal I was unfamiliar with either of the two artists. The Immortal was first published by Dark Horse Comics in four monthly issues beginning in December 2011. Later it was collected and released as a single, complete volume in 2012. I missed the series when it was first issued, and so looked forward to reading the trade collection.

Amane Ichinose is a traitor and a spy. After being confronted by his fellow Shinsengumi members, he barely escapes with his life. Bleeding and dying, he stumbles onto the doorstep of Baikou Houshou, a talented tattooist. The old man rescues Ichinose, saving his life, but at the same time curses him with immortality. Houshou has given Ichinose an oni-gome, a tattoo which binds a demon to him, keeping him alive. Ichinose isn’t the only one with an oni-gome granting immortality. Yasha, Houshou’s erstwhile apprentice, tattooed his own oni-gome, becoming a cannibalistic monster in the process as the demon bound to him devours his soul. Ichinose comes to realize that Yasha may have been responsible for the death of his sister and is determined to find him no matter how long it takes. After all, time is the one thing Ichinose now has more than enough of.

The Immortal doesn’t actually adapt the entirety of Enma the Immortal, which makes sense for such a short comic series. Instead, the comic focuses its attention on the first two thirds of the novel, taking the story up through the Yokohama Ripper arc. It was a good decision. However, steampunk elements were added to the story of The Immortal. Except for some interesting and attractive illustrations, they don’t seem to serve much of a purpose for either the plot or the setting. I actually found them to be somewhat distracting and even at odds with the supernatural elements of the story. Edginton is particularly known for some of his other steampunk series and steampunk is a popular genre right now, but its inclusion in The Immortal was largely unnecessary.

Ultimately, I can’t say that I was overly impressed with The Immortal. But it’s not because of my loyalty to or love of source material. The comic gets off to a weak start, rushing through the necessary introductory material. The ending, too, isn’t very satisfying; the rules governing how the oni-gome work seem to suddenly change during the story’s climax. But everything in between the beginning and end is pretty great. Ichinose is easily the most well developed character in the series. I enjoyed seeing how he changes as a person over the years even while physically he remains the same. I think The Immortal could have used one or two more issues to more fully develop and flesh out the other characters and address some of the problems with pacing in the series. As it is, the comic is somewhat frustrating overall, especially considering there were parts of it that I highly enjoyed.

The Best Manga You’re Not Reading: Mail

October 20, 2012 by Katherine Dacey

Have spirit gun, will travel — that’s the basic plot of Mail, a three-volume collection of ghost stories penned by Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service illustrator Housui Yamazaki. Like Kurosagi, Mail follows a spook-of-the-week formula, pausing occasionally to fill us in on the personal life of its chief exorcist, Detective Reiji Akiba. Akiba initially presents as a Columbo-esque figure, disarming clients with his rumpled coat and penchant for napping on the job, but his true nature is soon revealed in the first story: he’s handy with Kagutsuchi, his trusty pistol, and unflappable in the presence of the undead.

As we learn over the course of the series, Akiba was born blind. Medicine restored his sight, but with a side effect: he began seeing dead people. After years of living in fear of ghosts, Akiba learned to perform exorcisms with Kagutsuchi, a skill he parlayed into a career as a modern-day onmyoji.

If Akiba’s strategies for assisting his clients are decidedly hi-tech — websites, cellphones, GPS devices, bullets — the stories have a pleasantly old-fashioned quality to them. Some are morality plays; in “The Doll,” for example, a toy becomes the vessel for a hit-and-run victim to bring her killer to justice. Others read more like good campfire tales; in “Suppressed,” for example, a young woman begins receiving mysterious calls from a “friend” who’s en route to her home, the last of which appear to be originating from inside her apartment. Still others draw on urban legend for inspiration; “Ka-tsu-mi,” the fifth chapter in the series, focuses on a girl who dies after accidentally photographing a ghost.

I’d be the first to admit that Yamazaki is not a master of suspense. Though Mail is filled with suitably gruesome imagery and creative variations on oft-told ghost stories, the reader is never in doubt about Akiba’s ability to save his clients. The endings have a sameness that becomes more apparent when reading them back-to-back, as Akiba’s only method for banishing the undead is to fire Kagutsuchi. And while Akiba demonstrates remarkable sangfroid when confronting murdered babies, vengeful lovers, and drowning victims, his undeniable coolness doesn’t quite compensate for the predictability of the denounements.

What Mail lacks in suspense it makes up in atmosphere. Yamazaki shows considerable flair for turning ordinary urban environments into unbearably scary places, whether he’s depicting an empty public bathroom or a high-rise building. In one of Mail‘s best stories, for example, a woman receives a letter urging her to move out of her apartment right away. Shortly after reading the letter, she catches glimpse of something moving along the ceiling of the adjacent room:

Though we’re outside the picture plane, viewing the action from a different angle than the hapless apartment dweller, we don’t have any more information about what’s lurking in the other room than she does; Yamazaki is relying on the reader to guess what might be crawling along the ceiling by planting one suggestive detail.

The other thing that makes this image so unsettling is the very mundaneness of the setting. With its square rooms and bland furnishings, this scene could be unfolding in almost any Tokyo neighborhood, in almost any modern apartment complex. (Add a parquet floor, and it could just as easily be taking place in any postwar building in Manhattan.) More unsettling still is that this scene is taking place in broad daylight, not at night; whatever is haunting the apartment isn’t relying on the camouflage of darkness, but is sallying forth at a time of day when spirits are supposed to be hidden and, more importantly, impotent.

Not all of the stories take place in Tokyo; several unfold in the countryside. Mail is at its best in urban settings, however, as the very nature of city living gives Yamazaki ample material to work with, whether he’s spinning a cautionary tale about the anonymity of modern life or simply reflecting on the myriad layers of history buried underneath new roadways and buildings. As a life-long city-dweller, I found stories such as “The Drive” — which takes place on an urban freeway — “The Elevator” — which takes place in a stalled elevator car — and “Hide-and-Seek” — which takes place in a haunted apartment — among the spookiest in the collection, as they tapped into a deep well of fear that all urban folk share: that cities harbor something even bigger and scarier than crime, high property taxes, or gridlock.

MAIL, VOLS. 1-3 • BY HOUSUI YAMAZAKI • DARK HORSE • RATING: OLDER TEEN/MATURE

The Best Manga You’re Not Reading: Mail

October 20, 2012 by Katherine Dacey 1 Comment

Have spirit gun, will travel — that’s the basic plot of Mail, a three-volume collection of ghost stories penned by Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service illustrator Housui Yamazaki.

Like Kurosagi, Mail follows a spook-of-the-week formula, pausing occasionally to fill us in on the personal life of its chief exorcist, Detective Reiji Akiba. Akiba initially presents as a Columbo-esque figure, disarming clients with his rumpled coat and penchant for napping on the job, but his true nature is soon revealed in the first story: he’s handy with Kagutsuchi, his trusty pistol, and unflappable in the presence of the undead.

As we learn over the course of the series, Akiba was blind as a child. Medicine restored his sight, but with a side effect: he saw dead people. After years of living in fear of ghosts, Akiba learned to perform exorcisms with Kagutsuchi, a skill he parlayed into a career as a modern-day onmyoji.

MAIL, VOLS. 1-3 • BY HOUSUI YAMAZAKI • DARK HORSE • RATING: OLDER TEEN/MATURE