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Oct 12, 2019 2:32 AM

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Oct 2008
13718
This show is WICKED BADASS!
5/5!


Oct 12, 2019 2:42 AM

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May 2015
1912
This is pretty good.
I was kinda put off by the animation and palette color at the beginning, but I can take it. It's Linden Films after all.
The pacing and facial expressions are the best things in here.
Oct 12, 2019 3:48 AM
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Apr 2013
670
Wow, animation and battle choreographywise, this thing sucks ass. Jumpcuts of cheap gore and white flashes all over the place, to the point of being nearly unwatchable, and watching this nights gives you eye strain after mere seconds. As long as the show's in its story parts, it is okay. Not great, but watchable. I like the story and characters. Hope only that the fights get somewhat more interesting. A guy who can't die is rather problematic in terms of storytelling, because he is going to win either way. Or better, he isn't going to loose. Most fights will probably be along the lines of evil dude chops and stabs a bit in main dude, thinks he has won, surprise attack and looses. Add in some bad guy threatens to kill/rape/insertevil stuff cute girl, and we have our formula of the week. Hope they find a way to circumvent that. Immortal cryptonite, here I come, yay.

matias067 said:
This show is WICKED BADASS!
5/5!


Because of cheap gore animations? What are you? 12?
I mean, I'm completely fine with you enjoying the show, but I somehow get the
feeling that you're only in here because of gore...
Oct 12, 2019 4:07 AM

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Jul 2016
3162
Play2X said:
Wow, animation and battle choreographywise, this thing sucks ass. Jumpcuts of cheap gore and white flashes all over the place, to the point of being nearly unwatchable, and watching this nights gives you eye strain after mere seconds. As long as the show's in its story parts, it is okay. Not great, but watchable. I like the story and characters. Hope only that the fights get somewhat more interesting. A guy who can't die is rather problematic in terms of storytelling, because he is going to win either way. Or better, he isn't going to loose. Most fights will probably be along the lines of evil dude chops and stabs a bit in main dude, thinks he has won, surprise attack and looses. Add in some bad guy threatens to kill/rape/insertevil stuff cute girl, and we have our formula of the week. Hope they find a way to circumvent that. Immortal cryptonite, here I come, yay.

matias067 said:
This show is WICKED BADASS!
5/5!


Because of cheap gore animations? What are you? 12?
I mean, I'm completely fine with you enjoying the show, but I somehow get the
feeling that you're only in here because of gore...


Well somebody is a sadsack.
Oct 12, 2019 4:55 AM
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Aug 2016
15
FMmatron said:
Kinda reminds me of Shiguri, just not quite as atmospheric.

Was an okaish start, not really intriguing yet, but it has potential.


It's the same director!
Oct 12, 2019 7:43 AM

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Mar 2015
133
How can anyone say this amazing art is bad?
Oct 13, 2019 3:53 PM
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Jan 2019
1009
A story directed by resentment, hatred and revenge. What a great anime! I was somewhat shocked by the brutality of the scenes, but they seemed great. This anime has a peculiar animation that looks good with the time the story unfolds. I love that the voice of the protagonist is interpreted by Seiyuu Tsuda Kenjirou, the one who gave life to Kei Matoba (Cop Craft) and Kunai Haruto (Maou-sama, Retry!), In addition to other well-known characters, is one of my favorite seiyuus 😁. Another anime to the list.
Oct 13, 2019 8:17 PM

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Mar 2012
761
WolfDBreidi said:
I was somewhat shocked by the brutality of the scenes, but they seemed great. This anime has a peculiar animation that looks good with the time the story unfolds


Don't read the manga if you were shocked by the anime. :')
Great start.. If it wasn't Mugen no Juunin. One of the most cult manga. It's too rush for me and Samura art can't be equal.
Oct 15, 2019 9:05 AM
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Mar 2015
13563
Weird format Very stylized Feels almost like poetry in motion
Oct 16, 2019 4:09 AM
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Jul 2018
564054
I'm very much liking this so far. I couldn't get into the old version but this did its job perfectly. I'm staying.
-----
Loving the girl and Manji as a duo.
Oct 16, 2019 2:05 PM

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Aug 2018
98
I really liked it. The tone and atmosphere were fantastic; very bleak and dark. It reminds me of Dororo, which I considerably enjoyed. I'm a fan of feudal Japan era settings.
What a horrific guy that Sabato Kuroi was, having his former wife and Rin's mother, stuffed and mounted on his shoulders. It was a shame the fight between Sabato and Manji was so abrubt. But there's a minimum of 29 other bloody battles we're yet to see, so it should be good.
Oct 17, 2019 1:32 PM
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Apr 2016
13219
Wow, that was godly! What's with the low rating? While it does cut out some parts of the manga, it's still great. The art is very aesthetic, reminds me of Samurai Champloo and some other great shows. The "love" samurai at the end was damn creepy, I don't usually get creeped out by anime, but damn, he was creepy. This looks very good so far, one show to look forward to this season.
Oct 19, 2019 12:30 AM
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Mar 2012
4110
Strong eerie atmosphere & art. Mostly blood but fights were guess ok.
Not sure if it's a standard revenge story and if ittoryu having a shallow villain motivation then could get bland.
Oct 19, 2019 3:46 AM
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Jan 2019
5
what a great surprise!
I love the manga and I am so happy that finally the anime has a decent animation
Oct 21, 2019 11:31 AM
The Shrike

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Nov 2009
11611
ShonenChoco said:
Hate Porn - The Anime.

1 out of 10 and dropped.


We're blessed that your vote wont count toward the overall score then.

I don't understand the automatic hate any hardcore seinen has in MAL. It immediately draws these kind of reponses.
"Perhaps there is a universal, absolute truth. Perhaps it justifies every question. But that's beyond the reach of these small hands." Mamoru Oshii

There is a cult of ignorance (...) nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that “my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.” Isaac Asimov

Oct 21, 2019 6:08 PM

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Aug 2011
222
I'm afraid to watch anymore due to the intensity of the animation on hurting my eyes too badly. Definitely something you can't watch up close on a computer at I feel.
Oct 22, 2019 11:24 PM

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Jun 2013
4852
that was "artsy".
Oct 29, 2019 12:16 PM

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Sep 2017
173
good episode. i liked it :)
cherry_memoirOct 29, 2019 12:20 PM
Nov 9, 2019 9:09 PM

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Apr 2012
21690
FMmatron said:
TrevRockOne said:


This has the same director as Shigurui.


No wonder the sound effects and the whole atmosphere that was tried to created felt so similar.

And fuck my auto correct.


If it is also weird like Shigurui, then I don’t even know. I love samurai dramas, but at the moment this is too arthouse for me.
Nov 10, 2019 12:45 PM

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Apr 2013
561
rushing already in the first ep...
the art is unique and the animation style in on point.
phantomfandom said:
Is this even watchable? The problem about distributor like Netflix or Amazon is that they give 100% right to director's vision, but the vision is just self-focus, mostly unpolished, and just screaming 'Hey I'm so artful! Loot at me westerners! Look at my artful traditional Japanese animation with all those uncensored violence, I'm not your usual fanservice otaku culture director! I'm a real deal!'.

??? are you not happy to see the full thing? even tho this is very rushed up compared to the original series...
UiaiNov 10, 2019 12:49 PM
Nov 24, 2019 4:07 PM

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Jul 2019
131
A serious (in tone at least) samurai show about a young girl who seeks revenge against the group that killed her parents and about the 用心棒 she hires, a skilled samurai who cannot die. I love the style and brutality of this show, very enjoyable to watch. The heads sewn onto his shoulders was a bit too much though, I couldn't help but find humor in the absurdity of it. It reminded me of something I'd see in the movie "300". I wonder if they will keep up this level of absurdity.
Dec 4, 2019 12:08 PM

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May 2017
817
Watched this on the bus, but had to look at something else when the samurai monster man, with women's heads on his shoulders, started shoving his fingers in our girl's mouth. Good god. This is quite gory and intense.

I found the animation to be EXTREMELY strange. Not much is animated, honestly? Whenever sword work happens, it's off screen, and instead, we get the facial reaction of whomever. Anyway, the atmosphere is really cool, and is why I'm coming back.
Mar 23, 2020 9:39 AM

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Apr 2016
4863
So... while I def saw the carnage coming when it comes to Blade of the Immortal 2019 (on top of the not so great animation and some almost epileptic sequences), I did not anticipate there to be this strange, almost naturalistic sense of serenity to be surrounding the show. 1 episode in and this is pretty interesting.
Mar 25, 2020 10:51 PM

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Jun 2016
3391
I have waited until this series finished airing to start because I loved the PV so much and upon hearing news that the series continued to be good, I wanted to be able to watch it at my own pace. The sound design is at times overpowering and creates a serious sense of style that draws me in, on top of the art of nearly every moment and perfect voice acting choice of Tsuda Kenjirou. He does the chill badass like no other. And let’s be frank, for a man without much to lose and immortality on his side, I’d expect nothing less.

This episode we meet Asano Rin, a young girl who had her father slaughtered, and her mother raped and mutilated by the Itto-ryu. She has trained for two years and has been running on pain and sadness and spite as she has committed herself to getting vengeance. We also met the other main character Manji. Seeing and hearing a bit of his past has painted a picture of him. Known as he who has killed 100 men, he is also known as a man who got his kid sister caught up in his fights which wound up killing her and has taken on a life of atonement. Which to be fair is a pretty admirable choice as one could imagine Manji becoming the villain if he was not as good of a guy. That said, I’m sure we’ll ask at some point whether killing more people is the way to atonement, Manji already stated it’s never black and white. An old lady who claimed her name was Yaobikuni which has lived in a graveyard for 800 years, be it a ghost or a joke, has acted as a conduit of fate, leading the two together as Manji has taken on the role as Asano Rin’s bodyguard.

I should speak about the Itto-ryu as they were described as master swordsmen who butcher every dojo which defies them. They appear to have started as 30 people but grew considerably in the two years Rin was training, now with hundreds under them. In the flashback we saw some things to take note of. It was the most prominent member, probably the leader, of the Itto-ryu who told them to keep Rin alive. One could speculate this was for Sabato Kuroi, or for even a moral reason although I doubt both of these. I mean the latter is an absolute joke. Rather, he gave the line about Itto-ryu’s mission as to “show the path and make known the weak swordsmen of this realm”. This makes me think he intentionally set Rin up to become a strong swordsman or something, scarring her and giving her a drive. Also notably, maybe to give merit to Manji’s claim about human’s vesting their own interest in their judgements and samurai often killing in a chain of revenge, Rin’s mother did state that the Itto-ryu “once studied under the same sword school”.

Anyways, Manji is a cool guy, he’s lax, he likes fishing, he burns his food, he’s also a good guy, wanting to make sure to only kill for the righteous and letting Rin sleep in his residence as he sleeps outside. Immediately he started to see Rin as the little sister that he lost, potentially as if he can help her, he could help atone for not being able to protect her. He slapped her as she tried to offer her body, which does go to further her drive for revenge, something her attempted suicide should make absolutely clear. This immediately does create an interesting avenue of betrayal, if revenge is more important than her life, then the bad dudes could ask her to sell out Manji, but seeing the familiar seed being sown I would assume at that point she would act like she was selling him out but have his back.

Ultimately Manji was able to see the deranged nature of the people who hurt her in Sabato Kuroi who stitched her mother and his former wife to his shoulders in some act of eternalizing beauty. Despite his fascination with beauty and stopping those beautiful from turning repulsive he had a scarred face, perhaps a sign of conventional repulsion. Ultimately however, in a cool scene where Manji got his leg sliced clean off, he rose again and cut Kuroi into pieces, the truly eternal telling the wannabe how it’s not so good to be like him, and separating him from his former wife and Rin’s mother. I should also speak on the form of immortality briefly touched on, it’s some kind of sacred worms which stitch him back together from the inside and prevents bleeding out but he can still feel serious pain.
Apr 16, 2020 12:31 AM

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Jul 2015
9999
Nice to see a new adaptation of an relatively old series, glad that they didn't censor anything since this is an ova and the animation looks pretty good

Quite the monster we got there, Manji is awesome, hope they don't rush this too much

Jan 25, 2021 9:12 PM

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Jun 2020
123
Absolutely beautiful art! I'm a huge fan already and honestly, I'm kind of speechless right now
Mar 15, 2021 5:45 PM

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Mar 2012
673
i was so happy with the PV and seeing blade get an art direction that reminded me of shigurui. shigurui is to heavy but the feel of the show is exactly what i wanted for blade and for my surprise - because i'm slow as fuck and haven't thought about it - i got here only to find out that the same guy directed both.
oh well, i like the sound ambiance, and the fights. it's not an action anime, but a story about hatred and revenge. notthat it coudn't be. samura's fight scenes look amazing on the manga, but maybe, not enough money to make it like the source.
i'm both excited and concerned about the pace. this is going really fast and although i'm happy we'll go farther than the old anime, this could derail very easily. but i'm gonna keep my faith.
i actually love the character design. it's different, but it goes well with the vibe of the series and everyone looks so good! i loved tsuda-san's voice as manji too. i kinda imagined him sounding like that in my head when reading. and i'm surprised by the choice of voice for anotsu, but it fits him so well...
i was really happy so far. blade is one of my favourite manga and it's beautiful.

[ now knowing that kishimoto was THE fanboy of samura on his university days, having admitted he inspired kakashi design from magatsu and iruka from manji (yeah, i know) i can't help but wonder if anotsu was the inspiration for itachi? ]
Jun 14, 2021 12:14 AM
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Oct 2019
4342
i liked the style of this (kind of "indie" and "grunge" feeling, for lack of better descriptors), moreso than i actually liked the characters or content

but it's early, and overall it was "fine". so i'm giving it a 6/10 to start and we'll see how it goes
Aug 7, 2022 9:00 AM

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Oct 2017
1381
It was pretty good, but also kind of too rushed & all over the place.
May 3, 2023 1:33 PM
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May 2022
13
Absolutely awesome 1st episode. Epic
Jan 11, 8:07 PM

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Aug 2022
82
This anime captured the spirit of the manga very well. I enjoyed this episode very much.

Rin seeks out Manji, a ronin known as the Blade of the Immortal. Her father was murdered and her mother defiled before her eyes by Itto Ryu and his gang. She seeks revenge and the first henchmen has a very dear surprise for her.

This series is very much demented, much the like the manga. If you cannot tolerate extreme violence, rape or mental crazy, I'd avoid this series.
Apr 19, 1:04 AM
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Jul 2023
637
MUCH better than the 2008 anime structurally, but still mid.
- At least this version has style.
- They didn’t show the stuff with his sister? Maybe they’ll go into it later
- I will say though, this is REALLY fast paced. Like we’re already down a villain, and it’s only episode 1… slow down dude, you got 23 more episodes
Jun 18, 2:15 PM

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Jun 2015
2518
So funny thing I started this anime by mistake. I thought I started the older 2008 version. For two episodes I was going crazy because I knew I heard Tsuda Kenjirou as Manji but he wasn't the one listed as the seiyuu. Then I noticed the different in episodes number. I usually watch the older versions before the remakes if I plan to watch both. My hand was forced with this one. It's very good so I won't complain.
If you are going to disagree with me, don't bother talking to me. I will seriously hurt you!
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It’s time to ditch the text file.
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