Monday, May 15, 2006

Blade of the Immortal, v.15: Trickster

by Hiroaki Samura
Published in the U.S. by Dark Horse Manga




For the last 14 books, we've followed Rin, more or less, on her quest for revenge on Anotsu. In v.14, she took a pass and let him go. For a Western-style storyteller, that would be the end. But on we go, now with no clear goal in sight.

So now what? We meet new people, new opponents whose psychoses are established, or whose motivations are suitably muddled, and we revisit the vague involvement of the government in the whole situation. Maybe things will become clearer in v.16... and maybe they won't. Lose half a star for misplacing the plotline and making me wait impatiently for the next volume.


As a consolation prize, Manji gets his ass kicked but wins anyway, and Magatsu has a cool fight with Giichi and is left for dead. Again. Magatsu never gets any respect, and he keeps crawling back for more.


And Manji makes fun of Rin for worrying about him. Maybe she should just kick him in the nuts instead. He might find that charming.

OK, so I'm grumpy about the story turning around and doing a few manga-standard character introductions... again. I expected better.



- Miranda

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