Blade of the Immortal, Vol. 10: Secrets
This multivolume series first arrived on the American comics scene in 1995, and manga fans went wild. Not since Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima's Lone Wolf and Cub has a samurai series gathered such a devoted following. It's the story of Anotsu Kagehisa, founder of the Itto-ryu sword school; Rin, a beautiful swordswoman whose parents have been killed by Anotsu; and Manji, Rin's bodyguard, who accompanies her on her quest to avenge her parents' death. With skillful storytelling and masterful artistry, Samura takes the tension and stoicism of Lone Wolf and fuses it with a postmodern irreverence and casual, contemporary vocabulary (e.g., Manji says things like "shaddap!"). Indeed, irreverence is Samura's strength, allowing him to write without much worry about the accuracy of his portrayal of historic Japan. In this volume, Anotsu travels to Kaga province. Unknown to Anotsu, the injured Manji is resting there while bloodworms work to reattach his limbs after a bloody fight with Itto-ryu swordsmen. Meanwhile, Rin, now separated from Manji, has been robbed and left to fend for herself in the wilderness. Like a soap opera, this story is more anticipation than immediate action. Some readers may need a bit of plot information if they're just beginning, but Samura's dialogue is helpful. His b&w; drawings are gestural but precise and leap convincingly between meditative scenes of nature and dynamic fights and battles. The thin, fast lines of his drawings suggest a vibrant informality, as if readers were peeking at his sketchbook. Thrilling, violent action combines with a dash of science fiction in an unusual manga melodrama.Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.