All the major characters (i.e. the ones that survive at least one story arc) are three-dimensional and very human. They all have their own pasts and even (more or less) valid reasons for committing whatever acts of blasphemy they take their swords and/or axes to. Even the supposed villains have hearts deep down and aren't necessarily evil. I found this a unique and intriguing aspect of the manga, because if you think about it, nobody's really the villain in Blade--everyone's just trying to get through life in one piece. Then again, there are also plenty of violent, evil side-character psychos floating around, but they pretty much serve as outlets for whatever violent energy Manji has at the moment.

One of the prime aspects of Blade that will catch the eye is the art. The color pictures are dark and dramatic and the pencil work is beautiful. Samura-sensei has a distinct style that includes plenty of attention to detail. The character designs generally do not have the usual big-eyed manga look; rather, the characters are more realistic and have their own distinctive traits. As this is a samurai manga, there are of course fighting scenes all over the place and blood galore. Although very gory, the fighting scenes are extremely well-drawn and somehow Samura-sensei still has time to draw in the equally-detailed backgrounds.

The English adaptation of Blade is extremely well done. Kowtow to the people at Studio Proteus for their great translation! The script has a variety of speaking styles from formal to street punk and the English translations convey this very nicely. The translators also leave some of the Japanese terms in for authenticity and educational value, and there's a handy glossary for those terms as well.

I think the only thing that will make people wince with Blade is the violence. The kesson-chu inside Manji not only heal whatever injury he has, they can also reattach any cut-off body part. Convenient isn't it? As a result, the reader gets accustomed to a hand flying off somewhere in the distance often followed by a foot; Manji can reattach his limbs, so no worries. Of course, Manji isn't the only one to lose a limb or two. It's amazing how bloodily some random underling can be chopped up. There are also very adult situations with prostitutes and the like, so don't let your little brother or sister read this yet. There are many moments where I think, "He's not really going to … oh … lovely."

Fandom

Well, there are a decent number of Blade English fan-sites, but the hype is stronger than the htmling fandom. This site has intensive information on everything from characters to manga covers, and this site has good general information, longer chapter translations, a huge image gallery, and lots of links worth checking out (it also happens to be the site the images on this review are from). I also found this and this, two tattoos of Rin that I find very amusing if a bit obsessive. On ff.net there is a small amount of fanfiction that could be worth checking out, and here is a Magatsu shrine for those of us obsessed with that funky-haired tough guy. Not a bad fandom at all, if a little small.

It's hard to argue Blade of the Immortal's quality. Great art, great story, great characters--it's got everything the perfect manga has. Still, I think some of the violence is unnecessarily brutal up to the point where you may find "Did he really have to be sliced in half?" applying every dozen pages. If you're old enough for this title, it shouldn't detract too much from everything else, so I still give Blade of the Immortal 4.8 stars out of 5. Feel free to argue with me about the rating, since I'm up for a duel...er, debate. And watch the effects this manga can have on you.