Blade Of The Immortal Collection

Classic comic fine movie fine service

I'd heard so many bad things about this anime adaptation that I was really hesitant to get it. After watching the first episode I had this "what the..." feeling deep in my stomach, and I had to force myself to watch the next episode, after which I really needed a break. It felt like all those bad things were quite true, and although I can't say I hadn't been warned, I was still disappointed. But overall, I guess it's a good thing I got this collection DVD. I continued watching it some time later, and... it gets better, gradually. In fact, I watched the first episodes again after finishing this set, and they didn't feel that bad, anymore.So, what was so bad, and why did I change my mind?There's the art, for starters. I'm sure that everyone agrees that the art of the Blade is stunning. I don't _need_ great art in anime (one of my favorite series really is quite clumsily drawn with plastic faces and stiff limbs), but for series like this, I wanted it to be as brilliant as the manga, and it is not. As anime goes, it's pretty good, I guess, but... when you look at the original, it really doesn't look like manga in general does, but the anime... it looks like any other anime, if you get what I mean. But, I don't know, maybe I grew used to it, with time, as it doesn't bother me that much anymore.Another thing is the story. The first episode is pretty messed up. I mean, Habaki's there making his offer to Anotsu once we're five minutes into the story. We also meet Hyakurin & co in the first episode. (In fact, there was a bit too much stuff in that first episode, making it maybe a little difficult to follow for those who don't know the story. Not to mention that you don't know the significance of Habaki's offer, if you don't know the background.) Shortly put, it felt like they'd messed up the plot line - but it's not that bad. As the story goes on, everything proceeds pretty much exactly as in the manga. For some reason they just wanted to introduce some characters earlier.One thing I've seen people complaining about are the voice actors. I've only watched this in Japanese and have no idea what the English version is like, but at least for me, the Japanese works fine. Some say Manji should sound more gruff - maybe he could, but personally I don't have any problem with his (or anyone else's) voice.There are three discs in this set, and during the second one I finally got sucked in. There are still some individual scenes I didn't like that much, but overall, I've enjoyed it. Enough to push it up to four stars, though I did consider three.In fact, does anyone know if there is/will be continuation to this? I'd like to see more.

Watchable but nothing ground breaking, doesn't come close the the quality of the Manga.

As an anime series in it's own right, Blade of the Immortal is ok. It follows most of the same story as the manga source material and so is therefore still full of interesting ideas, characters and action. So if you havent read the Manga by Hiroaki Samura, you may enjoy it.However, as is the case with me, I am a long time fan of the manga comic, and as a result feel this anime adaption to be very lacking. It simply does not have the life, the power, or the sheer dynamic that the comics have.Technically, it's here, as many of the action sequences that the comic are known for are very faithfully restaged, but it just doesn't come alive.I think alot of that is to do with the animation. It's fine, it's average, but a series like Blade of the immortal needed AAA animation to pull it off. Couple this with the fact they they haven't nailed alot of the main characters, especially Manji, who is just dead on the screen here where as in the comic he just leaps off the page with his character. Think of Samurai Champloo or even the great Cowboy bebop,and you'll get a better of idea of the quality of character and animation that this show neededI always wanted them to make Blade into an anime, but when they did I was disappointed as it is not done well enough.If you watch this series and are in anyway interested in some of the ideas and characters,or even if you found it lacking, I heartily recommend you get the Manga comic series as it is at least 5 times better than this anime.