Blade of the Immortal Volume 3   Starring (voice): Rina Satou, Tomokazu Seki, Daisuke Namikawa and Hirofumi Nojima MVM RRP: £15.99 MVD2314 Certificate: 15 Available 10 January 2011

When Manji, a samurai, discovers that his master is dishonourably immoral he kills him, but fails to kill himself, being cursed by a witch for his past deeds. In his master's service he has killed and in his last act of defiance he kills one hundred of his former master’s retainers, many of them innocent of any crime. To atone for his sin Manji must balance his past behaviour by killing a thousand evil men, but Manji is unsure how to determine the real evil in men’s hearts...

Blade of the Immortal: Volume 3 (2008) continues with a further four episodes of the anime series - based on a manga created by Hiroaki Samura - directed by Koichi Mashimo. This volume holds the final four episodes, ten to thirteen, of the show: Mask of Change, Wings, Wheel and Wing. The 1.78:1 anamorphic transfer remains of a high quality and audio is offered in 2.0 English (with signs) and 2.0 Japanese with subtitles, either do the show justice, but a 5.1 surround sound track would have been preferable.

One of the things which have been impressive about this short series is the quality of the extras, rather than the usual trailers we have interviews with the creators of the show. This volume has another interview with Koichi Mashimo conducted by Hiroaki Samura (41 min, 23 sec) although the two discuss Blade; there is a much more interesting discussion around the history of anime and the realities of working in the industry. The interview with screenwriter, Hiroyuki Kawasaki (29 min, 04 sec) is once again conducted by Samura, it follows a similar pattern in using a discussion about Blade to look at the work that a screenwriter undertakes, when adapting an original manga. The extras are wrapped up with a couple of trailers.

For a show which looked at the morality, consequences and realities of revenge it is only fair for Rin to finally have the chance to gain restitution from the man who raped her mother and made her an orphan, the problem is that the opportunity presents itself in the form of Araya Kawakami’s son, who is innocent of his father’s crimes. Rather than exact her revenge Rin saves the boy, this does not stop the father from attacking Rin, in return. The shows last two episodes refreshingly do not end in a climactic battle, but rather return to the philosophical roots of the show, its contemplative close is very much in tune with the overall series.

This is a show which started slow but grew on me very quickly, although released as single volumes; I still feel that this would make an excellent box set.

9

Charles Packer