Mugen no Juunin

Blade of the Immortal
無限の住人
Inhabitant of Infinity

Manga8.420931 votes30 volumes · 207 chaptersFinished

ActionAdventureDramaSupernaturalHistoricalMartial ArtsSamuraiSeinen

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About this title

Synopsis

Manji is an infamous swordsman in feudal Japan who is known as the "Hundred Man Killer," as he has killed one hundred innocent men. However, there is something far more frightening than his ominous reputation: the fact that he is immortal. This is the handiwork of eight-hundred-year-old nun Yaobikuni, who placed bloodworms capable of healing almost any wound in Manji's body. To atone for his crimes, Manji resolves to kill one thousand evil men. Yaobikuni agrees to this proposal, saying that if he succeeds, she will undo his curse of immortality. Soon after this promise, Manji meets Rin Asano, a 16-year-old girl who requests Manji's assistance in killing those who slaughtered her parents. Initially reluctant, Manji refuses Rin's desperate plea. However, owing to her evident lack of strength, Manji changes his mind and agrees to protect Rin for four years. With this partnership set in stone, the two embark on a perilous journey of bloodshed, vengeance, and redemption, each to fulfill their own life's cause. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

Publication notes

Mugen no Juunin won the Excellence Prize at the first Japan Media Arts Festival in 1997. The series was published in English by Dark Horse Comics as Blade of the Immortal in monthly comics issues from June 1, 1996, to November 14, 2007, but was stopped after 131 issues. The publisher also released the manga in 31 volumes from March 1, 1997, to April 1, 2015. The release featured the unusual method of cutting out and rearranging panels, which was done so to have the series read left to right while still appealing to Hiroaki Samura's request of not flipping the pages. Dark Horse Comics republished the series in 3-in-1 omnibus volumes, with the final omnibus containing Shousetsu Mugen no Juunin: Ninjuu Ibun. The first 19 volumes were released in Brazilian Portuguese by Conrad Editora from February 2004 to February 2007; the full series was published by Editora JBC in 2-in-1 omnibus volumes from December 2015 to May 2018.

Published

Jun 25, 1993 to Dec 25, 2012

Authors

Samura, Hiroaki

External links

MyAnimeList page Wikipedia Wikipedia

MAL rank: #226
Members (MAL): 91,664
Favorites (MAL): 3,144

Related titles

Sequel

Mugen no Juunin: Bakumatsu no Shou

Adaptation

Alternative Version

Shousetsu Mugen no Juunin: Ninjuu Ibun

Main characters

Manji760 fan favorites
External profile
Manji is the protagonist of the Japanese manga series Blade of the Immortal. In the story, he's known infamously both as the "Hundred Man Killer," for the number of men he's killed by the beginning of the series, and "Mister Twelve Blades" for the number of weapons he carries. He is most easily identified by the manji symbol he wears from which he derives his name and the scars across his face, and as the title of the manga implies, he's been given immortality by the means of the Kessen-chu, which prevent him (for the most part) from dying. (Source: Wikipedia)
Kagehisa Anotsu241 fan favorites
External profile
He is the leader of the Itto-ryu and an equal of Manji. This emotionally cold young man has prodigious skill with the sword, and leads the Itto-ryu. He runs Itto-ryu in order to form a dojo dedicated not to form and rules, but to the simple test of superior lethality. He was brought up by his abusive grandfather (a swordsman disgraced by the Asano dojo -the dojo of Rin‘s family). Anotsu is as pragmatic and shrewd as he is deadly, although he isn't as inhuman as originally believed. He even allows Rin to live after she attacks him. He has two weapons. The first, his main weapon, is a Nepalese-based axe named Kabutsuchi (Head Hammer). The other is his rarely used sword of the same name. (Source: Wikipedia)
Rin Asano101 fan favorites
External profile
The sole survivor of an Ittō-ryū massacre at Anotsu's hand and heir to her father's sword school, the "Mutenichi-ryū". She has mediocre swordsmanship skills but an intense desire to avenge the brutal death of her family. To aid in this quest, she hires Manji as a bodyguard. It is worth noting that she kisses a sleeping Manji in the fourteenth volume and has shown on numerous occasions that she develops feelings towards him. They are as of now largely unreciprocated. At the beginning of the series she is portrayed as somebody who is trying to act mature, but is still very childish - as the series progresses she steadily "grows up" and loses much of her naivety. Rin is constantly torn by doubt over the righteousness and validity of her mission and fears becoming a hypocrite as Anotsu claims that she is more like the Ittō-ryū, especially when he remarks that she chose to use throwing knives instead of a sword like the "Mutenichi-ryū" teaches. Rin has three weapons, a Chinese sword named Kutoneshirika which she carries in a Toju (purse-like scabbard of sorts), a Tantō type dagger and a set of small throwing daggers named Ogunchu (Golden Wasps). Even though she is only mediocre in terms of fighting ability, Rin is still more skilled with weapons than most women of that time period and the fact that she carries a small arsenal of weapons with her makes her somewhat unique.