First up for the anime onslaught of reviews is a short but in my opinion great anime. Blade of the Immortal is only a 13 episode series that finishes off on a good note even though it doesn't come to an end point. If anything it opens the door for more since the Manga is still ongoing. On the flip side we don't see a conclusion to Rin's revenge for her parent's murder.
Blade of the Immortal is a story of an immortal Samurai warrior who is on a quest to slay 1000 villains. He is immortal because some old lady (mystic charmer witch doctor what ever have you...OK I guess she's an 800 yr old nun) implanted special worms into his body that quickly heal him and even when need be reattach severed limbs. Along his little journey he meets Rin a young dishonored girl of a dojo that was destroyed by the main bad guys of our short story the Ittō-ryūwho are on their own quest to destroy all the other dojos and are responsible for the death of Rin's mother and father. Manji our Samurai warrior takes Rin under his wing and teaches and aids her in her own journey to kill all those who are responsible for her parent's death.
Pretty simple and somewhat generic tail that has been played out in other stories time and time again but I think Blade of the Immortal does a fine job of telling it's story and I enjoyed the series immensely and would definitely like to watch it again if it ever got licensed in the states. There isn't any fanservice to note even though a good bit of time is spent in brothels and the opening sequence does feature heavily a lady in bondage. The fights are great and just a bit gory though and that's what makes up a great deal of the show and the rest is a good deal of mental thinking about life death and the pursuit of what we want to achieve and how we go about it. Just a great departure from the Moe Blob shows of the season.
