Media Blasters is releasing the first volume of the Blade of the Immortal anime on September 29th.  Based on the innovative seinen manga by Hiroaki Samura (published by Dark Horse in North America), the 13-episode Blade of the Immortal anime series was animated by Bee Train and appeared on Japanese TV from July to December of 2008.  Media Blasters’ subbed and dubbed Blade of the Immortal Vol.1 DVD ($24.99), which is rated 16 and up, has a running time of 125 minutes.

Koichi Mashimo (Noir) directed the Blade of the Immortal anime (see “Blade of the Immortal Anime Series”), which features character designs by Yoshimitsu Yamashita, who created the stylish figures for Shinichiro Watanabe’s Samurai Champloo.

The release of the anime here in North America should expose more potential readers to Samura’s original manga, which is known as Mugen no Junin (literally “the inhabitant of infinity”) in Japan.  Manji, the skilled samurai protagonist of Blade of the Immortal, must kill 1,000 evil men to make amends for his own sins and end his painful immortality.  As fascinating and philosophically profound as Samura’s narrative is, his innovative artwork is even more interesting.  The classically trained Samura has a firm grasp of anatomy and perspective, which he uses to great effect in a wide variety of poses and angles.  He breaks the action up in the multi-panel manga fashion and his skill at depicting close-up details such as his characters’ hands is as remarkable as is his innovate use of un-inked pages of finished pencil art.