Customer Reviews

Blade of the Immortal Volume 2

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If you like action/violent anime, this is your ticket. I like how heroes and villians alike explain a bit about their pasts. Another reviewer complained about 'overly long back stories' but I guess he doesn't know that anime is KNOWN for rich storytelling. This installment has a pretty even balance of action and story which, to me, gives the viewer a better handle on why the characters are at odds with each other. The animation quality is the same as the 1st dvd(slightly better than average) but I just love the character designs. No problem with the English dub in my opinion either. Want your samurai action anime fix? Grab this one.

Foremost, imho, the discussion between Samura and his editors is well worth the price of this, and they express not so positive views on this adaptation.

Beginning credits end with Manji against a...contemporary highrise background?
Characters walk as if robotic toys; their running disturbed, jarring.
Starved ambiant soundtrack, when not illtimed, heavyhanded rock (the appearance of Giichi triggered an unfortunate laugh).
Facial movements are wooden, mouth movement derived from a lesser ventriloquist technique, the voicework formulaic, unimaginative - the sound of Rin's cries, as Manji falls ill to Shizuma's poison, channeling Luanne of Mike Judge's King of the Hill.
Samura's shifting viewpoints inject more contemplation/ambiance than the slow pans employed here. And, possibly the use of a narrator would have tempered overlong and explanatory character monologues.