Its really worth it. Its a really good story, but its long and can take some time to get in to.
There is some hints of romance. The main character is a one hell of a bad ass and you will enjoy the fights. The art is superb. I usaly dont care about the art as long as the story is good, but in this manga the art is really something.

... Last updated on July 12th, 2012, 12:30am

characters- 100% i love all the characters, especially the leads. male and females are both incredibly strong. not so much Rin at first but she gets really good and she is a really likeable girl. I love Manji as well he is a perfect male lead in my opinion. I love to hate some of the bad guys, and just plain love the others.

Plot- Very action packed, samurai honor based stuff, but it is really good. Actually one of the arks in this manga is the best ark I have ever read in any manga ever. And the climax of it had me totally bouncing in my seat. It's very interesting and not to hard to follow if you don't pay attention to some needless details. But it is very mature, there are a lot of dark, twisted, and cruel scenes.

Action-Absolutely Killer! in a lot of the action scenes it was so fluid i just clicked through the pages really fast without reading the dialog (such as "i'm going to kill you"). it was like watching an anime. But it can be really gruesome not for the faint of heart.

Romance-

it really is there, it isn't something some fan girls made up.But it really develops later in the story. Their relationship is that of two people who care about each other more than anything else in the world. Like, if Rin gets attacked Manji goes berserk. And Rin is so blatantly in love with Manji it's adorable she goes through a lot to protect him even though he is immortal. There isn't anything really physical between them yet (except for a kiss while Manji was sleeping), but they don't have time to be perusing romantic interests because of all the violent, scary, life threatening things they have to deal with. basically their relationship transcends that of bodyguard and employer, friends or even lovers. They are this incredible pair, with bonds so strong and destinies so interwoven that normal shoujo-ish relationships seem petty and bland. Basically the romance is off the charts when it come to how much they love one another, but you only get to see glimpses. It is very subtle and not the main point of the story at all. However every hint and wink is real and is fully appreciated. people who really understand what love and romance is would think this is enough.

... Last updated on January 8th, 2012, 11:19pm

the art is one that you rarely see in the manga medium. realistic and rough, it made the constant decapitation enjoyable. the characters have depth and we will hate/love/sympathised/demonize them as how the authors (presumably) wishes. the plot is easy to follow though took quite a while to state its point.

i find the official translation enjoyable, and the scantalation is also good though the transition may be a bit jarring. very recommended based on the art alone and the story is additional plus.

edit
just finished the manga. the ending is a bit of a let down, but i do understand this manga is not that kind of manga. oh well, i would love the new adventure with the kid.

... Last updated on June 11th, 2014, 12:41pm

This is a fantastic book right here; it is definitely in my top 10. The artwork is some of the best you will ever see in the manga medium, to the point of transcending the comic genre altogether. Berzerk, Bastard!! (new style volumes), Kurozuka: these are the sort of series that are of comparable caliber, artwork-wise. I have in my library only one mangaka's artbook: The Art of Blade of the Immortal by Hiroaki Samura.
The world of Mugen no Juunin is dirty, it is gritty, it is bloody, it is punctuated by fleeting moments of excrutiating beauty. It is a world torn by the death throes of one era and the rise of a new one.
If you have not picked up this series yet, then I am pretty g.d. stoked for you my friend, because you are in for a treat.

This is a manga that delivers on all fronts.

The first thing that one realizes is the incredible quality of the artwork. Even on the first volumes where Samura was still a rookie in the industry he manages to impress with great character designs and masterful death spread illustrations. As he improves later on the quality of his entire art reaches heights hardly achieved in the medium. It's not only the quality of his execution, his ability at depicting movement and action is unparalleled. The choreography and paneling has a sense of motion and fluidity that makes you think you are watching an animation. This alone gives Blade of the Immortal a huge plus compared to other great manga in the genre.

But this is not only about fights and action. There's a big cast of characters with great designs, personalities and charisma. They are so good and complex that any of them could be protagonists, and many times they steal the attention away from the main couple. And this is something else that differentiates Blade of the Immortal from the many action manga out there: not only the protagonist, Manji, isn't the strongest character, but many secondary characters become as relevant as him and move the story forward on their own. This is not a story where the main character is the one who always prevails and makes the rest of the cast irrelevant. He can lose, and sometimes a secondary saves the day instead of him.

There are also big stretches of the manga where the action takes a backseat to character development, political intrigue and extensive analysis on the psyche of the characters. It doesn't remain comfortable in a single formula and changes pacing and themes several times over the long span of its run.

If I were to point some downsides, they would be that the beginning is the weakest part of the story, where the author focused on Manji fighting evil dudes. The art and the storytelling, while still very enjoyable, are clearly less developed and Samura starts deviating (in more interesting ways) from the initial premise.

Finally, the ending feels a bit rushed. While it is by no means bad, it could have used an extra volume to wrap things up in a more satisfying manner. But at that point maybe Samura was burnt out and wanted to move on to a different story.

Still they are very minor grievances as even when they feel not as good as the excellence from the rest of the story, they are still better than the vast majority of manga you will ever read. Absolutely recommended to anyone, it is a must read that you can't ignore.

Truly an interesting manga to read, I had to marathon it since the pace was just right and I couldnt find a place to leave off! But the only thing I didnt enjoy is how the main char only wins fights by getting stabbed, sliced, and chopped up. They need to show off his abilities more instead of showing off his immortality.

Totally different.
Hiroaki Samuras drawing style is just awesome, artistic, best I`ve seen so far.
Really great, though bloody story!

THE ART: The art is amazing. Moving on.

THE CHARACTERS:
        So I had a bunch of time to kill, and I read several of the other comments. I'm going to refute a couple of the statements because I'm just a speshul snowflake that way. /shot Honestly, I thought the characters & the characterization was brilliant.
        First off, Manji. It's true. He's weak, at least in comparison to other characters we have seen in shounen/seinen manga. Compared to other protagonists we have seen, and compared even to the antagonists of this story, he's so weak it makes everyone cringe. However, his weakness is the whole point. His immortality doesn't necessarily aid him, making up for his lack in skill. It hampers his fights, as he has grown overly dependent on it over the years. (He complains about this in like chapter 10) It would definitely have made for a more interesting story action-wise if Manji had eventually learned to conquer his immortality. Yet he doesn't, at least not truly. And I think that's great. He grew dependent on his immortality for a reason. His immortality is there, it's useful, it's fantastic, who wouldn't use it? He has lost the sense of danger, the panic of risking his life. That's not something that can be recovered all that easily for someone who's immortal.
        Now Rin. She annoyed me at first. She was one of those chicks, one of the characters who have some sort of goal but are either too "good" or too "fragile" (or a combination of both) to fulfill it. One of the characters who whine and/or run off alone, getting the protagonists in trouble. Occasionally the character who opposes the inner omgdarkness in the male protagonist, prohibiting him from murdering the antagonists. And Rin really was/is like that. But she grows. She develops as a character and as a person. If I'm not totally high, Rin kills people herself (kinda). Several people. The scene when Rin seriously made me want to shoot myself. However, Samura made it work. Before she runs off without Manji, she's grown psychologically and suffered substantially. Yet it's honestly during the alone-time when Rin starts to actually grow noticeably, to morph into a dependable character.
        Now for the "antagonists". Yes, it's true that a lot of people may not like reading about the antagonists. And some of the antagonists, like that experimenting guy, made me want to vomit and kill them and vomit all over again. But then there were the antagonists like Anotsu, who had his own logical, if a little awkward, agendas and personal dilemmas. There were the antagonists like the father who had helped to kill Rin's mother, who was leading a new life as a benevolent craft artist. The men who felt bad for what they had done, but who were willing to do almost anything to keep their nice reputations in front of those they loved.

THE PLOT:
        The plot was brilliant. There were definitely several times when I was bored out of my mind, but the utter perfection of later/earlier chapters that made everything click kept me entranced. Aaaand I'm going to stop my rambling because I'm just lazy that way.

THE ENDING:
THE ROMANCE:

OVERALL:
        I'm tired, but I loved this story. So yeahhhh. <3

... Last updated on June 5th, 2013, 11:45pm

This manga really does have amazing artwork, and the story and characters are pretty strong. Shocking things happen one after another, and when violence comes in, be ready to actually watch the scenes.

Sometimes though, the violence and sexual battering in here makes me want to retch, but it still adds to the story. Sometimes the attitudes and beliefs of the main characters can be frustrating; they can't tolerate weakness in anyone. And Rin's revenge slowly becomes more of an "oh yeah, I forgot about Anotsu", kind of thing. Still, I really recommend this to anyone looking for a good violent samurai seinen.

Wow. Now, here's a good manga. I've read up to v15 and it's awesome. Very, very gory. But, more importantly plot is awesome. Lots of twists. Starts like a typical samurai manga w/ revenge story, but gets very interesting very quickly. The characters are unusual too. It's not a main-guy-is-godlike-and-kicks-everyone's-ass kind of story. If you like samurai genre, it's a must read.