Blood and dismembered body parts fly across the screen in Takashi Miike’s 100th film, Blade of the Immortal, which is based on the Eisner Award winning Japanese manga of the same name by Hiroaki Samura. You can watch the red band trailer below.
Set in Fuedal Japan, Blade of the Immortal follows the story of Manji, a disgraced samurai and killer who is cursed with immortality until he kills enough evil men. He meets a young girl named Rin Asano. She hires him to be her bodyguard as she sets off on a journey to avenge her family who were slaughtered by the leader of an unconventional Samurai group known as the Itto-Ryu. Together they embark on a bloody quest to make right against those who have done them wrong.
Dark Horse Comics has released all 31 volumes of the manga here in the United States. Over the course of the story, Manji and Rin develop a close bond as they are put through hell on their journey for revenge and redemption. Enemies become reluctant allies as lines between them blur and even greater forces forces seek to destroy them. It’s a bloody epic that is oftentimes not for the faint of heart, even though every single page is in black and white.
Takashi Miike is, as Quentin Tarantino stated once, one of the greatest Japanese directors of our time. He is best known for directing Sukiyaki Western Django and 13 Assassins.
Blade of the Immortal stars Takuya Kimura as Manji, Hana Sugisaki as Rin Asano, and Sōta Fukushi as Kagehisa Anotsu. Rounding out the rest of the cast are Hayato Ichihara, Erika Toda, Kazuki Kitamura, Chiaki Kuriyama, Shinnosuke Mitsushima, Ichikawa Ebizō XI, Min Tanaka, and Tsutomu Yamazaki.
The film comes to American theaters November 3, 2017.
