• nl Nederlands
  • en English
AVO Magazine - One click closer to Japan
  • AVO Magazine
    • AVO Magazine, who?
    • Join the AVO Magazine team
    • AVO Magazine presents
    • AVO Magazine Podcast
    • Join AVO Magazine’s Discord Server
    • Submit News to AVO Magazine
    • Support AVO Magazine
  • Japanese Music
    • Music News
      • Music Announcements
      • Musical Snack
    • Curtain-raiser
    • Weekly MV Roundup
      • Weekly MV Roundup
      • About: 7 New Music Videos You Need To Check Out
    • Interviews Musicians
    • Music Reviews
    • Music Reports
  • Japan-related Events
    • Anime Events
    • Convention and expo announcements
    • Music Announcements
    • Other announcements
    • Reports
  • Japan-related Reviews
    • Book Reviews
    • Film Reviews
    • Game Reviews
    • Music Reviews
    • Other Reviews
    • Product Reviews
    • Series Reviews
  • Colophon
  • Contact
No Result
View All Result
  • nl Nederlands
  • en English
No Result
View All Result
AVO Magazine - One click closer to Japan
No Result
View All Result
Home Reviews Film Reviews

Film Review – Blade of the Immortal

Sakura by Sakura
21 February 2018
Reading Time: 3 mins read
A A
0
Film Review – Blade of the Immortal
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on RedditShare on LINE

Blood, swords, fights and samurai, the movie Blade of the Immortal has it all. This movie from 2017 is based on the eponymous manga series created by Hiroaki Samura and had its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival 2017, after which Warner Bros showed the movie in theatres. Blade of the Immortal is about an immortal man who, along with a young girl, takes revenge on the people who killed her parents. This movie has received several good reviews worldwide, a view that is not supported by this review.

The movie begins with Manji, a samurai who has killed his boss and bodyguards, from who he is now fleeing. At the beginning of the movie, he is with his beserk sister, Machi. Because Manji has a bounty on his head a group of unguided samurai comes to collect it. They first murdered his sister Machi, causing Manji to murder the entire group of samurai and almost die of his injuries afterwards. However, that honour is not granted to him by an 800-year-old nun, who makes Manji immortal by placing blood worms inside of him.

50 years later is Manji living in a secluded village, where he gets a visit from a girl whose family has been murdered. That girl, named Rin, looks remarkably like his sister, so he decides to train her and help her avenge her family. This brings them on a quest to find the members of the samurai group Ittō-ryū, the ones responsible for the death of Rin’s family.

Blade of the Immortal has some good aspects, but also bad ones. Starting at the first good aspect is the quality of the cinematic means. The footage is high quality and they use clear camera perspectives. The music used also supports the shown footage very well, causing spectators to feel more excitement. Also, the use of black and white footage at the beginning of the movie and the use of colour footage after the time jump is useful for a differentiation of time; the black and white footage is from 50 years earlier than the colour footage. Lastly, the mise-en-scène of the movie is very beautiful and the culture of the samurai and a bit of Japan is also shown in this movie.

The next good aspect is the casting of Manji and Rin. Manji is played in Blade of the Immortal by Takuya Kimura, a famous actor in Japan who was featured in a lot of movies, of which this movie is his hundredth movie in which he acted. His acting in this movie is credible and he conveys emotions in an immersive way to the viewers. The casting of Rin is also well done. Rin is played by Hana Sugisaki, a 20-year-old woman who has been active in the acting business since childhood. Her good acting skills are also seen in Blade of the Immortal and she certainly does not disappoint.

As mentioned before, there are also bad aspects about Blade of the Immortal. The first bad aspect is the incoherent storyline. The scenes are very heeled on the branch and this movie doesn’t give the impression of a smooth sequence of scenes making a whole movie. This makes the viewers feel less involved with the movie, because they are drawn away from the fictive world of the movie.

The second bad aspect is the unclear motives. Manji goes to help Rin, because she looks like his deceased sister, but there is that feeling as if Manji does not have a character to only help someone because of that. The revenge-motive of Rin is also unclear. It comes across as if she’s making a hasty, impulsive decision that is not very well argued for in the movie. However, this may have occurred because the movie is not smooth and it was perhaps considered as unimportant.

Finally, there is a predominantly good and bad aspect, namely the concept of the movie; a loner is motivated to work together with a companion to seek revenge. This concept works very well if there is enough character development in a movie, something that didn’t clearly emerge in Blade of the Immortal.

In short, Blade of the Immortal has its good and bad aspects and it lies in the hands of an individual where he/she pays more attention to. As a whole is Blade of the Immortal an entertaining movie, especially if you’re looking for action. However, if you’re going to watch the individual aspects of the movie, there are some unnecessary mistakes that make the viewing experience less fun. Yet I still recommend this movie, because the cinematic means are well executed and the story is still followable, even though it is not so coherent.

Date of release: 29 April 2017
Director: Takashi Miike
Rating: 65/100

Tags: 2017Movie
ADVERTISEMENT
Sakura

Sakura

Former film and J-dorama reviewer.

Related Posts

Product Review: Heart – Sumikko Gurashi Purunchuchu Jelly
Product Reviews

Product Review: Heart – Sumikko Gurashi Purunchuchu Jelly

by Yuki
6 July 2022
0

Heart - Sumikko Gurashi Purunchuchu Jelly - Simple Price: ± €6 Extra supplies:  Water, Spoon, Cup and Scissors. Adorable Sumikko Gurashi jelly...

Read more
Kyoto Garden (Holland Park, London) | Photo by Henry Kellner via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

A walk in the Japanese Garden: Kyoto Garden (Holland Park, London)

4 July 2022
Esprit D'Air - Oceans (album cover)

CD Review: Esprit D’Air – Oceans

4 July 2022

Product Review: Heart – Tropical-Rouge Pretty Cure Rainbow Jelly

8 June 2022
Product Review: Pigeon – Microwave Shortcake

Product Review: Pigeon – Microwave Shortcake

4 May 2022
Next Post
She, in the haze to perform at Made in Asia 2018

She, in the haze announces European tour 2018

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Donate a digital coffee to keep AVO Magazine online
ADVERTISEMENT
Facebook Twitter Instagram Youtube Soundcloud Discord


Online magazine since 2012. AVO Magazine is a Japan-related entertainment website with information about events in especially The Netherlands, Belgium and the rest of Europe. There is a big focus on Japanese music. Other contents we publish are reports, reviews, informative articles, and interviews. AVO Magazine originated from AVO Forum, started on 16 May 2003.

Contact (Francisca Hagen): info[@]avo-magazine.nl

Please do not use text and photos made by AVO Magazine without permission. An email is easily created. Let's support each other!

Affiliates

JPU Records

1_General CDJapan

Featured on

HYPER JAPAN TV logo Lucydafirst - Crate Culture logo

AVO Magazine Approved

  • Arlequin Photography
  • Get Your Genki
  • Idol is SHiT
  • Japan Jams
  • Japone Artists
  • The Sushi Times

Join our Discord Server

©2003 - 2022 AVO Magazine - One Click Closer to Japan!
*Donate to keep AVO Magazine online *

No Result
View All Result
  • AVO Magazine
    • AVO Magazine, who?
    • Join the AVO Magazine team
    • AVO Magazine presents
    • AVO Magazine Podcast
    • Join AVO Magazine’s Discord Server
    • Submit News to AVO Magazine
    • Support AVO Magazine
  • Japanese Music
    • Music News
      • Music Announcements
      • Musical Snack
    • Curtain-raiser
    • Weekly MV Roundup
      • Weekly MV Roundup
      • About: 7 New Music Videos You Need To Check Out
    • Interviews Musicians
    • Music Reviews
    • Music Reports
  • Japan-related Events
    • Anime Events
    • Convention and expo announcements
    • Music Announcements
    • Other announcements
    • Reports
  • Japan-related Reviews
    • Book Reviews
    • Film Reviews
    • Game Reviews
    • Music Reviews
    • Other Reviews
    • Product Reviews
    • Series Reviews
  • Colophon
  • Contact
This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.