Blade of the Immortal # 122

Blade of the Immortal # 122: Barefoot Part 1 (of 5)

Hiroaki Samura/Dana Lewis/Tomoko Saito/Scott Cook/Ryan Jorgensen/Philip Simon
Cover: Hiroaki Samura/Dan Jackson
February, 2007 (released February 14, 2007)
Dark Horse
B&W, 32 pages (no ads)
$2.99

Plot Highlights: Rin's nightmare. Rin and Doa look for Isaku and Manji, spying. A visit with Burando shows changes.

Having collected Blade of the Immortal since # 81, and supplemented that with reading the first 11 issues in book form, I can only describe it as one of my favorites at this point. The consistent output by one creator helps too. Despite the periodic scenes of brutal sickening violence, this is a beautifully illustrated comic series. I think many readers just buy the collections at this point, but I cannot resist the little extra trappings of the regular issues like color covers, larger pages, and I also want to know what happens with the story every once in a while rather than in large doses.

This is not one of my favorite covers, but it is appropriate to the contents and makes for a change of pace.

A striking moment in this issue points to just how rash Doa can act in all aspects of her life. It doesn't require a tense life threatening situation. When Rin unveils a delicate telescope, Doa grapples and whines in order to use it herself immediately. In fairness it shows she is curious as well. It is a wonder she has the patience to search with Rin's methods for four days before going off on her own.

This issue gives me hope that Rin may soon figure out where Manji is and possibly find a way to help him. The terrible experiments of recent issues were getting a little repetitive, and it is nice to have a break from that.

Because this title has such a long history, and I have not yet read all of it, I sometimes don't know or remember a particular character, or maybe some confusion comes from converting the series for English speaking audiences. That only diminishes my enjoyment slightly, so I still recommend it.


Possibly of interest:
CBR Pipeline Blade of the Immortal Book Club Thus Far (Vol. 1-14)