Blade of the Immortal Volume 10: Secrets

Due to the accident of the order I read this series in, the last several have been horrendously violent. There can be a certain elegance to the dealing of death, but Hiroaki Samura goes beyond the surface ritual and frequently reminds us that it is not graceful technique, but winning that determines survival. This is an ugly lesson, and Samura never fails to make it clear. In any case, I'd gotten to inured to pieces of people flying all over that I was quite surprised upon reaching 'Secrets' to find the events focused on character development. No doubt, this was intentional on the part of the storyteller, and quite effective.The book opens upon Anotsu Kagehisa making he was through Kaga on his way to the Shingyoto-Ryu sword school. Its master, Ibane Kensui, has decided to offer the school to Anotsu if he will accept one certain condition. Ibane wants Anotsu to marry Hisoka, his ward. This opens a series of interchanges between Anotsu, Ibane and Hisoka that are quite revealing. Anotsu has actually never been portrayed as an completely evil man, and now we discover that he as some very positive reasons for his actions, nor is he the sort to take thoughtless advantage of Hisoka.Back in Edo, Manji is recovering (actually, reassembling himself) at Master Sori's painting studio. Sori was the man who originally funded Rin's quest for revenge, and recently Manji has realized that the painter in blood is one of the Shogun's spies. Manji is, as usual, something of an ingrate, and he still cannot bring himself to trust Hyakurin, the woman spy who rescued him from his last disaster. As Manji puzzles this out, he discovers that there will be one more guest at Sori's home, Magatso Taito of the Itto-Ryu, who Manji has fought more than once. In fact, each man thought the other was dead.Manji discovers that Magatso has left the Itto-Ryu and is searching for the swordsman who killed the woman he loved. Surprisingly, Manji knows the killer as well - Shira, who has a grudge of his own against Manji. The two swordsmen find themselves drawn together against a single enemy. With all this happening, Samura still takes time to show Rin, who is having her own struggles making her way to a showdown in Kaqa. Taken in total, this is one of the best of the series, reinstating the sense of story line and helping the reader to see some of the characters in a different light. Some mysteries are resolved, and some new questions allowed to surface. This is truly a showpiece of illustration and narrative.

If you loved the other books, this is a key chapter leading up to the long awaited sequal. Its all english, and blood, guts, and glory. From beginning to end,the pieces of the puzzle you read about are falling into place. A must read.

As with all previous volumes of the Blade of the Immortal series, this is an excellent piece of work; superb art, complex story, wonderfully detailed characters. Detailed in this volume are Rin's travels -- hard and frustrating, without Manji at her side -- to find Anotsu. Anotsu ascends to take over a remote dojo, but finds himself in a sticky situation when the current master has a request: that he take his daughter as a wife when he takes over the dojo! And of course... Manji mends from his near-fatal (even for the immortal) fight with three of the Itto-Ryu, and discovers that his attempt to get a pass has failed, and that he has a new ally he never expected...If you're a BotI fan, you can't justify NOT buying this volume! Too much important storyline comes to light here; Manji's limitations, the secrets of the Mugen-Ryu, and the Itto-Ryu's goals... This and more!

This is a excellent Graphic novel mainly because get to see Rin and Hyaku-Rin semi naked and also Magatsu makes a come back.

If you are a fan of this series, then this novel will not disapoint you. It explores many of the secondary characters and begins to answer many of the questions surrounding them. Of course, if you are a fan, there is no need to recomend this book as i'm sure you will want to see what happens. For those who are not familiar with the serious,I would recomend to start from the begining. As for this particular book, the biggest complaint i have is that the character art seems different from earlier in the series, and not as smoothly depicted. Other than that, an excellent book.