Manji (Blade of the Immortal)
Manji is a male anime and manga character who features in Blade of the Immortal.
Contents |
Biography
Manji (Japanese: 卍 / 万次, Hepburn: Manji) was a Japanese man who would become a samurai and served the local daimyo namely Hatamoto Horii Shigenobu where he unknowingly enforced his brutal rule on the local populace until he discovered that his lord was corrupt whereupon he killed him. From that point onwards, he became a fallen samurai where he was considered an outlaw and hunted by the clan of the daimyo with Manji gaining the nickname of being the 'Hundred Man Murderer'. In that time, he would flee to his sister Machi's house where he forgot that she had married Saitō Tatsumasa who was an officer of the law. Whilst evading his pursers, Manji came upon Saitō Tatsumasa with the two facing off in battle that was suddenly interrupted the fight by his sister. Machi's arrival distracted Manji who realized that he was fighting his brother-in-law with this moment giving Saitō an opening to attack. Saitō took the opportunity to attack and lunged forward to attack Manji who in desperation attempted to defend himself though was unable to avoid his opponents assault. In the resultant battle, he lost his eye, Saitō Tatsumasa was killed, and his sister Machi suffered a mental breakdown at the death of her husband who became the 100th man killed by Manji. From that point afterwards, Manji decided to dedicate his life to looking after his sister. At some point, he also encountered Yaobikuni who was a mysterious nun that offered him the sacred bloodworms known as the Kessen-Chu that gave him immortality.
Manji and Machi have somewhat settled down in Edo with Yaobikuni and O-Yō. After an encounter with Shido "Johnny" Goybutsu, a bounty hunter disguised as a priest, Manji begins to question the purpose of his immortality. That same night he awakens to discover that Shido Hishiyasu, brother of "Johnny" Goybutsu, has kidnapped Machi in an attempt to force a confrontation between himself and Manji so that he can avenge his brother. Manji arrives on the scene and denies his instinct to immediately cut down Shido Hishiyasu and his gang, instead offering to fight them barehanded. Feeling insulted Hishiyasu murders Machi before impaling a stunned Manji. Manji, thanks to the Kessen-Chu, quickly rises and realises what he has to do. Making quick work of Hishiyasu and his gang, Manji returns to Yaobikuni the next day with a proposal, to make amends for the 100 "good men" that he killed before, Manji will kill 1000 "evil men" and then the Kessen-Chu will leave his body.
Some time later a young woman, Asano Rin, arrives at Manji's hut seeking his aid in avenging the murder of her parents at the hands of a renegade sword school, the Itto-Ryu. At first Manji declines, explaining that he has no way of knowing if the men are truly evil and stating that since he made this vow Yaobikuni's been sending everyone with a sob story his way. Eventually, due to the fact that Rin bears a resembalance to his deceased sister, Manji does agree to protect her on her quest.
Soon after, the duo have their first encounter with a member of the Itto-Ryu. For the past two years love letters had been arriving at the Asano dojo addressed to Rin, using these the two track down Kuroi Sabato, a tall Itto-Ryu swordsmen covered head to toe in armor and a long cloak, and confront him one night. Initially Manji hangs back, allowing Rin a chance to confront and get a confession from Kuroi. With his identity confirmed Manji enters the scene, attempting to engage Kuroi in battle only to find that the swordsmen is utterly obsessed with Rin to such a point that he completely ignores Manji. He pushes past Manji, leaving his back wide open for an attack. Manji takes the opening and quickly finds himself cut in two at the waist as Kuroi reveals that he has the ability to rotate his body completely backwards. Stunned and legless Manji watches as Rin attempts to fend off Kuroi using her multiple throwing knives in her patented attack "Flight of the Golden Wasps, Curtain of Death". Kuroi deftly blocks all the knives from hitting his body, but enough manage to strip the armor from his body revealing the horror beneath. As the armor and cloak fall away his faces become visible for the first time. His actual face and head are heavily scarred and completely bald, while sewn onto both of his shoulders are the stuffed and preserved heads of his ex-wife and Rin's mother. Shocked by this horrorific reveleation, Rin breaks down and is almost talked into committing suicide by Kuroi, who promises to remove his ex-wife's head and replace it with Rins, killing himself afterwards. Thankfully before she can go through with it, Manji manages to crawl up behind Kuroi and literally cut him to ribbons.
Shortly after his encounter with Kuroi Sabato, Manji is dragged to the house of a painter by the name of Master Sori. Sori is a long-time friend of Rin's family, and she hopes to convince him to lend his sword to her cause. Manji's no frills blunt manners clash with Sori's more refined and cultured attitude almost instantly and the two exchange verbal jabs at each other several time. At first Sori refuses stating that a humble artist would be of no use, then Rin reveals that she knows the truth behind Sori, that he's not just a painter but a member of Shogunates secret police. This revelation leaves both Sorii and Manji stunned, but again he refuses, this time citing shame at how tainted his sword is due to the various illegal and immoral acts his used it in over the years. Manji sees right this facade and eventually gets Sori to admit that he just can't be bothered to risk his life while all he wants to do is paint. The two exchange insults again and almost come to blows at one point. The encounter ends with Manji storming off in a huff leaving Rin to spend the night in Sori's place.
The truth behind Manji's departure is revealed early the next morning as a group of Itto Ryu members led by Hage sneak into Sorii's residence and attempt to kill Rin. Manji arrives in time to save Rin and reveals that he knew that Hage had been spying on them, and that he stormed off to lure the group in. Together, Manji and Rin battle off the Itto Ryu horde and seem to be in control of the situation until Hage ensares Manji in an elaborate trap. He forces Manji back against a tree which is covered in a netting of rusty hooks, which sink into Manji's back and hold him there while Hage turns his attention to Rin. While Manji manages to tear himself off the hooks, he's too injured to make it to Rin on time. Thankfully Sorii, who had spent the entire battle inside attempting to paint, finally steps in. Sorii, enraged at Hage for destroying a painting he was working on during the battle, makes short work of Hage, cutting him to ribbons before the amazed eyes of Manji. A few hours later the duo head out on the road again, but not before Sori gives them 30 ryo to help them on their way.
Manji rips off Arashino's other arm and then kills him. He returns to Rin, who is lying in the road, passed out from blood loss. He covers her and carries her back toward the fighting, swearing she won't die on his watch. Habaki and Anotsu fight each other, but Anotsu kills Habaki in the end. Manji, carrying Rin, finds Anotsu, who tells him they are both still wanted men even if Habaki is dead. Anotsu is still planning to run away, but says it's best to kill Manji now so that those close to him won't keep his memory alive and bring any further personal vendettas against him. Anotsu says Rin must have a very pure revenge and should be put out of her misery, but Manji tells him that she is quite the opposite and filled with constant doubt. He also says he is not keen on letting Anotsu walk away again, and the two are drawn into battle. Manji cuts Anotsu's arm off and Anotsu is lying defenseless in the snow, but Manji allows him to board his ship. He tells Anotsu he doesn't care at all what happens to him or what he thinks will happen in the future, but only wants Rin to forget about his existence entirely and live an untroubled life. Rin, who had been resting with Hyakurin, rushes past Manji and runs Anotsu through. Manji catches her as she collapses and watches Anotsu fall into the ocean. At some point, Manji attaches Anotsu's severed arm to his own body. There is a later flashback showing Anotsu's body retrieved by men from the ship he was boarding who tell each other Anotsu's probably still alive, but Manji does not tell Rin. Summer once again returns to Japan, and Manji and Rin privately say their goodbyes. Having been officially exiled from Edo, Manji leaves without a plan to return. Rin tells Hyakurin that people who cry because they're helpless and who spend sleepless nights awake, in remorse over lost loved ones should be at his side.
Ninety years later (1873), Manji has finally returned to Edo, but is burying all of his weapons as they are no longer allowed. Yaobikuni finds him, bringing a young girl with her, and asks him to be her bodyguard for a while. Her father and uncle are fighting about their inherited dojo's future and the girl's uncle has threatened to kidnap her. Yaobikuni says the girl is a descendant of an old friend. The girl, Fuyu, unrolls an old paper with the original drawing of Manji that Yaobikuni had given Rin. She also gives him the dagger that Rin had received from Doa, saying her mother, and going back generationally, had told her to give it to Manji if any of them ever saw him. Rin had carved the hilt with the "manji" symbol surrounded by flames, signifying herself and Manji; the dagger, so Doa had said, was to be carved and given to the man she's in love with. Though he does not say her name, it is obvious he knows who Fuyu is talking about. Begrudgingly, Manji agrees to protect Fuyu, but he soon smiles at her and she takes his hand as they depart the city.
Overview
Personality and attributes
In appearance, Manji was a Japanese male who had a variety of scars on his body with the most notable one being two horizontal scars across his face and a vertical scar going through his right eye. His hair was shown to always be tied in a ponytail. Physically, he was shown to be around 26 years old.
He was often shown to be crude and rude to everyone.
Manji came to be a jaded person where he had nihilistic tendencies.
He believed that if anyone raised a hand against Rin Asano then regardless of their motivation he came to call them evil.
Powers and abilities
Originally, Manji had been an ordinary human being who came to be a trained swordsmen and samurai. Such was his skill that he came to had survived hundreds of battles.
Manji carried a large number of weapons with him at all times with him taking such armaments off his defeated foes with these being named after their previous owners. Among his weapons included:
- Karasu (烏; Literally Crow) :
- Shido (四道; Literally "Four Paths") : two short, hooked swords
- Imo-No-Kami Tatsumasa (妹守辰政; Literally Sister Defender Tatsumasa) : two standard swords
- Aun (阿吽; Literally Om) :
- No Name : two chained scythes
- Sukehiro Ametsubaki :
- Kotengu (少天狗; Literally Little Devil) : double bladed sword-breaker
- Okorobi (男転; Literally Man Toppler) :
- Merabi (女蝱; Literally Lady Gadfly) :
Most of his weapons are hidden under his shirt, a seemingly impossible feat given their large number, irregular shapes and lack of sheaths. One of Manji's signature tricks is to make any of his hidden weapons drop out of his sleeves into one or both of his waiting hands whenever they are needed.
He came to be infected by the sacred bloodworms (血仙蟲, kessen-chū) that were remarkable creatures which allowed him to survive nearly any injury and reattach severed limbs even after hours of separation. Any injury to him saw the worms sacrificing themselves to seal the wound. It was said that the creatures were bred to be as close in chemical and physical make-up to humans as possible without actually being human. They were unable to regrow entire sections of the body but often helped re-attach severed limbs or seal a hole in the brain. They also operated by slowing down the aging process making a person functionally immortal.
Notes
- Manji was created by Hiroaki Samura where he featured in the setting of the Blade of the Immortal universe.
- In Spider-Gwen v2 #20 (2017), an alternate version of Wolverine appeared in the world of Spider-Gwen that was set on Earth-65. Logan was a former samurai going by the name of Manji who operated in Japan where he came to be cursed by a witch to live as an immortal equivalent to the number of people he had killed in his life. Gwen Stacy came to refer to him as the Immortal Mr. Murderhands.
In other media
Television
- In Blade of the Immortal, Manji appeared in the setting of the 2008 anime television series adaptation where he was was voiced by Japanese actor Tomokazu Seki and English actor Keith Silverstein in the dub.
Films
- In Blade of the Immortal, Manji appeared in the setting of the 2017 live-action film where he was portrayed by actor Takuya Kimura.
Appearances
- Blade of the Immortal:
External Links
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