Blade of the Immortal

Blade of the Immortal is a movie directed by Takashi Miike and released in 2017. It is an adaptation of the manga series Blade of the Immortal, written by Hiroaki Samura.

               The story is about a man called Manji, who receives the ability to have his body heal extremely quickly and remain strong, effectively making him immortal. The other protagonist is a girl called Rin, whose family is attacked by the Itto-ryu, a radical group lead by the movie’s main antagonist, Anotsu. Rin wants to avenge her family, and is told to go to Manji for help. When she finds him, Manji refuses at first, but as he realizes the strength of her will and the danger she is in, he agrees to assist her. He gives her training so that she can take down Anotsu, but along the way they encounter several people who want to stop them, and they are forced to fight. Rin even encounters Anotsu one day, but doesn’t yet have the skill to engage him in a fight. At one point, Rin and Manji meet another group that is after Anotsu, and they briefly team up. However, one group member, Shira, turns out to have little sense of morals, and Rin and Manji end up battling him. Afterward, Rin decides that she doesn’t want Manji to get hurt, so she continues her quest on her own. Meanwhile, the government traps Anotsu in an ambush, and an entire army is commanded to attack him. Rin runs into them at this moment, and protests that they aren’t defeating him in a fair way. The government tries to silence her, but Manji arrives just in time to defend Rin. There is complete disorder as government soldiers attack both Manji and Anotsu, and in the middle of the fighting, Shira suddenly returns and abducts Rin to hold her hostage. Manji manages to free her, and he fights Shira, who finally falls off a cliff, still insisting on his revenge. When Manji and Rin return to the battleground, they finally face Anotsu, and they have a fight that ends with both Anotsu and Manji being wounded. Anotsu dies, but Manji, who promised to continue living for Rin, manages to survive.

Although the movie seems to be predominantly an action and adventure story, the interactions between characters are filled with melodrama, and even the fights themselves have melodramatic components to them.

               One characteristic of the movie that helps identify it as a melodrama is the prominent displays of emotion that frequently occur. For example, as Manji and Rin prepare to defeat Anotsu, they encounter several enemies whom they must fight. During these fights, the enemies make profound, emotional statements about what brought them to that point. This kind of dialogue comes across as melodramatic, as the speaker makes these comments while simultaneously fighting a life-or-death battle. Through this use of melodrama, the enemies are given more characterization, which in turn fuels the character growth of Manji and Rin. Melodrama is also present in the dynamic between Manji and Rin. Toward the end of the movie, they both begin bonding, but Rin runs away because she feels that Manji will allow himself to die protecting her. Manji, however, feels the need to live in order to keep Rin safe, and he has to chase after Rin, rescuing her just in time as she and Anotsu are surrounded by government soldiers. When Rin and Manji reunite, they have a brief emotional exchange, while everyone else simply looks on until they have finished. The heavy presence of emotions in these scenes feels somewhat unrealistic, as they are in a very dangerous situation. However, this use of melodrama does help Rin and Manji express their true desires, which helps give a sense of what they are fighting for in the battle that follows.

One of the themes that is heavily emphasized in the movie is the concept of right versus wrong; this presentation of moral opposites is a common element of melodrama that we have studied. At the beginning of the movie, when Manji is listening to Rin’s requests, he comments that Rin cannot prove that she is justified while her enemies are not. Rin doesn’t argue about this, and instead says that she doesn’t care who is in the right, and that she simply wants to avenge her family. This establishes early in the movie that the two protagonists have differing views on justice. Later, Rin runs into Anotsu and finds out about his family history, which complicates Rin’s view of the situation. Anotsu claims to be getting justice for his own family, but that doesn’t change Rin’s desire to get vengeance. The final scenes in the movie show the fighting that breaks out as the government tries to defeat both Anotsu and Manji, while Shira tries to get his revenge. This fight shows how many sides there are, and it is not simply a matter of good fighting bad. Overall, this movie’s melodramatic portrayal of the clashing beliefs between characters illustrates the idea that it is difficult to determine what justice truly is.

               The movie also ties these concepts into the themes of giri and ninjou, which are also components of melodrama. At the beginning of the story, the two protagonists can be seen as representing giri and ninjou: Manji expresses a desire to act based on the ideas of right and wrong, rather than on his own feelings, whereas Rin wants to cast aside such labels and do what her emotions tell her to. However, in spite of this stark contrast, the story does not portray them as incompatible; Manji and Rin become very close throughout the movie, and they fight for the same cause even though they view things differently. By the end of the story, it appears that they have even influenced each other slightly. When Anotsu is surrounded by government agents, Rin angrily defends him, saying that it is unfair to outnumber him so much. This is an example of how she is beginning to factor justice into her desire for revenge, rather than just acting on anger alone. Meanwhile, Manji’s character has also developed slightly; when he sees how complicated the situation has become, he simply asks Rin who he should attack and follows her instructions. Manji’s decision to act on Rin’s desire shows how he is willing to help Rin without precisely judging who is right and who is wrong. These character transformations emphasize the blending of giri and ninjou, as the protagonists both come to consider what is right to do and what they want to do.

               In this way, analyzing Blade of the Immortal as a melodrama reveals many layers of depth that might not be apparent otherwise. The fact that an action-based film such as this contains melodrama shows that action and emotion can coexist as major elements in a story.