Live Action Adaptation Of Blade Of The Immortal Is Coming To North America

Following close on the heels of its Japanese premiere back on April 29th, Takashi Miike’s live-action adaptation of the classic manga Blade of the Immortal has been picked up for a North American release by Magnet Releasing. Magnet is the genre division of Magnolia Pictures, and has previously released such films as 13 Assassins and Melancholia.

Originally published in ’93 as a part of the anthology manga Afternoon, it was followed up by an anime adaptation in ’08 and in ’10 with an a comic from Dark Horse. The original series ran from the original serialized version up until 2012, winding up with a total of 30 volumes. With more than 5 million copies in print, the series has been released in more than 20 countries.

Directed by Miike, the film stars Takuya Kimura (Long Vacation) as Manji, a warrior cursed with immortality after his actions caused the death of 100 samurai. The curse is bound to him until he kills 100 evil men to being himself back into balance. During his adventures, Manji is recruited by Rin Asano (Hana Sugisaki), to take vengeance against the men who killed her parents.