In fights against the immortal ronin Manji, there are usually no survivors. Magatsu, beaten but alive, is the fortunate survivor of an Itto-ryu clash with Manji. On his way back to the group's Dojo, Magatsu is attacked by a band of strangers and discovers that Manji isn't the only person in the province who's after Anotsu's head.
"Dark Shadows will be an interesting shift of focus for Blade of the Immortal in that this arc centers on Anotsu and the Itto-ryu and what happens to a renegade sword school once it has established supremacy," said Blade editor Rachel Penn. "Politics and ideals are quite often incompatible, and this is a lesson Anotsu may have to learn. Part of the intrigue in Blade of the Immortal is how nothing is black and white. The reader is persuaded by the brilliant storytelling to recognize vulnerability in the most cruel assassin, selfishness in the most sympathetic victim, and the underlying truth that humanity comes in all forms."
Blade of the Immortal: Dark Shadows is the beginning of the eighth cinematic story arc in this brilliant manga series by Hiroaki Samura. Issue one of the dramatic black-and-white miniseries will premier at your local comics shop January 27.