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Blade of the Immortal Sequel Manga Ends in May

The June issue of Kodansha's Monthly Afternoon magazine revealed on Thursday that Renji Takigawa and Ryū Suenobu's sequel manga Mugen no Jūnin: Bakumatsu no Shō (Blade of the Immortal - Bakumatsu Arc) of Hiroaki Samura's Blade of the Immortal manga will end in the next issue on May 24.

The sequel is set in the Bakumatsu period in the 19th century (the original manga was set in the earlier Edo period), and follows the main character Manji, who starts the story in a life of seclusion in the Tosa domain, but heads to the capital for a certain reason. The story has him confronting the strongest warriors of the time.

The series launched in May 2019. Kodansha shipped the ninth compiled book volume on November 22.

Samura launched the Blade of the Immortal manga in Kodansha's Monthly Afternoon magazine in December of 1993, and he completed the series in 2012. The manga's 30 volumes have more than 5 million copies in print, and the series has been published in 22 countries and territories. The manga earned an Excellence Prize in the manga category of the 1st Japan Media Arts Festival Awards in 1997, and it won the Eisner Award for Best U.S. Edition of Foreign Material in 2000. Since ending Blade of the Immortal, Samura has published the historical manga Harukaze no Snegurochka (The Spring Breeze Snow Maiden) and the romance Nami yo Kiite Kure (Waves, Listen to Me).

Dark Horse Comics published the Blade of the Immortal manga in North America, and is rereleasing it in omnibus form. The manga already inspired a television anime in 2008, and Media Blasters released it in English.

Takashi Miike's live-action film adaptation of the manga premiered in Japan in April 2017. The film ranked at #6 in Japan in its opening weekend, selling 145,000 tickets and earning 189 million yen (about US$1.68 million). It premiered in North America at Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas in September 2017. The film then had a wider theatrical release in November 2017.

Source: Afternoon June issue