Blade of the Immortal: Volume 17: On the Perfection of Anatomy

Hiroaki Samura, 182 pages

To find Manji, Rin and Hyakurin go looking for the man who saw him last, but Giichi doesn't exactly want to be found, either. And as one immortality test subject after another dies, Manji's emotionally distraught doctor begins to give in to his conscience, much to the impatient ire of the poor man's pragmatic, ambitious master.

What does Kagimura want with immortality, anyway? Is it for himself? His ideals? His leader? I can't figure him out, and that makes me nervous. Manji just needs to kick his behind and get the heck out of there. But one of the things I like about Samura is how he doesn't make his heroes perfect (even if they're practically indestructible). Manji's not too shabby with a blade, but his biggest advantage is being able to get back up when he should be toast--and that cat's already out of the bag with Kagimura, whom Manji knows is the better swordsman. We'll see, we'll see.