Blade of the Immortal

:´)

makie... NOOOOO

It's looking like a rather sad conclusion, at this point I share Kagehisa's feeling of regret, so many talented people lost on both sides, so much suffering and death. It's laudable that they were able to live and die according to their beliefs and ideals, but at some point you have to ask... was it really worth it?

It might be a cultural difference, I guess we westerners don't have the same feelings about loyalty and honor as japanese people had at that time.

Magnifique !

where is chapter 210?

because of some funny stuff with the chapter numbering, that chapter doesn't exist. chapter 211 continues where 209 ends. there was a notice about that on the scanlation group's site.

The end is coming for the Dream of Itto-Ryu, but damn if following this journey hasn't been one of triumph and hurt. In the end all aore driven by their emotions, loyalties, greed. Seeking recognition through combat with conclusions seem deserved by some, and harsh for others. If vengeance is really worth the cost, they have all paid for their peace of minds and pounds of flesh in spades.

finally finished the latest chapters.. the battles was awesome
but man manji always manage to be horribly chopped off in every fight he is in
why cant he be more like makie that girl was imba till the end

Manji's entrances are always so badass

No. Those girls "retired" after the fight against Shira. In any case, they're Habaki's kunoichi, not Hanabusa's. 

Eh really? Could've sworn it was them....well time to start to reread this I guess though I think I'll just wait for the last chapter and go through it in one swoop.

where is chapter 210?

Weren't the first 2 girls that got killed the ones who were working for that artist that Rin knows?

No. Those girls "retired" after the fight against Shira. In any case, they're Habaki's kunoichi, not Hanabusa's. 

This and other historical facts of warfare make us realize the bullshit that is Hollywood's attempt to change the realities of those times with movies like the "Last Samurai" as if a military commander from the 1800's with tons of koku and an army would have no musket troops, or canons in his arsenal. With that said, they killed my girl. Makie stood as one of the strongest in all of Manji's opponents - and her spirit was admirable to the end.

The Last Samurai is based on the historical Saigo Takamori's leadership of the Kagoshima rebellion in 1877. Saigo wasn't actually a lord with "tons of koku", just a retainer of Satsuma with great political influence in the Imperial court. He was reluctantly pushed into leadership of the fight against the Imperial forces by the Satsuma samurai clans whose privileges had been abolished by the Imperial court. Because Satsuma had been one of the earliest fiefs in Japan that modernized their military along Western lines, the real Kagoshima rebellion was actually fought by Westernized troops using guns and cannons on both sides. Practically all contemporary depictions of Saigo during this time show him wearing Western (Prussian-inspired) military garb. The Imperial forces won by virtue of being both more modern and better organized.

That said, the historical person whose story is most similar to Ken Watanabe's character in the movie is actually lord of Aizu Matsudaira Katamori, who protected the Shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu after the latter was driven out of Edo by the Satsuma-Choshu alliance in 1868. The battle seen in the movie actually resembles the Toba encounter of 27 January 1868, part of the Battle of Toba-Fushimi that marked the end of the Bakufu and the start of the Boshin War. In real life, Matsudaira Katamori survived the battle and continued fighting through autumn of 1868, eventually surrendering after Aizu was overrun by Imperial forces. The manga Yae no Sakura, while drawn and written in a disturbingly moe style, recounts some of the history of Matsudaira Katamori and the fate of Aizu domain through the eyes of Yamamoto Yaeko, a female samurai gunner of Aizu.

Weren't the first 2 girls that got killed the ones who were working for that artist that Rin knows?

it makes me regret the industrial revolution

This and other historical facts of warfare make us realize the bullshit that is Hollywood's attempt to change the realities of those times with movies like the "Last Samurai" as if a military commander from the 1800's with tons of koku and an army would have no musket troops, or canons in his arsenal. With that said, they killed my girl. Makie stood as one of the strongest in all of Manji's opponents - and her spirit was admirable to the end.

SPOILER:

Spoiler

Is there ANYTHING more frustrating in a manga then people shooting Samurais with firearms?

it makes me regret the industrial revolution

Makie is such a beautiful character and yet deeply sad..always when I see her, I picture a lonley flower on a snow covered field..one of the best characters in this story IMO.

SPOILER: