Blade of the Immortal (Japanese: 無限の住人, Hepburn: Mugen no jūnin) is a 2017 samurai action film starring Takuya Kimura and Hana Sugisaki and directed by Takashi Miike.

Miike explored different themes in the story, such as revenge, but in a more complex manner, as he saw Manji as a "dark hero", while the production team found it difficult to write multiple fight scenes to fit the film's duration.

52 years later: Manji is now an ageless immortal, who is approached by a young girl named Rin Asano who requests his aid as a bodyguard to help avenge the death of her father, Kurose, at the hands of Kagehisa Anotsu and the Ittō-ryū, a society of samurai assassins whom he leads.

While Manji reluctantly agrees when a Ittō-ryū member Sabato Kuroi who had the severed head of Rin's mother mounted on his left shoulder.

Word of Sabato's death reaches Kagehisa after setting up the Ittō-ryū's contract with Kagimura Habaki for a place in the shogunate, sending Taito Magatsu to deal with Rin and her bodyguard.

He was attracted to Samura's work based on his handling of characters such as villains who offer a realistic characterization, Manji being "dark hero" and the detailed artwork.

[10] The special features featurette titled "Mangi and the 300", indicates that the hyperviolence of Blade of the Immortal was modeled in part on the film version of 300 from several years prior dealing with the Spartans.

[13] He was mostly impressed by the reverse ideas in regards to the themes of "light" and "dark", explaining that the main characters did not have a stereotypical appeal commonly found in fiction.

Additionally, since Kimura was also popular within Japanese fandom for over two decades by the time the film was made, he felt that his appeal would attract a bigger audience.

[8] The theme song of the film, "Live to Die Another Day", is performed by Miyavi,[19] whom Miike noted he had a good relationship with Kimura due to their similar careers.

[21] It was suggested that the film's weak box office performance may have been due to the disbanding of the music group SMAP, which actor Takuya Kimura was part of.

The website's critical consensus reads, "Blade of the Immortal highlights Takashi Miike's flair for balletic violence, combining what it gives in strict originality with rich characterizations and kinetic thrills.

[30] Harry Windsor of The Hollywood Reporter found the film to be "less memorable" than 13 Assassins, but that "there are still pleasures to be had, particularly for those fond of long but expertly choreographed sword fights with regular, and bloody, dismemberments.

"[3] Variety described it as a departure from Miike's previous samurai films due to the level of gore, while praising the large amount of fight scenes.

The plot was noted to take advantage of supernatural elements in order to focus on battles, with the writer describing the film as a chanbara genre.

[2] Blu Ray compared the supernatural powers possessed by protagonist Manji to those of the titular characters in the films Logan and 1986's Highlander due to the portrayal of immortal fighters.

[31] Japan Times highly praised Kimura's work for his emotional and physical scenes despite not being at his prime in the film, comparing him to Tom Cruise.

[32] Although IGN criticized Manji's and Rin's journey for being an excuse to battle a large amount of characters, the reviewer enjoyed their relationship, also comparing them to Logan while also being self-aware of the idea of revenge.