Blade of the Immortal, volume 14

[timepiececlock]

I read Volume 14 today, and I loved it. I was making "OMG!" and "WTF?!" faces in the Barnes and Noble store. I did have some confusion though, and wanted to pose a question to see if someone else out there reading this series could help clarify for me.

Rin's motivation is really starting to puzzle me. Heck, it's probably puzzling Manji too.

In the previous volume, when Rin and Anotsu were crossing the mountain, Rin obviously underwent a serious episode of Stockholm Syndrome. But her comments in volume 14, at the end of the confrontation, really confused me.

Why is she letting him live? If I remember/read correctly, she said something like she will track him for the rest of her life, waiting to see if he succeeds or fails, and when that happens, she'll come kill him.

Um, what the fuck? I don't follow. If she's angry enough to want his death because of her personal vengeance, she should kill him while she has the chance, a chance she might never get again. If she wants him dead because she doesn't want any more child or wife or sibling or family to suffer like her, or because she's seen such horrible carnage and wants him to know what his quest will cost in blood volume (as it did here), then what's the point of letting him conquer the world and THEN killing him? More people will die by then and much carnage will occur. It's not like Anotsu's going to have a moral attack and realize the horror of bloodshed any time soon. By letting him go (several times as of late), she's willingly failing to avenge her parents AND making it possible for him to kill/maim/rape/destroy many more people in the meantime.
I don't understand what's going on in her head. Help me understand.


On a side note, what sickness was Anotsu stricken with, again? I thought it was fatal? At the end of the fight he was sitting there, weak with a fatal illness AND stabbed in the chest. But then suddenly he's healthy and strong again?

...oh, right, I forgot. This is anime/manga.

It's just kind of disappointing, seeing as BotI has been pretty good about that sort of thing so far-- pretty much everyone except Manji who looks like they should be dying, does.

All that aside, I do have to say I loved the volume. I was on a high for about an hour afterward.

Comments

[hecatehatesthat.livejournal.com]

I have no fucking clue why Anotsu is not dead. Maybe he was standing again through adrenaline and he collapses three steps off the page and they'll have to find him an actual cure in the next volume...? I'm obviously making that up. It annoyed me too.

As far as why Rin didn't kill him... I'm sure that threat she yelled was all hot air. She doesn't want to kill Anotsu at all anymore, but she's not ready to admit to herself that's she's given up on revenge, so she claims she's waiting for the opportune moment or whatever. Or else she ran into some gypsies inbetween chapters and they explained to her that "vengeance is a living thing" and not to worry about all those innocent people her vengeance is gonna hurt and kill.

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

I'm glad I'm not the only one confused! One both points. I agree with you that Rin is often full of hot air on this stuff.

Some people here said that he had tetanus or lockjaw, and that it's possible to recover in about a month. That still doesn't adequately explain to me how he'd survive the tetanus infection AND the gaping chest wound at the same time, while living in the Japanese equivalent of the Dark Ages. One or the other and I can stretch my suspension of disbelief enough just barely to cover it (given that he's rich enough he can probably receive the best of medicinal drugs and care possible for the time), but the both is too much.

You've given me very interesting ideas for crossovers! Actually, at the moment I'm thinking... VENGEANCE DEMONS! Rin could have been Anya's very first customer.

What did you think of the whole kiss thing?

[donna-c-punk.livejournal.com]

I thought that Makie was responsible for Anotsu being cured by that point? I mean, she sewed her hands all up and she was back not long after, swinging a sword like nothing was wrong. As for what infected him, God, it's bugging me as it's right on the tip of my tongue, because one of the side effects is lockjaw. It's whatever happens to you when you step on a rusty nail and don't get a tetanus shot.

As for Rin's motivation, lemme reread the last two volumes. I had a pretty good idea for why she's doing what she's doing. The whole revenge theme reminds me a lot of Xena and Rin reminds me of Gabrielle during the arc where she was mad-set on killing Callisto for what she'd done to Gab's hubby. For all of her declarations, she never succeeded in doing it. I'll get back to you on it.

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

You're right that Makie was a factor now, but I think if Rin had insisted, Manji would have been willing to fight Makie and force the issue.

I wish I'd watched Xena so I could understand your analogy.