Art of Hiroaki Samura
One of the most striking features of Blade of the Immortal is its beautiful, realistic artwork. Although Samura stylizes and elongates his human figures to some extent, especially early in the run of the manga, he has a thorough knowledge of anatomy that allows him to create uniquely expressive poses and angles. His unusual use of accurately detailed shots of hands and feet makes them almost as reflective of character and mood as his faces. Atmospheric backgrounds and landscapes round out the look of the manga, which incorporates many panels rendered in a finished, shaded pencil style rather than in inked line art. His drawing skills are shown to their best advantage in these penciled panels.
Samura says that he always wanted to be a manga artist. However, unlike most manga artists, he attended art school for a time and has a classical art education. He says in interviews that he disliked the smell of oil paint, and openly admits to hiring another artist to help him get through a required oil painting course. Although he prefers to work in black and white, and does many freelance illustrations in graphite, Samura has painted some color promotional pieces and book covers in acrylics for the collected volumes of Blade of the Immortal, such as the cover for the chapter #111: Shortcut #5 (of 5)'. Samura never completed his art degree, because he left school before graduation to create Blade of the Immortal for Afternoon.
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