Some plot twist are almost as fun when you know exactly what’s coming.

Manga for me, are nearly always better (though obviously with exceptions) in terms of plot, character, and pacing and there is very rarely changes due to censorship (Bokurano anyone? Yeah, let’s turn a heartless rapist who sells out children into a repenting man who didn’t mean what he did and completely change the message and point of that arc) which irk me greatly. Also, the art plays both a bigger role and a lesser one in manga in which the art carries the story and it is the only thing carrying the story appart from the words, BUT it will always be constant and some that span large amounts of time (CLAMP’s X, Angel Sanctuary, Gravitation, etc.) will actually improve as the series goes on, which is also interesting from an artistic point of view. Besides, with the manga (assuming that in these cases, the manga came first) you see the characters drawn and portrayed as the author intended with little changes made whereas with anime that has some/lots of changes, stories shift and characters shift as well (eg. Fullmetal Alchemist in which Al is reduced to almost a side character who does little in the anime near the end where as in the manga, his personality is still strong, and plays a critical role that never lets you forget that FMA is about BOTH brothers, not just one).

Also, like jute stated, I don’t read stories purely for the plot twists. In fact, aside from Harry Potter which was my childhood, I really didn’t give a damn if I was spoiled for anything or not. Hell, for Death Note, I knew that he was going to die way before I even started reading it - I’m in multiple fandoms, DN’s pretty big even before the anime - but that didn’t hurt my enjoyment at all. Different people, different tastes, but for me, it’s always HOW a story is told that matters the most, not WHAT is being told. For example, it’s simple to say what Romeo and Juliet is about, but it is the way the language is used and the beautiful way it is strung together that makes it a classic, far beyond it’s plot. Knowing that they both die at the end didn’t ruin my enjoyment of it at all.

Also, I agree when you say that the anime has some great tracks. While some people consider them distracting, I think they’re appropriate and adds something to the anime that the manga can never accomplish no matter how fantabulous the mangaka’s drawing skills may be.

I don’t put too much emphasis on plot twists. It’s not like I watch a show simply because I want to get surprised. So long as the story holds, I’m down with it. From what I read so far of the manga, Blade of the Immortal offers, at the very least, a fascinating cast of characters that make for an absorbing read.

It’s true there are lots of changes with the timeline and character & plot introductions, but I think the changes made thus far make lots of sense in the manga-to-anime translation. The pacing of the original manga wouldn’t work too well in this medium, given that the major story arc doesn’t lift off until several volumes in.

I usually don’t watch anime adaptations of manga myself for the reasons you mentioned, but in this case it’s been interesting to see the changes Bee-Train has made. There are enough differences that I don’t feel like I’m watching an exact clone, if that makes sense, and that’s enough to hold my attention.