Set in 1600, the two seventeen-year-olds Takezō Shinmen and Matahachi Hon'iden escape from the battlefield of Sekihagara, with the hope of their home village. What immediately stands out from the start, is the dynamic between the two young men as Matahachi seems like the innocent one who is waiting to get married when they return their home, whilst Takezō (who will later be renamed as Musashi) is the roguish one who is hated and feared by the village. VIZ Media is currently releasing the translated edition of Vagabond only three months after the Japanese release! At the age of twenty-one, Takezō (now named Musashi) arrives in Kyōto so that he can fight the swordmasters of the Yoshioka School. Somewhere else in Kyōto, a twenty-one-year-old Matahachi struggles to make money as oppose to his more financially-successful wife Okō, who works in the pleasure quarters. As the first part of the Kyōto arc, much of the storytelling is told through the action within the school as the swordsmen see Musashi as an arrogant youngster who is over his head as he wishes to challenge the man who runs the school, where there is already conflict in terms of who is the true master. This manga is an epic tale of Miyamoto Musashi who is considered to be the greatest samurai to have ever lived.

Vagabond is Takehiko Inoue's fictionalized account (based primarily on the classic Japanese novel Musashi) of the most legendary swordsman in all of Japan's history (and perhaps the world's) that's been going on and off for the past 18 years and counting. While the cover says this is "loosely based on the novel _Musashi_" I'd have to say that this seems pretty much like a direct manga edition of the book by Eiji Yoshikawa, so far at least. Volume 1 begins in the same place as the novel: at the end of the historic battle of Sekigahara two survivors, childhood friends Shinmen Takezo (soon the re-christen himself Miyamoto Musashi) and Hon'iden Matahachi, are found by a young girl (Akemi) and her mother Oko who live by stealing from corpses on the battlefield. As the two young men regain their health we see that the two friends are very different: Matahachi is weak and selfish, while Takezo is driven by an all-consuming desire to which he will sacrifice all else - the dream of becoming the greatest swordsman of all.Vagabond by Takehiko Inoue, who is also the creator of Slam Dunk and Real, features realistic art and a story that, while rooted in history, feels larger-than-life. Not only that, but the series has a strong cast of characters that grow and develop in a way that’s not just relatable but interesting as well. For these reasons and more, it is my second favorite Seinen manga of all time right behind Berserk by the one and only Kentaro Miura. It is a critique of the ambition to be the very best in some field of combat. You know, the motivation of so many characters throughout so many Japanese stories, particularly in manga, anime, and video games. It explores the consequences, often negative, of attempting to reach such a goal. The conclusions Inoue typically draws on such individuals throughout the story, on the important ones and the ones who are never more than periphery figures, aren't flattering. Inoue received the 2000 Media Arts award for manga from the Japanese Ministry of Culture and the Kodansha award for best manga for his work on Vagabond. However, all it takes is one Buddhist monk who steals the show, and Otsū, who is Takezō’s childhood friend and Matahachi’s ex-fiancée, to help reinvigorate Takezō’s purpose in life. Considering the brutality throughout with the majority of characters being utterly horrible, Matahachi’s mother Osugi is a highlight, Inoue shows genuine emotion towards characters who are more than just hate as the friendly embrace between Takezō and Otsū, who recently learned about her fiancé’s unfaithfulness, but learns to move on. At seventeen years of age, Miyamoto Musashi—still known by his childhood name, Shinmen Takezō—was a wild young brute just setting out along the way of the sword.

Based on an actual samurai called Miyamoto Musashi, this epic tale of friendship, destiny and the search for purpose is simplistic like a fable or folktale is but still engaging and effective. The dynamic cast of characters make the adventure and fighting even more fun because you actually care what happens to them. So far, 37 individual volumes and 12 Vizbigs have been released of the series. I do want to mention that Vagabond is currently on hiatus, but please don’t let the fact that it’s on hiatus stop you from experiencing this incredible story. The Vizbig volumes are 3-in-1’s so with the volumes that have been released so far you can read up through volume 36. How do the Vagabond Vizbig Editions differ from the individual volumes? Real-life figure Miyamoto Musashi was the most celebrated samurai of all time. The quintessential warrior-philosopher, Musashi authored A Book of Five Rings, a classic treatise in the canon of world philosophy and military strategy. But the path to enlightenment is an endless journey, and to get there through violent means—by way of the sword—makes mere survival an even greater challenge. There is also a rather sad side story of Miyamoto's childhood friend. Who, unable to keep up with his famous friend, falls into a cowardly life of struggle and eventually ends up a beggar. If you are new to Vagabond, the story follows Miyamoto Musashi on his journey to become the greatest swordsman. Because of his brutish and violent ways, a lot of people think he’s something like a demon, but we as the reader, know he’s so much more than that and we really see him develop and grow over the course of the volumes.Vagabond" tells the story of Shinmen Takezō, a wandering young man searching to become invincibile under the sun. He does this by seeking out the greatest swordsmen in the land with the goal of defeating them or dying by their hand. a beast) й агресивного юнака, який місить усе на своєму шляху (у буквальному сенсі, бо його зброєю є лише дерев'яна палиця, умовно подібна до меча). Це спонукає до колективної ненависті, особливо в його селі, тому гурт наважується впіймати "демона". Тут важливо зупинитись, бо Такехіко Іноуе змушує нас задуматись над моральними наслідками діяльності героїв. У книжці нема глибоких філософських рефлексій, але уся ситуація цькування, відчуження дуже психологічно тисне, змушує вдуматись над тією тонкою межею, що розділяє живих і мертвих. Усе ж, все, що нас не ламає, справді робить сильнішим, тому колишній Сінмен Такедзо стає тепер Міямото Мусаші, тобто Вагабондом. Таке зростання не тільки нагадує Кемпбелівський цикл міфологічного героя, а більше апгрейди в комп'ютерних іграх.