[Review] Vagabond: Miyamoto arc

Manga: Vagabond バガボンド
Mangaka: Inoue Takehiko 井上雄彦
Volumes: 1-2
Chapters: 1-21

Vagabond begins with the aftermath of the Battle of Sekigahara, introducing the person who will later become one of the most renowned swordsman in Japanese history. Two childhood friends, Shinmen Takezou and Honiden Matahachi, who left Sakushuu village to make a name themselves, find themselves survivors of the battle. Evading capture they are rescued by Oko and Akemi, who make a living by selling off the armor and weapons that they steal from dead soldiers. Trouble finds them in the form of the Tsujikaze gang and Takezou and Matahachi are forced to fight back.

Despite having experienced the battlefield, Takezou and Matahachi are vastly different in terms of character. Takezou is clearly the more skilled and ‘warrior-like’ between two, while Matahachi struggles with his own fears and cowardice when pushed to a fight. The latter also seems to regard his friend as a standard to measure himself against, resulting in something of an inferiority complex.

As the story moves back to their home village, we’re given more insight into Takezou’s reckless and murderous nature. Shunned by his parents, Takezou grew up wanting to be independent of anyone, although the pain of being ‘abandoned’ brought about a rage and hatred that created a demon in him who killed without thought. This brings him a considerable amount of trouble, seeing as how he was already a wanted man when he arrives at the village for killing two soldiers at the border.

When Aoki’s men fail to apprehend him, Otsu and Takuan set out to fulfill that task. Otsu, another childhood friend of Takezou’s, manages to disperse the demon in him. Knowing what it feels like to be abandoned, Takezou can probably feel Otsu’s sadness from Matahachi’s betrayal the most. Matahachi had decided to run off with Oko and did not return to the village.

With Takezou overcome by Otsu’s anguish, Takuan captures him and strings him up in a tree, forcing Takezou to reflect on what he has done. Takuan’s actions would open his eyes to the value of life, his own and of others. It wasn’t something so simple as living to kill and then be killed. I really enjoyed Takuan’s amiable yet sarcastic quips. And the kindness that he offers to Takezou would mark the latter’s first step into becoming the Miyamoto Musashi.

The artwork of Vagabond is absolutely amazing. The backgrounds have stunning detail and the characters beautifully drawn, creating an immensely lush and expressive atmosphere to support the story. Inoue’s art is just gorgeous.

Final rating: 8.3/10

This entry was posted on February 08th, 2009 and is filed under Vagabond. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or Trackback from your own site.