[Review] Vagabond: Shishido Baiken arc
Manga: Vagabond バガボンド
Mangaka: Inoue Takehiko 井上雄彦
Volumes: 11-13
Chapters: 105-127
Despite the certificate, Uncle Gon is highly skeptical of his nephew’s claim to be Sasaki Kojirou as he observes that Matahachi’s attitude hasn’t changed at all, making his sudden status as one of the ‘rising dragons’ highly suspicious. Unable to explain himself, Matahachi flees and, ironically, encounters the same swordsman who had challenged him to a duel in Osaka. As it turns out, the swordsman is on his way to challenge Shishido Baiken, master of the chain and sickle, and their brief exchange exposes Matahachi’s imposture.
As one would expect, Musashi also intends to challenge Shishido Baiken and has been nursing an injured foot along the way, as a result of stepping on a nail. The accident annoyed him and he realizes that he’s still rather preoccupied with becoming invincible. Musashi never fails to endear as the mangaka makes it very clear that for all his previous wins (and manly appearance), he’s still very young. His relentless desire to reach the summit is almost coupled with a tinge of childlike curiosity. He just wanted to see what was on top of the mountain.
Meanwhile, Matahachi is on the run again, this time from the aforementioned swordsman. Uncle Gon arrives to protect Matahachi but is killed by the swordsman’s companion as his nephew flees the area. During the chase, the pair encounters a girl with a chain and sickle, leading them to the residence of Shishido Baiken. Under the impression that the girl was Baiken, the swordsman duels with her. Soon the real Baiken returns and he effectively puts a hole through the swordsman’s head with the weight at the end of his chain. Matahachi, spotted hiding by the girl, is told to bury the bodies of the dead, including that of his uncle. The death of Uncle Gon saddens him considerably.
Musashi has also reached the territory, starving. He chances upon a kind, old lady who gives him something to eat. She also informs him that Baiken was nothing more than a bandit leader, however, after his ‘death’, swordsmen like Musashi started to show up around the territory. Puzzling as it seems to Musashi, he soon meets up with the person in question and it turns out that Baiken is none other than Tsujikaze Kohei, the younger brother of the bandit Tenma. Kohei recognizes Musashi as the Shinmen Takezou who took away his opportunity to kill Tenma but he doesn’t show any sign of hostility or hatred at Musashi. Baiken tells the girl living with him, Rindou, that Musashi is an old friend and obliges the latter with a duel.
Kohei has changed since the last time we saw him. As Musashi notes, his ‘twisted smile’ is gone, and there’s an obvious scar on his face. In a series of flashbacks we learn of Kohei’s past starting with a mother who tried to kill him by pushing him into a waterfall. The group of bandits led by Tsujikaze Tenma was after his mother’s life and they disposed of her before finding that her son survived the fall. Tenma immediately announced that Kohei was to be his brother, making him a member of the gang. Tenma treated Kohei with tenderness but it was not out of charity, rather, he lusted after and was possessive of the young boy. Kohei probably realized this after Tenma crushed his manhood in a fit of jealousy and felt that his life was no longer of any worth. Hence, he devoted it to the single purpose of killing Tenma only to have that purpose destroyed when Takezou killed Tenma.
Considering Kohei’s past, his connection with Rindou is intriguing and probably arises from the similarities in their upbringing. Just like how Tenma could not kill Kohei due their both having had mothers who tried to kill them, Kohei could not eliminate Rindou despite destroying Baiken and his bandits. Kohei’s assumption of the Shishido Baiken identity is never explained but perhaps in seeing a little of himself in Rindou, he comes to care about her in the way that the real Baiken (who could have been her father) should have. Kohei’s plead for his life after losing to Musashi stuns the latter but it also teaches him of a different type of ’strength’ and questions his own purpose in his quest to become invincible. Kohei is now free of the spiral of death and killing, after losing his pride and his final battle, however he had the strength to look beyond all of that and live to protect someone he cares about.
And finally, the man responsible for Kohei’s scar is revealed to be none other than Sasaki Kojirou.
Final rating: 8.8/10
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