STORY
Vagabond is the tale of real-life samurai Miyamoto Musashi, and Vagabond starts from before he was called by that name. The tale starts with Musashi (going by Shinmen Takezo at this point) and his buddy Hon'iden Matahachi returning to their home village after a bloody battle. They beat up some wayward enemy samurai, encounter some ladies, and get separated.
In all reality, this volume (or three volumes) could be billed more as a prologue since it deals with Takezo graduating to the name Musashi. I say graduating because this volume deals with Takezo/Musashi maturing as an individual, but more on that later.
As actual story goes, it's not super complex. This is a fairly simple story (for now) with characters having fairly simple goals. Musashi travels around challenging various samurai and honing his skills as a swordsman. As far as a biography goes, however, it's a darn good one. The simple nature of the story makes it easy to read. It took me forever to get through this volume, however, because I was too busy looking at that art.
ART & PRESENTATION
Hands down, Vagabond has the best art. Ever. It's not surprising that it takes so long for a new volume to be published, because the amount of work that goes into this manga is astounding.
Every picture is obviously drawn by hand with some fantastic brush work thrown in for good measure. Unfortunately I can't add every single picture from this 600 page volume, but I'll add a few of the very best.
Viz's presentation is spectacular, as well. The translation is solid, the printing is solid, the binding is solid, the color pages are plentiful and solid... Actually, the whole book is very solid. Seriously, this book weighs about a ton. You could probably very easily beat someone to death with it.
CHARACTERS
It was difficult to tell if any of the characters in this volume would be returning for future installments, and, as such, I'm only really going to go over the lead character, Miyamoto Musashi. That isn't to say the rest of the characters are forgettable, though. Matahachi is a dirtball, Otsu is down to earth and relateable, Takuan is interesting... You get it. Vagabond has great characters. I just don't want to wast my time with one who isn't coming back after this volume.
Takezo, as he starts out being called, is a pretty simple dude. His mission is to become "invincible under the sun", and he'll train himself and push himself to the limit to get there. He's strong in both body and mind, but he isn't unbeatable or fearless. A particularly character driven moment involves him hanging from a tree and thinking about how he ended up there. It's a great scene, even if it does draaaaaaaaag ooooooooooon. Once he becomes Miyamoto Musashi, Shinmen Takezo has died, and he becomes a new man. It's all very philosophical, but it's cool. It gives him some layers. He has goals other that to be the very best... Like no one ever was...
FINAL VERDICT
Vagabond is excellent. I don't know how much of this telling of Miyamoto Musashi's story is fictionalized, but if it's all more or less true, it's a darn good way to learn some history. Plus/minus below!
+ The best art around
+ Compelling, easy to read story
+ Real-feeling characters
+ Deep moments for Musashi
- Even if the tree scene does go on for a little too long
A - BUY IT
Vagabond is basically a staple in any manga collector's library. If you don't have it yet, go get it. Vagabond rocks.
(I don't own Vagabond. All rights go to the author, Takahiko Inoue, and the licensing company, Viz Media).
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