Hello!

Vagabond is perhaps the greatest biographical manga ever created. It jumped out at me because of how high it was rated on myanimelist.com, but even then, it far surpassed my expectations.

Merriam Webster’s dictionary defines the word “Vagabond” as one who moves from place to place without a fixed home, leading an unsettled, disreputable life. This is a definition that one would not expect of Miyamoto Musashi, perhaps one of the most successful and famous swordsmen ever to pick up a sword.

Vagabond details the life of Miyamoto Musashi, as he wandered throughout Japan, wreaking havoc in the era of the Samurai. The actual life events of Miyamoto Musashi are shrouded in mystery – as a wandering man, people did not keep tabs on him 24/7. The only things that are known for sure are his birth place and date, some of his duels, and his death. Takehiko Inoue is greatly successful in dramatizing the life of Miyamoto Musashi, constructing a great Hero’s Journey over the course of 100 chapters.

The artwork is stunning, as expected of Takehiko Inoue. Every thing is oddly realistic, from the scenes of extreme gore and violence, to the tranquil beauty of nature landscapes. Inoue is really good at creating movement via the utilization of unique speed lines; thus, the fight scenes look awesome.

While much of the manga is focused on killing people, and dueling for supremacy, the manga delves deeply into the true nature of Miyamoto Musashi as a human being. By examining Musashi’s feelings and mental faculties before, during, and after battles, Inoue is able to show that Musashi’s strength and energy exist to protect himself from his fear of death and inferiority, no matter how fearless he looks to other people. All of the other characters reach similar levels of complexity, and are shown to play paramount positions in the character development of Musashi. Out of the events known about Miyamoto Musashi, the author was careful only to pick the ones that would help Musashi develop as a character.

Overall, if you read manga, you have to read this. Seriously. Not even kidding.

10/10