His growth and development, in more ways than just of the sword, but yet at the same time never truly leaving the sword, are so simple and yet so spectacular at the same time. The main character, who one will find it hard to identify with on the surface, has something deep within him that every single one of us can possibly understand and aspire towards. It is just so completely believable, so persuasive and so artistic all at the same time that with this manga just feels so raw and yet so real. He grows realistically, he stumbles, he falls, he falls so hard that he finds it difficult to get back onto his feet, he takes the wrong path, goes the wrong way, makes the wrong enemies, and kills the wrong people, but he gets back up, and the story continues. The fights get better, and the character himself grows. The manga just rides on from there, rising It starts off with a rather rude and yet beautiful jerk, depicting the scene of a battlefield in splendid watercolor. Drawn to this manga by the promise of awesome fight scenes,, you find yourself hooked to this manga. The gore and nudity found in them is simply disturbing, no longer artistic, just omnipresent and absolutely in-your-face.įrom the beginning, Vagabond has this strange allure to it.

Some seinen manga, I believe, take the meaning too far. Vagabond is the fictitious retelling of the life of one of Japan's most renowned swordsmen, the 'Sword Saint' Musashi Miyamoto-his rise from a swordsman with no desire other than to become 'Invincible Under the Heavens' to an enlightened warrior who slowly learns of the importance of close friends, self-reflection, and life itself. An itinerant monk, the distinguished Takuan Soho, takes pity on the 'devil child,' secretly freeing Shinmen and christening him with a new name to avoid pursuit by the authorities: Musashi Miyamoto. Upon being captured, he is strung up on a tree and left to die. He instead finds himself a wanted criminal, framed for his friend's supposed murder based on his history of violence. The pair enlist in the Toyotomi army, yearning for glory-but when the Toyotomi suffer a crushing defeat at the hands of the Tokugawa Clan at the Battle of Sekigahara, the friends barely make it out alive.Īfter the two are separated, Shinmen returns home on a self-appointed mission to notify the Hon'iden family of Matahachi's survival.

His aggressive nature has won him the collective reproach and fear of his village, leading him and his best friend, Matahachi Honiden, to run away in search of something grander than provincial life. EditSynopsis In 16th-century Japan, Shinmen Takezou is a wild, rough young man, in both his appearance and his actions.

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