Vagabond is a famous Japanese martial arts manga series that portrays the life of famous swordsman Musashi Miyamoto and his adventures and challenges to become the best swordsman in Japan.
Musashi Miyamoto is also a historical figure and is considered one of the greatest swordsmen in Japanese history. He was born under Takezou Shinmen but later changed it to Musashi Miyamoto.
The manga is based on the book by Eiji Yoshikawa. The book was published in the magazine in 1998 and has been made into 37 volumes. By December 2012, the manga had sold over 82 million copies, making it one of the best-selling series ever.
Vagabond also won the 24th Kodansha Manga Award for the general category. In this article, we will explore more about the manga series Vagabond.
PAST
Musashi Miyamoto was born into a samurai family; his father, Shinmen Munisai, was said to be a great samurai of his era. At a very young age, his father divorced his mother and forced Musashi Miyamoto to learn martial arts.
As a result, Musashi Miyamoto waited a long time to meet his mother, but when he finally met her, she rejected him, saying he should return to his father. After that, Musashi held a grudge against his father.
Musashi Miyamoto tried a lot to assassinate his father all by himself but failed every time. Tazeko was very lonely, and he liked to spend a lot of time in the forest with the wild. As a result, he developed a great bond with nature.
As a child, he made friends with Matahachi Honiden and Otsu. They had a very close bond after spending a lot of time with them. By 13, he had become solid while training and accepted a duel against Kihe Arima.
Kihei Arima underestimated Musashi for his young age and got killed by Musashi Miyamoto. Later in the Takezo arc, at the battle of Sekigahara, Takezo joins Matahachi to fight against the Tokugawa clan.
After a colossal battle, Takezo gets wounded and, hence, left behind by Ittosai and Kojiro. Later in the battle, Takezo and Matahachi get passed out because of their injuries.
Abilities
At a very young age, Musashi Miyamoto’s father trained him with Jutte, which helped him a lot in assembling his sword style. Musashi Miyamoto has few sword styles, but his unique style makes him a formidable opponent. His opponents are unable to predict his moves due to his unfamiliar movements. He spent most of the day in the woods, training with the wild and knowing the wildlife better, making his body challenging and fit.
His arm strength is incredible; in one of the arcs, he cut steel with one hand. In his era, most swordsmen used only one sword for offensive and defensive purposes. Still, he created a two-sword style while wielding a katana on the right hand, using it as offensive, and a wakizashi on the left, using it as defensive.
He also has incredible battle feats; he fought 70 samurais from one of the top schools and defeated multiple samurai at once while using a training sword. Some of the abilities shown in the manga are:
(1) After image creation: he sidesteps so quickly that he creates an afterimage of himself.
(2) Acrobatics: he could quickly stop his attack midway, making the attack unpredictable.
(3) Agility: He is way better than any other samurai at dodging attacks and climbing; he could climb a mountain with injured feet.
(4) Martial arts: Despite being only a swordsman, he is also great in martial arts. He knows pressure points very well, and we also saw him knock out a man with a punch to his neck.
(5) Regeneration: In the manga, we can see numerous injuries from the fight against seventy men heal faster than expected.
OTHER FACTS
Historical figures inspire the manga Vagabond; it shows the life of legendary swordsman and philosopher Musashi Miyamoto, who lived in Japan during the 17th century.
Along with the story, the manga is widely famous for its excellent, detailed, and realistic artwork. The historical figures are drawn with accuracy. Takehiko Inoue is praised for clean fight scenes and expressive character design.
Vagabond has received critical acclaim, like the Kodansha Award and the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize. The manga has also been translated into many languages, including English, due to which it has gained a global fanbase.
Vagabond is known for its deep and complex character development. It explores the psychological and philosophical aspects of character. The series elaborates on important ideas like doing the right things, choosing the right path, and being a good person. This manga teaches us how to deal with tough decisions while suffering from challenging parts of life.
Vagabond is a manga, but it has been adapted into a live-action television drama with real actors. As of my research, Vagabond is not being worked on right now, and there needs to be an update given by the creator.
Since the release of the Vagabond manga series, the series has significantly impacted how samurai stories are shown in movies and television. Many people from Japan like the theme of samurai-based stories as it shows the old culture of Japan.
CONCLUSION
Vagabond is an extraordinary manga series. The person who made it, Takehiko Inoue, is good at what he does, and he blessed us with such a great manga series. The manga is not being worked on right now, but it has left a significant mark on people’s minds and changed people’s views toward samurai.
The Vagabond series is not just a manga about ancient Japanese samurai; it teaches us the importance of life and gives us great morals. The manga explores more about bushido (the way of samurai).
There is a wide variety of manga with different genres available to read and explore on the internet, but out of them, Vagabond is just different. It is like a shining star in the world of manga. It would be best if you tried this manga; I am sure it won’t disappoint you.
Do small things with great love.
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I am a first-year student pursuing Data Science and Artificial intelligence and have always been mesmerised by AI and wish to build one for my own in future. In my free time, I like to watch Romance Anime or read Seinen Manga.
