Vagabond

Vagabond (バガボンド) is a Japanese manga by Takehiko Inoue, who is both writer and artist. It began serialisation on 3 September 1998 in Kodansha's seinen magazine Morning. It is based on Eiji Yoshikawa's novel Musashi. The manga presents a fictionalised story of the life of the swordsman Miyamoto Musashi. Inoue conceives of his hero as a ronin who, in the author's words, follows a "more unique path" than bushido. It is therefore not a biography but a free artistic treatment of a character who comes from Yoshikawa's novel, not directly from historical sources on Musashi. In drawing duels, Inoue, according to the English Wikipedia, avoids the usual shortcuts of action art and strives for a credible image of the human body in sword combat. Reviewers cited by the same source praised the realistic depiction of violence. The manga won the Kodansha Manga Award in the general category (2000), the Grand Prize for manga at the Japan Media Arts Festival (2000) and the Grand Prize of the Osamu Tezuka Cultural Prize (2002).

Fact and fiction

According to the English Wikipedia, Inoue does not use the speed lines with which action manga usually suggest movement, and when drawing duels he draws on his own understanding of how the human body works. According to the same source, he wants to depict life and death, not Musashi's "enlightened state", and shows him as a ronin seeking his own path outside established notions of bushido. The manga departs from traditional tellings of Musashi also in its portrayal of other characters. According to the Japanese Wikipedia, for example, Sasaki Kojiro is depicted as deaf. It is an artistic treatment of the swordsman as a character, not a historical analysis of his life nor an account of sword technique.

People and martial arts

• Miyamoto Musashithe real person the work is about — as Miyamoto Musashi
• Takehiko InoueAuthor
• Eiji YoshikawaAuthor

Awards

• Won · Kodansha Manga Award, general category (2000)
• Won · Japan Media Arts Festival, Manga Grand Prize (2000)
• Won · Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize, Grand Prize (2002)

Details

Demographic

Seinen

First published / aired

Morning (Kodansha)