Vagabond is an ongoing series Japanese manga, first published in 1998. Both story and art is created by the famous manga artist Takehiko Inoue (see him in action here !).
The story is inspired by Yoshikawa's novel "Musashi" (published in 1981). The plot itself revolves around the life of legendary Miyamoto Musashi, Japanese swordsman and samurai. Musashi was uparalleled in sword technique, invented a new style of fighting and wrote the famous script "The Book of Five Rings" about tactics, strategy and philosophy.
I purchased the first issue from ebay (Japanese version) and was overall impressed by its quality.
About the Plot
It all begins with two boys, Shinmen Takezo and Honiden Matahachi, leaving a battlefield full of corpses. Living between life and death, they try to survive by relying on each other. They are given food and shelter by two women, a mother and a daughter.
As the story continues, Takezo meets up with fierce enemies, but the look in his eyes shows what the outcome of the battle will be. What I found very enjoyable is the outline of the characters. Each one is unique, with its own emotions and motives.
The story isn't something inovative or entirely new, but I think it unfolds itself pretty nice.
Artstyle
The artstyle is simply amazing. Takehiko Inoue's great style really improved on this one. The paintings captivate the reader and create the apropriate atmosphere, the face expressions truly show the characters' thoughts and emotions.
What I personally most enjoyed was the battle scenes. Takezo moves like the wind and cuts through his opponents and at least in this issue, there is no equal for him in fight. I will be really interested to watch a longer battle with stronger enemies later on.
Generally, it containts some violent scenes, so i would recommend to check through it at first before deciding to let younger audiences to read it.
Overall
This manga is fantastic. If you are fan of Japanese history, sword fighting or Takehiko Inoue (but who isn't? :P) you will definetely love this one.
Vagabond #1 9/10
Takehiko Inoue links:
Miyamoto Musashi
The book of the five rings: http://www.cyberpathway.com/musashi/
Samurai I: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047444/
Musashi (Novel): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musashi_(novel)
