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 MangaLife Spotlight: Vagabond v25-30
Written by Park Cooper
Well, my appreciation for Takehiko Inoue’s manga Vagabond continues to grow. I really feel that those who like Inoue’s comedic thug-fest Slam Dunk or his realistic wheelchair basketball manga Real but who are resisting Vagabond (perhaps because they feel they already know the story of Miyamoto Musashi? If you don’t, gentle reader, allow me to quote Viz’s website when I say that he was “the legendary sword-saint, Miyamoto Musashi--perhaps the most renowned samurai of all time. “) are really missing out on something they’d regret missing out on if only they knew what they were missing. So here I am, back to try to tell everyone. I know of no better way to do this than to give my reactions volume by volume.
Warning: contains a few spoilers.
Volume 25: Musashi shows up a year later for a duel he’d agreed to. Both men are strong—but Musashi in particular is far stronger than he was. After the duel, the rest of the opponent’s school decide to ambush Musashi. Will Musashi show up for a battle against literally dozens of other warriors?
Favorite moment: My favorite moments are often going to be the very spiritual ones... near the end of this volume, the monk whose paths sometimes crosses with Musashi’s comments that Musashi has become kind. “That means you’re stronger. The strong are always kind.”
And just like that, there it is: Inoue’s hint to you of what this story is really about—it’s important that Musashi become stronger because he’s going to write The Book of Five Rings, which will try to show the world a way, _through strength_, PAST all of the boastful posturing that the supposedly-strong do in order to hide their insecurities. A new way that will try to teach mankind something about strength being a path to wisdom.
Volume 26: So does Musashi show up to fight 70-or-so warriors? Sure, why not?
Favorite moment: The warriors presume they can beat Musashi. As the fight wears on, it starts becoming more and more clear that trying to do so is a stupid idea. This fact occurs to Musashi, but suddenly he starts asking himself what he’s doing here. “This is just like how I live my life...” he thinks—a series of pointless battles, one after another, that produces nothing but corpses. In his mind, the spirits of the two old men he’s met chuckle at him and his slow, difficult struggles toward enlightenment...
Volume 27: The fight ends.
Favorite moment: Chapter 236, “Battle Threshold.” Musashi, with a little help from the spirits of the two old masters, suddenly understands confidence, what it truly is, where it comes from, and how to use it, as his eyes see two men for every one facing him on the battlefield—the physical man, in each case—and the cowardly fear that stands beside each one, as well. He is not like them. On the other hand, while he’s lost in this vision of what it really means to be confident and certain of one’s power, some of them make the mistake of attacking him while his mind is elsewhere—a mistake, because it just means that his merciless body and instincts are minding the killin’ store.
Volume 28: Not only has Musashi finished the fight only to be pretty injured, the authorities come for him to arrest him... what, you think you can kill 70 guys in an unofficial fight and no one’ll notice?
Favorite moment: Otsu, our little female love interest, thinks in flashbacks about the young man Musashi used to be, and how she came to love him.
Volume 29: Well, okay, technically they aren’t arresting him for murder so much as placing him under arrest for his own good. I mean, think about it—you take out 70 guys, that means you’re the baddest dude in the land (maybe ever). But that means if someone else takes out Musashi while he’s still injured, well, maybe they think that means they’re badass, since they would have just taken out the baddest dude in the land (if not ever).
Favorite moment: The ghost of one of the leaders of the 70 appears unto Otsu, to explain to her that the spiral path of death that Musashi is on will never end. Yahoo, some straight-up supernatural stuff!
Volume 30: A lot of people, some dead and some alive, feel that Musashi has surely fought enough for his entire lifetime. But he feels like the enlightenment that can be found through pursuing the path of matching strength against strength is sooooo close. If he could just find onnnnnne more guy who would test him to the utmost limits, and beyond... he suspects that he really might grasp this thing firmly enough to understand it. And some people agree with him on that...
Favorite moment: I’d have to say it’s when a wise man is explaining his take on all this strength and wisdom stuff to Musashi, and it’s over his head, just like Kojirō, the deaf-mute swordsman whose path is destined to cross with that of Musashi’s again some day, can barely grasp (even when they write it down for him) what’s in store for him in his future. When the wise man tries to distill a little of what he’s learned over the years, Musashi hears something he does understand (I’m paraphrasing, but only to let you comprehend this passage which I’m taking out of context):
Man: “The soul has many forking paths of choices. But I’ve learned... it’s best to just choose the one that’s in the center.”
Musashi: “That, I understand...”
Whatever Musashi ever does or says, darned if he isn’t direct about his deeds and statements.
I look forward to reading beyond Vagabond, volume 30... a quick check of Amazon shows me that volume 31 very recently came out...
Viz is also putting Vagabond out a second time in their VizBig collected omnibus editions. In my experience, those are often a good value for one’s money...
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