VAGABOND VIZBIG ED GN VOL 02 (MR) (C: 1-0-0): Enlightenment VIZBIG Edition: Volume 2 (Vagabond (VIZBIG Edition))

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The art is stellar, but much of the credit for the plot and characterization must go to Eiji Yoshikawa, author of the novel this manga is an adaptation of. If I have to be honest, despite the cool action sequences and the fact that Inoue tries to make it historically accurate, it has started to become rather repetitive. Miyamoto Musashi is a marvellous character and reminds me of both Goku from Dragon Ball and Naruto from the Naruto series. In these volumes, the demon within him isn't as evident as in the first omnibus but this is because he is distracted romantically, Otsu can't seem to steer clear of the corridors of his mind. This impacts his fighting and his general awareness of his surroundings, his instinct itself, has, in fact, a different vibe to it.

There are no stakes. The action scenes, though well drawn, feel tedious because the end goal is just "Mushashi feels stronger." The historical setting has almost no bearing on the story. This could have been any figjt manga where the main character just wants to get stronger. Only even those (even something as thin as dragon ball z) have some semblance of a plot.As the first samurai manga I am currently reading, Vagabond by Takehiko Inoue has become an instant favourite based on reading the first volume, which has already done a lot in establishing the life-changing transition from Takezō Shinmen to Musashi Miyamoto, whose goal in life is to become invincible under the sun. There’s a lot of violence in this volume, some of it quite bloody. There’s also a brief sex scene with female nudity–this is a “mature readers” title.

Matahachi’s on the run because of the arson thing, and a chance encounter allows him to also reinvent himself as the respected warrior Sasaki Kojirō. His sections of the story are tragicomedy, as he keeps having good intentions, but the flaws in his character prevent him from following through in a crisis, and we watch him make excuse after excuse for doing less than he ought.The centerpiece of this second omnibus of Takehiko Inoue's critically acclaimed series is the duel between the young, brutish Miyamoto Musashi and the second generation master of the Hozoin Temple, the perpetually smiling Inshun. Although this has been marketed as a seinen manga, in which the demographic is young adult men, I feel like Vagabond has in common with shōnen manga as not only Musashi’s arc of being the strongest is not far off from Goku in Dragon Ball, but also the action plays a crucial part in both storytelling and characterisation. The major set-piece of this volume is when we arrive at the Hōzōin-ryū school of spearmanship, where Musashi fights Inshun Hōzōin, the second-generation master of the Hōzōin spear technique. Devoting seven chapters to this one fight, it is a masterclass of action, in that it’s not just a case of hitting one another, but also strategy and what the two fighters are feeling.

Volume 4, the introduction to Musashi's growth was intriguingly lovely, I loved the philosophical growth and seeing the barriers in which he was beginning to overcome.These are more so just general thoughts I had and less about things that I liked or didn't like. They may seem more like criticisms or critiques but as stated above, this story hasn't reached it's conclusion just yet. So it would be harder to judge or critique as of right now vs once I have completed an arc. Matahachi isn't given much time in this omnibus but when he is, he steals the identity of a famous swordsman, that of Sasaki. Overall, I enjoyed the character development in Musashi, he seems to be more of a human and less of a demon, especially since the mountains were his only mentors, and that was a nice touch. He finds a new sensei to train under and now his goal is apparently to defeat Inshun. Miyamoto's heart did grow softer especially after he defeated the Yoshioka clan. I'm not even sure who set it on fire yet. Musashi is distracted by thoughts of his other childhood friend, the lovely Otsu. She’s now the servant of a master of the Yagyu style of swordsmanship, who Yoshioka Denshichiro has come to train with in preparation for his next duel with Musashi. I see heaps and heaps of praise thrown on this series. People calling it a work of high art, a masterpiece of the manga format. And in certain ways I can see why. The art truly is gorgeous, filled with great character designs and environments. I enjoy Miyamoto, and for his age, he is very believable. I just find him to be overwhelmingly dull at times. He is so self absorbed with strength. That isn't enough to bring his character down to dull, but he has a childhood love interest that compels him to be 'distracted.' I'm guessing it was made to make his character more relatable, but I feel as if the cliche love interest doesn't do anything for me. It's just another thing Miyamoto has to go through. I was much more into the abusive relationship with his father but that has again been held absent and shrouded in intrigue.

I do appreciate seeing where Matahachi is going, his journey and his growth I think will be great. However, I...was kind of spoiled by the author admiting that he was a historical figure and the archenemy of Miyamoto. Which like, fair. This is a historical figure, and this is based on a popular Japanese movie. Soooooo, I'm thinking this is less of a spoiler and more a part of history. But can you do the same with novels and comic books? As someone who labeled a shelf action even I would struggle with singling out a significant number of fight scenes from books as capital-G Great. There are several authors I've read and admired who when the time came in their story for an action setpiece it came across as merely serviceable more often than not. And I don't think any less of them for it because it's damn hard to create the visuals and motion that is necessary to a good fight scene with mere words. The closest literary equivalent would be every time an author describes the current location of their characters, but when it comes to scenery the author doesn't have to worry about the flow and pacing of their writing nearly as much they need to when it comes to describing a sword fight, or a shootout, or a wizard duel, or a battle between two armies. That's about it. There's a ton of drawn out fighting, banter about the philosophy of battle, and internal reflection, as well as a small side story with Mushashis friend whose name I forget. This massive tome doesn't even conclude the arc it sets up. It ends on a cliffhanger. Again with Volume 5, it was astounding. The humanity and resilience displayed was astonishing. It was by far my favourite volume so far, as we delve right into human consciousness and morality, these aspects captivated my attention and began rewiring the neurones in my brain ! I will admit that it initially took me a while to regain my footing in the ongoing narrative, and remember all the characters sufficiently, but once I got past that, the story seemed an improvement via accumulation in comparison to the previous volume. I would not say that the character of Miyamoto Musashi has yet gained any true depth – he still comes across as rather flat – but the character gallery around him is starting to make up for it. Also, while there is still a lot of violence (one fight seems to be going on for an near endless number of chapters) there is much less carnage in this volume. And perhaps it allows hints of character growth for Musashi as well.

Miyamoto Musashi is better at learning from his mistakes; while he is not the sharpest katana in the armory, he’s partially grasped the concept of critical thinking and examining his own mindset. Still has a long way to go before being the best swordsman in Japan though. It kept me thinking and rereading to fully encompass what Takehiko Inoue was conveying, it was beautiful I loved every minute of it ! That'd all be frustrating enough, but the very foundation of vagabond is flawed. When I heard it's a fantastical take on a real life master samurai, i was immediately hooked. I was looking forward to the historical, grounded setting, and maybe a political plot Mushashi gets swept up in. But nah. It's just Mushashi going from enemy to enemy trying to get "stronger." That's his sole goal. Real-life figure Miyamoto Musashi was the most celebrated samurai of all time. The quintessential warrior-philosopher, Musashi authored A Book of Five Rings, a classic treatise in the canon of world philosophy and military strategy. But the path to enlightenment is an endless journey, and to get there through violent means—by way of the sword—makes mere survival an even greater challenge. The successor to the Hōzōin spear style, Inshun, has his own issues. He’s a natural combat genius who has never known “fear”, or had a truly serious challenge to his skills until now. Thus his growth has stalled; Inshun must learn how to deal with defeat to become stronger. His multi-chapter duel with Musashi is the centerpiece of this volume.