Holy shit. This is good. I'm a fan of Takehiko Inoue, I've read a fair amount of 'Slam Dunk' and 'Real', his art is FANTASTIC. I think in terms of his artwork, Vagabond is even better than his previous series, and that's really saying something. I think Inoue is one of the best manga artists out there. I can't think of many other manga ka out there that have the same degree of realism to their art. Hirohiko Araki's (Jojo's Bizarre Adventure) artwork has that same life to it in his current series, Steel Ball Run. Him and Inoue should draw each others characters (NEW FANTASTY OF MINE).
So going from reading lots of Teen Titans to this was pretty odd. These panels are just so HUGE. Right off the bat, I have to say that this series is really violent. I figured as much, but once I started reading I was pretty surprised. There doesn't seem to be any warning anywhere on the volume saying "mature readers" or anything. A little odd. I think if 8 year old Timmy is browsing through the comic book section at Barnes and Noble and starts flipping through this manga, he's gonna have problems. Honestly though, I'm a boy, I love the violence in this manga, it's awesome. It takes me back to the days of being an 8 year old in Barnes and Noble, browsing through the comic section, flipping through the manga Akira and marveling at it's violence. I turned out alright, didn't I? o.O
Moving on.
Plot Summary
Vagabond is the story of the legendary samurai, Miyamoto Musashi. This story is directly based off of Eiji Yoshikawa's famous novel Musashi. The manga begins with two young men, Shinmen Takezo and Hon'iden Matahachi, leaving a battlefield full of corpses. They've been best friends most of their lives and they start traveling together from there. The two meet up with a mother and daughter living as thieves and are given food and board. Takezo is pretty much the definition of a badass, to the point where it's scary. People keep mentioning how he has eyes like a demon, and he really does. Vagabond has bits of romance in it, but violence is definitely the main element I get. This is a Seinen series in every aspect and I loved every page. I'm very eager to read more, it's been running for some time now.
If you have any sort of interest in Japanese history, this series is for you. Also, if you just want to see how far a manga can be taken in degrees of realism, most of the panels look like full on paintings; especially the beginning pages of a chapter which Inoue colors. All I can say is this manga is great. Seeing a volume of Vagabond in a bookstore puts everything else around it to shame just from Inoue's art on the cover. I can't imagine a person reading this first volume and being disappointed.
Vagabond #1 - 9/10
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