Vagabond review

Dracosine9
Apr 16, 2021
It’s an old story. The hero is Musashi Miyamoto; the greatest samurai who ever lived, author of that esoteric sword-fighting guide that I couldn’t get past the first page of. His legend was brought to a more international audience with the film series starring Toshiro Mifune. While it would be impossible for another actor to outperform Mifune as the samurai master, the realm of manga can achieve the impossible. I was never a huge manga geek, but I’ve read a decent amount of the most highly-acclaimed. Vagabond is without a doubt the most incredibly drawn manga I’ve ever read.

The way of the sword in Japan has always reminded me of Hinduism’s yogic paths. The samurai strives for utter mastery of the self much like a yogi in the wilderness. The biggest difference is the amount of bloodshed. Eastern religion and philosophy has often centered on perfectibility. According to belief, through many life-times the Hindu or Buddhist can reach a divine state through practicing austerities and mastering the body and mind. There are various yogic paths ranging from study to sex. But what of the soldier? The creation of bushido in Japan was very convenient for emperors and shoguns of all sorts. To become a master in the art of slaughter… was a spiritual matter!

Mushashi, born Shinmen Takezo, wants to be the strongest samurai of all time. It’s not an uncommon hero motivation. Ash Ketchum is still trying to be the very best pokemon trainer there ever was. Unlike the many seasons of Pokemon however, Vagabond shows the consequences of this “heroic” desire. Takezo slaughters man after man; some are horrible bandits, some are honorable samurai, some are confused boys with swords. All this is done for Takezo’s quest for perfection. An interesting character, almost a comic relief, is the Buddhist monk Takuan. He serves as Takezo’s Jiminy Cricket throughout the manga; his irritating conscience. If the dialogue between characters were a debate, Takuan demolishes Takezo in every single one. He exposes Takezo’s masquerade: savage bloodlust in the guise of honor. Although Takezo doesn’t heed much of this advice in the beginning, his staunch mindset is gradually assaulted by the monk’s reason.

As Takezo’s story progresses, we slowly come to understand the “way of the sword” that he is striving for. To be the very best there ever was… was a bastardization of his true goal that he didn’t even know he had. Zen Buddhism took hold in Japan as a synthesis of the Buddha’s teachings and Lao Tsu’s “Taoism.” The Tao is the Way; a romantic belief in natural spontaneity, or being in tune with the natural way of things. An obvious reason why this took hold in Japan is because of the Shinto tradition which also taught union with nature. In Vagabond, Takezo meets various masters of the sword who teach him about this path. He no longer fights for egotistical pride, but for union with… the natural order of things. It’s all very romantic, but very Eastern. The hero of the philosophical West might fight for deep moral principles ordained by God so he might be forgiven for his life full of sin, but the philosophically Eastern hero fights in an eternal search for divine union with the universe.

Vagabond is, aside from being an incredible character-driven story of Zen Buddhism and the ronin lifestyle, a beautiful manga. To the most philosophically ignorant—or apathetic—individual, Vagabond will be an engaging action packed ride to be lost in for hours on end. The VIZ Big editions of the manga are quite expensive in total, but it’s worth the investment to own this story for the rest of one’s life. Vagabond will probably never actually conclude as a manga, but I’m not sure Miyamoto Musashi’s quest ever concluded either.
Doar
0
0
0

comentários

Vagabond
Vagabond
Autor Inoue, Takehiko
Artista