Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #613834 in Books
• Published on: 2002-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 200 pages

Synopsis
Relates the adventures of Japanese swordsman Miyamoto Musashi.

Customer Reviews

25 million Japanese people can't be wrong!
I first started reading this in Japan ( well, mostly my wife read it to me.) as I was attracted by the realistic 'European style' artwork. Inoue initially made his name with the huge manga hit 'Slamdunk' about a high school basketball team and, despite 'Vagabond' selling close to 25 million copies so far in Japan (!) has recently returned to basketball comics. Wheelchair basketball in fact.
'Vagabond' is the story of Miyamoto Musashi, author of the 'Five rings' and a legendary swordsman. How much of the legend was due to real prowess and how much to great self publicity is maybe open to question. Personally I wouldn't argue with the man myself. Inoue also keeps it fairly close to the official version, though he does show the more unsavoury aspects of life as a vagabond swordsman and Musashi is far more of a three dimensional character in the manga version than in the book 'Musashi'. If you've never tried manga, give this one a go. The art is fantastic and it's a great story.

Shinmen Takezo
Good stuff. The 1st volume starts out with Takezo [the lead, who apparently changes his name to 'Musashi' in a later volume] and his friend. Teenagers, wandering after the battle at Sekigahara.
They soon cross paths with a young woman and her daughter who are being plagued by bandits, but not everything ends happily.

This is a very good read. You really get the feeling that the story can swing any way, at any point, and put that together with some beautifully drawn action, entertaining drama, and a little comedy, this is the best 1st volume of a Manga I've read in a long time.

Intense action that doesn't skip a beat
'Vagabond' is a critically praised comic from Japan that has been receiving strong attention, and a passionate following, all over the world since its Japanese debut in 1998. An adaptation of Eji Yoshikawa's classic novel, 'Musashi', 'Vagabond' is a part-biographical account of the life of the legendary samurai, Musashi Miyamoto, who is perhaps best known for authoring the prolific 'Book of Five Rings'.

This first oversized collection in the great "Vizbig Edition" line collects the first three volumes of the original 'Vagabond' TPBs. This specifically means that you're getting the whole of the first story arc, and the first half of the second story arc, in one attractive collection - and for little more than the cost of a single volume. As with all of the "Vizbig Edition" books, this presents excellent value for money, especially as nothing is lost in terms of quality. The paper its printed on is still very good, and those few pages that were originally in colour are still presented in all of their painted glory. The only real difference between this and the originals is the larger paper size and the few extras thrown in at the back.

This collection tells the story of Musashi Miyamoto's early days; when he was known as Takezo Shinmen, hated and despised by his local villagers, and why he was forced to leave and don a new identity. There is action aplenty from beginning to end, conveyed brilliantly by writer/artist Takehiko Inoue's beautifully distinct art style. Expect plenty of gritty violence that is not for the squeamish, as well as frequent instances of quirky Japanese humour thrown in for good measure.

While the story can feel a little cheesy and melodramatic at times, 'Vagabond' is nothing short of thrilling, with a plot is moved along by some of the best artwork I've ever seen in a comic. Though it's quite a quick read when considering the sheer size of the thing, there's no denying that this is a great bargain. 'Vagabond: Vizbig Edition' vol. 1 presents the first chapters of a story that looks set to go down as a classic, and is very much unmissable for anyone with even a passing interest in the genre.