Vagabond (Manga)

Vagabond (Japaneseバガボンドbagabondo ) is a historical samurai manga Takehiko Inoue of the artist, the author of Slam Dunk. As a template for the manga was the novel Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa.

Action

In the Edo period, the young swordsman Takezo Miyamoto Musashi Shinmen to, a fighter and philosopher who pursues its objective proof to be the strongest and best swordsman. His motto is: " Under heaven no second ." Despite its size of 184 cm, which made ​​him a giant in the then Japan, he is agile and very responsive.

Takezo leaves with his friend Matahachi his home village to come in the stranger to fame and honor. As the last survivor of a battle, they are picked up by two young women who earn their living illegally by the plundering of the battlefields and the sale of the resulting weapons and equipment. The paths of the two Samurai separate, as Matahachi flees with two women. Takezo sees it as his duty to inform the abandoned fiancée Matahachis in his home village that he will never come back. The applied village community blames him for the disgrace and hustles him out of the village. From enemies persecuted, he was able to escape into a forest to a monk. Staying brings Takezo to reflect on his life and his goals. He makes the decision to become a great swordsman, Miyamoto Musashi and pulls out as to measure his art of ever-improving opponents and thus constantly develop.

The realistic drawings underline the seriousness of the manga especially by strong representation of the facial features of the characters. The effect of light, shadow, facial expressions and muscles will be implemented through hatches in the face and body. Both the clothing of the characters and backgrounds are represented so detailed that individual flowers and leaves or even small patterns can be seen on textiles. The characters and the plot are not glossed over or even glorified, the fight scenes clearly show the force exerted violence, brutality and violations of actors. All the main characters are shown complex, their actions and motives are not always good or evil, but are also influenced by different factors in different situations. In addition to the personal development of the characters, the work also describes the impending end of the golden age of Samurai by the emerging firearms.

Publications

In Japan Vagabond appear in individual chapters in the manga magazine Morning of the Kodansha publishing house since 1998. These individual chapters are also summarized regularly in so far 36 anthologies since March 1999.

In Germany, the paperbacks are laid in October 2002 by Egmont Manga and Anime (EMA ), so far 35 volumes have been published.

Reception

Takehiko Inoue won numerous awards for Vagabond. 2000 awarded to him at the Japan Media Arts Festival, the grand prize in the category of manga. In the same year he received the Kodansha Manga Award. 2001, the manga series for the contracts awarded by the newspaper Asahi Shimbun, Osamu Tezuka Culture Award - nominee, in the following year he won the award.

The majority of the critics took the manga to positive. The star was thought in 2003, the manga lead sovereign the narrative form of Japanese art of drawing before. " The realistic, carefully crafted drawings are contrary to the European taste. "

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