Book Review: Vagabond by Takehiko Inoue

Vagabond: By Inoue Takehiko

When I think of a typical battle manga, I imagine a flurry of swords, guns, and such shenanigans being mauled around. Vagabond by INOUE Takehiko is one such series that takes this basic chaos of the sword, exemplifies it by a thousand with brilliant art and includes points of existentiality.

At the mere mention of the protagonist, Miyamoto Musashi, the country used to tremble. But who really was the swordsman? Could he be bound by the mere words ‘The greatest swordsman? Or was he a genius, a saint, in the way of the sword, enlightened to the world of violence, but also to the world of human senses?

Vagabond is such a book, a manga series which explores such topics. What is existentialism? What is winning, exactly? And, if cutting someone who understands you is called winning, what is the point of it? It’s a masterpiece, truly, in its story and its art, it provides the apt scene for human growth, both physically and mentally, as our protagonist grows.

-Madhav