Vagabond Vol. #31
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January 19, 2010
by: Eric Frederiksen
Musashi is on the road again, but which path will he take?
Manga Description: "Invincible is just a word, a mirage." With this revelation, Musashi sets out again to continue along the way. But will the path he chooses take him further towards the light or deeper into the darkness that is all too familiar to him, the spiral of killing and death?
Manga Review
Content: (This may contain spoilers.)A truly evil villain is fun to watch for a while, but the really interesting bad guys are the ones you can sympathize with just a little bit. Often, they’re not so much a villain as they are an antagonist. That’s the perfect word to describe Granny Honi’den, marching relentlessly after Musashi and her son Matahachi on their separate paths. Just as long as Musashi has carried a sword, Granny’s been there to tell him exactly what she thinks of him, popping up in all sorts of unexpected places.
Unfortunately, though, Granny’s striking resemblance to Yoda isn’t just visual. She’s really old, and stomping angrily across the country has taken its toll, and she has fallen ill. The cleaned-up and newly sober Matahachi stays by her side, still battling with who he was even as he prays for her health. Finally deciding he’s out of time, Matahachi helps his mother onto his shoulders to carry her back to Miyamoto village. As the two walk, the dissipating anger and hatred comes off the page in waves as Matahachi has a mostly one-way conversation with her.
Finally though, Granny’s energy runs out. With her dying breath, she doesn’t curse Musashi, but instead encourages her son to keep along the path he’s on. It’s sad, instead of relieving, to see her pass away. In the end she loved her son and the book does a great job making that very clear.
Once again, though, my inner Musashi fanboy has to come out for a second. While I’m not going to hold minor details against the manga, there are some strange aspects of the manga that differ from its source material in ways I just can’t understand. The Kojiro of the book was an obnoxious loudmouth, while Inoue’s version is deaf. In the manga, Musashi never took up a second sword—the visual for which he’s most famous—when fighting the seventy samurai at Ichijoji. Finally, the book has Granny Honi’den cursing Musashi until very nearly the last page of the story. The differences are weird because they seem to be changes that add far reaching changes to the story, but we won’t know until the series ends what some of that means.
The strangest part of the book comes just before the story moves back from Matahachi to Musashi. A much older Matahachi sits on a bridge, surrounded by a crowd. Apparently he’s been telling them the tale of Musashi and Kojiro and of course his own misadventures. I don’t remember seeing this in any other volume and again, I don’t understand quite yet what it adds to the story.
Of course, the book isn’t all somber funerals and old people reminiscing. As Musashi limps along, hunting swordsmen keep finding him along the path. Of course after the first few, it probably gets pretty easy to follow the trail of bodies.
Musashi is always evolving, though, and he wrestles with the same question—one I wonder if he ever solved during his lifetime—about the meaning of the sword and all the killing. In an attempt to fend off some would-be assassins, Musashi takes to drawing a circle around himself accompanied by a warning of what stepping over the line will result in. As one of the voices that inhabits Musashi’s conscience suggests, though, the circle Musashi draws is as much a lure for the greedy swordsmen as his injured leg. What he sees as a technique to avoid injury and force the opponent into his rhythm, they see as a sad attempt from a lame, weak man to avoid a conflict he can’t possibly win.
Finally, though, there’s one man less interested in fame than he is in a good fight. Ito Ittosai appears before Musashi as he heads toward the Yagyu estate. Gruff, a bit wild-looking and glowing with a swordsman’s aura, he challenges Musashi to a fight, and you know right away this is going to be fun. The story ends with one of the best images we’ve seen in a while: Musashi, hand on his sword, ready to fight.
Art: The meeting between Ittosai and Musashi has some of the most exciting line art we’ve seen from Inoue in a few volumes. Ittosai calls to mind Mifune Toshiro, the Japanese actor famous for playing not only Musashi, but many of Japan’s most famous and memorable samurai, both fictional and real. The beard, eyes, and striking facial lines all bring Mifune to mind.
Translation: It's easy to see that Vagabond is given special attention. The translation is not only quite readable, it also manages to maintain that meditative pacing that helps make the book unique.
There is some conversation between Matahachi and his mother about his given name - most importantly the hachi part, which means "Eight" in Japanese. She says his path is wide open, just like the hachi. I suspect she is talking about the kanji, which looks a bit like a path disappearing into the distance. A note from the translator would've been much appreciated for this conversation. The glossary that accompanies each volume, sadly, hasn’t been updated in a very long time. While there are some helpful terms in there, things like the Hozoin Spear Technique don’t have a role in this volume to say the least. It would be nice to see more things that pertain directly to the volume or nearby volumes.
The Bottom Line: After some much-needed downtime, Musashi is about to step into battle again. With his sword at the ready, he prepares to fight – and leaves us on one of the most infuriatingly exciting images I’ve seen in a while.
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Content |
An unexpected turn of events gives a somber and thoughtful tone to the book. |
9.0 |
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Art |
Musashi's sword sees light for the first time since his battle, and it looks good. |
9.0 |
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Translation |
The translation of the book itself is great, but a few more notes from the translator would be helpful. |
8.0 |
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Verdict
Things are getting exciting again, and Granny's passing almost certainly marks a new start for both Musashi and Matahachi.
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8.5
[not an average]
+ Musashi draws his sword this time around.
+ Granny Honi'den's passing is handled well.
- More translator notes would be appreciated.
- The glossary seems quite outdated.
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