Vagabond (manga)
Vagabond ( Jap.バガボンドbagabondo ) is a historical Samurai - Manga of the signatory Takehiko Inoue , the author of Slam Dunk . The novel Musashi by Yoshikawa Eiji served as a template for the manga .
action
During the Edo period , the young swordsman Takezo Shinmen became Musashi Miyamoto, a fighter and philosopher who consistently pursued his goal of becoming the strongest and best swordsman. His motto is: "No other under heaven". Despite its height of 184 cm, which made it a giant in what was then Japan, it is agile and very responsive.
Takezo leaves his home village with his friend Matahachi in order to gain fame and glory abroad. As the last survivors of a battle, they are taken in by two young women who illegally earn their living by looting the battlefields and selling the weapons and equipment they received. The paths of the two samurai part when Matahachi flees with both women. Takezo sees it as his duty to tell the abandoned fiancée Matahachis in his home village that he will never come back. The angry village community blames him for the shame he has suffered and drives him out of the village. Persecuted by enemies, he can escape to a monk in a forest. The stay makes Takezo reflect on his life and goals. He makes the decision to become a great swordsman and leaves as Musashi Miyamoto to measure his art against better and better opponents and thereby to develop himself further.
The realistic drawings underline the seriousness of the manga, especially through the pronounced representation of the facial features of the characters. The effect of light, shadow, facial expressions and muscles is implemented through hatching on the face and body. Both the clothes of the people and the backgrounds are shown in such detail that individual flowers and leaves or even small patterns on textiles can be recognized. The characters and the plot are not glossed over or even glorified, the fight scenes clearly show the violence, the brutality and the injuries of the actors. All main characters are depicted in a complex manner, their actions and motives are not always just good or bad, but are 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 great samurai era with the emergence of firearms.
Publications
In Japan , Vagabond has been appearing in individual chapters in the Manga magazine Morning of the Kodansha publishing house since 1998 . Since March 1999, these individual chapters have been regularly summarized in 37 anthologies.
In Germany, the paperbacks have been published by Egmont Manga and Anime (EMA) since October 2002 ; 37 volumes have been published so far.
reception
Takehiko Inoue has won numerous awards for Vagabond . In 2000 he was awarded the main prize in the Manga category at the Japan Media Arts Festival . In the same year he received the Kōdansha Manga Prize . In 2001, the manga series was nominated for the Osamu Tezuka Culture Prize awarded by the Asahi Shimbun newspaper , and won the award the following year.
The majority of the critics received the manga positively. In 2003, it was said in stern that the manga confidently demonstrated the narrative form of Japanese drawing. "The realistic, carefully worked through drawings meet European tastes."
Web links
swell
- ↑ Der Weg des Kriegers , stern.de, February 4, 2003