Vagabond #18

バガボンド [Vagabond] #18

by Takehiko Inoue, Agustín Gómez Sanz (traducción y notas)

「強い」とはどういうことか……。
六十余戦無敗だった男「宮本武蔵」を、井上雄彦が圧倒的画力で描く超話題作！

Genres: Manga, Comics, Historical Fiction, Seinen, Fiction, Historical, Comics Manga

220 pages, Paperback

First published November 19, 2003

About the author

Takehiko Inoue (井上雄彦) is a Japanese manga artist, best known for Slam Dunk and Vagabond.

Reviews

[Keiko, the manga enthusiast ♒︎ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Man, I'd give everything to see Musashi and Kojiro form an alliance.

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

FINALLY they met.

[Juho Pohjalainen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some great fights, the first meeting of the legendary duelists (still quite a bit in the past from Musashi's viewpoint), and we get plenty of viewpoint from new minor characters, from the braggart from previous volume to a number of enemy soldiers, which is nice - perhaps it's because Kojiro's own thoughts and mindset remain almost completely concealed from the reader, so we get to introduce a bunch of characters around him instead.

Also, Takezo gets shot in the leg. That was in the book too. I've read one chapter of it so far.

[Nicolo · Rating 4 out of 5]

One reason I prefer the Viz versions to popular manga is the translation. Most of the scanned translations online are truly atrocious.

Another strong volume of Vagabond, if only to visualize the carnage at Sekigahara.

[Henrique · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vagabond Volume 18


Esse volume vai dos cap 158 ao 164 e continua o arco do Kojiro devo dizer que tive uma grata surpresa porque só agora me toquei que esse arco é um prólogo da história pois esse arco acontece antes da batalha de sekigahara onde conhecemos o Takezo no capítulo 1 e cara foda foi essa conexão o Kojiro se encontrando com ele pra mim isso aqui só deixou mais claro que eles vão se encontrar no presente e vão se enfrentar o hype pra isso subiu em 1000% agora que obra maravilhosa.

[امیرمحمد حیدری · Rating 3 out of 5]

چه توییست فوق‌العاده‌ای. فورشدوی عالی.

[Dhia Nouioui · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the sudden meeting between Kojiro and Takezo. I would have never thought that they would meet this early on! if only they knew each other...

[لِيو. · Rating 5 out of 5]

كشكشكككشش تاكيزو و كوجيرو التقوا و هم 17 سحيمبحيحيححب
صدقًا الاتنين مرة اقوياء... مقدر احدد بعد الآن مين أقوى لكن سنرى قريبًا

[ki]

“You're seeing the world for the first time. It must be exciting. Everything must be new to you. But don't rush it, otherwise you'll get bored.”

[Chapter #158-#164]

[Gustavo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kojiro llega a la batalla de Sekigahara, y por fin llegamos al comienzo del manga de vuelta, bueno, en realidad a unos momentos antes del comienzo, pero se entiende. En el campo de batalla se encuentran ni más ni menos que a un Musashi jovencito, que recién está empezando a ser quien será en el futuro.

Como siempre, la narración y el arte son increíbles, y de esta parte me gusta mucho el personaje de Ittosai, con su aire de antihéroe carismático y de mentor desafectado, como una especie de Wolverine.

[M. Ashraf · Rating 4 out of 5]

And the two stories kinnda of merged, not in the real time though!
Back with first page of the series, Shinmen Takezō at the battlefield.
The battle was awesome!
Seeing them fighting back to back, rampaging on the battlefield, with an amazing artwork, it was awesome!
Can't wait to see them meet again and this time they would be enemies!

[richa ⋆.˚★ · Rating 5 out of 5]

5⚔️

[Zane Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

The past few volumes have been dragging as they are establishing Kojiro as the new protagonist, but then Kojiro finally crosses paths with Takezo/Musashi at the Battle of Sekighara where the series started in a brilliant way. I went back and reread the first volume after I finished, and to me there was so much brilliant detail that this volume set up. A brilliant execution indeed.

[Met · Rating 5 out of 5]

Battaglia di Sekigahara: finalmente Kojiro incontra Musashi! Non vedo l’ora di vederli menarsi per bene. Tavole eccezionali

[Mustakim · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.8/5

[Ana Laura Iñiguez · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[ekari · Rating 4 out of 5]

FINALLY MUSASHI IS BACKKK (it's been too may volumes without him)

[William · Rating 2 out of 5]

The manga loses its total edge becoming a drag to read feeling like i’m doing side quests over and over right now. So far side characters are absolutely uninteresting.

[tomi · Rating 5 out of 5]

pretty cool to see Musashi and Kojiro fighting together

[Kota · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the middle of travel, Kojiro and master Ittosai meet a fellow advocating invincible on his back. After that he offer Ittosai to spar against him, but Kojiro fight him instead of Ittosai, and then Kojiro win easily. After that, three swordsmen’s travel starts including the fellow.

[Aalyaa · Rating 5 out of 5]

لدينا وحشان هنا غريزتهما تعلمهما أنهما ليسا عدوين

[Hugo Barahona · Rating 5 out of 5]

''Todo ha terminado, me marché de la aldea donde nací pensando que podría cambiar algo... La guerra ha terminado y he sido derrotado...''

Kojiro emprende su viaje con el renombrado Ito Ittosai, enfrentándose a distintos rivales para medir su verdadero nivel. La espada se convierte en el único medio para conectar y reconocer a los demás. Quien no entrega todo en un combate, Kojiro no logra entenderse con él. Así, aparece Gonosuke, un joven fanfarrón que se autoproclama el número uno, pero al ser incapaz de despertar en Kojiro esa necesidad de responder con la espada, queda relegado a un mero espectador. Sin embargo, fascinado por Kojiro, decide seguirlos, casi como atraído por una fuerza que no comprende.

El viaje les lleva a un escenario ya conocido: Sekigahara. Inoue nos regresa al lugar donde abrió la obra, la masacre que fue el punto de partida de Musashi. Ahora descubrimos esta paisaje teñido de muerte a través de Kojiro. Un lugar donde la perspectiva no cambia: no hay gloria, ni gestas heroicas, ni espadas legendarias. Solo hay silencio, cuerpos amontonados, sueños destruidos y el vacío de los supervivientes. Sekigahara expone la otra cara de la espada: no hay fama ni poesías, solo muerte, vacío y personas que logran sobrevivir.

Bajo la lluvia interminable de Sekigahara, entre el hedor de la sangre y rodeado de cadáveres Miyamoto Musashi y Sasaki Kojiro se encuentran por primera vez, dos hombres destinados a cruzar no solo las espadas, sino sus legados. Allí, en el campo donde la historia se tiñe de rojo, donde la espada deja de ser un mito y se muestra como realmente es, surge el lugar donde nace un destino compartido, donde dos bestias conectaron con una simple mirada. Sekigahara no fue solo una batalla; fue el origen de dos caminos que se cruzarán de nuevo. En ese océano de cadáveres, la leyenda comienza a latir, no en la fama o en la victoria, sino en la soledad de dos hombres que todavía están aprendiendo quiénes son.

Kojiro, Ittosai y Gonosuke abandonan el campo de batalla, donde Kojiro tiene que librar otra dura batalla. Ittosai le deja solo expuesto al filo más cruel: el de la supervivencia, donde no hay honor ni estilo, solo instinto. Entre los restos de Sekigahara, comienza la ley que impera la selva, no en los destellos de la victoria, sino en el silencio de quienes sobreviven.

[Brendon A · Rating 4 out of 5]

7.5/10 While walking a new venture, Sasaki Kojiro & his new master Ito Ittosai (god of the sword) walk to new destination with a banner claiming to be invincible. A man by the name Muso Gonnosuke challenged Sasaki, and tried to fight him (He was actually attacking ito, he mixed them up). Ito puts him down quickly and walks on. He comes back more prepared and tries to attack again, but Ito tells Sasaki to fight him instead. Sasaki beats him with his practice sword with ease and walks away. Then, when Muso hears the name of ito, he realizes he’s the god of the sword he’s been looking up to all his life and he’s the reason he left his village to be a swordsmen. He follows them wherever they go and wants to learn from them. A challenger appears to see if Kojiro Sasaki is really invincible and challenges him to a fight with swords. He is easily put down by Sasaki and killed. This is the new life that Kojiro Sasaki will live to become a reknowned swordsman. Ito wants people to approach him and feel the need to prove Sasaki being invincible wrong. This is where Sasaki will test his skills. For a new challenge Sensei Ito brings Kojiro to a battle friend and tells people from the army they are enemies. Just for Kojiro can see what real battle is like. Before the army arrives a swordsman’s comes and asks if they are enemies or not, turns out to be a young takezo. When the soldiers come to kill Kojiro and everyone, Kojiro started to kill the soldiers and takezo comes back and joins in. Gonnosuke also joins in but tries to be just like Kojiro and takezo because he aspires to be like them one day but he’s weak to Kojiro. The volume ends with enemies that look like stragglers from an army. They want to cut down anyone in their way while ito is being kojiro to the forest where he became the best version of himself to survive.

[Ostrava · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whooops!

First volume I didn't like that much! Or may I say, liked as much in comparison to the other volumes, for there's still plenty to like here, but it does feel like a step back.

The first part involved a secondary character that felt like the parody of a Shonen protagonist, a Naruto-wannabe that starts to follow our new temporary MC in his quest for strength. Okay, two quick things: First, the whole "I wanna be stronger" only works for so much time and so many characters. I get it, this manga is primarily about strength, so of course it has characters staring into the distance, contemplating the road ahead and thinking about surpassing their current limits through weak soliloquies. It's the whole point. But don't overdo it, and don't make it sound redundant. This guy literally adds nothing to the characters and I'm sure he won't in the future. What's more important though, don't try to add satirical elements to your story so late on. This is NOT Samurai Shampoo where a more stylized combination of aesthetics allows for a wider range of situations. This manga has been going for one thing and doing a pretty good job with it. Stick to that.


Also worthy of mention is Mushashi's cameo in the second part, only to quickly vanish as fast as he appeared. I feel like I didn't need to see Mushashi again. I liked how it started after a fight and as readers we're left to wonder what could Mushashi have gone through leading to the start of this story. This tried to be foreshadowing, but just felt sloppy.

[Turpinpower · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un tomo del que no hay demasiado que decir.

Kojiro sigue sus andanzas junto a Ittosai Ito, y tras varios encuentros, entre ellos uno muy breve contra el joven Gonosuke Musou que pasará a acompañarles, Ittosai decidirá que la mejor y más rápida manera de que Kojiro explote todo su potencial es aprovechando la guerra existente e ir hacia el campo de Sekigahara, en el que ha tenido lugar la gran batalla con la que dio comienzo este manga.

Y es que, de hecho, ahí tendrá lugar el primer encuentro entre Musashi y Kojiro, aunque no como enemigos, dando comienzo a su predestinada relación como eternos rivales... aunque ellos todavía no tengan ni idea de ello.

Finalmente, Ittosai lo dejará a su suerte como último paso de su entrenamiento, haciendo que Kojiro tenga que sobrevivir por su cuenta, una durísima prueba que, de ser capaz de superarla, convertirá a Kojiro en un espadachín formidable y casi imbatible.

Pero por formidable que pueda llegar a ser, nunca será mejor este propio manga que a cada tomo que pasa es más tremendo.

[47Time · Rating 4 out of 5]

I almost forgot what Musashi looks like. We catch a glimpse of his younger self here, but the main focus is still on Kojiro. I feel like the last 3-4 volumes could have been compressed into one. Kojiro isn't THAT interesting to warrant so much attention. I guess I miss Musashi.

Kojiro and Ittosai head to Sekigahara - the battle the series started with. They add a third member to their party - Muso Gonnosuke, a rather inexperienced martial artist considering himself invincible. The battle is already over, but they do get to meet Takezo who attacks soldiers from the winning side. Kojiro's group joins him in the fray. Eventually Takezo separates from them. Kojiro faces a group of warriors alone.

[Dr Rashmit Mishra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ooooh Snap!

We have finally come to the point where Kojiro's tale coincides with our very own Vagabond . In between there's simply too much gore and carnage .

This was the best work from the author after a long time . I guess it took him this long to finally make readers cate for Kojiro and that in turn makes me want to retrograde review some of the previous volumes.

[Facundo Mosquera · Rating 3 out of 5]

Se leyó rápido pero no me mantuvo muy interesado. Se ve un poco de la batalla que ocurre al principio del manga, y no es nada destacable.
Algo bueno que puedo decir de este tomo es sobre un panel de Musashi gritando en el campo de batalla. Es excelente.

[Brandon · Rating 5 out of 5]

It looks like we've finally caught up to the beginning of the series with the Kojiro flashback! Damn, Kojiro and Musashi are so much fun to watch. And after knowing how far Musashi has some since this beginning, I can't help but wonder where Kojiro truly stands in 'present time' as well.

[Adrian]

Me gusta la entrada al campo de batalla y la insoportable sed de sangre de Ittosai. Al igual que Vagabond muestra lo importante de tener una meta y seguirla también advierte de los peligros del descontrol, Ittosai es un asesino disfrazado de estudioso.