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Eisner-award nominated creator Takehiko Inoue’s critically acclaimed take on the life of Miyamoto Mushashi. Transcends the potential of what manga can be.

Striving for enlightenment by way of the sword, Miyamoto Musashi is prepared to cut down anyone who stands in his way. Vagabond is an action-packed portrayal of the life and times of the quintessential warrior-philosopher--the most celebrated samurai of all time!

When the elder disciples of the Yoshioka Dojo realize that their leader, Yoshioka Denshichiro, is no match for Musashi, they come up with a dishonorable plan--to hire Sasaki Kojiro, a deaf-mute swordsman with a reputation as fierce as Musashi's, to fight their battle for them. Thus begins the saga of the greatest duel in Japanese history.

208 pages, Paperback

First published June 23, 2006

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About the author

Takehiko Inoue

316 books1,554 followers
Takehiko Inoue (井上雄彦) is a Japanese manga artist, best known for Slam Dunk and Vagabond.

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5 stars
1,333 (69%)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
Profile Image for Keiko, the manga enthusiast ♒︎.
1,267 reviews187 followers
April 11, 2022
Damn! Takezo and Kojiro are in the same house!! Augh, I'm so frustrated! If I have to stones right now, I'll smooch them with each other and force them to make friends!! But it felt so nice and warm to see Takezo relaxing, making a snowman. He needed that... before the big fight. And Kojiro making friends (even if it's Matahachi)

I was actually anticipating the actual fight, but this volume is only the preparation. With Matahachi hijacking the deaf Kojiro to direct the fortune in his favor.
Profile Image for Nicolo.
3,464 reviews205 followers
October 1, 2015
The real Kojiro and the fake Kojiro finally meet. Matahachi really plays the role of scumbag very well. I dread reading his chapters, he turns the reader's stomach.

At least I got to read how a sword-sharpener does his art, and that was what made this volume for me.
Profile Image for Maria.
606 reviews142 followers
August 20, 2019
Matahachi, you’re still every inch a snake, just like you’ve always been.
Sasaki Kojiro = life. Honestly, how could anyone be so deadly and so pure at the same time?
MUSASHI!WAS CALLED!’GENTLEMAN’! JHKHJGKHF

CANNOT BELIEVE THE LEGENDARY FIGHT IS ABOUT TO HAPPEN!
Profile Image for Dhia Nouioui.
293 reviews157 followers
September 17, 2021
I like how Ueda said that Straightforwardness is not a virtue for an head of a school.

Kojiro watching the snowman of Musashi was the most hilarious thing in this volume.
Profile Image for Henrique.
237 reviews58 followers
April 11, 2024
Vagabond Volume 23


Esse volume vai dos cap 198 ao 206 e prepara o palco para duelo histórico de Musashi e Kojiro eu disse há alguns volumes atrás que mal podia esperar pra ver esses dois lutarem com tudo o que tinham e esse volume serviu pra mostrar que uma luta entre eles é inevitável agora e eu tô muito hypado pra ver essa luta e a pergunta que fica é Musashi conseguirá derrotar Kojiro ou acabará aqui o seu sonho de se tornar invencível sob o sol e não vejo a hora de descobrir essa resposta.
Profile Image for Ana Laura Iñiguez.
73 reviews
December 19, 2023
Of all the things lost after the flashback, what I grieve the most is Musashi’s himboness. He’s smart now, he thinks, processes speech, forms full sentences and probably even knows how to read. Rip my boy you’re a dilf now.
Profile Image for ki.
83 reviews6 followers
Read
September 12, 2025
“The losers are haunted by their defeats, but they live on. They have to keep moving forward. Losers are human too. Let him at least hang on to a small piece of his dignity.”

“The sword was everthing to me. I measured everything by the sword, that in itself is not a bad thing. That's what beauty is about. However, a sword is simply a sword no matter what you do to it, its purpose is to cut and kill. Beautiful because of its purpose as a weapon. To forget that is to lose one's way. I lost sight of the sword because I was surrounded by them. I was so obsessed with beauty. I couldn't be satisfied no matter how many swords I sharpened. You know, Musashi, it's quite strange. I actually believed in order to make a sword beautiful, it had to cease being a sword.”

[Chapter #198-#206]
Profile Image for Juho Pohjalainen.
Author 5 books348 followers
August 18, 2020
Matahachi is easily my least favourite character by this time. I like a good con man fine, enjoy them smooth-talking their way out of trouble and lying and cheating their way to their goals and to prosperity - but if you've got an awkward and thoughtless dweeb just making stuff up without ever thinking of the consequences, lying through his teeth, obviously out of his depth... then it's just really uncomfortable to watch.

The other stuff's good, though. A little more insight to Kojiro's character - the first thought bubble into his mind!
Profile Image for Dr Rashmit Mishra.
907 reviews93 followers
September 16, 2024
The aftermath and the day before the battle between Musashi and Denshiro , we find Matahachi back to his snivelling ways and try to make use of Kojiro to get means Of success in life .

This was a very tense issue with more insight into Musashi's faith in what it means to be invincible under the sun and Kojiro just following his path to be the best swordman
Profile Image for Gustavo.
901 reviews16 followers
February 23, 2020
Que basura que es Matahachi, "Koujiro Sasaki" ¡Que caradura! Igual da pie a varios momentos graciosos y tensos con los Yoshioka, y su personaje hace buen contraste con el alma de niño del verdadero Kojiro y sus actitudes inocentes.

Mientras tanto, Musashi reflexiona sobre espadas y peleas con Kouetsu, de su lado es todo mucho más tranqujlo, siendo que todavía se está recuperando del duelo con Seijuro, pero la charla es interesante.
Profile Image for Hugo Barahona.
37 reviews
September 19, 2025
''Los perdedores deben de cargar con la derrota, sin embargo siguen viviendo... ¡Tienen que seguir avanzando! ¡No es correcto quitarle a alguien ese sentimiento de querer avanzar solo por ganar! ¡Los perdedores también son personas, Kojiro!''

La vida de Matahachi pende de un hilo: los Yoshiokas están a punto de ejecutarle pero aparece Sasaki Kojiro. El joven sordo cumple el deseo de uno de los aprendices superiores de la escuela y se enfrenta a él, Kojiro muestra una superioridad brutal y lo aplasta. Cuando este se antepone al otro Yoshioka, interviene Matahachi mencionando su papel a lo largo de la obra:

''Los perdedores deben de cargar con la derrota, sin embargo siguen viviendo...¡Tienen que seguir avanzando!''

Matahachi, con su humanidad torpe, frágil y contradictoria ha sido victima de una sociedad que deshumaniza y pisotea a los perdedores, donde la vida no solo pertenece a los ganadores, los que pierden también tiene derecho a vivir y a seguir adelante. Matahachi ha mentido, ha sido humillado, repudiado, ha escapado de todas sus responsabilidades, hasta a traicionado a sus amigos, pero aún así, nunca ha dejado de buscar su lugar en el mundo, aunque este siempre le desprecie. Frente a Sasaki Kojiro, ve al hombre que siempre anheló ser... el hombre que es igual a su propio amigo, aquel hombre cuya identidad usurpó para escapar, pero que a la vez revela su más profundo anhelo. Donde por primera vez, vimos la versión más honesta de Matahachi.

Kojiro envaina su espada y, junto a Matahachi, parten a un dojo dividido. Denshichiro se enfrenta a Ueda por la elección del sustituto, considerando como una falta de respeto que alguien ajeno ocupe su lugar; su espada es algo por lo que ha entregado su vida, no un instrumento de estatus, aunque Musashi no sea más que un vagabundo, el cumplirá su promesa. Al llegar al dojo, muestra su deseo de enfrentarse a Ueda, pero este lo rechaza. Ueda, con su lealtad ciega hacia su señor, hará lo que sea para protegerlo, hasta poner en duda su propia espada, intentando deshacerse de los dos hombres capaces de poner en peligro al dojo. Finalmente, Denshichiro interviene y expulsa a Ueda del dojo, reafirmando su autoridad.

El herrero Honami le confiesa a Musashi que también carga con la culpa: tiene la misma potestad que la persona que quita vidas con la espada, el herrero es el que realiza y forja la espada. Ve a la espada como a un ser vivo, como una manifestación de la naturaleza como el cielo y la tierra. Le recuerda que la belleza sin función pierde sentido. Una espada es un arma, capaz de arrebatar la vida, si se pierde su propósito, esta pierde su esencia. Para comprender la belleza en algo, hay que permitir ser lo que es. Para Musashi, estas palabras resuenan profundamente porque está atrapado entre la espiral imparable de asesinatos y con un sentido más humano de su viaje: el camino de trascender su espada y de encontrar esa fuerza tan anhelada.

''Una espada puede ser el centro de la vida, pero son muy pocos los que se fusionan con ella, esas personas evitan tener colores de más... solo buscan profundizar y saturar su propio color... tu color es bello, es tu propio color, por eso quiero afilar esa belleza...''

El herrero ve en Musashi una identidad profunda: no usa su espada de forma superficial, sino que se hunde por completo en su ''propio color'', su esencia. ¿Cuál es la esencia de la espada de Musashi? Para el herrero, vivir sin desviarse de como uno es realmente, a pesar que la espada de Musashi buscó ser desesperadamente ser el mejor de todos, donde hasta acudió a Sekisusai Yagyu, girando en círculos. Musashi afila su hoja y espíritu, la pregunta que subyace en su corazón es si algún día podrá reconciliar la brutalidad del duelo con la humanidad que conserva dentro.

El duelo con Denshichiro se acerca, Miyamoto Musashi tendrá una dura prueba, un nuevo paso para poder comprenderse, reforzar esa nueva identidad por la cual tanto ha sacrificado y luchado o sucumbir ante la famosa espiral que se ha llevado a tantos hombres. ¿Es su destino trascender a la violencia o solo aprender a vivir en ella, sin perder la humanidad que aún tiene?
Profile Image for 47Time.
3,454 reviews95 followers
December 5, 2021
Come on, fight already! I've been reading this section leading up to the Musashi-Denshichiro duel for too many volumes. It almost feels like the events of the story happen in real time. I still wonder why manga in general is so popular with it dragging on like this. Or maybe it's exactly that aspect that draws readers? Western comics seem rushed in comparison.

Profile Image for Elisabet.
69 reviews
August 11, 2022
Lo leí de una manera muy rápida! Y cuando pensé que por fin Matahachi había caído bajo viene y me decepciona más queriendo aprovecharse de Kojiro, aunque Kojiro simplemente es alguien a quien no se puede controlar y siempre vive la vida a su ritmo, siguiendo su única pasión que es blandir la espada. Ya quiero que sea el duelo entre Musashi y Deshinchiro, espero lo pueda leer en el siguiente volumen.
Profile Image for Brandon.
2,809 reviews40 followers
September 23, 2024
Matahachi is such a scumbag, through and through.

I like that Musashi and Kojiro are probably the least tense about the upcoming duel. I don't know if the two will actually fight, or of Denshichiro will fight Musashi, but everyone else is stressing and scheming around the duel while these two are chilling.
Profile Image for Kurtis Burkhardt.
6,000 reviews51 followers
August 29, 2019
Really awesome samurai manga!! Lots of awesome fights, love the story and art 😻😻⛩⚔️😁❤️❤️
Profile Image for Met.
440 reviews33 followers
January 17, 2021
Cresce l’hype per lo scontro tra Musashi e Kojiro... ma quando arriva???
Profile Image for Samar .
226 reviews2 followers
May 15, 2022
إستعدادات موساشي للمواجهة تففوووز 😭😭،
5
542 reviews1 follower
September 16, 2022
I dread reading those chapters with Matahachi but I love Musashi and Kojiro.
Profile Image for Susᥫᩣ.
65 reviews
July 7, 2023
Matahachi is just being too annoying with every volume.
91 reviews
July 21, 2023
excited to see what happens with the fight in the next volume
Profile Image for raven.
19 reviews2 followers
December 1, 2023
4.75/5 ☆
Witnessing Musashi building a snowman, and Kojiro admiring it, was truly heartwarming. However, I'm eagerly awaiting their upcoming fight!
Profile Image for Aalyaa.
403 reviews10 followers
February 4, 2024
بدأت تحصل هزة في وجدان موساشي عن حقيقة طريق السيف وهي بالقتل بس ولا مجرد صقل الروح
Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews

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