Vagabond – {VIZBIG Scans} {HQ} Monochrome — {Official TL} (EN)

Vagabond – Monochrome — Official VIZBIG Translation (EN) 《Manga》

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Vagabond (バガボンド, Bagabondo) is a Japanese epic martial arts manga series written and illustrated by Takehiko Inoue. It portrays a fictionalized account of the life of Japanese swordsman Musashi Miyamoto, based on Eiji Yoshikawa‘s novel Musashi (read it here).

 

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Takehiko Inoue’s critically acclaimed take on the life journey of warrior-philosopher Miyamoto Mushashi.   

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! 

 

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Real-life figure Miyamoto Musashi was the most celebrated samurai of all time. The quintessential warrior-philosopher, Musashi authored A Book of Five Rings, a classic treatise in the canon of world philosophy and military strategy. But the path to enlightenment is an endless journey, and to get there through violent means–by way of the sword–makes mere survival an even greater challenge.

Invincible Under the Sun 

At seventeen years of age, Miyamoto Musashi–still known by his childhood name, Shinmen Takezō–was a wild young brute just setting out along the way of the sword.

In the aftermath of the epic Battle of Sekigahara, Takezō finds himself a fugitive survivor on the losing side of the war. Takezō’s vicious nature has made him an outcast even in his own village, and he is hunted down like an animal. At this crucial crossroads in Takezō’s life, an eccentric monk and a childhood friend are the only ones who can help him find his way.

 

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In 16th-century Japan, Shinmen Takezou is a wild, rough young man, in both his appearance and his actions. His aggressive nature has won him the collective reproach and fear of his village, leading him and his best friend, Matahachi Honiden, to run away in search of something grander than provincial life. The pair enlist in the Toyotomi army, yearning for glory—but when the Toyotomi suffer a crushing defeat at the hands of the Tokugawa Clan at the Battle of Sekigahara, the friends barely make it out alive.

After the two are separated, Shinmen returns home on a self-appointed mission to notify the Hon’iden family of Matahachi’s survival. He instead finds himself a wanted criminal, framed for his friend’s supposed murder based on his history of violence. Upon being captured, he is strung up on a tree and left to die. An itinerant monk, the distinguished Takuan Soho, takes pity on the “devil child,” secretly freeing Shinmen and christening him with a new name to avoid pursuit by the authorities: Musashi Miyamoto.

Vagabond is the fictitious retelling of the life of one of Japan’s most renowned swordsmen, the “Sword Saint” Musashi Miyamoto—his rise from a swordsman with no desire other than to become “Invincible Under the Heavens” to an enlightened warrior who slowly learns of the importance of close friends, self-reflection, and life itself.

 

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Takehiko Inoue is the creator of one of the most popular manga of all time, Slam Dunk, which has sold over 100 million copies worldwide. He followed that series up with two titles lauded by critics and fans alike—Vagabond, a fictional account of the life of Miyamoto Musashi, and Real, a manga about wheelchair basketball. Inoue is the recipient of numerous awards, including the prestigious Tezuka Osamu Culture Award and the Media Arts Festival Award. In addition to manga, Inoue has worked on television commercials and character designs for video games, and is the founder of a scholarship to foster Japanese basketball talent.

 

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COVER IMAGE CREDITS:

. Takehiko Inoue (Official Art – Artbook: Sumi, page 033)

 

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NOTES:
. If you find any errors in these pages, please report them on the Colored Manga Discord so they can be fixed.
. Scanned by SuperJoe & Demetter.
. Edited by Phantom Greyfire.

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Some of the Differences (Pros & Cons) between English Vagabond VIZBIGs and Single Vols

1) TRANSLATION:
. The VIZBIG makes many (mostly minor) tweaks and improvements over the Single Vols.

A) SFX
. Most of these are the changes in the SFX, many of which were simply left out or left untranslated in the Single Vols, but were added in in the VIZBIGs. These include minor changes in the font choices to and typesetting to make the lettering more uniform across chapters.

B) TEXT
. For the text itself, there are more changes made in the initial volumes, where at times the translation was subpar in the Single Vols, but corrected extensively in the VIZBIGs, example:
_Single Vol. 01
_VIZBIG Omnibus 01
. Later volumes show mostly minor tweaks, like adding the ‘outside of bubble text’ that was simply left out in the Single volumes, example ahead in the Page comparison. These include minor changes in the font choices to and typesetting to make the text more uniform across chapters.

2) PAGE Colour, Quality, Dimensions & Cropping

A) Colour and Quality:
. Much better in the VIZBIGs, with thicker pages (so the print on the other side of the paper isn’t visible, making colour correction post scanning easier and with less loss of detail, albeit sharper edges), cleaner lines, lighter whites, darker blacks, more dynamic colours, etc.
– Comparison (Colour Pages)
_Single Vol. 03
_VIZBIG Omnibus 01

B) Cropping and Dimensions:
– Much better in the Single Vols.
– Physical page size (in cm):
~ Single Vol    14.50 x 20.60
~ VIZBIG         14.80 x 21.85
– Dimensions Comparison
_ Side by Side
– This difference in physical page dimensions means the cropping is different for both versions.
The Single Vols retain more of the art on the left and right of the pages, whereas the VIZBIGS retain more of the art on the top and bottom of the pages. Neither retains all the art in the production pages, but the Single Vols cut out much less of the art overall, and is the better choice here because the horizontal edges have more important details and text than the vertical edges.
– Cropping Comparison
_Single Vol. 03
_VIZBIG Omnibus 01

 

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