Vagabond – Full Color — {Official TL} (EN)

Vagabond– Full Color – Official VIZ Translation (EN) [PZG]

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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.   

 

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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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Synopsis: 

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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Background: 

In 2000, Vagabond won the Japan Media Arts Festival Manga Grand Prize and the 24th Kodansha Manga Award in the general category. The series won the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize in 2002 and has had over 82 million copies sold worldwide.

Vagabond has been published in English by VIZ Media under the VIZ Signature imprint since April 5, 2002, and in large 3-in-1 omnibuses under the VIZBIG imprint since September 16, 2008. The English release got Takehiko Inoue a nomination for the Eisner Award in the Best Writer/Artist category in 2003. It also has been published in Brazilian Portuguese by Panini Comics/Planet Manga since February 2016.

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Vagabond (Japanese: バガボンド, Hepburn: 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. It has been serialized in Kodansha‘s seinen manga magazine Morning since September 1998, with its chapters collected into thirty-seven tankōbon volumes as of July 2014.

Viz Media licensed the series for English release in North America and has published the current thirty-seven volumes as of April 2015. The series is currently on an extended hiatus, with the latest chapter released in May 2015.

As of December 2012, the manga had over 82 million copies in circulation, making it one of the best-selling manga series of all time. In 2000, Vagabond won the 24th Kodansha Manga Award for Best General Manga, as well as the Grand Prize of the 6th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize in 2002.

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Information: 

 

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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, pages 8-9)
. P. Z. G.

 

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NOTES: 
. 2 versions of Volume 01 differences:
_ [Shellshock] script retyped with similar fonts, colored raw SFX left alone
_ [PZG] all text lifted from VIZ digital (thus identical* fonts), and SFX labelled (VIZ style and HK raw colour retained)
. Single pages are 2300 : 2400 (2.03 : 3).
. Double pages are 2600 : 3400 (4.06 : 3).
. VIZBIG edition corrections/updates to the VIZ are used where applicable.
. Uses the Hong Kong coloured scans.
— Phantom Z. Greyfire

 

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