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When it comes to fictional stories, only a few managed to leave a deep emotional impact on me. Such is Inoue's VAGABOND.

PLOT: Vagabond follows the story of a lone ronin Musashi Miyamoto wandering throughout Japan seeking for strong opponents. His very belief is that by becoming the strongest swordsman alive, a big reward should await him, an award like any other. Only problem is that, even he does not know what it is. Blinded by bloodthirst and egocentric motives Musashi fails to see the meaning behind everything he does. Endless spiral of killing does not stop for him and that drives him insane.

Eventually, ... upon meeting many skilled warriors ( Inshun,Baiken, Yoshioka disciples, Kojirou etc.) he starts to question not just the way how he percieves art of the sword, but his ulterior motives as well. On his road towards the top, Musashi frequently meets up with a lot of strangers who offer to help him. Even though they do not understand how someone can satisfy his needs by meaninglessly killing people, their admiration for him does not fade away.

He changes, a bit by bit and becomes invested in learning to understand the flow of his surroundings. After a certain point, our main character is forced to make a crucial desicion regarding his journey, realising that life is precious for what one man can create and not obliterate...

CHARACTERS: I have never seen characters as realistic as in Vagabond. Every single one has its own clothing style, haircut, quirks developed to the tinniest details. From each one, a lesson could be taken. They live by their own rules, but still manage to present their aspirations through the sword. My personal favourite side characters are: Otsu, Kojirou, Baiken, Jisai and Denshiciro.

ART: P E R F E C T. Inoue simply does not miss, week in week out. Manga panels could be presented as an exhibiton without a doubt. Details are very inspiring as well. Not much you can say about it considering how amazing it is :)

Vagabond helped me out a lot, i may not be a swordsman or even a fighter at least, but i feel at ease reading this manga. Many quotes i have engraved in my memory hoping to implement them in my daily activites and lifelong struggles. Questioning the point of life myself, there would seem to exist a corelation between me and Musashi.

That could be said about every single person, we fall and break but eventually we rise and take on various challenges. Real question is, do we want to exploit our inner strenght and how to do it? Where to search for inner peace, true love, kindness...

If you are eager to find an answer- read the greatest piece of fiction called Vagabond.

,, All truly strong people are kind"
,, I can go as far as i want"