Review by Karl Verhoven

Miyamoto Musashi has progressed through his young life as a naturally skilled swordsman able to defeat anyone he comes across. Meeting his better in the monk Inshun (see Vagabond Vol. 6) shook him to the core, and he’s undertaken intensive training to overcome his flaws. In the somewhat hallucinatory opening sequence he awaits the return bout. Don’t look for that fight to be finished here, or indeed started. In fact it’s better experienced in the third Vizbig edition of Vagabond, which is easier to find now, and features the continuation from Vagabond Vol. 8.

Going into the battle Musashi is curiously fatalistic, considering his death via those who matter to him, and Takehiko Inoue spends the entire the volume setting the scene. The battle is to take place in a forest. Before it begins there’s a period of overnight meditation for Musashi, and Inoue keeps switching away to draw the trees, the sky and the surrounding woodland. It’s coupled with portraits showing the intensity of what’s to come, and people noticing how Musashi is managing to keep his rage contained. The earlier version would have just piled right in, but his new patience is even slightly intimidating. “It may just be the flickering of the fire, or the way his shadow is moving”, notes Inshun, “or it might be the darkness behind him… I just don’t recall Musashi being so big!”

Counterpointing Inshun and Musashi circling each other before starting their battle is the conversation between two elder monks, with a tragic revelation, and the more surprising switch of scenery to discover what Otsū’s up to.

The audacious storytelling forestalls the coming combat until the final panel, which is some tease, yet for anyone already committed to the cast there’s not a dull moment. Masterful.