Re: Vagabond 282 - 283 Discussion / 284 Prediction Thread
Had to catch up in this thread!
I like to see what Musashi learns from this. In terms of raw power, skill and strategy, Ittousai maybe be greater, but I don't think his style has any form of spiritual training.
Yeah, I see that as their fundamental difference as well, or comparing old masters, the difference between the school of Ito Ittosai and Yagyu Sekishusai. It also reminds me of this great line from the novel,
Musashi:
"Kojiro believed in the sword of strength and skill. Musashi believed in the sword of the spirit. This was the only difference between the two."
Inoue was obviously paying attention to that theme.
Musashi is definitely not the guy who will sit on a mountain top painting water colors, writing books. He will be but not yet.
Interesting you should mention that, read below...
I think the his next opponent will be Gonnosuke, in order to test this new resolve. Do you guys think Musashi will take this loss and decide to settle down until his leg heals?
I'd like to see him settle down some, do the farming bit, and learn to use his sword for the greater good, such as when he single-handedly defended that village in
Musashi. Though, I'm actually wondering about how much longer Inoue is going to continue Vagabond, if he's going to have time for all that, to painstakingly show Musashi's maturation, or if we're closer to the end than we think. He's been talking for a while now about wrapping up the series; though, he keeps going past his estimations, and here it is chugging along, thankfully. I'm especially curious about his mindset though after his LAST Manga Exhibition, which for those that haven't heard of it, was a Vagabond museum exhibit that's theme was basically the end of Musashi's life. So, he's basically already drawn an epilogue to the series! Here's a thread with more info, links, and pictures for those interested:
Inoue Takehiko: The LAST Manga Exhibition
A word of warning though, it may be considered spoilerific to some if we're to regard this material as canon, and there's no reason not to. Technically though, it was released, or made public, in 2008.
He wins the first fight by basically using a defensive move, crossing his long and short sword to block Gonnosuke's thrust. I'm curious if Inoue will take more than a couple of chapters to depict this. It would be a good place to show Musashi's new found enlightenment; he wins a fight without attacking and shows mercy on an assailant.
I'm anticipating something like that as well, at least he's come around to that sort of realization here, though it's seemingly deja vu all over again since he was having similar thoughts as early as volume 22, and then again in volume 25 against Den (we saw how that worked out in volumes 26 and 27), it's actually practicing it that's been the trick. To his credit, Musashi did try this time, just against the
wrong man.
) there.
