Vagabond, Vol. 21

Vagabond is a seinen manga by Takehiko Inoue, serialized in Kodansha's Weekly Morning since 1998 and based on Eiji Yoshikawa's novel Musashi. It follows Shinmen Takezo (later Miyamoto Musashi) from a deserter boy after the Battle of Sekigahara through his growth as he seeks the Way with the sword, gradually curbs his bloodlust, and comes to understand what being unmatched under heaven really means. The work won the 24th Kodansha Manga Award in the general category, an Excellence Award in the manga division of the 4th Japan Media Arts Festival, and the 6th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize in 2002. Volume 21 returns to Musashi's storyline: after a year away, he enters Kyoto again for the promised rematch with the Yoshioka school. A year earlier Musashi was rash and recklessly brave; his temperament has changed, but he still faces the Yoshioka brothers—Denshichiro, hot-tempered and known for his ferocity, and Seijuro, whose swordsmanship is pure and unfathomable. People converge on Kyoto: Hon'iden Matahachi, weary of living by impersonation and fraud, sets out for the city; the real Sasaki Kojiro, whose name has been borrowed, also strolls in with a smile; and hearing that Musashi is stirring up trouble again, Otsu and Jotaro pack their things and follow. This volume, opening with chapters such as Gathering in Kyoto, sets the stage for the eve of the gathering and lays groundwork for the successive fierce battles with the Yoshioka school and the changes in Musashi's heart. This is the 21st volume of the series, adapted from Eiji Yoshikawa's Musashi, though parts such as Kojiro's storyline are Inoue's own invention.