Vagabond vol. 33

While “Slam Dunk” continues to get better and better, the Takehiko Inoue series that got me to give that series a chance isn’t.  In fact, these last few volumes of “Vagabond” show that as the series is winding down it seems poised to go out with a whimper than a bang.

Though the series continues to be a real showcase for how Inoue has grown as a storyteller and an artist since his landmark Shonen Jump title, it feels like it’s stuck in a rut at the moment.  It’s been apparent for a while now that the series is going to climax with Musashi’s showdown with Kojiro.  Inoue has been building up veeeeeeeeeery sloooooooooowly to that battle and one can only take so much pondering from its main character about the nature of swordsmanship and battle.  Musashi’s battle with Ito Ittosai in the last two volumes livened things up a little; but, his soujourn with a family in the countryside feels like a needless distraction.

Fortunately things perk up in the last few chapters of this volume as the focus shifts back to Kojiro as he makes his name in the town of Kokura.  While he quickly wins over the hearts of the town’s inhabitants, he does so in an unorthodox way as a result of his deafness.  As I said a while back, the volumes of the series that have focused on Kojiro have been the most unconventional and entertaining of the entire series.  That’s particularly true of this volume, so I’ll be looking forward to seeing if Inoue can make Musashi’s quest as interesting as his rival’s in the next volume.