Vagabond

Vagabond is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Takehiko Inoue.

Vagabond is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Takehiko Inoue. It is a fictionalised retelling of the life of swordsman Miyamoto Musashi, based on Eiji Yoshikawa’s novel Musashi, and was serialised in Kodansha’s Morning magazine beginning in 1998. The series has been available to Canadian readers through English-language manga publishing and broader North American distribution.

Publication

Vagabond began serialization in 1998 in Kodansha’s Morning magazine. Its chapters were later compiled into tankōbon volumes, with 37 volumes reported by July 2014.

Story premise

The manga follows a fictionalised version of Miyamoto Musashi, drawing on Eiji Yoshikawa’s novel Musashi. It presents Musashi as he develops into a legendary swordsman.

Reception and circulation

The series has been widely read internationally and has been reported to have more than 82 million copies in circulation. This places it among the best-selling manga series of all time.

Hiatus

Multiple sources indicate that Vagabond stopped regular publication and has remained unfinished for years. One source specifically states that publication was suspended indefinitely in 2015.