Why A Manga Genius Abandoned His Masterpiece

I feel like the manga industry would benefit from a seasonal approach to their serialized projects. Like take a quarter off the year from production to slow down and prepare for the next season. Do this staggered accross authors so there is always content in the magazines

There's a certain sad irony in that Inoue's approach to Vagabond is similar to Miyamoto's journey before he made his realization in the story

I totally get why he hasn't picked it up yet. It makes no sense to work on something when you don't feel like it at the moment, it will only bring forth a product that is worse in quality compared to the former stuff. Great documentary dyl. Loved it.

As an author myself, there's a kind of emotional burden we have to carry in order to see thru the lens of the characters all to breath life into the story. The mc Musashi, clearly is not an easy character to write. You need to be equally capable of handling the emotional stress that character is having in order to understand its journey. That's the kind of toll Takehiko is taking in the creation of Vagabond.

Yup, Slam Dunk was the reason why I played basketball and why I tried to join the school team back then. Even though I was not good, and I didn't end up on the team, I still had a sense of direction in my life and wanted to do something. That was really what gave me the motivation to try to achieve something for the first time in my life back then. Those were the days and Slam Dunk will be one of the most important manga that helped to shape up my life.

Honestly, the hardest thing about Vagabond and continuing it is that it... honestly can just end at any point. In a way, most of the essence was already said in the first few arcs, and what happens after is just reiteration of the same themes, same meditations in greater detail. The arcs are so self-sufficient, so intense with visual and Buddhist metaphor that you don't even really need to see how it ends to "get it". I've read it up to volume 20, and even at this little-over-half point I feel like I have experienced a true work of art that urges you to look within with each encounter, and is only richer the more life experience you as a reader have. So how do you conceivably deliver more of *that*? Even if Inoue does not draw another chapter of Vagabond, it has cemented its place in history as one of the absolute peaks of the medium.

I'd rather have an unfinished masterpiece than a masterpiece that slowly turns to shit

Thank you for making this and showing sensei such compassion. It’s easy for people to say just draw the damn manga already. But as an artist myself, I related to everything he’s going through on such a painful level. When something means too much to you, and to top it off you have a perfectionism issue, and feel this enormous pressure brought upon by the expectations yourself and others have on you, the weight is unbearable and it truly becomes a crippling paralysis.

Funny story: I was hired by a writer to draw a comic he was working on that was set in Heian era Japan. He told me that Kurosawa's movies, especially the Samurai trilogy, were a big inspiration. I'm not a movie buff, but I was very familiar with the Vagabond manga, so I looked to it as a guide for my art style and getting right historical details of feudal Japan. It was only when the writer and I started talking about how I would draw a panel where a character is hung from a tree that we realized the Samurai films and Vagabond manga had identical plots because they were both adapted from the same novel, a fictional retelling of the life of Musashi. We had a good laugh over how we had unknowingly been on the exact same page but in two different media!

The hardest part about the indefinite hiatus was just how close to completion it was. It really was just the last fight left. There are plenty of adaptations of the novel, most notably the critically acclaimed Samurai Trilogy starring Toshiro Mifune, so the conclusion is out there i guess but inoue's stunning art adds so much to that story.

I just wanna say one thing, Inoue has assistants and does not draw his backgrounds, so his backgrounds are still drawn in pen by the time he switches to brush in 15, and I believe there's still some pen work in some of the panels. I'm not sure when he fully makes the switch to brush, but it's definitely not long after this. So, inoue does all the characters, the assistants do all the backgrounds, which are not in brush unless the scene calls for it (which he might also do himself)

Like most people I came to know Takehiko Inoe through Slam Dunk. How you put his apprehension in completing Vagabond is great. Thanks for making me like the guy even more!! Every time I see a spread page of Vagabond is like masterpiece in itself. Thanks again for making his struggles more understandable.

Inoue should reread Musashi, he'd probably find his enjoyment again since he's appropriately following a similar arc to the novel version of Musashi, who reconciles his personal quest and achieves his goal through a lateral idea.

I fully respect his need to distance himself from his work. I really thought the manga was considered finished where it left off. Hearing you recount his recent interview where he states he intends to return to it someday is incredibly relieving.

My man, this is incredible. Your storytelling and editing is out of this world, holy crap. Gotta get you popping off.

Great video! There are interesting parallels with Inoue and Takezo's journey in the manga - learning from masters and then surpassing them, sickness and slow recovery, mellowing with age, striving for perfection... I feel like once Inoue has gone through what he needs to go through, he'll be ready to authentically tackle those final chapters.

Phenomenal video, I could really hear the passion in your voice when you spoke on how ordinary it is to feel so much pressure and fear when it comes to finishing something that is regarded as your greatest work. I am humongous fan of Inoue and of Vagabond, and I constantly tell people to read it to this day, even though I know its quite possible that it is never truly finished. It's that great.

Thanks for making this! I always love learning more about Inoue

As someone who wants to get into Vagabond but read about its ongoing hiatus, I'm so glad someone covered this topic in the way that you did. This video provides a logical and respectful amount of speculation as to where his motivations lie. Even if it's been said a lot already, I still would like to say that this video is very well edited, paced, and written. One can feel the level of respect and research you put into this video essay delving into such an interesting point of focus on a mangaka as culturally significant as Inoue-sensei. This is my first video from your channel that was ever recommended to me and I'm glad I clicked on it. You have my sub and like, looking forward to your future videos. Cheers!