Takehiko Inoue’s art is awe inspiring.  His stories and art are the type that after reading any of his works, Slam Dunk, Real, or Vagabond, make you want to improve.  What is more commendable is that not just the art, but the stories he tells are just as unique.  Vagabond is about the life of Miyamoto Musashi one of Japans most famous samurai, who’s feats include taking on 75 men on his own.

Inoue’s art conveys the raw grit but more so passion for fighting that the era of samurai dedicated itself to. When he draws a Musashi attacking, you feel his presence, you see the anger in his face. Which keeps you invested, you feel like you are watching the fight from a distance. Describing his art is hard to do because it is just so different to the norm.

This image for instance, you can feel the weight of the ball in the main characters hand, and the speed of the wheels.

Again here, the one motif of these panels is speed.  Hands are wrapped around wheels but in a way that clearly shows movement.

Motion in any still image media be it manga, comics or strip cartoons is very hard to do. Especially in a subtle way. Speed lines going out of a character taking up a quarter of a page are a common way to do this, Inoue painstakingly uses brushes to create detailed movement. More so he does it in a way that is somewhat realistic, considering the format, keeping you in the world that he has created.