by Takehiko Inoue, 216 pages Musashi manages to start a fight with Sekishûsai's men, but his goal is to make it to the master himself and challenge him. But the Yagyû's master is a good judge of strength (interior as well as exterior) and his men are nothing to be trifled with. Meanwhile, Otsû (Musashi's childhood friend and his former friend Matahachi's former fiancée) is now a servant of the aged Sekishûsai and looks after the kind master with as much fidelity as would his own grandchild. If fighting him means breaking his bond with Otsû, will Musashi still press forward?
I didn't realize it till I was flipping back through to remind myself of the events for this review, but this volume is almost entirely one big four-on-one fight from first page to last. And for pages at a time, there's no dialogue; just panel after panel of either intricate action or ponderous silences. I didn't even notice. As far as my brain was concerned, the pages were filled with meaning and a steadily progressing narrative in which I was completely invested. Skillful storytelling.
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