Thread by @Ramroedeer

"somethings are meant to be experienced"

thread on how vagabond applies expressionism in its narrative to portray its essence.
#Vagabond #バガボンド

Expressionism is an artistic style in which the artist seeks to depict not objective reality but rather the subjective emotions and responses that objects and events arouse within a person. The artist accomplishes this aim through distortion, exaggeration, primitivism, and +

fantasy and through the vivid, jarring, violent, or dynamic application of formal elements.

Vagabond tackles expressionism in a lot of ways, from visual metaphors to the dynamic application of storytelling methods through matahachi’s role as the narrator of Musashi’s tale, to +

convey a rather abstract and subjective interpretation of its essence and message. Matahachi being the narrator confirms that vagabond is far from being an objective view of Musashi’s life but instead is an emotional one largely influenced by matahachi's own ideals, nature, and +

bond with Musashi. This then ties to the actual interesting part of the storytelling, the audience surrounding matahachi listening to the story as in us readers doing the same, while many of them get bored listening to several events in the story, the boy stays there & listens +

to everything diligently bc he has different ideals and bonds to the story more than others who are simply there for fights (bloodthirsty hence having conflicting ideals that clashes with Vagabond’s). This means Vagabond is trying to send more so an abstract and subjective +

message and building a similar foundation of true strength and then asking the readers to take their own message from it by focusing heavily on the art and symbolic allegories (such as ocean, waves, mountains, trees, kojiro the character) that the readers can interpret in a way +

that best aligns with their own ideals, that can change its meaning or intensity of impact depending on a person instead of simple words that are comparatively more straightforward & objective than art, taking away the whole point of somethings that are meant to be experienced +

heavily condoning the idea of titles, labels, etc as they are just words, they don’t make up a person but, experience and bonds, rather inexplicable terms do.

Hence every time a reader comes out of vagabond with a newfound and different message/interpretation consisting of a +

similar core of what’s “true strength”, it compliments vagabond and its essence. It can be life-defining work for someone, something that was simply good or something that was boring, and all of that in the end is reflective of the respective individual and serves to strengthen +

Vagabond’s essence. Similar to poetry. Vagabond contains each and every ideas and experience, bonds shared by the reader with the story inside itself and similarly an individual reader experiences the infinite ideas that every other reader took out of vagabond. Meaning all +

experience with various people creates us and these individuals, things, and their ideals are reflected by us (all is one). +

Vagabond itself has infinite potential as infinite messages can be taken out of this story that can never be put into words. So don’t get fixated on such superficial things as in the grand scheme of things we are nothing yet infinite with no limits to our potential for grow. +

Hence the final panel is “Let’s Go.” Where to? It doesn’t matter as it would differ for everyone and that diversity contradicting and complimenting makes us humans and that’s the charm. +

The interconnectedness of everything in the universe by cause and effect throughout time. We (the readers) are one (Vagabond) but reflected in that one is everything else. +

So vagabond reflects the ultimate answer to the essence of human nature that Takuan was looking or in a sense vagabond is humanity’s essence. What the essence itself means depends on every single individual. Vagabond is us and we reflect vagabond.

We are ‘infinite’.

End.

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