Is there an anime about Miyamoto Musashi?

[MoonlessNight]

Is there an anime about the life of Miyamoto Musashi? It seems like the perfect story for an anime, yet I've never run across one. Has anyone else found an anime about Musashi?

 

[NiemandheißtBoshaftigkeit]

Ummmm, who is he/she?

 

[MoonlessNight]

Ummmm, who is he/she?

Miyamoto Musashi is argueably the most famous swordsman to have lived (at least in Japan). He was very influential in all forms of swordsmanship and most forms of martial arts in Japan. He was the one who came up with the idea that if one masters the art of the sword, all arts in life will become apparant, since they are all just extensions of each other.

He was in his first duel at the age of 13, and would be in around 60 duels before he died (not in a duel I might add). He lost at most one duel (there is some debate over whether Muso Gonnosuke actually defeated him. The only records of the second duel between him and Musashi were written by Muso's followers, so they aren't exactly reliable). He created the Ni ten ryu school which emphasized using two swords at the same time. He is also one of the few people to have actually used bokken (wooden swords) in battle. In fact it is said that he defeated Sasaki Kojiro (who was known as the best Swordsman in southern Japan) using a bokken that he had carved out of a boat oar.

Later he retired from dueling and created a school of swordsmanship, though this did not last long. He then spent time wandering through Japan (though not in search of duels) and serving various lords (both in instruction of young samurai and in military service). It is in this period that he gains a liking for art and philosophy, which he had avoided before (when he had only wanted to know what he needed to stay alive in combat). He becomes a hermit, and writes A Book of Five Rings shortly before his death, which has uses in swordsmanship, martial arts, and philosophy. There's also a quote from the fifth book (the void book) in my signature.

There are many legends surrounding his life, from monsters he may have slain, feats he accomplished, other legendary characters that he dueled, and wise things he said.

To me, that looks like a good premise for an anime.

 

[NiemandheißtBoshaftigkeit]

Hmmmm, it sounds alot like Ruroni Kenshin. I am unsure if RK was based on him (I saw a post about who RK was based on a while ago on another site) but they sound very similar. Also, if they did create an anime about it it probably wouldn't be very popular because RK would be so similar to it.

 

[MoonlessNight]

Hmmmm, it sounds alot like Ruroni Kenshin. I am unsure if RK was based on him (I saw a post about who RK was based on a while ago on another site) but they sound very similar. Also, if they did create an anime about it it probably wouldn't be very popular because RK would be so similar to it.

No, RK is definitely not based off of Miyamoto Musashi because:

1.) Musashi lived about 200 years before Rurouni Kenshin takes place
2.) Musashi dueled for the purpose of dueling, not for any political agenda
3.) Musashi never became a pacifist

 

[NiemandheißtBoshaftigkeit]

OK, I don't know much about the two but anyway I don't think an anime based on him would be very popular because they are too similar........

 

[MoonlessNight]

OK, I don't know much about the two but anyway I don't think an anime based on him would be very popular because they are too similar........

I'm not seeing much similarity beyond the fact that they would both revolve around a swordsman who spent a lot of time dueling (though for different reasons) and the fact that both spent a lot of their lives wandering (though, again, for different reasons). The fight sequences certainly wouldn't be the same since all of the people mentioned (and many others involved in the life of Miyamoto Musashi) all have their own, well-documented forms of martial arts. Many of those forms have survived as schools to this day. In fact, the fights would be even more varied since Musashi used a variety of weaponry over his life. Early on he only used one sword, later he used two. He switched between using metal and wooden swords. In his fight against Shishido Baiken (who used a kusari-gama) he improvised with a knife. There is even a legend stating that he was challenged by a swordsmaster (it's not known who) to a duel. The catch? Musashi had to use a steel fan. Musashi accepted, and won.

Then there's the fact that the morals of the show are completely different. Rurouni Kenshin is about the moral use of power and escaping/dealing with one's past. This would be about bettering oneself, the quest for enlightenment (at least later on in his life), and what one can learn from martial arts and combat about life.

Regardless, I don't think that the simlarities matter much. People such as Miyamoto Musashi, Sasaki Kojiro and (to a lesser extent) Muso Gonnosuke are well known to many in Japan, and their battles are literally the stuff of legends. Musashi's life has been made into many movie adaptations, and if the Japanese populace isn't bored of him after seeing his life story that many times, I doubt that the show would lose popularity due to some similarities to Rurouni Kenshin. That is, if the anime doesn't exist already.

 

[NiemandheißtBoshaftigkeit]

Yes, I would watch it if it were made but I was thinking of the majority. I also think the Seinan War would made a great anime as well as WWII.

 

[SAint Mark]

There is no anime based on him yet but there is a manga called vagabond. This manga is based on the book called "Musashi" by Eiji Yoshikawa which is a must read!

 

[MoonlessNight]

There is no anime based on him yet but there is a manga called vagabond. This manga is based on the book called "Musashi" by Eiji Yoshikawa which is a must read!

Thanks a million times over. I'm going to have to look into that.

 

[ozanaki tori]

Hmm...The character Jubei, in the Samurai Spirits games is based on Musashi, I think. If Jubei (the well known character of Ninja Scrolls and numerous other anime and manga) is not an historical character, I believe he may have been based on Musashi. Not sure.

But yes, there is an anime that has both Musashi and Kojiro - Poketto Monsuta!

lol.

anyway.

I love Musashi. I plan on reading the whole five rings thing in the near future.

 

[Dracil]

All you ever wanted to know about Yagyu Jubei http://www.furyu.com/archives/issue9/jubei.html

So no. I would say the character Jubei is based on the person Yagyu Jubei, not Miyamoto Musashi.

 

[ozanaki tori]

lol yeah..I was pretty sure he was a character of his own, but I often confuse musashi and jubei somehow.

 

[SAint Mark]

Btw MoonlessNight, curious, have you read the book "Musashi"?

 

[MoonlessNight]

Btw MoonlessNight, curious, have you read the book "Musashi"?

Nope, just read historical accounts and The Book of Five Rings.

 

[kern]

Vagabond is a good manga, and a very quick read -- it's also quite graphic though (not as violent as some series, but not tame either). I've heard that it deviates from the story of Musashi quite a bit and that some fans of the novel do not like the manga.

It's very popular, though. The art is good (as anyone who's read Slam Dunk should know).

-Chris

 

[Yamato145]

theres a manga based on the life of the great musashi entitled Vagabond

 

[Yamato145]

Hmm...The character Jubei, in the Samurai Spirits games is based on Musashi, I think. If Jubei (the well known character of Ninja Scrolls and numerous other anime and manga) is not an historical character, I believe he may have been based on Musashi. Not sure.

But yes, there is an anime that has both Musashi and Kojiro - Poketto Monsuta!

lol.

anyway.

I love Musashi. I plan on reading the whole five rings thing in the near future.

I didnt read ahead so it may have already been pointed out if so i apoligize but yagyu Jubei is a whole other historical figure than miyamoto musashi

 

[SAint Mark]

Nope, just read historical accounts and The Book of Five Rings.

It's a really cool Samurai book, in fact the best novel I've read for a while (having said that I still have the last 200 pages left out of 1000). Well worth the read, I warmly rexommend it .

From the three volumes I've read from Vagabond I have to agree that it does deviate from the novel but I thought it was rather refreshing. If the story would be exactly followed it'd be tough to keep an even pace in the story.

 

[yusuke urameshi]

have you read the book of 5 rings? musashi wrote it. it is a great book