I mentioned before that I am big fan of Samurai and their code of honor etc. This character name is Miyamoto Musashi, sound familiar? If not he’s an actual famous historical swordsman, he’s been portrayed in many types of books, cinema and animations, but my favorite interpretation thus far is from the manga series known as Vagabond.
Takehiko Inoue is the author and artist of the title and I just love his art style, it’s so realistic and alive very inspirational. In this series Takehiko unfolds the life of Mushahi from his early teens onwards to his adult hood, the series is still ongoing and this character has gone through many changes and developments throughout the different volumes.
At first Shinmen Takezo (Miyamoto Musashi birth name) seems like a teenager who only wants to kill and die an honorable death on the battle field, but later on down the line he changes his views on life and death and eventually he travels around Japan in order to become the strongest swordsman under the sun. This is a fictional telling of Musashi’s life, so more than half of this stuff is in the manga is not accurate to his actual life.
This character grows a big deal in terms of physical strength and his mental state. He goes from being brash, arrogant and stupid to wise, calculating and likable. If you want to know more here is a link to his wiki page. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vagabond_(manga)