Vagabond

It is very rarely you find a piece of art like this where every aspect is done at such a high level that there is not much needed to be said. In terms of manga, I have only seen a few other series that do it to the same level as Vagabond and even then, I believe Vagabond stands at the top. Takehiko Inoue is a master at work, his art is second to none, his character writing is matched by few, and his storytelling is wonderful. The only flaw you could give is that the series does not have a definitive end and there has not been a single chapter released in the past five years, but even then, it is not too large a flaw. Anyone who has read Vagabond knows that where we left off is quite satisfactory, of course I would love for Inoue to come back and finish the series but I do not think it is absolutely necessary. Where the characters have been left off, especially our main characters Musashi and Kojiro for which we have seen plenty of content to be happy. To go back to the art, you see why this series as a manga is so vital because of the visual storytelling that Inoue does. I have not read the original novel that this series is based off of nor do I know how similar these people are to their real-life counterparts but I don't think either of those could give me the same experience as Vagabond does.

One of the best manga for writers to learn about themes, because there's so much of them here. The road to sucess, what it means to be a man, lessons about humility, what a strong person truly is, etc.

Musashi is an outstanding protagonist, you can pinpoint every reason for everything he does through his backstory. He's proactive, a loner, a violent and angry, but scared man, and there's all a reason for it. Vagabound adresses a pretty entertaining question, too: what if the protagonists dreams are just wrong?

The manga can teach you a lot about life, but it just doesn't stay on philosophy and character writing: the fights and conflicts are very suspenseful, the manga isn't scared of making Musashi look weak. He loses fights, he gets beaten to an inch of his life, and he even steps on a nail while walking! But he gets through everything, and not only by getting physically stronger. He learns a lot about life, and that reflects on how he uses his sword. Musashis's mind gets stronger with him, and the manga does such a good job at tying this journey about personal growth to it's characters and it's fights.

It's a must read if you like self contained and very personal stories about a complex character continually evolving and learning.

Story -
To be honest the only part of Vagabond I cannot call amazing is the story, the pacing is funky, the arcs don't blend too well and in most arc all you are doing is waiting for the climaxing huge event. Overall it at least has one that makes sense and doesn't leave you thinking "ok,,, what was that". 7/10

Art -
Impossible to point out any flaws. The art in Vagabond is incomparable to anything else I've seen and is hard to put into words. 10/10.

Characters -
There are both fun and enjoyable characters (Matahachi) and serious and well evolved characters (Musachi). Enough said. Musachi's evolution with his ideas of strength and what it means to live by a sword are both meaningful and impactful to the reader. 9/10.

Enjoyment -
10/10. Enjoyment is hard to put into words so very simply: I had fun; I laughed; I serioused; I sadded; I was amazed.

It’s an old story. The hero is Musashi Miyamoto; the greatest samurai who ever lived, author of that esoteric sword-fighting guide that I couldn’t get past the first page of. His legend was brought to a more international audience with the film series starring Toshiro Mifune. While it would be impossible for another actor to outperform Mifune as the samurai master, the realm of manga can achieve the impossible. I was never a huge manga geek, but I’ve read a decent amount of the most highly-acclaimed. Vagabond is without a doubt the most incredibly drawn manga I’ve ever read.

The way of the sword in Japan has always reminded me of Hinduism’s yogic paths. The samurai strives for utter mastery of the self much like a yogi in the wilderness. The biggest difference is the amount of bloodshed. Eastern religion and philosophy has often centered on perfectibility. According to belief, through many life-times the Hindu or Buddhist can reach a divine state through practicing austerities and mastering the body and mind. There are various yogic paths ranging from study to sex. But what of the soldier? The creation of bushido in Japan was very convenient for emperors and shoguns of all sorts. To become a master in the art of slaughter… was a spiritual matter!

Mushashi, born Shinmen Takezo, wants to be the strongest samurai of all time. It’s not an uncommon hero motivation. Ash Ketchum is still trying to be the very best pokemon trainer there ever was. Unlike the many seasons of Pokemon however, Vagabond shows the consequences of this “heroic” desire. Takezo slaughters man after man; some are horrible bandits, some are honorable samurai, some are confused boys with swords. All this is done for Takezo’s quest for perfection. An interesting character, almost a comic relief, is the Buddhist monk Takuan. He serves as Takezo’s Jiminy Cricket throughout the manga; his irritating conscience. If the dialogue between characters were a debate, Takuan demolishes Takezo in every single one. He exposes Takezo’s masquerade: savage bloodlust in the guise of honor. Although Takezo doesn’t heed much of this advice in the beginning, his staunch mindset is gradually assaulted by the monk’s reason.

As Takezo’s story progresses, we slowly come to understand the “way of the sword” that he is striving for. To be the very best there ever was… was a bastardization of his true goal that he didn’t even know he had. Zen Buddhism took hold in Japan as a synthesis of the Buddha’s teachings and Lao Tsu’s “Taoism.” The Tao is the Way; a romantic belief in natural spontaneity, or being in tune with the natural way of things. An obvious reason why this took hold in Japan is because of the Shinto tradition which also taught union with nature. In Vagabond, Takezo meets various masters of the sword who teach him about this path. He no longer fights for egotistical pride, but for union with… the natural order of things. It’s all very romantic, but very Eastern. The hero of the philosophical West might fight for deep moral principles ordained by God so he might be forgiven for his life full of sin, but the philosophically Eastern hero fights in an eternal search for divine union with the universe.

Vagabond is, aside from being an incredible character-driven story of Zen Buddhism and the ronin lifestyle, a beautiful manga. To the most philosophically ignorant—or apathetic—individual, Vagabond will be an engaging action packed ride to be lost in for hours on end. The VIZ Big editions of the manga are quite expensive in total, but it’s worth the investment to own this story for the rest of one’s life. Vagabond will probably never actually conclude as a manga, but I’m not sure Miyamoto Musashi’s quest ever concluded either.

Incredible manga of the true story of the great samurai miyamoto musashi this manga's art is amongst the best that I've ever seen. The art work is truly something to talk about on it's own. Making me often just stare at the pages. The manga is about the legendary samurai and his journey to become the invincible under the sun. Even though some parts may be strongly over exaggerated it still does a good job on showing us the path that musahi had to take to become what he always desired and also his great strength. The side characters may sometimes leave something to be desired but they are nicely written. You can truly grow a fascination for his great rival.

Its rare I am changed on a spiritual and philosophical level by a piece of media. Sure I may form certain opinions after consuming a story or movie, however Vagabond is the only story to every completely change how I look at life.

To absurdly oversimplify it, Vagabond is a story of self improvement and finding your place in the world. Before I read Vagabond I didn't know where to go with my life. But soon after starting it I realised this wasn't a normal manga, this was different.

By volume 10 I had already been so motivated by Musashi and his journey that my grades at school had improved exponentially. Vagabond taught me what it means to push oneself to you absolute limits. Reaching your potential is important, but more important is realising life continues after you reach your goals. And that's okay. Life doesn't have an epic conclusion, it is a single long journey from start to a end. Though you won't have some Hollywood conclusion to your story, you can accomplish many goals along the way and it is important to constantly be pushing yourself, for when you stop trying is when you lose your way.

There will be no spoilers in this review don't worry
Story: 10/10 Vagabond follows the journey of Miyomoto Musashi and loosely follows the actual life of Musashi. Over the course of his journey Musashi is taught numerous things by the people he encounters. This taught me to seek knowledge from people I meet. I'm everyone has stories to tell and things to teach you, meeting new people and discovering new things is a great way to progress towards your goals. Musashi's development doesn't happen in huge jumps, but instead happens over the course of the story. All his experiences shape who he is.

Art: 10/10 I doubt I need to say much about the art. Vagabond is notorious for having amazing art, and is considered by many to have the best art of all manga. Reading a Vagabond chapter generally takes me a lot longer than normal because I find myself staring at each page admiring the beautiful art, only to realise I haven't even read the words yet.

Characters: 10/10 A big part of Vagabond is seeing how each character grows, and the anticipation of their eventual dual or interaction. I've found myself wishing some characters didn't have to right because I enjoy both so much, and would be saddened if one were to die. The fact I care so much about character throughout this story shows how compelling they care. Each Vagabond character feels like their own person and the main character or their own story. It just happens that we are following Musashi's. I am always excited to learn a characters back story and to find out how they become the person they are. These feel like real people with real emotions, and I hope I find another story that makes me love a stories character as much as Vagabond.

Enjoyment: 10/10 There have been many times over the course of Vagabond where I have literally been on the edge of my seat in anticipation. Excitingly turning the page and trying to keep my cool as I fanboy over how amazing the action scenes and dialogue are. Even arcs that some may consider "boring" are very enjoyable to me. This story is a hood example of how to write what seems like boring things in an exciting way. There's literally an arc about farming, and its one if my favourites in all of manga because of how well it is written and portrayed.

Flaws: The series is currently unfinished, and by the looks of it won't be finished for a very long time as its on a long hiatus. That's literally all the flaws I can think about.

Overall: 10/10 I understand that Vagabond isn't for everyone, but I would 100% recommended it to literally everyone. I have become a better person (in my opinion) after reading Vagabond. And if you find yourself lost in the world, in a dark place or just feeling depressed in general. I urge you to read this story, it helped me in more ways than I can describe and I hope it can do the same for you.

“There is nothing outside of yourself that can ever enable you to get better, stronger, richer, quicker, or smarter." -Miyamoto, Musashi

When I first started reading this manga is was way back in 2015 or 2016. I didn't expect much of it except "cool samurai fight scenes" as I would've described it then. However, upon reading it and rereading it countless times already, I've come to accept this manga for what it is: an unfinished masterpiece.

If it were only completed this would make the second manga/anime I have ever ranked a solid 10. It follows the real life story of the wondering vagrant swordsman MIyamoto Musashi in his journey to become the strongest swordsman who has ever lived. It doesn't start off slow and pick start picking up later on. It is consistent in its story telling and masterful in its conveying of the plot.

Personally I think many of its negative reviews are due to the viewer being unable to relate to the characters leaving them with a sense of lack of depth from the overall story. I don't want to say they are wrong. But perhaps they are looking at it the least productive way. Vagabond is a biography. The characters were different people not fictional relatable protagonists. Much of the manga might be seen as unnecessary drawn out action, but that is simply what Musashi's life boiled down to during his earlier years before he retired. It's like trying to relate to Elon Musk's autobiography when you really can't. You're supposed to take some ideas from it and try to better yourself as a person using them.

Sun Tzu's art of war is no relatable because it's about warfare. That is simply not true at all, people still use it predominantly in business tactics. If I might say: most negative reviews of this manga are/might be unjustified.


You are not supposed to relate to the characters or Musashi at all.
I believe that is the true intention of the author.


Story: 40% / 43%
Vagabond is the epic story of wondering swordsman Musashi Miyamoto later in life titled "The Sword Saint". The manga closely follows his early years in life from when he leaves to war and returns with a different name. He starts to steadily build up his legend but at times seems unsure of himself striking deep philosophical thought, not from the author, but from the person himself. I love how the story follows his life as accurately as possible while still maintaining a sense of, well, epicness. The only reason it doesn't have full points is because of the fact that the manga remains unfinished to this date.

Characters: 33% / 33%

Miyamoto Musashi or Musashi Miyamoto. He is practically the only character as far as it goes because it is basically a biography of him. (Other characters like Sasaki Kojiro were not taken into consideration whilst writing the rating for this section). The Sword Saint. It is not an exaggeration, that is his actual title. This is a man that actually lived in Japan and the tales of his journey are well recorded so I can say firmly (after actually doing a lot of research) that the manga stays true to the nature and reality of the character. Musashi was and is the greatest swordsman to have ever lived, but he wasn't born that way. His life was full of hardship, struggle, and challenge. Everything from when he was thirteen and on was battle. But that was not all there was to Musashi. He had a strong sense of philosophy and was extremely intelligent. He theorized about things such as psychology that weren't even invented in his era. A character this brilliantly and accurately represented on manga is something you won't find anywhere else. Truly masterful work done to recreate his person.

Art: 21% / 23%
This manga has perhaps some of the best illustrations I have ever had the privilege of setting eyes upon. At least in book the art this manga handles is second only to Berserk. The fight scenes are spectacles unfolding right before your eyes and everything in between is equally as exquisite. The quality does not waver during the whole length of the manga and if anything it gets even better as it progresses. The reason it does not have full points, though, is just that. The art does get better, but in turn that means that the earlier chapters could've been better as well. This may come off as overly critical or analytical, but it is the undeniable truth. In spite of this, the art still gets one of the best ratings I've given to art in manga.

Overall: 94% / 100% or 9.4/10

The history in general, nothing to object, the drawing of Inoue, perfect, I have always liked. However, it made the end of the series, becomes heavy, is like the repetition of the same, and skip the most important part historically speaking, there is no fight between Musashi and Kojiro.
The series starts well, but they do not just give it a good ending.

The characters I think have hit them, especially Musashi.
Maybe a little Kojiro fails, I just do not like it as described.
Otsuu is a smooth character, does not end up doing too much, it's like the part that every protagonist has to have, but in the end, in this case, the protagonist seems to be able to live without it.
Jotaro, same, at first seems to be a part of the protagonist, and passes without penalty or glory
And so with all the characters.
At first everyone seems to have relevance to the story and to the protagonist, but in the end, they stay in the past without giving more turns to the life of Musashi.

This work is based on an autobiography that talks about the greatest samurai in history, Miyamoto Musashi, the story is realistic and when the story is realistic it is closer to success and all stories with fictional events will remain small in front of real stories like Chernobyl

The most wonderful thing the work added was realistic painting and Surrealist painting, which included a truly imaginative embodiment of the psyche of a swordsman entering into a duel with another person.

As for the fun and excitement, he should become a teacher in excitement in relation to duels and battles, in getting rid of any long and unpleasant scene, or in repeating the likes of One Piece, Naruto and whitewash.

Dear gentlemen, I have followed the best works on this site, but all of them were bad and full of flaws, such as Jojo, Part 7, Steel Bull Run, and Fullmetal Alchemist, but this work is worth 10 in the story but the story is unfortunately not finished for this one reason only That made me give him this evaluation

Bro this manga is just a straight up masterpiece,

The story: 10/10

I mean do I have to talk about the story lol, this is one of the few mangas where I actually get real into the story like most mangas have a bland story that I just force myself to finishing but this manga was different it had amazing storyline that you probably won’t see in most mangas nowadays since most of nowadays mangas are super repetitive. But this manga has decent romance (there was few romance scenes) good comedy and amazing emotional moments that will tear you up.

The characters development: 10/10

The characters development in this story are really amazing like in the beginning musashi has a blood intent in him but the more the story goes he started controlling his intent instead of being a savage beast lol he was always staying away from people at the beginning and never let his guard down for even a second.

The Art: 10/10

I don’t need to explain this.


Enjoyment: 10/10

This like one of the only mangas that I enjoyed the backstories like some other mangas will Have a boring bland back stories that you sleep while watching.

When I first read Vagabond My first impressions were that the Art style was amazing but each chapter didn't really contain much content or that the pacing was too slow. Story wise I thought it was average until it finally expanded more on it's characters which later on are what make Vagabond great. The plot of becoming the strongest swordsman is pretty basic, makes it seem like just another fighting manga. There's a lot of philosophical aspects that I love involved every other chapter, like characters questioning why they are the way they are and why they can't stop being that way. My favorite aspect of this manga other than the art is the inner monologue of the main character, having this aspect you can see the evolution of the character's way of thinking.

I was never really into manga as much as anime, more times than not anime is usually more exciting than manga. As I grew older, I found myself falling in love with the comics and their stories. There is something about Seinen manga that is either a hit or miss. Either, they are fake deep, or real deep. Examples of Manga that actually are deep are Oyasumi Punpun, Berserk, Shingeki no Kyojin, or Monster. Vagabond easily falls into this category, except it offers something more.

Vagabond is a slight fictional approach to the story of Miyamoto Musashi, one of the greatest Samurai of all history. For those who know of great Samurai, he arguably is held with names like Uesugi Kenshin, Takeda Shingen, and Minamoto no Yoritomo to point out a few. So, this story is a samurai story. Battles, plots, scandals, and fantastic art are all included. This is not why I fell in love with this manga however, and if you look at it from only the surface you do not fully appreciate or understand why it is a 10.

Vagabond explores some major philosophical ideas. What does it mean to be “The Greatest Under the Heavens,” or “The Way of the Sword,” or “The Way of the Samurai.” What is a Samurai when there is no war? What is their purpose? Vagabond proposes all of these ideas in a way where it is complex, yet not confusing. The gorgeous art, masterfully crafted story, and beautifully written characters help to express the struggle a 1600’s Samurai experienced during peacetime.

I would NOT recommend this manga to those just getting into the medium. If you have never read a Seinen manga, I would start out with some classics (Ex. Berserk). Vagabond is a manga for my more seasoned readers. It presents deep ideas, and provides a lense into a crucial part of Japanese culture, Bushido. The art is phenomenal, the pacing is perfect, the characters feel real, and it represents who Miyamoto Musashi was, and the dilemma of samurai during this time period.

To simply say this manga is a masterpiece is cutting it short, but that is what it is. A 10. I hope you read it too and experience the magic for yourself.

Sometimes, there are works that come out that push an entire medium forward. I don't think I had truly ever considered manga to be anything more than fastfood entertainment until I read Vagabond. I think there have only been a few works that have truly changed the way I've looked at a medium- and just as how Watchmen redefined comics for me, Vagabond changed the way I look at manga.

I need to get this out first. The art is magnificent. Painting with a traditional inkbrush and watercolors, Inoue has well and truly outdone any of his other works. This is his peak as an artist, and in terms of art, a work he is unlikely to eclipse.

The saying goes that a picture is a thousand words, and often Inoue is content to deliver us a two page spread of blood and iron, detailed down to the last droplet. And those details, ah the details- that delivers me to the story itself. I don't think Vagabond is a perfect work. There is undoubtedly some details both minor and major that will not sit well with all of us. There are probably little plot holes or details that I have missed. But barring a purely academic reading of the work, Vagabond is a manga with an effortless story. Miyamoto Musashi starts off thirsting for power, a young man looking to test himself against the world.

Slowly then, we watch as he fights, kills, grows stronger, and matures. All this held against the equally enthralling story of Matahachi Honiden, Musashi's childhood friend. Where Musashi dedicates himself to the passion of his craft, Matahachi indulges himself in hedonistic pleasure. And though there are certain implicit judgements about both characters, the story ultimately treats them as what they are- people. We watch as Musashi seeks greater heights of success, all while Matahachi falls deeper into despair. Then about halfway through, we meet the last of our protagonists- the deaf swordsman Sasaki Kojirou. Through trials and tribulations, we follow the three- well, we are still following the three.

It is unlikely Vagabond will ever be truly completed. Sometime in 2015 Inoue put the work on Hiatus. I do not believe he will return to it again. But in many ways, that only increases how much I love this story. Vagabond may well be a flawed work, for its lack of exposition, or breeziness in content- but say what you will, it is not a work that can be ignored. I see Vagabond as a cumulation of the things it made me feel, that deeply atmospheric art that threatens to drown you in its beauty- the inscrutable characters and their relationships that you can admire without fully understanding. All that and more make Vagabond what it is, and perhaps even more than just the sum of its parts. And Vagabond in many ways makes me take a step further and say- this may well be the greatest manga of all time.

"Preoccupied with a single leaf, you won't see the tree, Preoccupied with a single tree, you'll miss the entire forest." -Takuan Soho

In just 327 Chapters, a story following 2 men that live by the sword birthed and brought up in different social circumstances learning their way to pursue the craft of swordsmanship, Vagabond is a masterpiece of a manga about the retelling of the journey between Sasaki Kojiro and Musashi Miyamoto.

Story: 10/10
Musashi Miyamoto (formerly Shinmen Takezo) from Miyamoto Village was determined to be strong and in order to convince himself he had reached his goal, he set out to fight distinguished swordsmen to become invincible under the heavens. However, due to his vulgar anger and violent tendencies towards others he wasn't in the best shape to set out on his journey. With the aid of Monk Takuan Soho, Musashi Miyamoto was able to refine himself sufficiently and reposition his mindset on the correct path of the sword. ~ Throughout his journey, Miyamoto encountered formidable opponents with killing aura powerful enough to fight without the need of a sword. Once Miyamoto learned that he'd need to cultivate his mentality as well as his physique he had spent an entire year training the path of the sword. After defeating the head of a renowned swordsman school and his brother in a duel, he had to face the wrath of seventy disciples. All this occurred while his best friend, Matachi Honiden was enjoying fine sake and women with his short term success with Oko (Chapter 10ish*) and eventually living a life of solitude as his Uncle Gon and Mother deteriorate from keeping up with him. Musashi Miyamoto's first love Otsu and his first disciple Jotaro follow their own path as they await the arrival of their Master...

On the other side of the spectrum, a child born during the great war that consumed his Father and Mother, Kojirou Sasaki a deaf-mute Swordsman who'd lived by the sword since he was taken in by his grandfather by the beach side. Kojiro Sasaki was a natural swordsman who'd gotten his first taste of combat when pursuing an old Ronin that demands 14 Year Old girls and Food & Sake after saving the village from stragglers. Kojiro Sasaki lived a life of swords, women and Sake as he journeyed around Japan to hone his swordsmanship.

The retelling of Musashi Miyamoto and Sasaki Kojiro was amazing, the attention to the story line which doesn't flow forward for 300 chapters but instead flows forward and takes a step back 4 years to introduce our 2nd Main character and his rise to fame. The story isn't just killing, the premise of Musashi Miyamoto refining his disposition by learning how to farm and following famous masters maintained the quality and detail of his life style. Although many characters are short lived in the story, their backgrounds and tendencies are high lighted; the sheer detail in the story line is difficult to comprehend. All while Takuan Soho helps the morale of the characters with his unique style of managing their convictions. Only through Takuan Soho was Musashi Miyamoto able to refine his disposition and maintain a pure mindset while following the sword.

Art: 9/10
The art is very detailed yet not overwhelmingly detailed, the balance between both is recognizable. The amount of panels can be overwhelming sometimes but luckily few chapters are dense with panels which make it hard to read. Dialogue is kept minimal and even when something is described, it is done within at least 50 words per speech box making information consumption and interpretation effortless. It is a pity that it wasn't fully dedicated to color and drawn digitally but with the compromise of shading and crosshatching, there wasn't much missing with the art of Vagabond.

Character: 10/10
Development in character is Vagabond's strongest point, managing 20+ characters and their backgrounds, living environment and relation to the main characters can be wild. Each arc is completely unique and refreshes the style of character development we see meaning there aren't as much filler content or unnecessary filler information. The strict flow of information during each arc of Vagabond (i.e Keeping the introduction and background of Sasaki Kojiro within 30 Chapters spanning over 5-9 years is difficult to manage) (i.e 2 Managing the farming arc within 32 Chapters est. over a span of 1.2 years would have also been difficult to manage) By containing this information and delivering a consistent flow of character development, Vagabond easily passes with flying colors.

One thing that also worked flawlessly, The character design of Honiden Matachi who lived a life of lies. He was desperate to leave Miyamoto Village to experience life in the Capital of Kyoto and on his journey he slept with many women, even ditching the bro Takezo to sleep with Oko. What also disturbed me was when it was revealed that the travelling samurai who had Sasaki Kojiro's swordsmanship certificate was Kojiro's childhood friend ~ The fact that Matachi got him killed and looted his corpse was amazing development in his convictions as a character but also terrible to know. Eventually, as Musashi had progressed and become famous throughout Japan, Matachi had fooled around with women, Stolen, Extorted many businesses under a fabricated name etc. However, in the end Matachi was reliable to his friend, saving him more than three times when Musashi was near death, Matachi never hesitated to save him despite being conflicted and feeling guilt toward him.

Enjoyment: 10/10
Loved it. Emotional. Dramatic. Comedic.
It is a different style of a story representing a lone swordsman in his conquest to becoming invincible under the heavens.

A Masterpiece!

Vagabond is my only 10/10 manga, and there's a good reason for it. I'm first going to point out the obvious, Vagabond has gorgeous art. I sometimes find myself lost in the color pages and two-page images, they are absolutely beautiful.

However, the story is more of an subjective subject, and I do think you should read other reviews as well before considering buying it. I personally think it's a masterpiece, It's not an original story for the manga (It was a book, which turn was based on real life events), but I don't mind that at all.

The only "bad" thing I say about this series, is that many characters change names throughout the story, so it can be a little hard keeping track of everything if you haven't read it in a while.

What can I say about Vagabond to explain it's greatness. I can say with complete certainty that this manga can be compared to masterpieces like the Mona Lisa. Before you start wondering why I say this, I will explain when I talk about the art.

Story

This manga is based on the masterpiece by Eiji Yoshikawa, about the life of the Japanese Sword saint Musashi Miyamoto a.k.a Shinmen Takezo who is the creater of the Niten Ichi-ryū (二天一流) in which you use your Katana and Wakizashi ( the short sword ). Whether all the things that are inscribed in this book are real or exaggerated, no one can tell, but this work shows you how important honor, being able to use a sword, and be the best is. The story in Vagabond is very deep, so probably not everyone will enjoy it to the fullest at the first read.

Art

Now we go to the part that has me completely Mesmerized. Takehiko Inoue is known as a mangaka who really puts everything into his art, but BY GOD, in Vagabond you are completely engulfed from the first couple of pages. You can really see what the characters feel, just by looking at their eyes and expression. People say that the eyes are the window to the soul, and damn they were right. The color pallet in this manga is exceptional, and how he uses I believe brushes for the color pages is insane. The designs of the characters are great, you can see in every panel their emotional state, which is not an easy thing to do and not everyone can do such a great job of it, only with pictures. So yeah, that's what I meant about it being close the Mona Lisa, because for me, and not only me, it has the best artwork in manga history.

Character

This manga is mostly about the character growth of the main characters, and if you read it from the start and get to where the manga is, you will be completely shocked at the growth of our main character Musashi due to the circumstances he has gotten himself into. There a lot of philosophical debates and question throuhout this masterpiece, and the most recurring one is the question of Being the best under heavens and what does it mean in reality, how do the people interpret this phrase. It is stunning to say the least how these questions are answered through certain events.

Enjoyment

I honestly can't get enough of this manga. The first thing that caught my eye was the Art, but when you get into the story as well, you have a lot of great time ahead of you by reading this. It is so deep, that probably some chapters would have to be read a lot more times than just once in order the grasp the complete meaning of the things that traspire and that are said.

Overall

Vagabond is a once in a lifetime experience. It makes you respect the people in it a lot, and the important thing is that these people really existed, whether the things in this manga happened for real or are exaggerated I don't know, but either way it is one hell of a masterpiece.

So, where do I start about this absolute jewel of a manga. Should I talk about the art, the story, the author or the main man mushashi himself. Everything in this manga was a perfect 10 baring just one thing that I personally wasn't very fond of, which I would talk about in the end.

The plot of the manga follows primarily Takezo aka Mushashi on his journey to become arguably the greatest swordsmen that ever lived. The story follows the trials and hardship he faced along the journey. The aspect of the story that I liked the most was the fact that the author stressed on the importance of mental growth to be stronger rather than purely focusing on the physical growth. Throughout the story Mushashi piece by piece put together the answer to his question, "What it meant to be truly strong?" unlike most of the manga wherein the MC just magically gets the answer during the fight. Also, another surprisingly great story was that of Mushashi's friend Matahachi. It was a side story but hell it was so good. The side story focused on the lazy and lost Matahachi and how he learnt to be kind and courageous.

Being a character driven story , the characters were of sublime importance. And herein where the manga truly excelled. Each character was extremely well written with their specific set of back stories, quirks, motivations and ambitions. Even though Mushashi was well written I personally felt that it was Matahachi who was the most well written and real character. He had dreams, he faltered, he got lost, he got angry, he started to hate himself though with time he picked himself up. Isn't it what happens in reality too? Most of us get lost in life when we don't know what to do next but in time and with different experiences we pick ourselves up and possibly go on the right track. Unlike mushashi who was exceptional in himself, most of the readers would relate more with more human characters like Matahchi and Otsu. Otsu too was pretty well written character. The only faulty character was Sasaki Koujiro in my opinion. He was deaf and mute, and honestly the most difficult character to write. Even though the author has done commendable work, yet something felt missing in him compared to other characters. Even after around 60 odd chapters dedicated to him I felt Sasaki didn't have any ambitions or growth of any kind. He was the most difficult to relate to, even though there have been other pretty well written characters who were differently abled. I for one felt Sasaki existed in the story just for Mushashi to have a strong opponent and nothing else.

The artwork was flawless wherein I or no one should have any complaints. Each panel was just a work of beauty, nothing short of what you would expect from Inoue sensei. It was by far the most beautifully drawn manga I have ever read.


What more can I say, I for one was blown away by this manga and was hooked. And when I say hooked I mean that I read about 100+ chapters a day which never happens. For all people reading this review stop reading this and do go read the manga. You will absolutely love it.

The artwork of Vagabond is simply outstanding. Inoue Takehiko understands exactly how to fully capture the reader in his brush strokes that change to an insane degree depending on in-story situation. I have never seen anything that comes even close in leading the eye along the gorgeous artwork. Even if you don't care at all about the characters or the story, the art alone would make it worthwhile to read this work. The in-story calligraphy is nothing to sneeze at either.

The story roughly follows Yoshikawa Eiji's take on the life of Miyamoto Musashi, undoubtedly one of the the greatest swordsmen to have ever lived. The depth of his understanding of fighting and the art of the sword still eludes droves of sword students today. Starting this manga, I had read Musashi's Go Rin No Sho and the original Yoshikawa Eiji book and I think this made the experience all that more enjoyable. Some of the decisions Musashi makes along the way are much easier to understand with the background knowledge gained from Yoshikawa's book and there's various throwbacks to philosophical understandings Musashi expounds upon in the Go Rin No Sho.

Like Yoshikawa before him, Inoue takes various freedoms in timeline composition from what are the current best guesses about the life of the real, historical Musashi, but it's an action manga after all. If you see the characters as adapted from the Yoshikawa novel, then the level of adaptation is simply outstanding. They come across exactly like in the book, especially the three leads Musashi, Kojirō and Matahachi. Takuan, too, takes very well after the book character. If you haven't read the book, then the characters are still extremely well defined original characters, with clear goals, inhibited by human error and understanding, certainly utterly comprehensible in their life choices, whether your agree or not.

If any manga deserves the designation "unrivaled under the heavens", it's certainly Vagabond.

i really loved this manga so much. i'm so sad that it stopped right before musashi arrived at kokura, but i understand that the author is having a hiatus, it's not easy keeping up with the ambitious and intricate art.

musashi's character is truly lovable. from the first volumes – where he's beastly, wild and merciless. to later on, where he begins to find peace and understanding. i think the first turning point was definitely with inshun, but the most important one was the battle against the 70 yoshioka men. not only was it heavily influencing musashi's state of mind, but due to ueda's cut at his calf, he almost had to give up the sword.

i think this turning point really awoken something within musashi, by this time kojirou was on his mind too. and that's another beautiful aspect to this manga, kojirou's character. all that he has is the sword, nothing else. and because of this fact, he's extremely skilled. he's like flowing water, and musashi strives to become like that too.

this is another thing i really loved, musashi's and kojirou's connection with nature. kojirou grew up by the beach, close to the water. but musashi grew up in the mountains, wild and untamed. they're like two halves of one.

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some other comments about this manga:

seijuro was so misunderstood by the yoshioka, he deserved way better and tbh he needed a more screentime imo.

i loved musashi's relationships with the old men, their interactions were so wholesome and cute.

matahachi is a crybaby bitch, jk i love him.

and finally, musashi sweetie please shave i miss your bare face.

As the time I'm writing this, I already read 93 chapters of this masterpiece. it's so wonderful how the story build Miyamoto Musashi character, He pass of a reckless and arrogant guy to wise man on his own, I enjoyed myself as hell. I wonder how a manga can work so well the journey, the thoughts of the characters itself, it's impressive the way the message pass through, without push it in a bad way. I haven't read enough if you think how many chapter it has nowadays, but I already see how good it is.

IT'S NOT A REVIEW, JUST MY THOUGHTS SO FAR.