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.