Vagabond

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Alternative Titles

Japanese: バガボンド

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Information

Type: Manga

Volumes: 37

Chapters: 327

Status: On Hiatus

Published: Sep 3, 1998 to May 21, 2015

Genres: Action, Adventure, Award Winning

Themes: Historical, Samurai

Demographic: Seinen

Serialization: Morning

Authors: Inoue, Takehiko (Story & Art), Yoshikawa, Eiji (Story)

Statistics

Score: 9.26¹ (scored by 153,099 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #3²

² based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #14

Members: 402,845

Favorites: 43,904

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9.26

Ranked #3Popularity #14Members 402,845

MangaMorningInoue, Takehiko (Story & Art), Yoshikawa, Eiji (Story)

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Volumes: /37

Chapters: /327

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Synopsis

In 16th-century Japan, Shinmen Takezou is a wild, rough young man, in both his appearance and his actions. His aggressive nature has won him the collective reproach and fear of his village, leading him and his best friend, Matahachi Honiden, to run away in search of something grander than provincial life. The pair enlist in the Toyotomi army, yearning for glory—but when the Toyotomi suffer a crushing defeat at the hands of the Tokugawa Clan at the Battle of Sekigahara, the friends barely make it out alive.

After the two are separated, Shinmen returns home on a self-appointed mission to notify the Hon'iden family of Matahachi's survival. He instead finds himself a wanted criminal, framed for his friend's supposed murder based on his history of violence. Upon being captured, he is strung up on a tree and left to die. An itinerant monk, the distinguished Takuan Soho, takes pity on the "devil child," secretly freeing Shinmen and christening him with a new name to avoid pursuit by the authorities: Musashi Miyamoto.

Vagabond is the fictitious retelling of the life of one of Japan's most renowned swordsmen, the "Sword Saint" Musashi Miyamoto—his rise from a swordsman with no desire other than to become "Invincible Under the Heavens" to an enlightened warrior who slowly learns of the importance of close friends, self-reflection, and life itself.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

In 2000, Vagabond won the Japan Media Arts Festival Manga Grand Prize and the 24th Kodansha Manga Award in the general category. The series won the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize in 2002 and has had over 82 million copies sold worldwide.

Vagabond was published in English by VIZ Media under the VIZ Signature imprint from April 5, 2002 to April 21, 2015, and in large 3-in-1 omnibuses under the VIZBIG imprint from September 16, 2008 to April 21, 2015. The English release got Takehiko Inoue a nomination for the Eisner Award in the Best Writer/Artist category in 2003. It also has been published in Brazilian Portuguese by Panini Comics/Planet Manga since February 2016.

More characters
Characters

Miyamoto, Musashi

Main

Sasaki, Kojirou

Main

Honiden, Matahachi

Main

Takuan, Soho

Supporting

Otsuu

Supporting

Kanemaki, Jisai

Supporting

Inshun

Supporting

Shishido, Baiken

Supporting

Itou, Ittousai

Supporting

Yoshioka, Seijuurou

Supporting

Reviews

May 3, 2009

Tanequil

Recommended

Preliminary (269/327 eps)

Some seinen manga, I believe, take the meaning too far. The gore and nudity found in them is simply disturbing, no longer artistic, just omnipresent and absolutely in-your-face.

Vagabond is not like those seinen manga.

From the beginning, Vagabond has this strange allure to it. Drawn to this manga by the promise of awesome fight scenes, [oh yes, I assure you, you will not be disappointed by the fight scenes], you find yourself hooked to this manga.

Absolutely, completely, utterly, hooked.

It starts off with a rather rude and yet beautiful jerk, depicting the scene of a battlefield in splendid watercolor. The manga just rides on from there, rising ...

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Jun 17, 2011

Neiru2013

Mixed Feelings

Preliminary (300/327 eps)

[Spoiler Warning]

I read Vagabond to see what all the fuss is about. It's a very fast read. There are huge image panels and barely anything happening per chapter, which flows well if you're reading straight through but hellish if you're waiting chapter by chapter. The art is simply gorgeous - probably the best I've ever seen in a manga - but stands in stark contrast to the lack of actual story... sort of like special effects in a movie.

The "story" appears to be the warrior's drive to be the best, err, I mean "invincible under the sun." This results in such battles as the infamous ...

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Jan 21, 2024

Jaitnium

Not Recommended

Preliminary (260/327 eps)

Spoiler

Vagabond interested me because it's an action, seinen manga. Unfortunately, it's a mixed bag. Vagabond has great characters and art, but has horrendous pacing and the fights can be hard to follow.

What I want to talk about though, is why I dropped the manga.

The second visit to Kyoto is an event that has been on the back of readers' minds for the majority of the manga, and needless to say I was hyped.

The mangaka starts the arc with a massive spoiler. The spoiler completely robs the story of any suspense from the following dozen or so chapters as we're waiting for the characters to catch ... up to what the author just spoiled. I'm honestly dumbfounded by the writing decision making here. This style of writing works when the author shows a future scene, making the audience drop their guard since they know what will happen, only to subvert expectations with an unexpected twist by showing the full context of that scene. That didn't happen though.

My next two grievances are with our protagonist, Musashi, who is the worst.

Musahi finally has his duel with Denshichiro. At this point Musashi can easily defeat Den, blindfolded, armed with nothing but a wet sock. Yet for some reason it doesn't even cross Musashi's mind to spare Den, even after what he puts Den through. Musashi contemplates all the different ways he can execute Den before finally ending him. It would be one thing if Musashi killed Den and then he was reprimanded by his comrades, but that doesn't happen. That's because the author thinks Musashi needlessly killing Den is completely fine. Denshichiro is a good man, probably the most honorable man in the story. How is Musashi any different than he was when he was tied up in that tree? He's merciless and has no regard for life.

The final straw was the 70 man battle. If Musashi had even an iota of foresight, he'd realize killing Den would incur the wrath of the Yoshioka. Conveniently, Musashi teleports into the tree next to where the Yoshioka are plotting to kill him. Rationally, Musashi decides it would be best to avoid the confrontation and leaves in the middle of the night. He seemingly downs a bottle of stupid juice and decides to go fight them anyway. This is the moment when Musashi FULLY ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY for the outcome of the battle. It is no longer self defense at this point. He knew about the ambush, he had a chance to avoid it, but he just didn't want to. Musashi chose to butcher the rest of the Yoshioka. I'm not going to bother talking about how the fight is just several chapters of mind-numbing carnage. Musahi is completely at fault here.

Musashi starts off the story being a battle-thirsty demon who wants to make a name for himself. He was captured, reformed, and started on a new path. On his new path, he encounters the Yoshioka and kills several of their disciples. The following year he kills both heads of the household (granted one is self-defense), and then slaughters everyone else. He is not reprimanded for this because the author thinks Musashi is justified. Musashi hasn't changed at all, the only thing that has changed is that nobody is giving him shit for his actions.

I find myself agreeing with Matahachi's mother, which is when you know you fucked up.

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Poll: Vagabond Chapter 1 Discussion kie_ - Oct 24, 2008	43 replies	by 0xkunte »» Oct 7, 10:02 PM
Poll: Vagabond Chapter 115 Discussion Ranxomare - Nov 24, 2017	6 replies	by w3dnesd4y »» Sep 28, 10:22 PM
Poll: Vagabond Chapter 126 Discussion Ranxomare - Nov 25, 2017	10 replies	by PhantomSkyline »» Sep 27, 4:26 AM
Poll: Vagabond Chapter 122 Discussion Ranxomare - Nov 25, 2017	5 replies	by LunorTrist »» Sep 22, 6:24 AM
Poll: Vagabond Chapter 97 Discussion Akanezora - Dec 23, 2013	11 replies	by w3dnesd4y »» Sep 19, 8:21 PM

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