Vagabond

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"Vagabond" weaves a gripping and unique samurai tale that occasionally embraces familiar themes while adding unexpected twists to keep readers on their toes. Takeo Inoue's art style, especially in the samurai fights, is visually striking and enhances the overall storytelling experience. The characters, notably Miyamoto Musashi, are well-rounded with a mix of strengths and flaws, contributing to the narrative's authenticity. Their realistic reactions to situations deepen the immersion into the historical setting. While the series may not appeal to everyone, its universal storytelling, character depth, and stunning visuals make it a compelling recommendation even for those outside the typical samurai genre fanbase. "Vagabond" strikes a ... balance between familiarity and unpredictability, offering an engaging read that transcends genre preferences.

Vagabond is a strange case. It's hard to suggest a manga when I think the first third is mostly average despite the beautiful art. It sounds like a big commitment to say the first 90 chapters have little going on, but it's a fast read at the start, and I would almost recommend for some people to skip to 128 where it changes gears completely. But I got what I wanted out of the last third, one of those amazing philosophical deep dives into why someone is the way they are, though despite what most say, I really do think the start feels very superfluous.

It's ... hard to properly rate something that takes this long to deliver, and I say this as a fan of slow burns. I honestly think the start needed to be slower weirdly enough. It has the story of a monthly but a weekly page count, making it so that the overall plot for the start feels glacial but the moment to moment goes by very fast, leaving it in a halfway state. It's too slow for the plot to engage and too fast for the moments to grab you. It's all very beautiful but I need a lot more than just excellent art to grab me. Thankfully the series got there for me, but not because of the start. It takes the author doing something completely different for a stretch for everything to finally click into place. Finally the pace feels right, the chapters feel substantial. I've heard a few people say that's the point but there's a difference between intention and quality.

At the very least it was never terrible. Compared to other series I haven't enjoyed, I breezed through the start quickly, feeling almost nothing, but it never was a chore. If you're not feeling it, skip to chapter 128 and see how you feel. That is how far in it took for me to feel it "got good" and I was definitely rewarded for it. It's a work that is full of insight on refining yourself, understanding the world, what it means to lie to yourself and lose your way. Much like the journey of the characters inside, even if it was aimless for far too long, the story finds itself just in the nick of time. Now please Inoue... give us more REAL!

disappointing manga
the end is not good , actually there are no end
the story was too simple and events are really few but he mange to write more than 300 chapter
maybe because of that scenes that take the whole page with few word , the repeating memories over and over , the art wasn't bad actually it is good but i am not the one who read 300 chapters with poor ideas for just "the art is good"
the story itself isn't bad if he present it in 50-100 chapter but all thing about money so let's waste much time for ... many pages that really don't matter
and another thing the story is really straight forward there are nothing u just get surprised and say "wtf!! how this happened?" or "i don't see that coming " maybe u could name it the Seinen edition of kenshin nothing more