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There is something strangely compelling about D.Gray-man. Perhaps it is the cast of characters that grows, not one obviously faster than the others, but together, or perhaps it is the emotional rollercoaster the mangaka has managed to take the readers on.

But whatever the case, D.Gray-man has this mysterious air about it, this feel of something apocalyptic and yet real, as though the characters are losing while it is clear that they are winning. [But are they winning? Winning? Or losing?]

There is something about D.Gray-man that makes you think, that makes you wonder, and that makes you shocked and surprised at the littlest of things.

The main ... character is one that is perhaps not easily identified with, but easily understood. His emotions, his feelings, his goals and his dreams, all these are splayed out in front of the reader. Perhaps not clearly, perhaps not in-your-face, but these themes come subtly across, and whilst these themes might be, like most shonen mangas, slightly clichéd and all too hopeful, D.Gray-man manages to bring them across such that they are believable.

D.Gray-man lets you empathize with the characters, there are never too many of them, and there are never any that you can really hate. Most of the villains [with the exception of the main one who epitomizes pure evil] have this inherent innocence, pardon the pun, to them, and at the same time there is something not quite pure in each and every one of the heroes.

D.Gray-man takes the common perception of good and evil, and while it does not quite turn this perception on its head, it makes the reader start to question, start to think, and start to worry.

Oh yes, the main villain is delectably evil and will stay so, but at the same time, there is this almost childish air to him that can easily be identified with. And yes, most definitely, the main character is fighting to defeat this main villain, but in between them lies this grey area, this killing field where hatred for the other side abounds. And yet, within this hatred lies a certain level of understanding. The characters, they understand each other, they fight each other, and they grow in many many more ways than just power.

One could perhaps say that in D.Gray-man, the lines of good and evil, of friend and foe, are sometimes a little blurred.

There is always something rather, perhaps not disturbing, but profound within the themes and characters of D.Gray-man.

D.Gray-man makes you think, and that is much much more than I can say for most other manga.

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 ... from peak to peak. The fights get better, and the character himself grows. He grows realistically, he stumbles, he falls, he falls so hard that he finds it difficult to get back onto his feet, he takes the wrong path, goes the wrong way, makes the wrong enemies, and kills the wrong people, but he gets back up, and the story continues.

It is just so completely believable, so persuasive and so artistic all at the same time that with this manga just feels so raw and yet so real.

The main character, who one will find it hard to identify with on the surface, has something deep within him that every single one of us can possibly understand and aspire towards.

His growth and development, in more ways than just of the sword, but yet at the same time never truly leaving the sword, are so simple and yet so spectacular at the same time. He manages to bring out the best in some people and the worst in others, brushing past some like a whirlwind and crashing headlong into others, leaving behind a trail of death, destruction, and new life. All this happens while he himself is still growing, and while he is nowhere near perfect, there is just something so addictive about getting to know more about him.

And getting to know more about the main character is exactly what this entire manga is about. It is about seeing Miyamoto Musashi through the eyes of the world, through the eyes of others, and through his own eyes.

With a brilliant blend of flashbacks, flashforwards and glimpses into the lives of others besides those who surround the main character, Vagabond paints a rich picture of the samurai scene in the time of Miyamoto Musashi, the main character.

If you have been hesitating about reading a seinen manga, hesitate no more.

Vagabond will open your eyes to a brilliant new genre.