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I've been enjoying reading manga most of my life, but in the last few years, I've been trying to get a little more out of it than used to, trying to understand what makes great storytelling.

So, I bought volume one quite a while ago, after seeing Takehiko Inoue's art featured on pinterest and after researching him and seeing what many of you had to say about Vagabond, I had little to none doubt that it would be great. 20 volumes later, I must say that I was quite disappointed. It is a good book and I understand what people see in it but... Was this ... all it has to offer?

The art is pretty great, at least from a technical standpoint. So it troubles me to say that it seems to fail to understand how moment to moment action works, the world surrounding the characters doesn't have the effect it should portraying a battle in a tridimensional environment therefore the hits don't connect as they probably should. Obviously the author is really talented, and pulls off great stills, and his skill with the sumi brush is impressive.

It doesn't help that every single action has to be explained, this is somewhat a trope in shonen manga, but here you do not have an excuse, you are talking with adults (Show don't tell). I understand you need some reaction shots sometimes, but one per swing seems quite excessive.

It also, doesn't excel on its pacing and character progression, I would have said something more about it, but I don't think this was ever the focus.

The book is good, and there's great content to be found within its pages, but I would aim anyone akin to my tastes interested in the story of Miyamoto Musashi, towards the book "Musashi" by Eiji Yoshikawa. Also if you want to know where I come from in this particular review, read "Blade of the Immortal" a book that might have some questionable content, but might be my favorite representation of action in sequential art.

Thank you for reading, and I hope I didn't trigger any negative feelings through my opinion.