He follows his passion in a pure and direct way, finding the timelessness in it's artistic beauty.
But this is just one of the ways Vagabond can be seen and most of those motives have a ageless essence many people are able to relate to.
Although a Seinen Vagabond never falls into the trap of being obsessed with adult themes like gore and intercourse. It uses them as tool to convey it's elegance but does not become it's identity.
Art - 10
There is no Manga with a more lifelike or bewitching artstyle. Takehiko is simply one of the best artists of our time and is able to make every page more stunning than the last. This is the pinnacle of Manga artwise.
Characters - 10
The characters in Vagabond feel like real humans. The most prominent example of this is Matahachi. He is not good nor is he purely evil. He is just human. He is no logical being nor does he have a code or such he holds dear. He makes mistakes.. a lot of them... and does a lot of bad things out of his impulsive nature but here and there he is also able to safe the day. Although he matures throughout the story he has a lot of fallbacks to his old self. He is not a good human but that is exactly why he is the perfect representation of a real human. And most characters in Vagabond are like this which creates a vibrant and breathing world.
And this reflects in every dialogue in every expression of this manga.
Story - 9.5
The story is a gorgeous tale and makes wonderful use of the time period it plays in. It goes deep into many aspects of the era without ever rotting into a boring history lesson. The story catches his reader and draws him into the story. Although this might take some chapters to start of as the first section of Vagabond throws you right into the action without any explanation leaving you wondering but only slowly starts to give small treats of information. And before you notice it yourself, you're hooked.
Sometimes it seems to loose itself but the story always finds a connection to the last waypoint.
Enjoyment - 10
The rating speaks for it self. I never had this much fun with any manga and could relate so much with characters starring in it.
Overall - 10
