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Vagabond  
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Description
Shinmen Takezo is destined to become the legendary sword-saint, Miyamoto Musashi--perhaps the most renowned samurai of all time. For now, Takezo is a cold-hearted killer, who will take on anyone in mortal combat to make a name for himself. This is the journey of a wild young brute who strives to reach enlightenment by way of the sword--fighting on the edge of death.

Won the 4th Japan Media Arts Award Grand Prize in the Manga division.
Won the 24th Kodansha Manga Award for Best General Manga.
Won the 6th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Award Grand Prize.

Type
Manga

Related Series
Vagabond Illustration Collection (Spin-Off)

Associated Names
Бродяга
バガボンド
浪客行
베가본드
Lãng Khách

Groups Scanlating
DMXX
Freelance-Manga
Guren no Heya kara
HappyScans!
More...

Latest Release(s)
c.314 by HappyScans! & Guren no Heya kara (18d ago)
c.313 by HappyScans! & Guren no Heya kara (22d ago)
c.312 by HappyScans! & Guren no Heya kara (26d ago)
Search for all releases of this series

Status in Country of Origin
35 Volumes (Ongoing)

Completely Scanlated?
No

Anime Start/End Chapter
N/A

User Reviews
N/A

Forum
6 topics, 51 posts
Click here to view the forum

User Rating
Average: 8.9 / 10.0 (1136 votes)
Bayesian Average: 8.84 / 10.0
10
 46% (524 votes)
9+
 27% (307 votes)
8+
 14% (161 votes)
7+
 6% (73 votes)
6+
 2% (20 votes)
5+
 1% (10 votes)
4+
 0% (3 votes)
3+
 0% (3 votes)
2+
 1% (7 votes)
1+
 2% (28 votes)

Last Updated
April 22nd 2013, 5:57am PST

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Genre
Action  Adventure  Drama  Historical  Martial Arts  Mature  Seinen 
Search for series of same genre(s)

Categories

Category Recommendations (beta!)
Kaze Densetsu Hikoza (weight: 179.16)
Kaze Densetsu Hikoza: Kaze no Shichiseiken (weight: 179.16)
Gaikou Kakkaku (weight: 155.56)
Daisan no Kagemusha (weight: 138.2)
Gamaran (weight: 134.25)

Recommendations

Author(s)
INOUE Takehiko
YOSHIKAWA Eiji

Artist(s)
INOUE Takehiko

Year
1998

Original Publisher
Kodansha

Serialized In (magazine)
Morning (Kodansha)

Licensed (in English)
Yes

English Publisher
Chuang Yi
Viz (34 Volumes & 11 Omnibuses - Ongoing)

Activity Stats (vs. other series)
Weekly Pos #493 increased(+64)
Monthly Pos #373 decreased(-203)
3 Month Pos #133 increased(+41)
6 Month Pos #178 increased(+17)

List Stats
On 3562 reading lists
On 1260 wish lists
On 126 unfinished lists
On 309 custom lists

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Forum Posts
Vagabond Returns March 15 205 days, 12 hours, 56 minutes ago
Why is there no discussion thread for this masterpiece? 328 days, 13 hours, 37 minutes ago
Vagabond VizBig 11 372 days, 12 hours, 32 minutes ago
Vagabond to Resume Next Month 456 days, 14 hours, 47 minutes ago
Takehiko Inoue Now Drafting Return of Vagabond Manga 523 days, 19 hours, 11 minutes ago

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User Comments [ Order by usefulness ]
 

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avatar
 Exceptional work   
Rating: N/A
by jpsensei
April 20th, 2012, 3:22pm
I read the novel from Eiji Ishikawa after starting Vagabond. The manga is not following the novel 100% but captures really well the ambiance/spirit.
In addition to the philosophical questions, I just love the drawing which is just beautiful. Each and every drawing is a work of art.
I read a lot of manga from different styles but none like this ne. Definitly my favorite with GTO :-)
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avatar
 Great manga   
Rating: 9.0 / 10.0
by ddvdsv
April 8th, 2012, 1:15am
This manga is amazing. If you find it boring, go read some shonen manga. Inoue takes a philosophic, naturalistic approach to describe Musashi's growth and tribulations to find what it truly means to be strong.
The art is mangificent and helps to convey the feeling of a realistic and historical accurate atmosphere.
The fights are gory but beautifully drawn and devoid of the usual blabber about special techniques or egomaniacal rants.
Midway trough the manga art shifts from a polished, accurate style to a more raw, minimal one, similar to the classical japanese paintings of the era.
A new classic.

... Last updated on April 8th, 2012, 1:25am
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avatar
 Off Hiatus!?!?!?!?!!!   
Rating: 10.0 / 10.0
by Shadowlink
March 16th, 2012, 12:07am
Wow this series is finally off hiatus... I never thought I would see the day again that another chapter was released. Soo happy! I look forward to more chapters being released in the future.
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avatar
 Amazing.   
Rating: N/A
by Muraka6
March 3rd, 2012, 5:04am
This manga is amazing. This manga is amazing. This manga is amazing. This manga is amazing. This manga is amazing. Seriously, some things take time fully develop, and when they do develop, they turn out to be a grand masterpiece. This book was loosely based Miyamoto Musashi, and tells his life - his way of the sword philosophy and legendary two sword art. And as for the art, it looks like Japanese people to me - realistic.
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avatar
 disappointing   
Rating: 1.0 / 10.0
by remi39
November 13th, 2011, 11:49pm
i was anticipating a lot considering the hype, but i was greatly disappointed. the art and the sporadic action sequences are decent, but the story, though realistic it may be, is just plain annoying. i really can't stand any of the characters throughout and for me to want to read a manga, i have to have at least have one character in it i can root for

... Last updated on November 13th, 2011, 11:52pm
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avatar
 Your Mileage May Vary   
Rating: 6.0 / 10.0
by blackmokona
July 12th, 2011, 7:22pm
Well, I agree with people saying Oh I should have loved this but for some reason I didn't. I like brutal fights, slice of life and general badasses, but I can't love Vagabond. Yes it might be too slow, and the author just had to keep implying that the story will be like an epic too. I found myself asking: will anything remotely resembling a plot twist take up a volume by itself? If an entire chapter or two, I can't remember, were spent building up tension for and fighting simple small fries, what will the arc for the big boss look like? Well yes those pages were also introducing our characters, but it doesn't justify so many one-two pages spreads.

For the length of the pages I read which might have numbered close 200, I noticed that Inoue didn't set out to impress. His style of slice of life might have resembled a little too nearly the period life, which could have worked, had it not been a century since then. We tend to prize realism with regard to the current period and appreciate its criticism of society, but this series of a man's struggles plainly wasn't interesting enough to hold attention, much less cause controversy.

In fact, I was basically unmoved by anything except the occasional instances of great artwork. Oh look, they're survivors of war! They're sympathetic thieves! Even though their circumstances inspire, their personalities are far too removed from me to be able to give a damn. Add that to the simple plot (but not simplistic, to be fair), ugly women littering the panels, and Vagabond proves to be a frustrating read. Of course, this is apparently a case of Your Mileage May Vary.

... Last updated on July 14th, 2011, 11:54pm
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avatar
 Ahhhh.....   
Rating: 10.0 / 10.0
by GoldenKaos
June 23rd, 2011, 1:07pm
Amazing art. Fantastic action. One man on a journey.
Sure, this manga can be quite slow, with all the philosophy about sword-fighting, but that's what makes it an authentic samurai manga. Forget the fact that samurai were essentially sell-swords in real life, we remember them as semi-spiritual warriors that lived by a code of honour. Hey, if we read manga to escape real life, you might as well do it properly. This is the tale of Shinmen Takezo, who would later become the most famous swordsman of all, Miyamoto Musashi. It tells of how he ran away from his home village in search of glory and fame, and his bitter struggle with the realities of the world and creeping realization that his goal might only be an empty prize. A good, solid samurai manga with fantastic art and some of the best fights I've seen in seinen. I rate out of enjoyment more than quality, which is why this got a 10.
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avatar
 hurm   
Rating: 5.0 / 10.0
by TaoPaiPai
June 17th, 2011, 1:15am
There is ALOT of standing around in this manga
there is lots of philosophical mumbojumbo about sword fighting[that gets annoying fast]
the art is nice for the most part...the woman tend to look ugly and dissfigured but most of the characters are male and look overall good

the biggest problem for me is the standing around and having inner dialogues...oo he is so strong if i beat him ill be famous
im not scared
im strong ... i can win,im not afraid,i know he is afraid of me,my speed is great,he might be fast,no,i can not lose,i will win,my sword is superior,i will become the greatest swordsman ever ASO ASO
then its the other guys turn to have inner dialogues

then we have a couple of pages showing how the fight might turn out if musashi do one move
then some more pages on how the outcome will be if he does another move

Musashis first "real" fight took 7 volumes of 90% standing in one spot imagining the fight

DBZ dragged on the fights sure
this is DBZx10
and to me this is boring
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avatar
 Surprising   
Rating: 10.0 / 10.0
by alexj2936
May 26th, 2011, 8:10pm
I have to admit I was dodging the manga every time it came up in the recommendations of pretty much every good manga I've ever read, thinking it was your typical hack and slash with a crappy storyline. Boy was I wrong, this manga is ridiculously good and the art is fantastic. If only Mutuhashi would just DIE it'd be perfect. Read it
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avatar
 Good, but lacking   
Rating: 7.0 / 10.0
by barbapapa
January 18th, 2011, 5:39pm
I definitely agree with the comment below. Stylistically Vagabond is rather accomplished, but Inoue's characters lack a humane aspect. Not that it's not there, but it doesn't feel real. They act almost like robots, who have had emotions programmed into them.
Now I'm not saying this is a bad manga, but I feel that its status is exaggerated.
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