manga04_jpg login_tab_left_jpg
Username:   Password:    Forgot Password?
App
Try out our new iPhone application!
App
Manga Poll
Do you think manga would be better as color or black and white?
Color
Black and white
No preference
 
See Old Polls

Manga is the Japanese equivalent of comics
with a unique style and following. Join the revolution! Read some manga today!



Coded in ConTEXT

Join #baka-updates @irc.irchighway.net

RSS Feed
 
center_left_tab Manga Info center_right_tab
 
ALL    A    B    C    D    E    F    G    H    I    J    K    L    M    N    O    P    Q    R    S    T    U    V    W    X    Y    Z   
Vagabond  
Login to add items to your list, keep track of your progress, and rate series!
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.315 by HappyScans! & Guren no Heya kara (0d ago)
c.314 by HappyScans! & Guren no Heya kara (20d ago)
c.313 by HappyScans! & Guren no Heya kara (24d 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

Sponsored Links
Game advertisements by <a href="http://www.game-advertising-online.com" target="_blank">Game Advertising Online</a> require iframes.

Image [Report Inappropriate Content]

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 #286 increased(+246)
Monthly Pos #377 decreased(-207)
3 Month Pos #133 increased(+41)
6 Month Pos #178 increased(+17)

List Stats
On 3567 reading lists
On 1264 wish lists
On 126 unfinished lists
On 311 custom lists

Note: You must be logged in to update information on this page.

Forum Posts
Vagabond Returns March 15 207 days, 2 hours, 56 minutes ago
Why is there no discussion thread for this masterpiece? 330 days, 3 hours, 37 minutes ago
Vagabond VizBig 11 374 days, 2 hours, 33 minutes ago
Vagabond to Resume Next Month 458 days, 4 hours, 48 minutes ago
Takehiko Inoue Now Drafting Return of Vagabond Manga 525 days, 9 hours, 12 minutes ago

Click to view the forum

tickmark preloadxmark preloadxmark preload
User Comments [ Order by usefulness ]
 

You must login to comment for this series! Register an account.

avatar
 Is this really amazing!?   
Rating: 7.0 / 10.0
by taiga2009
October 18th, 2010, 11:08pm
I know I am going to get nasty messages for this statement but this series just doesn't bring me to my knees. I think the art is violent, raw and beautiful and at the beginning I had sympathy for the characters but then I lost it. I started to not care what happened, there was no feeling of anticipation. The series could have ended with our hero impaled on a tree and I would not have blinked. The fact that I did not fall entire fall this manga leaves me wondering why, the story line is the type I like and the art is beautiful, I should rightly love it! I think perhaps some aspect of the delivery is lacking for me, perhaps the way the manga goes from character to character or is so disjointed or something. What ever the reason after the first 4 volumes I felt no emotional response to the characters whatsoever. I should have some feeling or response, even if it is not affection. I merely didn't care enough to hate it.
Someone commented on the manga feeling 'real and accurate' above but while the manga style is less stylized than many other type there was still a certain feeling of unreality to the manga. I think this feeling of unreality is also part of my lack of reponse to this on an emotional level. If I can't believe in the characters I can't feel anything for them perhaps.
As this mangaka's work is beautiful artistically I hope he can improve his delivery also.
Was this comment useful?  Yes tickmark  No xmark    
avatar
 Not for kids who desire only action.   
Rating: 9.7 / 10.0
by brown pillow
October 10th, 2010, 9:53pm
If you're just looking for sword fights, and don't like deep thinking or philosophy, save yourself the trouble.
Anywho, art's rad, realistically rad with some water paintings thrown in here and there; easy-to-follow action scenes won't have you wondering what's going on in the middle of a fight; plus good mix of adventure, philosophy, action and even a smidgen of romance. The way you're led through his life in these (currently) three-hundred chapters is such a beautiful gradient of his sort of metamorphism from beast to enlightened-- super Kafkaesque. I love this. The differing perspectives (Musashi, Kojiro, Matahachi) take a while to get used to, but once you do it's really quite something. Really sort of contextualizes the roles and lives of the three even more, and helps you appreciate them and this great piece of work even more.

... Last updated on December 7th, 2011, 10:34pm
Was this comment useful?  Yes tickmark  No xmark    
avatar
 OMG   
Rating: 9.5 / 10.0
by evil4hunter
September 15th, 2009, 5:54am
This manga is just so great . When i 1st read this manga . i knew right away it's inoue's.The art and the story are awesome . the battle scenes are good.I would have given it a 10 if there wasn't a man called Mushashi in real life biggrin

... Last updated on September 15th, 2009, 5:55am
Was this comment useful?  Yes tickmark  No xmark    
avatar
 amazingly great read   
Rating: 8.9 / 10.0
by Azari02
May 20th, 2009, 7:00pm
The action is pretty good, (though i think the choreography could still use improvement), and the story is even better, as well as the philosophical side. It could easily be the best seinen manga out there,
Was this comment useful?  Yes tickmark  No xmark    
avatar
 right into the centre of the warrior's heart   
Rating: 10.0 / 10.0
by Isara
May 11th, 2009, 2:40pm
Seriously, sometimes I wonder what people expect in a picture-carried story about a man who dedicated his whole life to the way of the sword.
This is a story about THE one person who revolutionized sword techniques, starting off as a wild brute with nothing but anger and hatred inside (the problem with his father - very much the number one Freud theory) pushing and fighting his way through his darkest feelings to become the somewhat genius swordsman he later was.
Killing people comes with mastering a weapon build to do just this and Inoue Takehiko did an awfully great job trying to show us modern people what living for the art of killing and fighting must have meant.
Musashi grows into a man and an artist and Inoue lets us be a part of his struggling, with all of these hallucination-scenes and wandering of the mind as well as pure technique and hardship.
Fighting 70 men in a ridiculous effort to save himself from being followed and killed in the dark, while knowing that this will most likely make his life even harder (revenge and such), is a truly unnerving way of showing a situation with no possible peaceful solution. There is no way of getting out of this situation alive and well and thus he chooses alive.
Scenes like these almost tore my heart out, imagining the pain, exhaustion and distress.
Definitely the best read about the meaning of martial-art I know.
And the art is just breathtaking. Someone wrote a comment about the scenery and realistic ancient culture, I second that.
For someone who can take realistic thoughts and is interested in the overall topic, this is a must-read.

... Last updated on May 11th, 2009, 2:43pm
Was this comment useful?  Yes tickmark  No xmark    
avatar
 Loving it   
Rating: N/A
by sunglasses
April 29th, 2009, 5:16pm
I don't know why I love Takehiko Inoue's work so much. Maybe it's because of the character development. Maybe it's because of the magnificent and mesmerizing artwork. Maybe, it's because... of the overflowing and havoc-wrecking emotion that fixes your attention on the action... and the drama... I recommend this to anyone who liked Slam Dunk.
Was this comment useful?  Yes tickmark  No xmark    
avatar
 Very good... though not without problems   
Rating: 9.3 / 10.0
by VampireBanana
April 25th, 2009, 1:22am
The drawing is technically very good. In fact, everything from the characters, backgrounds, tones, etc., are accurately depicted and very well-constructed. In fact, I feel that the scenery is rather gorgeous and same for certain depictions of certain characters. However, at times, I feel like the art has sacrificed the ability to emote in favour of technicality.

The story is intriguing. I'm sure I've read a simpler version before but never has it been told and etched out in such detail. The conflicts, the various motives and lives of the entire cast is depicted and written with care. And the historical settings are very well-done, from the buildings to the food, to the clothings and behaviours of the people. (In fact, the story feels very historically realistic as opposed to an interpretation from a 21st century viewpoint.) And the action scenes are fairly cool too as even the varying sword techniques are depicted accurately and interestingly in terms of art and writing.

However, such an in-depth, panel-intensive approach to storytelling is not without risks when considering the immense cast involved as the series is what? Probably halfway through the total intended story arcs. This is further complicated by the philosophical aspects. Though interesting as they lend an introspective layer to this series, the author seems bent on repeating them so it adds on even more pages to an already lengthy saga.

And to me, the final blow is that by focusing too much on action and bloodshed at times, the writer has diminished the characterisation of Musashi by making him seem too murderous when he fights for other purposes. Yes, I understand the need to depict the blood-thirsty era of the samurai ages but without constant narration or other forms of storytelling techniques, it's hard to seriously and properly maintain the layers of his character or of the other cast. In contrast, I feel that Cesare, Historie and Vinland Saga do a much better job of preserving characterisation while depicting a story amidst blood-drenched histories. That is: showing the characters to be capable of extreme violence while not allowing the bloodthirst to overshadow the storytelling.

... Last updated on April 25th, 2009, 3:22am
Was this comment useful?  Yes tickmark  No xmark    
avatar
 Vagabond   
Rating: N/A
by GodOfMadness
April 13th, 2009, 7:44am
The art is amazing. The storyline is amazing. This manga is amazing. I don't think Otsū and Musashi will develop a relationship, he's "The way of the sword" all the way. But I don't want her with Musashi's childhood friend either >.< He's a coward and a jerk.
Was this comment useful?  Yes tickmark  No xmark    
avatar
 gorgeous   
Rating: 10.0 / 10.0
by serobins
April 9th, 2009, 10:33pm
I read this religiously, buy the books, and rate it a ten based on the art alone. The drawing is just plain amazing.

The story is alright. It's usually a dozen chapters of gritty sword fights followed by a dozen chapters of Musashi moping around and philosophizing while he heals/trains. I like a good samurai disemboweling as much as the next girl, but I think I'm missing the point of a lot of the way of the sword stuff. Oddly, I like the side stories about Kojiro and Musashi's childhood friend better than the main story a lot of the time.
Was this comment useful?  Yes tickmark  No xmark    
avatar
 rofl, you guys try too hard   
Rating: 9.0 / 10.0
by xGunner1
February 23rd, 2009, 6:40pm
Reading some of these reviews, pretty god damn funny. Here's a quote

"For instance, there's this scene in which Musashi fights 70 samurai. The fight lasted...what? 20, 30 chapters? By the end of it, I was literally EXHAUSTED I wonder if the author did that on purpose to let us experience a bit of how tiring it must have been for Musashi to fight that many people..."

EXHAUSTION, happens when you sit in a chair reading manga. lmao

Moar:
"First off, the art just makes me hyperventilate..."

0_o, im sorry but when I read mah manga I don't overexcite myself to the point of hyperventilation

*breathes heavily*

Main point is that you guys need to chill out and lighten up on your reviews a little, then again it gave me agood laugh XD!
Was this comment useful?  Yes tickmark  No xmark    
Previous Page Pages (7) [ 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last ] Next Page
Show  entries per page 

You must login to comment for this series! Register an account.
Manga Search
 
MANGA Fu
News
What's New!
Series Stats
Forums
Chat
Releases
Scanlators
Series Info
Mangaka
Publishers
Reviews
Genres
Categories
FAQ
Affiliates
Members
BU Forum
Baka-Updates
MEMBERS
Sign Up
TEAM-BU
Admin CP
About Us

footer