Vagabond

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Masterpiece. A manga that transcendence manga. A pure work of art. There are endless paises that can be said about Vagabond, Takehiko Inoue magnum opus. But Vagabond is just that great, it's has one of the most beautiful and realistic art styles, one that needs no words to inscribe a feeling inside of you. The story of Miyamoto Musashi is a story about the pursuit of life, the never-ending quest to learn more about ourselves. This is a story with no true ending, because as long as we live, we're always discovering more about ourselves and the world in a sincere quest for truth.

I find it so hard to recommend a manga when the first 120 chapters is mostly average (Takezo "dying" is an exception, which was well done) despite the beautiful art. It's a huge commitment, but it's a really fast read.

I can't really give something a high rating while it takes this long to deliver despite the amount of fight scenes present in this manga (The fights should be shorter). There are a lot of slow burns that I've read, but even then, I maintain engagement with those series. Vagabond is beautiful and all, but it takes more than just art to define a masterful manga.

Even ... though I was able to breeze through the start quickly, it never was a chore. If you're not feeling it, just skip to chapter 125 and make a decision about continuing this series. It took too long for the manga to "get good" and I was kind of rewarded for it. It's a work that contains philosophical aspects that span multiple topics like refining yourself, understanding the world, what it means to be strong, what it means to lose your way, etc. Despite being aimless for so many chapters, the story "finds itself" towards the end of the manga.

TLDR: This shit was boring as hell in the first 120 or so chapters. I liked the philosophical topics this manga touched upon (But it didn't delve deep into the topics), but things get too repetitive (All the drawn-out fights, characters repeatedly coming to the same conclusions, etc.). It's a 6/10 manga honestly. If you actually want to enjoy the story and delve deep into the philosophical aspects of this manga, read the ACTUAL epic novel called "Musashi" by Yoshikawa Eiji, it's a hundred times better than this shit. If it wasn't for the art, this would've been a "mid" adaptation of the novel.

I read 6 chapters of this garbage. In those 6 chapters, 2 rape attempts happened. Seinen truly is something.

The art is great, nothing to complain about that. Matahachi is a garbage deuteragonist who does not gain any sympathy from me in the few chapters I've read, though Takezo is a pretty cool character. The plot involving the two ladies being thieves was pretty cool, but it was cut off so some guy who killed the 15yo that Matahachi tries to rape's dad could threaten to rape who I believe is her mom.

Honestly, I expected much more from such a respected manga. Though you can ... say 6 chapter isn't enough to judge, it's more than enough to show at least SOMETHING worth of praise. Vagabond did not deliver.