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Vagabond
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Design - 9.8 |
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Story - 7.2 |
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Character - 8.4 |
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Value - 9.0 |
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Enjoyment - 9.0 |
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Average - 8.7 |
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| Average |
9.4 |
| Design |
10 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| Vagabond has become one of my all time favorite mangas. It's a story of a ronin samurai (Takezo/Musashi) who ultimate goal is to become "Invincible Under the Sun". Thus, he spends his life following the path of the sword, seeking out the strongest opponents to battle in mortal combat.
The artwork is legendary. So many pages look like amazing paintings. Absolutely beautiful, and impressive design.
The story is great. There isn't much build up of plot but that isn't needed since this story is more about life then about hero vs villian. Your really just reading about how the main characters reach their goals as the walk the path of the sword. They learn and develop their skills trying to achieve greatness. And each battle you read is more and more amazing especially when they begin to introduce other rivals.
Character development is outstanding. The main characters are really unique and are just bad ass. My favorite character is one who doesn't even speak which goes to say what a great job the author does to express his characters through his artwork.
Overall, if you're like me who likes action packed well drawn fighting mangas, this is one of the ultimate mangas out there. I guarantee that when you start reading you wont stop for a while.
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1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
9.4 |
| Design |
10 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| If you like Samurai manga this is it! I have read up to vol 28 and i dont think the story is as good as the rest buts its ok, its mostly fighting all the time. But the design is really nice.
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0 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
8.4 |
| Design |
10 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| The history of legendary samurai Miyamoto Musashi,the art of Takehiko Inoue is amazing and history is very good at volume 13.After start of Sasaki Kojiro Arc the plot down.
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| Average |
7.6 |
| Design |
10 |
| Story |
6 |
| Character |
7 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| Vagabond has one of the most beautiful art and design out of all the manga I've read. This is a big plus considering how much of it relies on action scenes and less on character or even less on story development. The story basically focuses on a ronin with a more aggressive beastlike nature who goes out to war in order to make a name for himself. He has a lot of raw potential, but he learns it the hard way that relying on instincts alone does not suffice in order to become "Invincible under the Sun". As he encounters various strong people from different schools, as well as various people from his background history, he learns various things about life.
In general, it doesn't get much more complicated than the brief summary I gave above. There isn't much romance, despite the fact that he does have feelings for someone. There isn't much in terms of treachery or conspiracy (which was pretty common in Lone Wolf and Cub) and there just isn't much in terms of overarching story development. Basically, Vagabond is an action manga where we follow a character mature and get stronger.
Actually, it isn't so simple - about volume 10 or so, we start following the life of another boy - a deaf boy who was found abandoned on the sea. I found this transition a bit unsettling because it isn't until around volume 20 do the two character's paths cross and I was just getting to know the first character. I didn't find this character's story as invigorating as the first because he is deaf and doesn't speak but the action is just as well done.
Based on 24 volumes, this manga is fun to read, but doesn't leave much of an impression on me. The art is beautiful, the characters multi-faceted and impressive but the storyline is just too simplistic. Worth reading if you like action.
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petran79 |
(2006-06-10 01:36:05) 2006-06-09 13:41:40 |
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| Average |
8.6 |
| Design |
9 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| I've read till volume 20 and since I cant read Japanese I looked at the raws of volume 21 and 22.
Vagabond is another epic samurai manga from the acclaimed mangaka of Slamdunk Inoue Takehiko and another must-read manga.
It is an adaptation of the very popular in Japan Mushashi novels and the Samurai Trilogy movies and also a fictional account of the lifes of ones of Japans greates swordsmen, Musashi Miyamoto and later in the manga Sasaki Kojiro, his main rival.
The story starts in the aftermath of the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600. Takezo and Matahachi are the sole survivors of one of the battles. They chose the loosing side. Their characters differ though. Takezo is his village's outcast, a fiercesome fighter feared and avoided by everyone, except his close friend Matahachi, whom a happy life and a marriage awaits once he returns to his village. Mushashi fights with a wooden stick that can kill an opponent with one blow. Perhaps this is a little impossible to occur but this is the only flaw. The first volumes revolve around those two. They meet a prostitute and her young daughter, who survive by stealing and selling weapons from dead soldiers. But once a group of bandits appears and attacks them, the road of the two friends is separated. Matahachi runs with the mother and daughter, while Takezo returns to the village where he is condemned and blamed for his friends dissapearance. But with the help of a monk he manages to escape and then he changes his name to Mushasi. From then on the manga becomes even more exciting. The story continues 4 years afterwards. Musashi is the type of guy who wants to become stronger by fighting powerfull opponents. He fights like an animal sometimes and lacks the refinement and determination a true swordsman posesses. He starts by visiting various dojos and beating their masters. Until he stumbles in a dojo run by two brothers that force him to change his initial beliefs. Then around volume 5 in one of the best moments of the manga he faces Ishun, a spear expert. The final outcome takes some volumes and it is there where the manga becomes captivating.
Later he meets another old acquaintance who's a master with the chain and sickle. THis is another exciting battle.
Then around volume 11 the manga turns page to the life of Kojiro who's an orphan found by a retired swordsman in a remote sea-side village. Kojiro is deaf, but from an early age he developes extraordinary swordsmanship that later on makes him a respected member of the village. But one day he has to depart from his master and then his adventures begin that are less spectacular than Mushashi's that far.
Until the point where the two finally meet. Then in volumes 21 and 22 another arc begins and everything is set for the protagonists confrontation that will take some volumes more.
Till now the manga is one of the best I read. On par with the classics like Lone Wolf and Cub and Blade of the Immortal. It is an easier read though since the panels are large and dialog more sparse. This gives space for the battles that are perhaps a league of their own. Perfectly designed and orchestrated, violent most of the times but also very realistic. I cant draw comparisons with the other mangas, since all are classics. Suffice it to say that you have to read all of them to see how good they are.
The characters, though they hardly have the chance to talk with detailed dialog, the few words they say are very effective in making the reader instanly like or dislike them. But first and foremost the design is what makes the manga worth buying. The battles and the characters expressions are of the best you can read.
Overall worth reading and buying. You'll not forget that title easily. One of the best manga narratives and a must read for any serious manga or comic lover.
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