Vagabond

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Boasting artwork that rivals paintings in museums, a story that echoes the depth of Zen and Stoic philosophies, and action-packed panels as thrilling as scenes from a blockbuster film, Vagabond stands, in my view, as the ultimate seinen manga — essential reading for anyone even remotely interested in a rich, thought-provoking, and emotionally engaging narrative. With every page, it explores not only the path of the sword but also the soul behind it. One can only hope that, with the patient brushstrokes of a master storyteller, Inoue will one day complete his magnum opus, allowing us to witness Musashi’s journey in its full, intended form.

Vagabond is a strange case. It's hard to suggest a manga when I think the first third is mostly average despite the beautiful art. It sounds like a big commitment to say the first 90 chapters have little going on, but it's a fast read at the start, and I would almost recommend for some people to skip to 128 where it changes gears completely. But I got what I wanted out of the last third, one of those amazing philosophical deep dives into why someone is the way they are, though despite what most say, I really do think the start feels very superfluous.

It's ... hard to properly rate something that takes this long to deliver, and I say this as a fan of slow burns. I honestly think the start needed to be slower weirdly enough. It has the story of a monthly but a weekly page count, making it so that the overall plot for the start feels glacial but the moment to moment goes by very fast, leaving it in a halfway state. It's too slow for the plot to engage and too fast for the moments to grab you. It's all very beautiful but I need a lot more than just excellent art to grab me. Thankfully the series got there for me, but not because of the start. It takes the author doing something completely different for a stretch for everything to finally click into place. Finally the pace feels right, the chapters feel substantial. I've heard a few people say that's the point but there's a difference between intention and quality.

At the very least it was never terrible. Compared to other series I haven't enjoyed, I breezed through the start quickly, feeling almost nothing, but it never was a chore. If you're not feeling it, skip to chapter 128 and see how you feel. That is how far in it took for me to feel it "got good" and I was definitely rewarded for it. It's a work that is full of insight on refining yourself, understanding the world, what it means to lie to yourself and lose your way. Much like the journey of the characters inside, even if it was aimless for far too long, the story finds itself just in the nick of time. Now please Inoue... give us more REAL!

Vagabond interested me because it's an action, seinen manga. Unfortunately, it's a mixed bag. Vagabond has great characters and art, but has horrendous pacing and the fights can be hard to follow.

What I want to talk about though, is why I dropped the manga.

The second visit to Kyoto is an event that has been on the back of readers' minds for the majority of the manga, and needless to say I was hyped.

The mangaka starts the arc with a massive spoiler. The spoiler completely robs the story of any suspense from the following dozen or so chapters as we're waiting for the characters to catch ... up to what the author just spoiled. I'm honestly dumbfounded by the writing decision making here. This style of writing works when the author shows a future scene, making the audience drop their guard since they know what will happen, only to subvert expectations with an unexpected twist by showing the full context of that scene. That didn't happen though.

My next two grievances are with our protagonist, Musashi, who is the worst.

Musahi finally has his duel with Denshichiro. At this point Musashi can easily defeat Den, blindfolded, armed with nothing but a wet sock. Yet for some reason it doesn't even cross Musashi's mind to spare Den, even after what he puts Den through. Musashi contemplates all the different ways he can execute Den before finally ending him. It would be one thing if Musashi killed Den and then he was reprimanded by his comrades, but that doesn't happen. That's because the author thinks Musashi needlessly killing Den is completely fine. Denshichiro is a good man, probably the most honorable man in the story. How is Musashi any different than he was when he was tied up in that tree? He's merciless and has no regard for life.

The final straw was the 70 man battle. If Musashi had even an iota of foresight, he'd realize killing Den would incur the wrath of the Yoshioka. Conveniently, Musashi teleports into the tree next to where the Yoshioka are plotting to kill him. Rationally, Musashi decides it would be best to avoid the confrontation and leaves in the middle of the night. He seemingly downs a bottle of stupid juice and decides to go fight them anyway. This is the moment when Musashi FULLY ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY for the outcome of the battle. It is no longer self defense at this point. He knew about the ambush, he had a chance to avoid it, but he just didn't want to. Musashi chose to butcher the rest of the Yoshioka. I'm not going to bother talking about how the fight is just several chapters of mind-numbing carnage. Musahi is completely at fault here.

Musashi starts off the story being a battle-thirsty demon who wants to make a name for himself. He was captured, reformed, and started on a new path. On his new path, he encounters the Yoshioka and kills several of their disciples. The following year he kills both heads of the household (granted one is self-defense), and then slaughters everyone else. He is not reprimanded for this because the author thinks Musashi is justified. Musashi hasn't changed at all, the only thing that has changed is that nobody is giving him shit for his actions.

I find myself agreeing with Matahachi's mother, which is when you know you fucked up.