Graphic Novel Review – Vagabond Vol 1 by Takehiko Inoue (4/5 stars)
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Manga/Seinen/Historical Fiction
Length: 600 pages
Publisher: VIZ Media LLC
Release Date: September 16, 2008
ISBN-13: 978-1421520544
Stand Alone or Series: 1st volume in the Vagabond series (VIZBIG Edition)
Source: Borrowed through Kindle Unlimited
Rating: 4/5 stars
“Striving for enlightenment by way of the sword, Miyamoto Musashi is prepared to cut down anyone who stands in his way. Vagabond is an action-packed portrayal of the life and times of the quintessential warrior-philosopher–the most celebrated samurai of all time!
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 kiler, 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.”
Series Info/Source: This is the first VIZBIG volume of the Vagabond series. I bought this book.
Story (4/5): This is the story of Takeza and how he started down the path to becoming the legendary Miyamoto Musashi. It’s well done and fast paced. This is a fairly violent and graphic story, but has some interesting history and an engaging story.
Characters (4/5): The characters are well done and have some depth to them but are pretty unlikable throughout. Takezo’s disregard for life and struggle to understand the rest of society is intriguing.
Setting (4/5): The historical setting is well done and interesting. It was fun to take a look into this time of history.
Writing/Drawing Style (4/5): The story is very easy to follow and well done. The drawing here is really exceptional, lots of detail both on the characters and in the background.
My Summary (4/5): Overall this was well done and exceptionally well drawn. The story is kind of interesting and the characters had a lot of depth to them. There is a lot of graphic violence as well. I thought it was well done but don’t plan on continuing the series because I just prefer more of a fantasy take to my graphic novel stories and I didn’t really like any of the characters all that much. Additionally the volumes are fairly pricey to buy and my library doesn’t carry them.
