New Readers (No Spoilers)

[ryOtoha]

That's my recommendation for your first time reading. There are a lot of amazing details to appreciate in this series, and not just in the art. It's a contemplative journey. Blazing through it in a day or two wouldn't do it justice.

Entendu ! By the way, did you see Hiroshi Inagaki’s The Samurai Trilogy (also inspired by the famous Eiji Yoshikawa's novel) with Toshiro Mifune playing Musashi ?

Yeah, take your time, enjoy the journey, and think of it as your own little spiritual journey away from your busy life. I still have fond memories of simultaneously reading the novel Musashi and re-reading the volumes, back when there were only a dozen or so and a new one was so exciting, while living in little room with no electricity that opened up to a sprawling outdoors and a great tree which I fought a duel under with my bokken. If you're wondering how much of that was a metaphor for the adventure of reading it, the answer is none.

I was pretty curious to see what kind of advice people could gave me. You nailed it
Hopefully I'll come back psyched from this journey and discuss with you guys.

[Mangetsu]

soo my first vizbig came today !! ive read it in something like 2and a half hours !! and maan i love it
It is written beautifully and musashi is a awsome character too !! The fight vs the one school was extremely epic 

I like the Character Takuan really much, until now he is an great Character
It is drawn very well and the colour pages are from another world they look sooo gooooood

i will get my 2nd vizbig in something like 10 days unfortunately 

[Hitoshura]

I caught up with the Vizbig edition last month and waiting for the 12th Vizbig volume to come out is painful. As nice as the Vizbigs are, I'd wish I had gotten into this series when all the singles were available for purchase at an affordable price. I realize overtime that buying compendium/3-in-1 editions is not a good idea for series that are still on-going. Otherwise, you'll be waiting a longer time for the next volume to come out.

Speaking of singles, Viz has confirmed on their facebook page that they have no plans to reprint any of the early singles for it, so I'd advise anyone that planned on getting singles to get whatever you can before prices start skyrocketing from 3rd party sellers.

[Walter]

Speaking of singles, Viz has confirmed on their facebook page that they have no plans to reprint any of the early singles for it, so I'd advise anyone that planned on getting singles to get whatever you can before prices start skyrocketing from 3rd party sellers.

Fuck, that's terrible. Berserk was in the same spot until a few months ago when they reprinted all volumes.

[MiyamotoPuck]

I started Vagabond a few weeks ago, I'm currently reading Volume 15. In my mind Berserk was the best and nothing could reach that level of art and depth, but now I believe that I really prefer Vagabond.
I'm not certain why. Perhaps it's because the story is written in a more philosophical and poetic way. Or perhaps it's only temporary and only because of the wonderment of a new discovery, I had the same feeling when I began to read Berserk. So I don't really know.
But I can tell that each page is really pleasing to the eye (especially those colored) and I love the metaphors made to represent the state of mind of the various protagonists like the insects trapped in the spider web, the mountains, or the sea...

So I wonder, what do you like the most about Vagabond ?

[Walter]

First and foremost, I think Takehiko Inoue is fantastic. I started reading his stuff through Slam Dunk, then migrated to Vagabond ~2000, but it was truly through the Viz releases that I started really appreciating it.

I like Vagabond for its characters primarily. I like how he portrays Musashi not as the perfect sword god that he's been memorialized as, but a talented, troubled youth who regularly takes one step forward and two steps back along the path of enlightenment. The more you dig in, the more there is to see. That being said, I maintain that the series has been in a rut for several years now as Inoue very clearly is struggling with how to wrap things up (he's been trying to for years), and it just doesn't quite have the spark it once did for me. Still, that certainly doesn't diminish what's great about it.

If you haven't already, I'd highly recommend looking into the background of the real Musashi's life and at the least, familiarizing yourself with the novel that it's (at least nominally!) based on. I think that context isn't spoiler territory, but rather it adds meaning to the choices Inoue made in how he portrays the characters in his version of the story -- Musashi and Kojiro in particular are dramatically different from the novel.

[MiyamotoPuck]

I like how he portrays Musashi not as the perfect sword god that he's been memorialized as, but a talented, troubled youth who regularly takes one step forward and two steps back along the path of enlightenment. The more you dig in, the more there is to see.

That's true, it's indeed another element that I appreciate.

That being said, I maintain that the series has been in a rut for several years now as Inoue very clearly is struggling with how to wrap things up (he's been trying to for years), and it just doesn't quite have the spark it once did for me. Still, that certainly doesn't diminish what's great about it.

Damn that's sad, I'll see soon enough I guess.

If you haven't already, I'd highly recommend looking into the background of the real Musashi's life and at the least, familiarizing yourself with the novel that it's (at least nominally!) based on. I think that context isn't spoiler territory, but rather it adds meaning to the choices Inoue made in how he portrays the characters in his version of the story -- Musashi and Kojiro in particular are dramatically different from the novel.

Yes it's planned, thanks for the advice! And I saw that Musashi wrote a book himself, is it worth reading ? The opinions seem favorable.

And thanks for your answer Walter.

[Johnstantine]

After years of putting it off, I'm finally going to be starting this.

[Griffith]

After years of putting it off, I'm finally going to be starting this.

How'd that work out for you so far?

[Pink-Dark-Boy]

Recently started reading (and binging) Vagabond and oh boy, this is really quite the series. To get the obvious out the way, the art is eyecandy. I also love how human Musashi feels, the key example is him running away from Ishun & how he learns to overcome his fear by seeing him (Ishun) in his entierty. It's something that I don't see much manga do, and it just makes me root for him even more (even though I know the person he will inevitably become.)

At the moment I am passed the part where Musashi takes down the seventy men, at first I was confused as to why he would do such a thing especially after what Takuan told him in the second volumes (the one where he tells Musashi that all men have families and lives etc.) But I am relieved the quote in question is brought up and I am curious to see how it influences Musashi currently 

Another thing was I the only one who was slightly let down that Matahachi was not going to be the Sasaki Kojiro that would battle against Musashi? I feel going that route would have been quite interesting, to see the everyman use his rival as inspiration to rise up the ranks and become a lethal wielder of the Nodachi.

[IncantatioN]

Glad you're enjoying the manga so far! There are a few subtle things going on through the series that grabs you every once in a while and the art is simply gorgeous.

Another thing was I the only one who was slightly let down that Matahachi was not going to be the Sasaki Kojiro that would battle against Musashi? I feel going that route would have been quite interesting, to see the everyman use his rival as inspiration to rise up the ranks and become a lethal wielder of the Nodachi.

I didn't think it would go that way to be honest because it didn't fit Matahachi's nature to push himself to a completely different level of skill and temperament or conviction. It's still good to see his own evolution and you'll see it when you catch up to the late 30's (in volume numbers).

[Pink-Dark-Boy]

I didn't think it would go that way to be honest because it didn't fit Matahachi's nature to push himself to a completely different level of skill and temperament or conviction.

Really? Whilst I was reading through chapter 58 I was pretty much sold on Matahachi becoming Kojiro. It was for a few reasons, Matahachi during that time was in a state of turmoil, in where he had not really made anything out of his life and picking up the name of a skilled swordsman and essentially becoming him would pretty much be the go to on how to make something out of it. I agree Matahachi would not push himself to reach the peak of his own capabilities through the use of training, or anything that requires a lot of determination and resilience to get through for that matter. But the way he swiftly took out Akakabe told me that he would not really need much of it anyways. As he would be using the confidence he gained through his prior duels with Musashi (being the only one to take him on etc) as a way to climb the ranks if that makes sense. The last reason was when Matahachi stated "who else wants to be cut down by Sasaki Kojiro?" that line with the face he pulled still makes me kinda wish it went that route. But alas I cannot really complain with what we have now, it's still good.
 

[Walter]

Matahachi never had it in him to become a great anything. That was evident from the very beginning. I love the guy, but he's not even in the same league of human being as Kojiro and Musashi.