Vagabond
Rating: 6.5/10 (so far)
Genre: manga ~ Samurai / outlaw / Feudal Japan
Running Time: Many volumes of manga -haha
Find it at: Onemanga.com
Rating: adult (large violence and sexual innuendo/content)
I got recommended this as part the Deviantart ‘Samurai Dueller’s league’ i’m in, in order to get a real feel for samurai, swordfights and style etc, and I think that this manga is one that should be viewed in that context. As an art lesson, and indeed a stylistic history lesson, it is excellent. The drawings are very well done in the realistic anime style, and while it had grown to irritate me the habit the artist has of drawing their characters with their eyes wide open and staring at many intervals (and the translator’s unfortunate habit of making the characters say ‘urrrrr’ every 2 seconds), it is certainly an example for us all to try and follow. The whole thing has a very realistic feel to it, and the manga carries along at a normal pace if life, and its characters are down to earth in that their concerns are certainly earthy.
So, as a piece of art, it is very well done and well worth a look. Each panel is done with utmost care. However, as an entraining manga, it falls a little short. It’s probably just my taste, but for one I find the protagonist (and indeed the minor characters) generally dislikeable, the action often melodramatic and the story too slow and a little disjointed at times.
(Furthermore if Ouso doesn’t stop screeching and wailing soon I may explode-haha)
In short (since this review itself is pretty short) - please please check it out to enjoy the art, but for me it only warrents a rating of six and a half out of ten.
