History Manga / Vagabond

** Ch.197 has a scene where Jurozaemon brutally beats Matahachi for using Kojirō's name. Even though ''Vagabond'' is a violent series (and that Matahachi is one of the most hated characters), the scene is quite shocking because Jurozaemon is essentially using torture. Most killings in the series are quick and done in a single panel, but this is a whole different case: Jurozaemon here is executing a slow, painful killing.

** Ch.117 ends in a wham fashion, revealing that the master of Baiken Shishido (the imposing chain-and-sickle warrior) is actually [[spoiler: the little girl Rindō]].

* BlindIdiotTranslation: if you only read Vagabond online, you'll get this eventually. Volumes 1 to 21 are scans of the official English language books, so the translations are of high quality and done by professionals. However, starting with volume 22 the chapters you can read online are scans from the Japanese books or from the Japanese magazine where Vagabond is serialized, with the translations done by amateurs. Though somewhat tolerable during the first volumes, later changes in translation teams make it progressively worse the more the story goes, to the point that the Ichijōji's aftermath arc and the Wandering arc are completely unintelligible and impossible to read (especially during the philosophical conversations between Takuan, Itakura, Kōetsu and Musashi, and in the scenes with the Hosokawa government officials). Luckily, the translation team that takes over at the Farming arc is much better, and the story becomes understandable again.

* TranslationTrainWreck: related to the BlindIdiotTranslation mentioned above, online scanlations done by amateurs are plagued with this. It starts to become troublesome in the last parts of the Second Yoshioka arc, when Yoichi, Ueda and others of the Ten Swords ponder why the Battle of Ichijōji is being lost. But it becomes particularly egregious in the Ichijōji's aftermath arc and the Wandering arc, where scenes such as the philosophical talk between Takuan and Kōetsu, or the intrigues of the Hosokawa clan, are translation train wrecks. Ironically, the hiatus that Inoue had at the end of the Wandering arc was helpful, because it made another amateur translation team take over, and when the Farming arc starts the story is intelligible again.

** Ch.1 produced a wham effect in the Japanese readers when it was first published: many that flocked to see Takehiko Inoue's new series were shocked to see that it was a significant depart from his previous light-hearted series (''Anime/SlamDunk''). Right from the very start of the series, ''Vagabond'' shows brutal images where Takezō savagely kills some soldiers.

* WarArc: as a manga based on the lifes and deeds of historical Japanese martial artists, is bound to have war arcs.

** Ch.281 is also one of the whamest episodes in the series. [[spoiler: On the one hand, it shows that Ittōsai defeats Musashi, ending his win-streak. On the other hand, it shows that Sekishūsai dies.]]

** Ch.163 has a scene that comes out of nowhere, where a tanegashima archebus fires at Takezō. Up until that moment, there wasn't even a single panel in the whole series that showed firearms.

*** The very first scene with Sadakore's squad is quite graphic: they were collecting the decapitated heads of their fallen enemies, and in that scene they take the heads out of the sacks and throw them away.

** In-story, in the aftermath of the Battle of Ichijōji, the whole country has a wham moment after receiving news that a man has singlehandedly killed 70 men.

** Ch.251 suddenly shows how the police arrests Musashi.

** Ch.134 has a scene where Jisai violently slaps kid Kojirō, sending him flying through the room—for those that are sensible to seeing child mistreatment, the scene can be a total shock.

* TranslationTrainWreck: related to the BlindIdiotTranslation mentioned above, online scanlations done by amateurs are plagued with this. It starts to become troublesome in the last parts of the Second Yoshioka arc, when Yoichi, Ueda and others of the Ten Swords ponder why the Battle of Ichijōji is being lost. But it becomes particularly egregious in the Ichijōji's aftermath arc and the Wandering arc, where scenes such as the philosophical talk between Takuan and K&#333etsu, or the intrigues of the Hosokawa clan, are translation train wrecks. Ironically, the hiatus that Inoue had at the end of the Wandering arc was helpful, because it made another amateur translation team take over, and when the Farming arc starts the story is intelligible again.

* TranslationTrainWreck: if you only read Vagabond online, you'll get this eventually. Volumes 1 to 21 are scans of the official English language books, so the translations are of high quality and done by professionals. However, starting with volume 22 the chapters you can read online are scans from the Japanese books or from the Japanese magazine where Vagabond is serialized, with the translations done by amateurs. Though somewhat tolerable during the first volumes, later changes in translation teams make it progressively worse the more the story goes, to the point that the Ichijōji's aftermath arc and the Wandering arc are completely unintelligible and impossible to read (especially during the philosophical conversations between Takuan, Itakura, Kōetsu and Musashi, and in the scenes with the Hosokawa government officials). Luckily, the translation team that takes over at the Farming arc is much better, and the story becomes understandable again.

* BlackAndGrayMorality: Musashi starts off as ALighterShadeOfBlack against his opponents and mellows out with CharacterDevelopment. Though despite that most of his foes are slightly worse, there are some instances where everyone's as [[EvilVsEvil dark]] a shade of [[GrayAndGrayMorality gray]] as he is.

* StiffUperLip: Ueda. His trademark attitude is smoking his pipe and ponder. He is introduced this way when Musashi first comes to the Yoshioka dojo and is killing many disciples. But this attitude becomes truly evident during the Battle of Ichijōji, when he is seriously wounded with half of his face cut and he rests under a tree, calmly smoking his trademark pipe while ravens flock to eat his flesh.

* Dead Person Impersonation:

* YoungerThanTheyLook: Many say that Takehiko Inoue draws Musashi in a way that he looks older. At the start of the story, when he is 17 years old, he looks like he's in his late twenties, due to his long limbs, tall height and big muscular frame (the RealLife [[UsefulNotes/MiyamotoMusashi Musashi Miyamoto]] is also said to have been a strongly built man even at an early age). A year later when he returns to Miyamoto village, he has let his facial hair grow and wears his hair loose, making him look like he is in his mid thirties. 30 volumes later, by the time he is in his late twenties, he looks like he is in his late fourties. That being said, Musashi's also noted by his fellow swordsmen for being considerably young for a man of his ambition and skill.

The story starts with two 17-year-olds, Takezō Shinmen -- a half-wild loner raised by the sword -- and his only friend Matahachi Hon'iden. Having fought on the losing side at the Battle of Sekigahara, the young men struggle to survive until they're rescued by a girl named Akemi and her mother Oko, who make a living by robbing corpses. After Takezō and Matahachi save the two women from the Tsujikaze gang, Matahachi decides to elope with Oko to Kyoto instead of returning home with Takezō to his fiancée, Otsū.

* TitleDrop: when at the start of the story, Takezō tells Matahachi, Oko and Akemi that he will become a ''vagabond'', WanderingTheEarth and challenging strong fighters.

** Koun

* OutOfTheInferno: Played with in the fight against the villain Fudō Myō-ō, who first steps out of his house because it's on fire, then goes back in again because he forgot his sword, only to walk out as described in the trope.

Others, while never explicitly stated to have been born with such a gift, are shown (or stated) to be formidable fighters nonetheless, some of them having even won the title ''invincible under the heavens'':

** Fudō Myō-ō