So I had heard of anime. It always seemed like some creepy Japanese cartoon that pimple faced disturbed youth watched on the floor in basements across America. Then a friend of mine who I respect told me about Manga. Manga is like a comic book, but usually made in Japan. It was suggested I start with the series named Vagabond. So I went to the website Onemanga.com and clicked on the manga list link and then found Vagabond. After reading just the first episode, I was hooked. There are 291 chapters in the manga. They are released one at a time in Japan and someone scans them and puts them up on the OneManga site. The artwork is awesome and the storyline is great as well.

Here is a video of  Takehiko Inoue actually drawing the Manga Vagabond.

Growing up in 17th century Sengoku era Japan, Shinmen Takezou is shunned by the local villagers as a devil child due to his wild and violent nature. Running away from home with a fellow boy at age 17, Takezou joins the Toyotomi army to fight the Tokugawa clan at the battle of Sekigahara. However, the Tokugawa win a crushing victory, leading to nearly three hundred years of Shogunate rule. Takezou and his friend manage to survive the battle, and afterwards swear to do great things with their lives. But after their paths seperate, Takezou becomes a wanted criminal, and must change his name and his nature in order to escape an ignoble death. Based on the book “Musashi” by Eiji Yoshikawa, Vagabond is a fictional retelling of the life of Miyamoto Mushashi, often referred to as the “Sword Saint” – perhaps the most famous and successful of Japan’s sword fighters. Source