Osamu Tezuka’s vaunted storytelling genius, consummate skill at visual expression, and warm humanity blossom fully in his eight-volume epic of Siddhartha’s life and times.

Tezuka evidences his profound grasp of the subject by contextualizing the Buddha’s ideas; the emphasis is on movement, action, emotion, and conflict as the prince Siddhartha runs away from home, travels across India, and questions Hindu practices such as ascetic self-mutilation and caste oppression.

Rather than recommend resignation and impassivity, Tezuka’s Buddha predicates enlightenment upon recognizing the interconnectedness of life, having compassion for the suffering, and ordering one’s life sensibly. Philosophical segments are threaded into interpersonal situations with ground-breaking visual dynamism by an artist who makes sure never to lose his readers’ attention.

Tezuka himself was a humanist rather than a Buddhist, and his magnum opus is not an attempt at propaganda. Hermann Hesse’s novel or Bertolucci’s film is comparable in this regard; in fact, Tezuka’s approach is slightly irreverent in that it incorporates something that Western commentators often eschew, namely, humor.

The Eisner and Harvey Winner

In the sixth volume of manga visionary Osamu Tezuka's Buddha, the devil Mara possesses the bandit Ananda, half-brother of Devadatta, in an effort to eliminate the Buddha. A ruthless killer who is impervious to physical harm, Ananda will retain the devil's favor only if he spurns his love interest.

When Ananda and his bandit buddy attack the Fire Shrine of the Brahmin brothers Kassapa, it is none other than the Awakened One who happens by. Buddha must confront his eternal enemy, Mara, before he can open the eyes of arrogant priests and hardened criminals.

Author/Artist: Osamu Tezuka
Publisher: Vertical
Page Count: 360pp
Size: 6 x 8
Notes: softcover, b/w
Date of Publication: April 3, 2007
ISBN: 978-1932234619