Summarizing Osamu Tezuka’s Buddha, it is a historical epic with biographical and some supernatural elements (connected to Vedic religions and mythology), on Siddhartha Gautama‘s lifework. Not a biography though; some characters are fictional, the story starts before Siddhartha’s birth and Tezuka also took another kind of artistic license.

However, the manga never deviates from Buddhist teachings. Also, Tezuka’s storytelling was straightforward and easy to grasp, for all its philosophical, societal and religious themes, with fine balance between narration, dialogue-based storytelling and visual storytelling.

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[1. Beginning with the story…] The first chapter mentions the Indo-Aryans of the Vedic period, who introduced exploitative and oppressive discrimination with four social classes: brahmin (priest class), rajanya/kshatriya (ruler class), vaishya (merchant class) and shudra (laborer class), thus initiating readers to social injustices and hardships of ancient India and how these pushed people towards alternative paths for spiritual enlightenment.

Immediately after this introduction, the story shifts to a magnificent sample of purely visual storytelling: an old monk collapses on a snowy mountain, and a bear, a fox and a rabbit seek food for him. The rabbit fails to do so, and after the old man lights a campfire, it throws itself into it to offer itself as food.

And right after this iconic scene, the narrative shifts to the tale of a shudra boy who after certain circumstances is raised and trained as a kshatriya. Its importance permeats the rest of the narrative, and also introduces the “untouchables” outside the “varna” system, and showcases social injustice being the root of many evils. After this interjecting tale, the rest of the narrative continues with the birth and growth of Siddharta, and ends at the Mahaparinirvana.

More and more characters are introduced and recurring ones are developing accordingly, interconnected to the narrative. More details will be noted on [2.], the character section. And one closing note: Osamu Tezuka’s artistic license was highly connected to visual storytelling. He included certain comedic, metafictional and intertextual elements typical of his writing style, that contrasted heavily with the mature and often dark story; this is one of the aspects that might make-or-break the show for a reader. More details will be noted on [3.], the artwork section.

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[2. Continuing with the characters…] Although Siddhartha is born a kshatriya according to the varna system, he could not understand why humans must suffer and on what basis social classes and untouchables must exist to begin with. After eventually rejecting his varna, homeland and family, he sets out on a journey as a travelling monk. From the journey’s start and up until Mahaparinirvana, his character is constantly dynamic: he observes nature and mankind and introspects. He suffers and witnesses suffering in equal measure. He is tempted yet never yields to base nature, and gradually learns more and more on nature and life, culminating in receiving enlightenment. But his struggle does not end, he devotes the rest of his life into teaching.

Let’s retrace to how I mentioned that social injustice was the root of MANY evils, tied to material hardship. The other side of the evils is connected to spiritual hardship: suffering (dukkha) according to Buddhism originates from being unsatisfied because of desire/greed, distress due to pains of living (e.g. aging and dying) and distress due to impermanence. Siddhartha advocates bringing dukkha into an end, by renouncing desire and embracing truths of the world, and ourselves as threads of a grand tapestry.

Siddhartha attracts people from all walks of life, including “untouchable” bandits and shudras desperate for spiritual guidance to brahmins who antagonize him to kshatriyas in fear and denial of death. Some embrace his teachings and attempt to change their lifestyle and mindset, whereas others deny his teachings and/or act antagonistically towards him, and fall into tragedy. They are not always complex characters (some are rather flat) and often act immorally, but their struggles are (mostly) tied both to values dissonance and to the hardships they endure. Their interactions with the Buddha and each other drive the narrative together in perfect harmony.

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[3. And concluding with the artwork…]

From the point of manga history, Buddha is considered a sample of the gekiga movement. Unlike Astro Boy that catered towards children during the 50s and 60s, Buddha is a sample of early 70s that catered towards older teenager and adult audiences, some of whom might have grown up reading early manga.

Before building on this statement, I must describe how Buddha remains a “Tezukan” work. First, character designs remain cartoony (strongly influenced by Disney), as is the case with the e.g. Astro Boy and Dororo, contrasting with the mature story.

Second, let’s retrace to the end of section [1.]: an aspect of visual storytelling can be a hit-or-miss element. To elaborate, quite some designs are caricatural and there are visual anachronisms (e.g. cigarettes flying), direct references on media/producers/works (e.g. ET the Extra Terrestrial) and fourth-wall breaking (e.g. an avatar of Tezuka self-deprecating, or panel-connected humor). To be honest, I had a mixed-negative opinion on this aspect occasionally, for it caused mood dissonance and excessive contrasts with the mature tone. However, Buddha’s narrative is by no means undermined, and if this aspect is overlooked or embraced, one may even appreciate Tezuka’s visual craftiness.

Retracing to gekiga; the visual storytelling also remains true to the movement by being highly cinematic and more "adult”. For example, paneling is connected to meta jokes, but also to some of the smoothest scene transitions, I could always tell how parts of the narrative are interconnected without ever being confused. Panels don’t follow the same format and depending on their size and patterns, important parts are highlighted in juxtaposition to the rest of the scene. Close-ups and powerful visual shots (e.g. Siddhartha’s birth) are presented at perfect timing to make for memorable scenes.

Last but not least be warned: there are many graphic scenes (e.g. burnt corpses or showcasing smallpox), female nudity is commonplace (different modesty standards) and for all the occasional goofiness, Tezuka pulled no punches in viscerally portraying cruel aspects of nature and life, such as drought and starvation.

Hope you enjoyed my review!