Buddha 1: Kapilavastu

One of the rare advantage I've lived in Japan is that I 've read this series including the conclusion many years ago. As a huge fan of Tezuka, Buddha ranks 1 or 2 to me among all of his works.I meant 5 star, not only for this volume but as an entire work. In the middle of this long story, sometimes I felt I couldn't get anywhere, just like Buddha himself must have felt in his journey, which is so real in the sense that you might not get an answer for the questions in life for a long time or maybe never. This is highly entertaining fiction based on the historical events. I'm not a big manga fan. Manga(comic) was considered pretty bad thing when I was a kid in school and at home. Work and study was the only virtue in Japanese society, many children were forced to study in every awaking hours and didn't have a place to breathe. Sometimes it was the only place I could laugh. (Japanese people don't joke, largely saying) So please understand if you see some silly jokes here and there, that was meant for people who couldn't laugh in their every day life. Besides I love it when it breaks the ice in dead serious situation. Some people point out about his cartoon-like style. Although more graphical effects and details seem to be being cultivated these days, I like his style of simplicity or "less is more". With only a few line he can express people who is upset, embarassed, irritated, humiliated, devasted and so on. I admire that. But check out his other big hit "Black Jack" for its detail image especially for the surgical scene. Tezuka is far beyond a cartoonist but a great writer. He was also a humanitarian who loved and tried to save the earth, animals, plants and all the living beings in the nature.

I have been a fan of Tezuka's since I watched the Metropolis re-make a couple of years ago. I had previously tried to get into reading Atom Boy, but it just never clicked with me. Recently, I got the manga bug and started looking around for stuff to read. Unfortunately, most of the stuff out there is for girls or teenage boys. I did, however, stumble across Tezuka's Buddha, and I'm really glad that I did. I just finished it this morning at lunch. The artwork is impressive, and the way that Tezuka can convey so much story mainly through the use of pictures is amazing. This book is both light-hearted and dead serious at the same time. The ending is a pretty big surprise and I'm really looking forward to reading the next volume.

Sweet without descending into schmaltzy sentimentalism, Tezuka's Buddha series is a treasure for our time. The plot weaves together the stories of many characters, just as Tezuka weaves together the old mythology with some modern philosophical concerns, the serious ancient philosophy with occasional modern jokes and gags.The book would have been perfect for readers of all ages were it not for the occasional use of profanity (as magnifiers) and minor cartoon nudity (nothing obscene), to which some parents won't want to expose their young children. Parents should be mindful and prudent.I hope that other religious traditions will be inspired to produce comics and graphic novels of similar quality.

Our family read this book and it's companion, The Four Encounters, cover-to-cover, just about non-stop. They were both totally engaging.As a Buddhist, I was wondering what this treatment of the Buddha's life would be like. This is my first exposure to manga style. My only reference point is comic books. I had enjoyed another "comic book," illustrated treatment of the life of a Buddhist saint, Milarepa. That was well done. I very much wanted a book that would capture the interest of my two children, 10 and 14 years old. It did. My 14 year old read the book in two days. My 10 year old and I read it aloud together. What is facinating is the way the author creates the historical context using a mixture of historical figures and people of his own imagination. We are given an insight to the caste system of ancient India and the stage is set for the Buddha's questions about suffering, it's origins, and his strong desire to put an end to suffering. I'd say that this is appropriate for 9 year olds and up. For adults: my wife and I kept reading ahead. It is captivating. It has the air of an adventure story. I also enjoyed explaining and discussing the context of the story with my children. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

PRESENTATION: Top notch, the single most gorgeous manga I currently own. I paid the same price for this that I did for Viz's release of Phoenix: Future, and this is by far a better deal. The cover is durable and is likely to last many years. The paper is heavy stock, meaning it doesn't tear easily and isn't nearly as transparent. The inks are also the darkest I've ever seen in an American manga, making it much closer to what you'd expect from Japanese manga. It's left-to-right reading order, but I don't mind. This book was obviously intended for people who are new to manga, and probably will have no interest in pursuing the genre any deeper.The only thing that I'm less than thrilled with is the 1/4-sized dust-jacket. I mean, what the heck is that for? A way to make it look colorful on the store shelves?WRITING: I can't say anything about the translation, as I haven't even seen an issue of the original, much less read it. However, the writing, in terms of construction, word-choice and grammar, is superb.Whoever this unnamed translator is, they're my new favorite, replacing Gerard Jones. The writing, as in story, character, pacing, et cetera, is superb. Although part of the plot reminds me a bit too much of Hinotori: Dawn. A few issues later are we going to have one of the character decide they want to be the best sculptor in the world? :)Also, the story is split up into chapters (I assume linked to how they were originally published), something which was sorely missed in the Hinotori series, which made each volume one long story.Some people are going to have trouble with the humor, and arenaturally going to assume the translator inserted them, never having read any Tezuka before. It also occurred to me that only the really great writers are the ones who even attempt to play with anachronism like this. The only other people besides Tezuka I can think of who do this sort of thing well are Shakespeare and Chaucer. (Well, aside from Disney animated features as of late).Buddha only manages to get himself born in this volume, so the plot centers around characters whose overall relevance we have to wonder about. Some character I thought were going to be very important to the story didn't survive the first volume. (Speaking of Buddha, I thought his pre-Enlightenment name was Gautama?)ART: The usual Tezuka mixed bag. A bizarre mixture of natural artwork which wouldn't look out of place in the Louvre, and then you have something which looks like the work out of Carl Barks or Walt Disney (though, I might point out, having a far greater "freedom of space" than any western comic artist has yet managed to achieve). There's quite a bit of nudity, as could be expected. Combined with the "Eastern spiritualism", it's enough to give the people at Focus On The Family a heart attack. Expect to see this book burned in the Bible Belt soon.OVERALL: I'm not lying when I say this is the best single manga I've ever read. As much as I like Hinotori, it's always a big spotty