About Heroes

Story & Art: Osamu Tezuka
Translation: Maya Rosewood
Production: Hiroko Mizuno & Shinobu Sato
Publisher: Vertical

Buddha is a book I have been avoiding since I knew of its existence. Not because of the wonderful creator Osamu Tezuka who introduced me to the world of Astro (Atom) Boy, Jungle Emperor Leo, Unico, Apollo’s Song, and Big X. It wasn’t because that I was scared to read about the life of Buddha, because when I was in college I did some thorough studies in Buddhism and Siddhartha Gautama. I can only blame a manga called Adolf that I read years ago. The problem was it was such a good story, I wanted to believe the fiction from the truth and in doing so it jumbled up my knowledge of historical events. Buddha however is a different topic. It would be like someone taking the story of Jesus and adding elements of cartoony animals that make sexual jokes. I am familiar with Tezuka’s writing that I knew I could count on those elements being found in this book. Needless to say, I am glad that I decided to read these books, because they were amazing. This man is not known as the God of manga for nothing. This review took so long to put up because I really didn’t want to miss anything and make sure I put down all my thoughts. I also read the complete 8 volumes twice before writing anything down.

The story begins some time before Siddhartha is even born in around the year 563BC. We are introduced to two young characters fighting against what was to become India and Nepal’s rigid caste system. Chapra and Tatta are both tied down to their lives as slaves and beggars. Tatta has a special skill that comes in handy in future volumes; he can take control of any animal he wishes. Chapra is an ambitious young boy, and when he sees his chance to climb the social ladder he seizes it. He leaves his friend Tatta and beloved mother behind for the riches of a warrior general’s adopted son. This has repercussions that end with the death of Chapra and his mother. So by the end of volume 1, we see no hint as to who Buddha could be. Speaking of Buddha, we finally see that he is born at some point during the second volume, but he doesn’t play a big role until the latter half of the book. It’s good to see that Tezuka kept Tatta around to follow Siddhartha (Buddha) for the next seven volumes. Did I mention that this volume was 400 pages long? Ohh and the rest of the volumes are around that many pages too.

The focus of the next few volumes is spent following Siddhartha, he doesn’t take the name Buddha (Enlighten one) until volume 4. As a child and young adult, his transformation from a rich prince in the lap of luxury to a humble monk struggling to cope with the harsh realities of life. The beauty of what this series is about really starts to shine in this transition period between boy and man. Tezuka doesn’t paint Siddhartha as an all knowing saint; to be honest he comes across as an ordinary level headed guy just trying to do the right thing. Oh yeah, and trying to find out how to live forever or at least how we can move on forever spiritually. He really struggles to contemplate death and suffering and this brings a human element to the story that helps us better understand his teachings as the Buddha. It is that simple teaching that makes this story so believable and makes you feel for Buddha’s nemesis as one by one they turn to his teachings. Let me reassure you though that some of the points raised are more than obvious, but you rarely feel like you’re being spoken down to or lectured in this series. For the most part you don’t feel like you’re reading some religious tome designed to influence whatever beliefs you might have, you’re just reading a good story that’s told well and it won’t affect your religious beliefs. I hate to compare it to a book like Preacher (wonderful in its own way, but if you’ve read it you know why I hate to compare the two), but if you do happen to have a weak faith, I can see it opening your eyes to something else.

It’s not an easy road for Buddha; I guess being a martyr and savior to millions wouldn’t really be paving the road with gold. Over the course of the next volumes, Buddha makes a few but significant mistakes in his quest to become the pillar of enlightenment in the eastern world. He swore off his royal heritage, leaving behind his subjects, parents and pregnant wife. Some of you may be wondering what kind of dickhead protagonist leaves his pregnant wife. Just stay with me here. He survived many an attack on his being, including crossing over to the other side during the brink of death. Everything from his past comes back to haunt him in the last two volumes of this epic and we are left with the question: when a hero/leader of this magnitude passes his peaks and takes ill, will people continue to be inspired? How will his message and teachings continue? Who will carry on his torch that he has lit? Characters from all six volumes previous volumes collide in the final two installments

The last two books really feel like Tezuka wanted to make this a 10 volume epic, because he gives us so much that I almost felt overwhelmed. Compare to previous volumes, these volumes cover way too much ground and literally jump from places to places. It’s in no way confusing, but you can definitely tell that the pacing is different. The narrative in the last volume doesn’t prod the readers to the edge of their seat until halfway through, though drama is still suitably sustained from beginning to end. It isn’t the most powerful portion of the saga, but it certainly handles its events and arcs better than would any other example of sequential art, if any other story would ever attempt such epic themes of this proportion. Despite some grim turns of events, and some extreme tests of Buddha’s faith and sanity, this volume has a surprisingly uplifting ending with a great spiritual tone. Like I mentioned earlier lots of characters that have been around from the beginning show up and die off in the final volume. There’s a few tearful goodbyes to well meaning (and not so well meaning but redeemed) characters. There is no other way to say that this was a perfect ending to a masterpiece.

I found myself wanting to believe that all of these events could have happened. But compared to the historical events really couldn’t happen. It’s not to say that a lot of the events that happened in Buddha are clearly based around actual events, yet Tezuka manages to squeeze in several of his own characters in there, such as Black Jack, Big X, and even Tezuka makes several appearances. This helps makes everything a whole lot more accessible, not only because it takes the onus away from the rest of the cast, but also because these original creations help to better illustrate the point that Buddha is trying get across. Characters talk, in translation from the original Japanese, in modern slang and even use sexual jokes at times. Characters also frequently dip into slapstick humor, bouncing around the frames and sometimes physically breaking them. While at first it is disconcerting to a reader expecting a serious biography of the Buddha, it is important to remember that manga is first and foremost an entertainment medium, and as the long series is digested book by book, the humor is important to keep the story moving along and audiences entertained. I can’t imagine someone here in America taking the story of Jesus of Nazareth and doing the same treatment to his story. To be completely honest though, I found myself a little hesitant over the portrayal of The Buddha at first. I guess I can blame it on my college courses on Eastern religions. However after reading the first volume I welcomed the idea of a more human Buddha than I imagined and it is refreshing.

What is there to say about the artwork of Tezuka that hasn’t been said a million times already? The man is the God of comics for a reason. The style of art is a mix between wide-eyed manga and lush, detailed landscapes. The humans are all drawn really cartoony, but the backgrounds and animals are all very detailed. I’d also like to take this opportunity to point out that there’s a lot of nudity in this manga. I am in no way complaining about that. I didn't think the Buddha's life would translate very well into action-packed manga, but this whole series was really moving, beautiful, and even hysterical at parts. Powerful drawings with lots of imagination and the many subplots that wove themselves together in these volumes made this a joy to read. It was the best series of books, not comics that I have read in a long time. It’s really difficult to put into words how successful this series was, but I guess I can say I didn’t just read Buddha, I experienced it! The God of manga has done it again in his own essential and classy way! Do yourself a favor and buy, borrow, just read these wonderful books. A+