Osamu Tezuka

The first volume of Tesuka Osamu's fictional biography of Siddhartha, Gautama Buddha. Introduces Chapra, a slave boy who tries to escape his fate; Chapra's slave mother, who sticks by him no matter what; Tatta, a crazed wild child pariah who communes with animals; and Naradatta, a monk attempting to decipher strange portents of the Buddha's birth.

Buddha

Nia C

4.5 stars and an A for this really well-done narration of Buddha's life (well, he's just born in this one but you get what I mean). I really liked the illustrations, particularly of nature - the Himalayas, the doe-eyed animals. The imaginary characters were interesting crafted, the humor works well - it's modern but also not? A good balance to strike which makes it relatable. 

I can't wait to read the next one, but I don't think my uni library has it, but I'll get around to reading it sooner or later anyway.

Prince Ajatasattu

Rifqaiza Pravangesta

Yuvraj Jha

Recounts Siddhartha's spiritual journey on the path to enlightenment and becoming the Buddha.

Kapilavastu. 1

Savas Yazici

Marcos Porto

Dan Govier

Xavier Roy

Wynne Aretae

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.

Kapilavastu

Caleb Yarian

Ying 

'Buddha' is the ultimate example of Tezuka's storytelling genius and artistic mastery. The progenitor of manga as we know it, and the inspiration for countless artists, Tezuka continues to elicit the deepest awe with his sweeping grasp of the human condition.

Buddha

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