Buddha, Volume 1: The Early Life of Siddhartha Gautama in Kapilavastu

Joshua, Connecticut: Fast-paced and engaging. Take it for what is and enjoy this first volume from the Buddha serious. A good balance of humor and peril.

United States on Nov 25, 2023

9447914010301202202112022021030104197449: I really liked it and will continue to read till the end. How the story unfolds is just super fantastic. It made my day!

My observations on the drawings are:
(i) Those of you who know Astro Boy may notice some of the characters in Buddha are the spitting image of Astro Boy characters; and
(ii) Chapra’s mother and his beloved look about the same age.

Japan on Jul 30, 2023

Jesse E: Such an amazing book! Such a great story! I use to own the hard copy but lost i I soon decided to buy it again to finish it.

Australia on Jul 31, 2020

Wutang: Buddha by Osamu Tezuka (the complete work) is one of the best comics I have ever read. Actually one of the best works in any story-telling art. First of all, the story itself does not (always) follow the story we have heard about Buddha. Probably Tezuka thougt, if others can make legends that obviously are not completely historically correct but tell backgrounds and explain the why and how of Buddha, then why should I not create new legends that will do the same... He shows us the society and way of life at that time, before he even tells the birth of Buddha. The mix of adventure, suspense, funny episodes, sad and cruel things and off Course the philosphy of buddha and others is well balanced and made me turn pages till I fell asleep. He does not hesitate to show a realistic world 2,600 year ago - violence, slavery, maritial and sexual life, all kinds of problems are important to understand the development of Buddhas mind and teachings.
Then there is the "grammar", the storyboard or lay-out of the panels. I must admit that I have mainly read franco-belgian and american comics and so the japanese lay-outs, which are generally more inventive, are quite new to me. Still I must say...

Germany on May 04, 2018

Pia K.: Ich liebe diese Reihe! Ganz zauberhaft erzählt, mit Witz und Herz. Stimmt bestimmt nicht 100%ig mit Buddhas Lebensgeschichte überein, aber man erhält einen schönen Einblick und es ist unterhaltsam.

Germany on Jan 13, 2017

Antonio: I posted the following review in the Buddha Vol. 8 page, but place it here again as I hope to encourage potential readers to discover this amazing collection.
Reading Osamu Tezuka’s 8-volume Buddha, took me nearly two years to achieve, as I ordered the books in pairs from Amazon when my budget allowed. This is a manga tour de force, breathtaking in scope and sometimes perplexing in tone and style. It was at first hard for me to get the hang of Tezuka’s narrative style, as this is the first manga of his I read, although I was an Astro Boy and Kimba the White Lion fan when a little kid (the shows were broadcast in Mexico dubbed to Spanish in the late 60s). His combination of anachronistic references, plethora of invented storylines, and American slang spoken by lower cast characters in this translation, initially put me off. But the story is captivating enough to keep one going. I say the style is postmodern because of the aforementioned anachronisms, mixture of high and popular culture motifs, intertextual references from Tezuka’s own work and that of others’ (from Kurosawa to Disney and Spielberg!). (The following migh be seen as a "spoiler" by some) There’s also a...

United States on Jan 31, 2015

xavier bojorquez: Tezuka has done it again this is one of my favorite series by the "god" of manga. Highly recommend to Tezuka (if you don't already have it) and mature readers who are new to manga. Worth every penny. I'm still reading the series right now but the when I read the first volume I could not put it down it was amazing. This is the First Osamu Tezuka volume I Read and definitley worth it. I have no complaints it is flawless. The art style is unique but it goes perfectly with this series.

The story starts off with a young Shudra(Slave) named Chapra who wants to rise up in class and when a thief named Tata steals Chapras master's shippment Chapra must bring back the Shipment or his mother (also a slave) will be sold. When Chapra confronts Tata (who has a special power, he can transfer his soul into animals bodies) chapra tries to get the clothes back but Tata(who is also poor) cannot give Chapra the Shippment back but he says he will help Chapra get his mother back. When they get back a war breaks out and Tata's mother and sister die. Chapra gets seperated from his mother and Tata and Chapras mother search for him.

This series is Epic and the first volume is worth it. Its...

United States on Jul 31, 2013

schlimmerdurst: Mein erster Kontakt zu Tezuka war das für mich wenig begeisternde "Dororo". Einige Jahre später nun wage ich mich an ein anderes Werk von ihm heran - "Buddha".

Der Zeichenstil ist sehr eigenwillig, aber interessant und vor allem vollständig ausgereift. Hier findet man keine "Ausrutscher" - mit sicherster Linie und klarer Charakterisierung werden hier die unterschiedlichsten Personen eingefangen. Gerade die Gesichter haben es mir angetan: Auf vielen Panels sieht man mehrere Statisten, und jeder sieht völlig anders aus als die Person neben ihm. Und die Sicherheit erkennt man auch am Linienschwung, besonders bei seinen Pferden, die wirklich eine Augenweide sind. Gewiss spürt man den Einfluss von Disneys Optik, wenn die großäugigen Krokodile im Fluss lauern - doch Tezuka hat sich insgesamt betrachtet deutlich davon emanzipiert. Wenn ich auch seine manchmal etwas überstrapazierten Gesichtsexplosionen nicht wirklich mag, so nehmen sie doch der Atmosphäre insgesamt nichts weg.

Dieser erste Band handelt nur nebenrangig um den titelgebenden Religionsstifter. In erster Linie erzählt er die tragische Geschichte um Chapra, den Shudra, der genug von seinem armseligen...

Germany on Jul 28, 2012

W. Hohauser: Many people are most familiar with Tezuka through his 1960's anime TV shows, Astro Boy or Kimba, the White Lion as those are the works that received the widest world distribution. Those shows were inventive with strong references to Disney but also a jarring sense of anarchy. Many of Tezuka's manga stories are the same plus he frequently breaks the fourth wall especially during scenes of high drama with goofy comic slapstick or having his characters tear up the comic panels to express rage. What I found amazing was that unlike others authors Tezuka didn't feel that he needed to change his style when tackling the story of Buddha and this takes some getting used to. In later volumes Tezuka actually puts himself into the story questioning the liberties he's taking.

After I got past the anachronisms (characters referring to modern products) and the attempts to use modern idiom (example: the use of the phrase "my peeps"), it was hard to put the book down. In fact I read a volume a day. Tezuka draws the way he feels like and that means that the characters range from classic semi-realistic manga to Japanese comic style to pure Disney (especially the crocodiles) all against...

United States on Dec 08, 2009

Daniel Lobo: We've been reading the eight volumes from beginning to end in our Tezuka fever. Buddha certainly feels like a major work and I would recommend it both as a dedicated approach to the figure of Buddha and as classic of storytelling. But Buddha is most importantly enjoyable to see Tezuka developing some of his most irreverent and personal jokes, interwoven in story.

However, given the subject it lacks the sensationalist and gripping (if repetitive) taste of some of his one mammoth serialized volumes such as MV or the Ode to Kirihito. Buddha is published in English in 8 volumes and things really take shape towards volume 3 or 4, and become quite amazing in terms of the medium towards the final part. If you are not in for the full ride I'd probably recommend other works from him.

United States on Sep 21, 2008