Buddha Volume 1 (5 points)

 I haven’t read any of Tezuka’s work before, I’ve only heard of him through recommendation, and watched the Metropolis movie (which is a great film). I thought Buddha was a pretty enjoyable read. The style is really cute and very reminiscent of early disney work, which you can see quite clearly in the expressive round animals. I thought a really strong aspect of the work was how clear the paneling is. In action scenes you really understand what is happening like after Chapra, his mother, and Tatta return to the village which was attacked and invaded by soldiers. Tatta and his gang hide in pots to attack General Budai. You really understand who’s attacking who, how they commence their plan, the key reactions of everyone, and where they are in space relative to each other. It’s clear how Tatta takes the General’s sword, and attacks. You almost don’t even need the dialogue to understand what is going with how clear the art and paneling is. There’s also an aspect of humor that lightened the mood of an otherwise pretty heavy story of murder, slavery, fighting, and pillaging. Like when Tatta and Chapra first meet after Tatta steals the cloth Chapra is delivering. Tatta’s gang pee on him and Chapra responds by somehow punching the pee back at the gang. This sort of reminds you that they are kids, even though the story is pretty heavy. I think it’s also interesting how it incorporates some aspects of Siddhartha's birth. I remember bits and pieces about it as my mom runs a buddhist center and I learnt about it at a young age. One that stands out to me from the manga that appears, is the Siddhartha's mom seeing a vision of a white elephant in her dreams.

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