True to my word, I finally took on the eight volumes of Osamu Tezuka’s Buddha released by Vertical in 2006 and 2007 (the softcover editions). I had read all of Volume One back when I first got it, and some of Volume Two, but quickly decided that I wanted to read it all at once, so I kept buying the volumes and putting them on a stack to be read once complete. I think that was the right move.

As you can imagine, the life of Buddha is a sprawling epic. There are a lot of characters, some of whom will disappear for an entire volume before returning, and there are events that take place in earlier volumes whose effects aren’t seen until later on. It takes a little bit of patience, but it’s greatly rewarded.

If you look up the series on Amazon and elsewhere, you’ll notice a lot of reviews of the first volume, and the number of reviews for each successive volume dropping off sharply. The reason for this can be seen in a lot of the reviews: it’s clear that while some folks were open to a comic book (or, more likely graphic novel) version of the life of Buddha, it was only under the condition that it wasn’t too much of a comic book. Tezuka apparently failed to deliver, as there is a lot of criticism leveled at how cartoony and silly it is.

In my opinion, this is missing a great deal of the point. It’s true, the style is very light. There’s humor, in-jokes, anachronistic references, cameos by Tezuka, characters speaking directly to the reader, and so forth. Volume one features an inordinate amount of kids peeing on each other. This thing:

Appears early and often with no explanation. (It is explained here, under “Hyoutan-Tsugi”.) And there are nipples everywhere. The book seems to be a chaotic mish-mash that can’t make up its mind: if it’s for kids, why the profanity? If it’s for adults, why the cartoony style? As a result, it’s very easy to assume that Tezuka isn’t taking the material seriously enough.

What actually seems to be going on is that Tezuka is having a ball with the story. At no point does he not appear to be completely in control as to what’s going on. The sense of playfulness begins to drive the story, not hamper it. In fact, it underscores Buddha’s message that, unlike how the holy men before him taught, life is not an agonizing trial to be endured, but an experience to be enjoyed.

This is the first and only Tezuka I’ve read, so I can’t comment on how it compares to his other works. I can say that you can definitely make out a wide range of influences here. Disney’s animated style comes up a lot, and there’s even a fair amount of Tex Avery here. Tezuka seems more influenced by animation than cartooning — his art is wildly dynamic. And can you look at this guy and tell me that he isn’t influenced by Wally Wood?

The writing is also a mash-up of genres. There’s adventure, romance, intrigue, action, sexy sex, comedy, tragedy, horror, betrayal, and, of course, philosophy. Again, though, everything flows naturally and compliments the story at hand.

The center of the story, of course, is Buddha, and the center of Buddha is his philosophy. Although you won’t come away from this knowing exactly what Buddhism is all about, you do get enough of an idea of what makes it different from what preceded it. You also get a good primer on some of the basic ideas, realized as Buddha himself realizes them. He is constantly being challenged by those who seek to discredit or destroy him, and who are eventually won over to his thinking. It’s a good way to allow him to present his philosophy without the book being just a series of sermons.

The highest praise I can give to this series is that it works. It’s one of those creative projects in which every piece slides neatly and elegantly into place. Whether or not you’re familiar with his body of work, you can’t help but realize you’re watching a master in complete control of his creation.

Don’t stop at Volume One, like so many others apparently did. The series is so rewarding in its entirety. It’s a classic treatment of a worthy subject, and deserves the praise it gets.

Next: She’s Got Spirit, Yes She Do!