| From
The Editor
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. |
About
The Author
Osamu
Tezuka (1928-89) is the godfather of Japanese manga comics.
A genuine intellectual, deeply familiar with Western culture from
the Bible to Goethe to Hollywood, Tezuka originally intended to
become a doctor and received an M.D. Had he not turned to the
belittled art of manga storytelling, the medium may never have
acquired its capacity for seriousness and depth. Though many have
followed his example, it is still Tezuka who draws the deepest
awe with his sweeping vision, deftly intertwined plots, persuasive
characters, feel for the workings of power, and above all, an
indefatigable commitment to human dignity and the sanctity of
life.
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Author's self-portrait |
