Week 10 - Manga

I will start by saying that I was never a fan of anime or manga. It never really appealed to me as a child nor as a young adult and I'm still not entirely convinced/converted to a fan of the medium. All the classic cartoons and stories like Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Yo, and Miyazaki films were just never my cup of tea.

However, that's not to say that I am against manga and anime at all. I do think it's important to study/read/view this type of medium as it sends vital messages on topics such as family, culture, and respect, and has the power to inspire a wide audience with its storytelling techniques and characters. I do see why people love the medium so much.

So for this week, I decided to read Buddha, Volume 1 by Osamu Tezuka, one of the most influential manga artists in history. The story essentially depicts the beginnings and spiritual quest of the Enlightened One himself and focuses on the poor conditions the people of India were facing during this time.

The style was not what I was expecting from an early manga novel as compared to the more recent work. There's a beautiful contrast throughout the story as cartoonish/stylized characters inhabit more detailed and intricate backgrounds. There are huge panels that act almost as establishing shots throughout the story. The drawings are very clear and appealing and the acting of the characters can get pretty fun/exaggerated at times (Chapter 2's Tiger attack being a good example).

The book is quite epic in size and scope. It's almost like the Lawrence of Arabia or the Gandhi of manga, taking such a huge topic/story and inviting the audience to experience it all. While I wasn't really into the story as much, it was really exciting to take it all in.  The book is filled with action and the variety of panel shapes (especially the long, rectangular ones) help accentuate the tone of each sequence.

While Buddha alone hasn't turned me into any more of a manga fan, I highly respect it for its impeccable craftsmanship and ambitions. I'm going to have to pick up another work by Tezuka pretty soon or maybe another manga story, but I think this was a great place for me to start. But only time will tell if I really start to become a fan of the medium.