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.

家族を捨て出家の道を選んだシッダルタの修行がついに始まった！　しかし、自らの体をただ痛めつけるような修行のやりかたに疑問を抱くようになり、1人悩み苦しむ日々が続く……。一方そのころ、ロンポツリ川のほとりで、人間の言葉を忘れ獣のように振る舞う狼少年が捕らえられた。その少年とは、あのバンダカが残した子供ダイバダッタであった!!　手塚治虫が人々の苦しみや悩みを、さまざまな視点から描いた大作、第3巻！　＜手塚治虫漫画全集収録巻数＞手塚治虫漫画全集MT291～292『ブッダ』第5～6巻収録　＜初出掲載＞1972年9月号～1978年7月号　希望の友/1978年8月号～1979年12月号　少年ワールド/1980年7月号～1983年12月号　コミックトム連載

王族の娘ヤショダラ姫を妃に迎えた後も、シッダルタの胸には愛しいミゲーラへの想いが消えない……。王宮での虚飾の生活に疲れたシッダルタは、ついに出家の道を歩むことを決意するのだが……。大河ドラマ第4弾!

悟りを開いたブッダは、鹿野苑にて穏やかに教えを説き始めた。まずはじめは野生の鹿に。次にそれをひそかに聞いていた苦行僧に――。そんなブッダの前に、ダイバダッタの異父兄弟であるアナンダがあらわれたが、彼は悪魔の化身たるヘビの精霊に魅入られ、ブッダを倒すべく操られていた！　はたして、彼の心から悪魔を追い出し、正しい道に導くことはできるのか!?　巨匠が描くシリーズ第5巻。　＜手塚治虫漫画全集収録巻数＞手塚治虫漫画全集MT295～296『ブッダ』第9～10巻収録　＜初出掲載＞1972年9月号～1978年7月号　希望の友/1978年8月号～1979年12月号　少年ワールド/1980年7月号～1983年12月号　コミックトム連載

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.