Manga: "Buddha (Vol. 1)" by Osama Tezuka

I feel like I've seen other works by Tezuka before or at least his work has been influential to other works that I've read. Overall, even though I get a little confused by the story, I really enjoyed it and found it very entertaining. I will say some of the immersion in reading the story is lost by the English translation that is more modern-day slang words, but I do understand that its also to make it more relatable to younger readers. I did find it interesting that Tezuka illustrated the head monk, Master Asita, having a pack of cigarettes and food hidden in his robes that hints that the book was more modernly written and as a little inside joke. Even though I only know a little about India and its history, I found the mixture of Japanese manga and historical Indian culture and stories to be really refreshing. The art style is also very unique but I enjoy that is it very clear and easy to tell where the environment is as well as the characters being very easy to identify.I also noticed that this book read from left to right, or at least the layout of the comic's panels allows for American readers to easily digest the information or understand the situations. The use of action and motion in panels for fights was also really fun and enjoyable to read, and I felt a lot of the impacts based on drawings alone. If I find the other book volumes, I would gladly read them!