Buddha by Osamu Tezuka

Osamu Tezuka's Buddha is a manga that is a unique interpretation of the like of Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism. I'd previously read some manga before but it was interesting to read something not only by one of the fore-fathers of Manga but a manga centered around religion which is something most people don't think of when they think of manga. One of the first things i noticed was how the first few pages are just landscapes. It reminded me of class discussions where we talked about how Western narratives are more focuses on action and quick movement of story while Easter narratives allow pauses for reflection. I also noticed the generic face of the main characters which reminding me of McCloud's argument of iconic faces and I definitely saw how it worked in practice. The backgrounds were also draw much differently to separate them from the identify-ability of the characters. Also, some of the more minor characters (especially the villains) had more distinct faces which purposefully makes them less relatable. Also the shape language of the character designs (rounder shapes for protagonist and "good" characters and sharper shapes for "bad" characters) informed how the reader feels about the characters. I've noticed looking ta manga is a very interesting way to compare how (generally) Eastern and Western media designs characters. I think there are slight differences but the cores are very similar cross-cultures.