Manga
Review: Buddha, Vol. 1: Kapilavastu
Buddha, Vol. 1: Kapilavastu by Osamu Tezuka
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The Tezuka’s series about the life and times of Siddhartha Gautama, the prince that became Gautama Buddha, was originally published between 1972 and 1983. He had already created the iconic ‘big-eyes’ style of manga that is so familiar today, and achieved great success with the series Astro Boy. With this venture, he brought manga to a wider audience, encouraging more adults to enjoy the art form.
I really enjoyed the first volume in this series. There were plenty of familiar manga tropes, and it was hard to keep in mind that he was a pioneer in the field because of how influential his style has become. His writing and art style are iconic for a reason, and I enjoyed things like the small cameos he made (and pointed out!) in the story. His is a very interesting take on the story of Buddha, and it’s made me interested both in reading the rest of the series, as well as learning more about Gautama Buddha and Buddhism.
Review: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past by Akira Himekawa
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
This manga has less to do with the source material than the last one, and overall it was disappointing as a result. A Link to the Past is one of my favourite Zelda games, and this book ignores most of the story in favour of a storyline about an original character called Ghanti. Ghanti is a bandit that hesitantly helps Link on his quest, and she mostly seems to be there to fill the role of a stereotypical kawaii manga heroine. The next manga on the shelf is Ocarina of Time, which is my favourite Zelda game of all time, and it’s split into two books. I’m hoping that’s a good sign!
Review: The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask
The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask by Akira Himekawa
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This is the first of the Legend of Zelda mangas that I’ve read (which means I’m reading them out of order, but it was the first one I grabbed out of the boxed set that my brother bought me for Christmas), and while it seems that they’re meant for a fairly young audience, I enjoyed the simplified telling of the video game plot. The manga was released in chapters at roughly the same time that the game was released in Japan, so a lot of the story is conjecture, and the book contains a non-canonical side story about the origin of Majora’s mask that is definitely a nice addition. The art is beautiful, and I was interested to find out that Akira Himekawa is a team of two female mangaka that are individually pen-named A. Honda and S. Nagano; the idea that women are less interested in comics and video games than men is an idea that I’m always glad to see contradicted. This book was a very quick read, so I’m looking forward to progressing through the set before long!
