"Buddha"

This is Tezuka Osamu's biography of Buddha, based on his unique interpretation.
Shittarda was born as the first son of Suddodana, the king of the Shaka family, who lived in Kapilabasto at the foothills of the. Himalayan Mountains.
His mother Maya dies on the seventh day after his birth, and he is brought up by his aunt Prajapate.
At the age of 16, he marries Yashodhara, and the couple has a baby named Rahula. He then begins to contemplate on the four fundamental issues of life, aging, disease and death. And at the age of 29, he gives up everything he has to become a monk. His spiritual pursuits result in his awakening under the tree of Pippala. From that time on he is called the Buddha ("a person awakened," in Sanskrit), and continues to teach throughout India.

September 1972 to December 1983
Appeared serially in "Kibo-no-tomo," "Shonen World" and "Comic Tom" (Ushio Shuppansha Co., Ltd.)

This is a full-length work featuring the same theme as "The Phoenix" --- the life and death cycle that we face as human beings.
After suspension of publication of the magazine "COM," in which "Phoenix" was serialized, the magazine "Kibo-no-tomo" proposed to continue the publication of "Phoenix."
However, as "Kibo-no-tomo" was a boys' magazine targeting younger readers than "COM," the serialization of "Phoenix" was abandoned. It was then that the idea for the "Buddha" series was planned afresh. Later on, the name "Kibo-no-tomo" was changed to "Shonen World," and then again to "Comic Tom," in attempts to change its image. The serialization of "Buddha," however, was continued. In the story, many people surrounding the hero, Sittarda, are fictitious, and historical figures are significantly dramatized.