Apollo's Song - Review

Apparently it's Manga week at TBC... After I read Osamu Tezuka's 8 Volume Buddha (borrowed it from the library, although I hope to own the whole thing some day) I bought Apollo's Song. I have had it for quite some time, and have been keeping it near my computer for a month or two with the intention of reading it. After reading A Drifting Life, I decided it was a perfect time to tackle the other giant book 541 pages of Tezuka goodness.

This is a strange book. I found it to be brilliant, but still kind of strange. There is a lot of moralizing in it, and it comes across in a way as a sort of... environmentalist / anti-technology, I am the Lorax I speak for the trees sort of statement. That isn't the main focus of the book, but the theme of the evil men do to the planet and each other and nature, resonates in each of the sort of dream sequence stories that make up a good portion of the book.

Our young 'protagonist' Shogo has all the makings of a sociopath. He cruelly kills animals, he attacks couples, etc. His primary reason for killing the animals he does is that they are showing attraction for each other or tenderness toward each other (yes, he kills animal couples, or animal babies, etc.)

He is hospitalized, and during a course of electro-shock therapy, he sees a giant statue of a goddess that condemns him to fall in love with one woman and then be separated by death from them over and over again. We see this happen in sub-stories that happen when he is rendered unconscious. The stories vary from his being a german soldier and falling in love with a condemned Jewish girl, to his being a human in love with a synthetic being in a future where synthetic beings rule the world. In addition to these 'dreams' , his story continues to play out in the 'present' It's really well done. Tezuka really did some comics ways that I just don't see being done very often. The medium is used perfectly, it's funny and silly and profound and preachy. It's a crazy story premise, but works. It didn't even scare me off with it's half representational and half realistic lesson on where babies come from (that it opens and closes with.

It isn't a flawless piece, but I enjoyed it and it made me think about what was being said (regardless of my agreeing with it or not). This is a good book and I recommend it if you like this sort of thing.

So now I'm a Buddhist

Not too long ago I did a review of sorts for the 8 volume Buddha by Osamu Tezuka

I just finished it. If you have any interest in comics or manga on any level, I recommend that you read this. It's brilliant, epic, human and divine. It is a sweeping tale with almost too many characters to keep track of. The story starts before the main character is even born, and it continues until he dies 80? or so years later. We see charcters introduced, rise up and then fall, only to have more rise up. We follow a number of kings and princes and a large number of monks and various other people.

There is a lot of realism in this. Not everyone accepts the Buddha immediately. Not everyone accepts his motives or even believes that he is sincere in his mission. Some plot to kill him for nothing more than fame, while others try repeatedly because his existence cramps their style. Some follow him faithfully, only to fall of the wagon later to their own detriment. Some oppose him at every step, only to turn to him in their darkest of times and emerge faithful followers.

This is really a moving story. It is executed with brilliance and humor. I almost dismissed it when I was flipping through it in the library due to the strong cartoonish style. I'm glad I picked it up. Don't laugh, but I think I'm better off for having read this. I love the tenets of Buddha's philosophy. I love seeing these sorts of things expressed in fiction too. Characters who exemplefy that sort of selflessness usually appeal to me. He is a good man, but he is a man. His path to enlightenment wasn't easy, but there was no expectation that it would be. His sermons were about the interconnectivity and interdependence of all life. The commonality of the living, and about the false constructs that people have made to divide themselves, and the folly of such things.

I borrowed this from my local library. There were at least 2 full sets in my local system. I recommend everyone go out and borrow it. Don't forget interlibrary loan as an option. I would like to own this eventually, but I don't know how soon that will be able to happen.

I definitely want to read more on Buddhism now. The title is sort of a joke for me. A recurring sort of joke I make is about how easily moved I am by things I read. Usually this takes the form of my saying that I became a lesbian after reading Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown. You give me a sympathetic or compelling character and I promise you I will identify with them somehow.

Buddha - Osamu Tezuka

This is another great find from my local library. I have never read anything by Tezuka before, although I have heard of him referenced as the father of Anime, and one of the early innovators of Manga who really shaped the medium into what we know it as today. He is responsible for Astro Boy, Kimba the white lion, The anime Metropolis, and tons more.

Buddha is a series of 8 books, all of them over 300 pages. It is the Story of Siddhartha on his journey to enlightenment. I have only finished the first two volumes so far, but they are the sort of compelling page turners that make you want to see what happens next at the expense of sleep or work or social interaction. I was surprised by how accessible the books are. I shouldn't have been, but as I said, this is my first Osamu Tezuka.

The great thing about this is that it is written to be enjoyed. The language is loose and funny, often making anachronistic references to things that just didn't exist in the time frame of the series. Television, cola, professional wrestling, and many more things make the trip back in time for this. The art is cartoonish and expressive, but mixed into that are beautiful sweeping detailed landscapes and nature scenes.

The writing and the scope of this are every bit as epic and literary as you might expect any several thousand page fictional account of the life of Siddhartha to be.   There are a ton of characters in this, and we see a lot of them. The books will focus on characters at one point in time, and eventually they will show up later, often in unexpected situations, many years from the last time we saw them. The themes throughout are of humanity and oneness and man's place in the world and sort of universal things that tie us together with each other, and also with nature around us. 

Based on the strength of the first two volumes alone, I fully recommend this for anyone who enjoys good stories and good writing. There is a great deal more depth there, but it all starts with a good story, doesn't it. Tezuka's art and his mastery of the form are brilliantly on display here. I recommend that everyone get out to their local library and see if they have this in their collection... If not, find out why they don't and encourage them to get it.