Word: karma
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...begins Gao's slow reformation. Upon learning of the wheel of karma, wherein the things we do in this life affect our reincarnated form in the next, Gao travels Japan as a wandering monk's acolyte. Along the way he discovers his own talent for sculpting. Meanwhile Akanemaru has a vision of the Phoenix, a bird who represents the eternal reborning of all life. His carving of the bird earns him a commission from the emperor to oversee the construction of a giant Buddha. Eventually, after many more twists, Gao and Akanemaru meet for the last time in a contest...
...confines of a review. It would take something more along the lines of an exegesis. Tezuka has created a book that combines the excitement, plotting, and characterization of the best novels with the philosophy of the best spiritual essays and the beauty of the drawn arts. Among other themes, "Karma" manages to be about the role of the artist in society, the relationship between religious experience and human endeavors, the misuse of religion for the sake of power and the importance of trying to lead a moral life. Wisely putting the needs of good art before the needs of religious...
...extra space just for breathing room. A temple sits stoically in the woods, or flowers blow in the breeze, or a moth gets caught in a spider web. Tezuka may also be the supreme master of dynamic yet readable layouts - a talent that reaches its pinnacle in "Karma." No two pages have the same design. Particularly frenetic sequences inhabit small, jagged panels that work like a strobe light on an action too fast for the eye to see. When Akanemaru despairs of finding the Phoenix he sits at the bottom of tall, full-length panels that make him seem tiny...
...Though better than having nothing, it is unfortunate that VIZ has not put more care into the packaging of "Karma" and its related books. Bizarrely, they released volume two first, at a larger format and higher price point than the others. Then came volume one, three and four respectively. (They plan on reprinting volume two at the same size and price as the others.) Printed as paperbacks with an ugly cover design, none of the volumes can be distinguished from the others except by careful examination of the subtitle and the numeral on the spine. Furthermore, without the promise...
...Osamu Tezuka's "Phoenix: Karma" reaches near nirvanic heights. As entertaining as any comic can be, it miraculously also achieves what lesser religious comix strive for and fail at: enlightenment. Though it seems doubtful that readers will change their lives thanks to "Karma," they cannot avoid being touched by its deeply humane philosophy and egoless artistry...