I have mixed feelings about this book!
I had this book for quite sometime and tried to read this multiple times in the past, but failed to make progress beyond a couple of pages because of the utter ignorance of author on all things related to India and her traditions. The first time I opened the book, I saw "Aryans" and "Invasion" and I promptly underlined the text and wrote - "Dude, there were no Aryans!" and tossed the book aside. Osamu Tezuka might be the finest Manga creator out there, but he displays shocking lack of understanding of the India of Siddhartha's time, the "caste system" and the hierarchy which makes a recurring appearance throughout this volume, how people dressed etc. You could simply replace the (mostly) Indian sounding names with random Roman alternatives, and the setting will probably make more sense. There is slavery, buying and selling of slaves, processions of accused on the roads with crowd booing - kind of like a medieval action drama. There are also characters that randomly call out "O Indra, may your great wrath and mercy be the judge.." as if Indra was Zeus.Thanks to a long weekend, I wanted something to read on an idle afternoon. I decided to keep these misgivings aside and approach this as just another fiction story without any adhyatmic (spiritual, for the lack of a better word) or "historic" significance - and I must say that I was able to enjoy reading it. I am new to Manga and this was a great introduction to Osamu Tezuka's works. Some of the scenes Osamu depicts are just visual poetry. I never knew that one could convey so much with strokes black ink on a white canvas. I liked the overall book enough to make me search for the rest of Osamu's works!
So to summarize - don't read this book if you want to understand Buddha and his teachings. The author is a confused soul in this department, but if you want playful and sometimes stunning artwork with a good story and humor, go for it!