Butsu Zone
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| Butsu Zone | |
|---|---|
| 仏ゾーン (Butsu Zōn) |
|
| Genre | Fantasy |
| Manga | |
| Author | Hiroyuki Takei |
| Publisher |  Shueisha |
| Demographic | Shōnen |
| Magazine | Weekly Shōnen Jump |
| Original run | 1997 |
| Volumes | 3 (Complete) |
Butsu Zone (仏ゾーン Butsu Zōn?) is a manga by Hiroyuki Takei, serialized in three tankōbon.
The series highlights the adventures of Senju (The Thousand-Hand Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva) who has to find and protect Sachi, an incarnation of the Buddha Miroku. Miroku is said to appear on Earth at a time when the Dharma is no longer taught and is completely forgotten, achieve complete enlightenment and then re-teach the pure dharma, becoming a successor of Śākyamuni Buddha, the founder of Buddhism. It is thus Senju's job to aid Miroku (Sachi) in achieving enlightenment, enabling her to achieve Buddha.
The Butsu Zone character Anna Kyōyama also appeared in Itako no Anna, Funbari no Uta and Shaman King.
[edit] Characters
- Senju (センジュ?)
- (The Thousand-Hand Avalokitesvara) A Bodhisattva sent to protect the incarnation of the bodhisattva Miroku by the Dainichi Nyorai. He uses the Senju Armor (センジュ天衣 Senju aamaa?).
- Sachi (サチ?)
- A young orphan who was abandoned by her parents 10 years before the beginning of the story and raised by a poor priest. Sachi is an incarnation of the Buddha Miroku.
- Mike Minoura (マイク箕浦 Maiku Minoura?)
- The leader of the Minoura clan, Minoura destroyed Sachi's temple, but was defeated by Senju. He and his clan later become Buddhist monks and help rebuild the temple.
- Jizō (ジゾウ Jizō?)
- (The Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha) Senju's childhood friend. He had waited for 2500 years for Miroku's appearance. His primary attack is the Mudra Beam (印ビーム In-biimu?); he also has the Jizō Armor (地蔵天衣 Jizō aamaa?) which he used only once in the series.
[edit] Plot
The story begins with a girl, Sachi, protesting about the planned destruction of the temple (her home) by the Minoura clan, who plans to build a hotel in its place. One of the gangsters notices the statue of the Thousand-Hand Kannon within the temple. Sachi then tells them that she will not allow anything to happen to the statue. The gangsters then laugh and threaten her, telling her that there is nothing the statue can do to save her. Just then, the Thousand-Hand Kannon comes to life, breaking the temple doors and attacking one of the gangsters. The statue then shatters into pieces and inside it is a boy who tells them to lay their hands off Sachi, sending fear amongst the gangsters who then flee, vowing revenge. The boy introduces himself as Senju, the Thousand-Hand Kannon.
[edit] Elements
One of the recurring elements in the story is Buddhist statuary (仏像) Butsuzō?). In the story, they are employed by Bodhisattvas, Devas (and in one case, demons) as a 'body' of sorts, without which they could not do their business in the human world as they are pure spirit. They usually occupy statues of their likeness (Senju, for example uses the statue of the Thousand-Hand Kannon in Sachi's Temple as his body); however there have been incidents where demons attacking Senju and company also used Buddhist statues, which are obviously not their representations. When the occupant of the statue starts to move, the outer portion of the statue would crack and shatter, revealing their 'true' appearance.
The occupant of the statue would usually share the characteristics of the statue they are currently possessing (Jizō used a stone statue which became both an advantage during combat and a disadvantage when he attempted to swim to save Senju). When the 'body' they are using is destroyed, the now-damaged statue reverts back to its original form and the occupant returns to the Buddha-field (仏国土 Bukkoku-do?), known as Buddhaksetra in Sanskrit, where Buddhas and Bodhisattvas dwell.
