Jesus and Buddha... Go on vacation? In Tokyo?

by Chris MaGee

There have been and continue to be what seems like a million films based on popular manga released in Japan. Not only are we waiting for adaptations of Osamu Tezuka's "MW", Hiroshi Takahashi's "Crows Zero 2" and George Asakura's "Heibon Ponch", but right now there are two manga based-movies in the top ten at the Japanese box office: "Detroit Metal City" and "20th Century Boys". Now, I can't argue that manga don't make great fodder for films, but let me make a suggestion for a manga adaptation that will end all manga adaptations... The greatest manga story ever told, if you will. Jesus and Buddha! Go on vacation! In Tokyo!

I'm not making this up. Jesus and The Buddha do go on vacation in Tokyo in "Saint Onisan (Saint Young Men)" a popular manga by Hikaru Nakamura. The two come down from heaven, or Nrivana or whatever divine astral plane they call home and rent a cheap apartment in the Tachikawa district of Tokyo, but get this... Jesus still has his beard and long hair (the girls think it makes him look like Johnny Depp) and he wears a crown of thorns equipped with a GPS system, so that the angels can keep track of him at all times. And miracles happen spontaneously when he gets emotional. Oh, and he has his own blog (that's the last thing I need.. more competition...)

As for The Buddha, well he just came on vacation because Jesus kept bugging him to come along. He takes long showers and is a vegetarian (of course) but he's not averse to cooking up some meat for Jesus' lunch. He draws his own manga and worships Osamu Tezuka ever since picking up a copy of Tezuka's manga adaptation of The Buddha's life.

Theses two crazy kids get into a whole bunch of trouble like falling in with yakuza at the local public bath and starting their own manzai comedy duo "Punch and Long Hair."

People, I'm not making any of this up! Just check it out at Amazon Japan and this article from blogger Mari Kanazawa. Is this highly offensive? Damn skippy it is, but is it comedy gold? Absolutely! This is the manga adaptation I want to see... and fast! Minoru Kawasaki and/ or Yudai Yamaguchi, clear your schedules and get this onto the big screen pronto... or face heaven's wrath!