History YMMV / Buddha

* ValuesDissonance: Among other things, almost everybody is practically naked. This happened in Antiquity, before the Maurya Empire (the first major Indian civilization), as almost every Iron Age civilization had some level of acceptable public nudity, not to mention that Gautama Buddha's Jain contemporary Mahavira was known to travel naked after enlightenment. Modesty didn't really develop in the subcontinent until the Middle Ages, possibly not even until after the Islamic conquests.

* HarsherInHindsight: Sir Jumble says of Beratta ([[SweetPollyOliver Migaila in disguise]]) [[spoiler: "There's fire in his eyes," which unfortunately [[EyeScream becomes literal]] later.]]

* IncestSubtext: Chapra and his mother from volume 1 seem a little ''too'' close at times. It's not completely odd for a mother and son to have a close relationship, but the way the two of them act around each other comes off more like a young couple that are madly in love (and it doesn't help that Chapra's mother almost looks the same age as him). Examples of the subtext include Chapra makes a passionate speech about one day dressing her in gold, a scene where she bashfully turns away and says "not in front of the others!", and later in the story she straight-up tells Tatta that Chapra reminds her of her dead husband. They pine for each other whenever parted, and [[spoiler: when they're killed from a spear skewering them together, they literally die in each others arms in relief that they'll never be separated ever again.]]
* InformedAttractiveness: Tatta tells Migaila that Princess Yashodara is "way cuter than you," even though Migaila is quite attractive (as Tatta notices when he sees Migaila [[ShowerofAwkward bathing in a lake]]).

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: When they meet again as disciples of Buddha in Book Seven, Devadatta and Ananda never acknowledge that they're half-brothers. This is understandable in Ananda's case, since Devadatta left home when Ananda was a baby and perhaps their parents chose to pretend Devadatta never existed. But did Devadatta also black out his early childhood and forget he had a brother named Ananda? Did he never consider that this could be the same Ananda? OR did Devadatta privately know that Ananda was his brother, and this only salted the wound when [[TheUnFavourite Buddha became closer to Ananda]].

* HoYay: [[spoiler: Almost]] everyone loves Buddha, and some conversations about him can seem a lot like this out of context. Also, what with practically everyone running around [[ItMakesSenseInContext shirtless]], many waist-up-only panels between the predominantly male cast can [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything look like something else]].

* ValuesDissonance: Among other things, almost everybody is practically naked.
** ItMakesSenseInContext. This happened in Antiquity, before the Maurya Empire (the first major Indian civilization). Given that every Iron Age civilization had some level of acceptable public nudity, not to mention that Gautama Buddha's Jain contemporary Mahairva was known to travel naked after enlightenment, there is some historical justification. Modesty didn't really develop in the subcontinent until the Middle Ages, possibly not even until after the Islamic conquests.

** Also, Tatta and Yatala, as mentioned above.

* FoeYay: Devadatta and Buddha.
** Ananda and Mara. Tezuka went with a HotAsHell depiction, for one thing. In Book Six, their dynamic has shades of BettyAndVeronica, with Mara (The Veronica) pressuring Ananda to choose between her protection and his love for Lata (The Betty). In Book Seven, even though she's now encouraging him to forget about Buddha and marry Lata, Mara's very handsy with him and gushes over how "handsome" and "desirable" he looks. In Book Eight she specifically entices him to "Come away with me."

** Ananda and Mara. Tezuka went with a HotAsHell depiction, for one thing. In Book Six, their dynamic has shades of BettyAndVeronica, with Mara (The Veronica) pressuring Ananda to choose between her protection and his love for Lata (The Betty). In Book Seven, even though she's now encouraging him to forget about Buddha and marry Lata, Mara's very handsy with him and gushes over how "handsome" and "desirable" he looks.

** Siddhartha tells Yashodara after their wedding that she will never bear his child. Pretty soon after, she's pregnant. Some possible explanations are: 1. He consummated the marriage in an offscreen moment of weakness. 2. He's so sheltered he wasn't aware of how babies are made. 2. It's a MysticalPregnancy. 3. Yashodara arranged for someone else to get her pregnant to [[TheBabyTrap trick Siddhartha into staying]].

** The [[OffscreenRomance offscreen marriage]] of [[spoiler: Tatta and Migaila raises the question: did they develop feelings after her blinding and banishment, or was Tatta in love with her while she was in love with Siddhartha but [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy he decided to help her be with Siddhartha anyway? It could've also started as a MarriageOfConvenience.]]

** The [[OffscreenRomance offscreen marriage]] of [[spoiler: Tatta and Migaila raises the question: did they develop feelings after her blinding and banishment, or was Tatta in love with her while she was in love with Siddhartha but [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy he decided to help her be with Siddhartha anyway]]?]]

** Siddhartha tells Yashodara after their wedding that she will never bear his child. Pretty soon after, she's pregnant. Some possible explanations are: 1. He consummated the marriage in an offscreen moment of weakness, or he's so sheltered he wasn't aware of how babies are made. 2. It's a MysticalPregnancy. 3. Yashodara arranged for someone else to get her pregnant to [[TheBabyTrap trick Siddhartha into staying]].