Butsu Zone (series)

Butsu Zone (仏ゾーン) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hiroyuki Takei as his first series before Shaman King. It was serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump from March to August 1997, with its chapters collected in three tankōbon volumes. "Buddha Zone" is the concept by which a Buddha can appear on Earth using a Buddha statue.

Plot
The series highlights the adventures of Senju (the Thousand-Hand Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva) who has to find and protect Sachi, an incarnation of the Buddha Miroku (Maitreya Bodhisattva). 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.

Relations to Shaman King
Though there is no official confirmation from the author about the series taking place before Shaman King, there is circumstantial evidence that links both series according to the Japanese Wikipedia.
 * The Gandhara organization where their leader Sati Saigan, and most of the guardian ghosts are "homages" to the buddhas that appear in the series.
 * Chapters 9 to 11 of Shaman King Zero regarding Sati's flashback abridged to the point where the events take place after the series.
 * Senju appears as a playable character in Shaman King: Funbari Spirits.
 * The series title becomes applied to one of the story arcs in Shaman King The Super Star featuring Senju and Sati.
 * All the Kami Class guardian ghosts of the Gandhara are rightly called Butsu Zones.