The Burning Buddha Man is a feature film made using the “gekimation” technique, a fusion of animation and the graphic novel. A Buddha is stolen from a temple that is home to high school student Beniko, and her parents are murdered. As the story develops, she encounters a hideous “Buddha man” which is half statue, half her parents, and she gets involved with serial thefts of Buddha statues in the old city of Kyoto. With live-action inserts at the beginning and end of the film, the fantastical narrative portrays the fusion of Buddha statues and human beings.