Definitely not the best from Tezuka, but still a nice one. Its themes reminded me of Black Jack, so I advise you to read some tomes of it before Alabaster. There are some nice ideas and thoughts, especially the concept of Beauty, and the Envy inside everyone. The main characters are well-developed, but others are just completely useless. The art is Tezuka-like, so you will like it if you like his style, I cannot be entirely objective about it. I advise you to read another manga from Tezuka (like Dororo, Adolf ni Tsugu or Black Jack), and then go back to this one.