Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.38 AVERAGE
3.38 AVERAGE
I don't often read Manga or Graphic Novels, but I picked this off NetGalley for 2 reasons.
1) The cover left me dying to see what kind of art style it had
2) It's the Tale of Genji which I want to read but have no yet aquired
Obviously this is a Manga version of the ancient classic, but I thought it would at least give me a taste of the story and themes.
I definitely did.
So the thing is, Genji the character is a something of a womanizer. If you're going to read his story (in any of its forms) you're going to have to be ok with his Oedipus Complex and sleeping with every attractive woman regardless of her relation to him.
But, the thing is, that's what happens in Greek mythology and that doesn't bother anyone
1) The cover left me dying to see what kind of art style it had
2) It's the Tale of Genji which I want to read but have no yet aquired
Obviously this is a Manga version of the ancient classic, but I thought it would at least give me a taste of the story and themes.
I definitely did.
So the thing is, Genji the character is a something of a womanizer. If you're going to read his story (in any of its forms) you're going to have to be ok with his Oedipus Complex and sleeping with every attractive woman regardless of her relation to him.
But, the thing is, that's what happens in Greek mythology and that doesn't bother anyone
The illustrations are beautiful. I think I will read the original in Japanese some time this year. Genji is messed up
This is a manga adaptation of the original tale, giving us the story of the shining prince, Genji as he tries to escape the shadow of his forbidden love.
The original book is still on my To Be Read list so I can't compare the story but I can say this book is pretty to look at but confusing. The art is pretty but I had difficulty telling people apart because of the style. It's delightfully detailed in some aspects; like the flowers and the clothes. But I had trouble with the faces because they were all designed so similarly. And the dialogue didn't help; leaving me baffled as to who was who in the hierarchy and why it was important. One day I'll read the original book but as a taste of it, this manga isn't so bad. 3 out of 5.
Merged review:
This is a manga adaptation of the original tale, giving us the story of the shining prince, Genji as he tries to escape the shadow of his forbidden love.
The original book is still on my To Be Read list so I can't compare the story but I can say this book is pretty to look at but confusing. The art is pretty but I had difficulty telling people apart because of the style. It's delightfully detailed in some aspects; like the flowers and the clothes. But I had trouble with the faces because they were all designed so similarly. And the dialogue didn't help; leaving me baffled as to who was who in the hierarchy and why it was important. One day I'll read the original book but as a taste of it, this manga isn't so bad. 3 out of 5.
The original book is still on my To Be Read list so I can't compare the story but I can say this book is pretty to look at but confusing. The art is pretty but I had difficulty telling people apart because of the style. It's delightfully detailed in some aspects; like the flowers and the clothes. But I had trouble with the faces because they were all designed so similarly. And the dialogue didn't help; leaving me baffled as to who was who in the hierarchy and why it was important. One day I'll read the original book but as a taste of it, this manga isn't so bad. 3 out of 5.
Merged review:
This is a manga adaptation of the original tale, giving us the story of the shining prince, Genji as he tries to escape the shadow of his forbidden love.
The original book is still on my To Be Read list so I can't compare the story but I can say this book is pretty to look at but confusing. The art is pretty but I had difficulty telling people apart because of the style. It's delightfully detailed in some aspects; like the flowers and the clothes. But I had trouble with the faces because they were all designed so similarly. And the dialogue didn't help; leaving me baffled as to who was who in the hierarchy and why it was important. One day I'll read the original book but as a taste of it, this manga isn't so bad. 3 out of 5.
'The Tale of Genji: Dreams at Dawn' by Waki Yamato is a classic manga based on an 11th-century literary classic.
This manga begins with the story of Prince Genji. His birth, like much of his story is tragic. When Genji gets older, the stories in this manga are about the various courtly love interests he has, and how they make his life miserable, especially when he falls in love with an older woman and it turns out to be his stepmother.
The art is lavish and detailed, from the courtly robes to the many flowers. I wished at times it would have been in color.
The story felt a bit dry to me, and I found my attention drifting. I like classics, but this tends to read like one. I did really like the included interview excerpts from the creator of this manga.
I received a review copy of this manga from Kodansha Comics and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this manga.
This manga begins with the story of Prince Genji. His birth, like much of his story is tragic. When Genji gets older, the stories in this manga are about the various courtly love interests he has, and how they make his life miserable, especially when he falls in love with an older woman and it turns out to be his stepmother.
The art is lavish and detailed, from the courtly robes to the many flowers. I wished at times it would have been in color.
The story felt a bit dry to me, and I found my attention drifting. I like classics, but this tends to read like one. I did really like the included interview excerpts from the creator of this manga.
I received a review copy of this manga from Kodansha Comics and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this manga.
Thank you NetGalley for the free review copy
This is a beautiful first volume in the manga-adaptation series of the Tale of Genji. The coloured chapter pages are splendid and the black and white story pages are beautifully drawn, very elegant, with a style that sometimes reminds of art nouveau or Mucha.
I did however find the story hard to follow. Possibly because I had no knowledge of the tale of Genji, but also because it is hard to distinguish between the different characters. The several ladies look quite similar and in some instances the same person has dark hair in one picture and light in the next.
Overall it was an interesting story and I enjoyed the style of the drawings.
This is a beautiful first volume in the manga-adaptation series of the Tale of Genji. The coloured chapter pages are splendid and the black and white story pages are beautifully drawn, very elegant, with a style that sometimes reminds of art nouveau or Mucha.
I did however find the story hard to follow. Possibly because I had no knowledge of the tale of Genji, but also because it is hard to distinguish between the different characters. The several ladies look quite similar and in some instances the same person has dark hair in one picture and light in the next.
Overall it was an interesting story and I enjoyed the style of the drawings.
Probably closer to 3.5. I really hope to read this novel some day but the manga is enjoyable until then. I liked it more than I thought I would but these historical love and tragedies are right up my alley.
3 times hooking up with your step mom out of 5 times falling in love with frigging everybody
3 times hooking up with your step mom out of 5 times falling in love with frigging everybody
Attractive ~ Historical ~ Traditional
tl; dr: Courtier Genji struggles, writes poetry, and falls in love.
Genji is the first novel, arguably, written in the highly restrictive court society of Heian Japan. The story while lovely can feel arcane to contemporary readers. And, yet, it is probably the most important document of that period of Japan. The power of Genji rippled through Japanese culture. The kawaii culture of Japan, with its young girls hiding their mouths while they smile, can be traced to the demure courtiers in the inner circles of the Heian court. Any lover of Japanese culture must read Genji. But, lord, reading it can be a bore. Yamato's Genji is a great onboarding read, turning the inaccessible plot into something easy to digest. The illustrations are done in the Anime/ Manga vernacular adding the accessibility of the volume.
Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Seema Rao Write : Instagram| Blog| Twitter|
tl; dr: Courtier Genji struggles, writes poetry, and falls in love.
Genji is the first novel, arguably, written in the highly restrictive court society of Heian Japan. The story while lovely can feel arcane to contemporary readers. And, yet, it is probably the most important document of that period of Japan. The power of Genji rippled through Japanese culture. The kawaii culture of Japan, with its young girls hiding their mouths while they smile, can be traced to the demure courtiers in the inner circles of the Heian court. Any lover of Japanese culture must read Genji. But, lord, reading it can be a bore. Yamato's Genji is a great onboarding read, turning the inaccessible plot into something easy to digest. The illustrations are done in the Anime/ Manga vernacular adding the accessibility of the volume.
Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Seema Rao Write : Instagram| Blog| Twitter|
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher I was able to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
***
The Tale of Genji is one of those stories where a lot of people have probably heard the title but don’t know much beyond it being a classic Japanese story. This manga brings the tale to life with beautiful illustrations though and hopefully revives an interest in a fairly fascinating tale.
The story follows Genji, the shining prince, who lost his mother and then grandmother at a very young age and is taken in by his father, the emperor, but removed from the line of succession. The emperor takes on a new wife, a young woman who has a close resemblance to Genji’s late mother. Genji is very close to her (Oedipal complex) and as he grows older his feelings get more complex about how he feels about her. Considering her status as the emperors wife Genji moves on, kinda, and is married off at a young age, 12?, and has many relations with other women that tend to leave him unfulfilled or the woman ends up meeting a tragic end. The story can be a bit tough at times because many characters don’t have names but the titles/roles they fulfilled. Wasn’t as easy for me to remember.
Genji isn’t exactly my favorite character. He’s sympathetic, he keeps looking for love in all the wrong places and seems to make many really bad decisions but mean well. He’s not the fascinating character though, the women that surround Genji, I think, are the true stars of this story.
This volume covers some of Genji’s tale, there is still more to be told and I’ll be happy to read it when it’s released.
***
The Tale of Genji is one of those stories where a lot of people have probably heard the title but don’t know much beyond it being a classic Japanese story. This manga brings the tale to life with beautiful illustrations though and hopefully revives an interest in a fairly fascinating tale.
The story follows Genji, the shining prince, who lost his mother and then grandmother at a very young age and is taken in by his father, the emperor, but removed from the line of succession. The emperor takes on a new wife, a young woman who has a close resemblance to Genji’s late mother. Genji is very close to her (Oedipal complex) and as he grows older his feelings get more complex about how he feels about her. Considering her status as the emperors wife Genji moves on, kinda, and is married off at a young age, 12?, and has many relations with other women that tend to leave him unfulfilled or the woman ends up meeting a tragic end. The story can be a bit tough at times because many characters don’t have names but the titles/roles they fulfilled. Wasn’t as easy for me to remember.
Genji isn’t exactly my favorite character. He’s sympathetic, he keeps looking for love in all the wrong places and seems to make many really bad decisions but mean well. He’s not the fascinating character though, the women that surround Genji, I think, are the true stars of this story.
This volume covers some of Genji’s tale, there is still more to be told and I’ll be happy to read it when it’s released.
Free copy supplied from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.
It's obviously difficult to make a long and complex story like the tale of Genji comprehensible and unsurprisingly as the comic went on I became more and more confused. Even though the source material is large and unruly, I felt that this comic could have been a little better done. The art style was beautiful and I really enjoyed it, but it felt a little flawed; facial proportions were off a lot of the time, which was quite distracting. In addition to this, many of the female characters looked the same and there wasn't much there to distinguish them. The dialogue often didn't help matters either. Though it was delicate and pretty, it was just as confusing as the art.
Still, the overall impression of the comic was enjoyable and delicate. It just felt unfinished and in need of some editing to me. I think this would be a well suited read to those more familiar with the source material and in fact, those who are probably would enjoy this a lot. It's just not very beginner friendly.
It's obviously difficult to make a long and complex story like the tale of Genji comprehensible and unsurprisingly as the comic went on I became more and more confused. Even though the source material is large and unruly, I felt that this comic could have been a little better done. The art style was beautiful and I really enjoyed it, but it felt a little flawed; facial proportions were off a lot of the time, which was quite distracting. In addition to this, many of the female characters looked the same and there wasn't much there to distinguish them. The dialogue often didn't help matters either. Though it was delicate and pretty, it was just as confusing as the art.
Still, the overall impression of the comic was enjoyable and delicate. It just felt unfinished and in need of some editing to me. I think this would be a well suited read to those more familiar with the source material and in fact, those who are probably would enjoy this a lot. It's just not very beginner friendly.
*I received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. *
This is an adaptation of the popular and renown work of by Murasaki Shikibu. I think for me this is something that I will have to re-read in the future after I read Shikibu’s original work. I thought that this being transformed into a manga would make it more accessible as a reader however I found that it sometimes hindered the concentration needed for this story. This is a retelling of a very old book (1000 years) and whilst the characters were complex and the story harrowing, I felt like I needed more. Whilst admitting it felt a bit dry and stiff at times, I admire the writing style and overall artwork. I wanted to love this so much more - not horrible but just an okay read for me.
This is an adaptation of the popular and renown work of by Murasaki Shikibu. I think for me this is something that I will have to re-read in the future after I read Shikibu’s original work. I thought that this being transformed into a manga would make it more accessible as a reader however I found that it sometimes hindered the concentration needed for this story. This is a retelling of a very old book (1000 years) and whilst the characters were complex and the story harrowing, I felt like I needed more. Whilst admitting it felt a bit dry and stiff at times, I admire the writing style and overall artwork. I wanted to love this so much more - not horrible but just an okay read for me.