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A review by readingmissfroggy
Manga Classics Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, Crystal Chan
2.0
I got an e-copy of this from the publisher in exchange for my honest review. All opinions, as always, are my own.
2.5 stars
I really liked the thought of Shakespeare in manga format. However, I don't think it works at all! This has nothing to do with the art style (which I think is beautiful, especially the characters of Juliet, Romeo and Juliet's mother) but just that I don't think Romeo and Juliet is suited for a manga adaptation while keeping the original text. Shakespeare isn't known for being easy to understand, you really need to get into the language. Editions like No Fear Shakespeare can help a lot. This manga doesn't help the reader in any way whatsoever with understanding what is being said. You can follow most of the story thanks to the drawings but certain conversations take up pages of just characters standing around and chatting. Having read the book a number of years ago, I do remember some of them but with others I was just puzzled. I normally recommend the manga classics for people who want to get into classics but this isn't one I would recommend at all unless you are a massive Shakespeare fan.
I do have one critique on the art style and that is that some panels are chibi style and/or supposed to be funny. I didn't think that suited the story at all! It really annoyed me at times but it was somewhat compensated by some beautiful drawings of other characters (as I have mentioned above, especially Juliet, Romeo and Juliet's mother).
Overall, this manga was a massive disappointment. It took me forever to finish because I didn't feel attracted to reading it at all. Having not read Shakespeare in a while the language was difficult for me to understand at times (mind you, not always! There are definitely parts that you can just read and understand) which made me feel incredibly bored and frustrated. As I have said, I do not recommend this manga classic. All the other ones that I have read so far have been pretty good but this one is a miss for me.
2.5 stars
I really liked the thought of Shakespeare in manga format. However, I don't think it works at all! This has nothing to do with the art style (which I think is beautiful, especially the characters of Juliet, Romeo and Juliet's mother) but just that I don't think Romeo and Juliet is suited for a manga adaptation while keeping the original text. Shakespeare isn't known for being easy to understand, you really need to get into the language. Editions like No Fear Shakespeare can help a lot. This manga doesn't help the reader in any way whatsoever with understanding what is being said. You can follow most of the story thanks to the drawings but certain conversations take up pages of just characters standing around and chatting. Having read the book a number of years ago, I do remember some of them but with others I was just puzzled. I normally recommend the manga classics for people who want to get into classics but this isn't one I would recommend at all unless you are a massive Shakespeare fan.
I do have one critique on the art style and that is that some panels are chibi style and/or supposed to be funny. I didn't think that suited the story at all! It really annoyed me at times but it was somewhat compensated by some beautiful drawings of other characters (as I have mentioned above, especially Juliet, Romeo and Juliet's mother).
Overall, this manga was a massive disappointment. It took me forever to finish because I didn't feel attracted to reading it at all. Having not read Shakespeare in a while the language was difficult for me to understand at times (mind you, not always! There are definitely parts that you can just read and understand) which made me feel incredibly bored and frustrated. As I have said, I do not recommend this manga classic. All the other ones that I have read so far have been pretty good but this one is a miss for me.