Scan barcode
A review by notenoughnewts
The Great Game by Steven Moffat, Jay.
4.0
I struggled with how to rate this because it’s so close to the TV episode—it’s the script from the show repurposed into a graphic novel/manga. I’ve seen this particular episode multiple times, so I was hoping for a looser retelling of it, but that’s not really a flaw in the book itself. I’m not going to go into the plot; it’s a Sherlock Holmes mystery, so if you enjoy over-the-top but logical mysteries centered around an eccentric but brilliant protagonist, you’ll probably enjoy it.
The script itself is well-adapted. The art is well-drawn and flows nicely, and while the artist obviously used the show as inspiration for character models and settings, the layout and composition of the illustrations are distinct enough from the show that the focus and pacing make some scenes feel quite different. I also really enjoyed the facial expressions because, while they were pretty subtle by manga standards, they were often emphasized more than in live action. John gets more frames by himself, so his reactions don’t get overshadowed by Sherlock as often.
My edition was a bilingual one (English-Japanese) and was clearly meant to help people learning English, though a person can easily read the text in either language. The main text was in English with Japanese in the margins, and there is also an appendix in the back that is exclusively to explain British colloquialisms (like the non-literal use of the word “bloody”) and jokes/puns that don’t translate directly. There were a few sound effects and such that weren’t translated into English, which seemed a little odd since sometimes the thing making the noise wasn’t in the frame (making it hard to guess just from visual context), but I only remember that happening a handful of times, and they weren’t vital to the plot.
Overall, this book is a good adaptation and a useful language study aid. I enjoyed the difference in presentation from the show, but another person might be kind of bored if they already know the plot.
The script itself is well-adapted. The art is well-drawn and flows nicely, and while the artist obviously used the show as inspiration for character models and settings, the layout and composition of the illustrations are distinct enough from the show that the focus and pacing make some scenes feel quite different. I also really enjoyed the facial expressions because, while they were pretty subtle by manga standards, they were often emphasized more than in live action. John gets more frames by himself, so his reactions don’t get overshadowed by Sherlock as often.
My edition was a bilingual one (English-Japanese) and was clearly meant to help people learning English, though a person can easily read the text in either language. The main text was in English with Japanese in the margins, and there is also an appendix in the back that is exclusively to explain British colloquialisms (like the non-literal use of the word “bloody”) and jokes/puns that don’t translate directly. There were a few sound effects and such that weren’t translated into English, which seemed a little odd since sometimes the thing making the noise wasn’t in the frame (making it hard to guess just from visual context), but I only remember that happening a handful of times, and they weren’t vital to the plot.
Overall, this book is a good adaptation and a useful language study aid. I enjoyed the difference in presentation from the show, but another person might be kind of bored if they already know the plot.