A review by sarasreadingnook
Manga Classics Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery, Crystal Chan

hopeful inspiring

4.75

Entertaining, fun, and faithful adaptation of Anne of Green Gables!

The setting of L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables is stunning. There is the beauty of the nearby ocean, with beaches filled with reddened sand. And the smell of the lush greenery and delicate flowers that are abundant during the warm months. This is quite a famous classic and I was so thrilled to see that there was a manga copy available since this provides a new arena for this story to be told, in an addition to all other adaptations (e.g., film, audio theatre, graphic novels, etc.)

Now, let’s discuss the manga itself. The manga is quite true to the book, which is the first of many books about Anne Shirley. The original book itself was written in 1908 and covers Anne’s life from the age of 11-16 in which you see a lot of personal growth and development of her character with time. The manga does a great job of illustrating Anne, her adoptive family, and other characters, as well as the home in which Anne lives. I was very impressed with the care that was taken to ensure the setting and scenery appeared accurate. Some characters have differences in appearance and I think those distinctions were translated quite well using manga artwork!

Anne has a very distinctive voice and doesn’t quite talk or act like anyone I’ve read about in any other book - and I think this was very well captured by the manga, which appears to be quite similarly and well adapted from the original dialogue. In fact, all of the characters - their dialogue and actions feel quite authentic!

I also appreciate the ancillary information at the end of the book which includes Crystal C. Chan’s thoughts and process on adapting the book: setting the focus, processing the details, Easter eggs, notes on incorporating feminism into the manga, and the ways in which manga is a strong medium for presenting the book.

In my opinion, this is the most entertaining, fun, and creative adaptation I have read of Anne of Green Gables that also manages to stay quite true to the original book. It was a total joy to read and I’m so happy it is in illustrated form since I think it has the potential to create an impact on young readers and fans of manga, alike!

Thank you to NetGalley for a review copy. All opinions are my own.