A review by wordsaremyforte
Muse: Oversized Deluxe Edition by Denis-Pierre Filippi

3.0

So right off the bat, I have to say the art was breathtaking, and no, I don't mean the excessive fan service parts. The splendor of Boy Lord Vernere's estate was excellently drawn, especially with regard to the detail put into each of his machines, adding to the Victorian steampunk nature of the setting. In Coraline's dream sequences, we really see how skilled this artist is in portraying a diverse array of settings and characters.

On the story side of things...
This had so much potential to be better than it was, unfortunately. The entire story is wrapped up within 100 or so pages, but it could have easily warranted 200+ for its scope. The characters, while pretty to look at, did not hold too much depth to them. The reason why Coraline

Spoiler

and the many girls before her

is brought to the estate is explicitly stated

Spoiler

to replace Vernere's mother figure and heal his emotional trauma

, but the logic behind it is never explained. The dream sequences are left in ambiguity, and I suppose this is the side of me that is averse to magical realism showing. Regardless, the ending was rushed and did not allow for a proper denouement to clearly explain what was going on with Coraline

Spoiler

and her out of the blue sister

or Vernere. It left much of the plot up to interpretation, which is not inherently wrong, but it definitely could have been executed better.