A review by anbar
Manga Classics Othello by William Shakespeare, Crystal Chan

1.0

Not a great adaptation. The art is not great--feeling like high school notebook anime imitations of low-middle skill--and the panels and limited facial expressions are not arranged in a way that makes the meaning of the dialogue clearer to readers not fluent in Shakespearian English. The introductory pages in particular jump right into thick Elizabethan phrasing, with no background imagery to clarify it or the characters' personalities (even Shakespeare-nerd me who has seen a few Othellos had trouble getting a grasp on what they were going on about). That first scene felt like the first half of it had been cut out. The whole book felt like one of those performances where everyone has memorized their lines but you can tell by their flat or wonky delivery that they don't really understand what they're saying.
For an easier introduction to the play, you're really better off watching a BBC film adaptation with skilled actors.