Manga March Book Review: Hamlet (No Fear Shakespeare Graphic Novel) by Neil Babra

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Book Review
Book Title: Hamlet
Book Author: William Shakespeare
Adapter/Illustrator: Neil Babra

Introduction: I love Shakespeare, and Hamlet has always been my favourite of all of his plays and sonnets so when I saw this little manga on sale at a location book shop I had to pick it up and read it. I read it about 3  years ago, but I finally found it again on my bookshelf and decided to read it again and review it.

Review:

This adaption is truly an adaption – it’s not identical to the original, but it’s great for younger readers wanting to get into Shakespeare. The typical Shakespeare form is not used, but that makes it easier for read for those not fluent in his verses.

This task of adapting the famous Hamlet into a shorter, simpler work would have been hard but Neil Babra makes it look so easy. The story is shortened into a perfect, young reader-friendly adaption. The famous lines are still in there, but they are so much easier to understand and read. The book is not dumbed down by any means, so readers do not have to worry – this book is a timeless, incredible adaption that should definitely be introduced to young readers.

The artwork is fantastic and matches perfectly with the story. The wordplay that Shakespeare uses is often seen within the pages of this book in illustrated form, which can make any true Shakespeare fan get a true chuckle out of this work.

Overall, this book was fantastic. The facial expressions, the artwork, the rewording, and the narrative are all fantastic.

Five out of five stars.

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March Manga Book Review: The Infernal Devices Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare

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Book Review
Book Title: Clockwork Prince (The Infernal Devices, Manga #2)
Author: Cassandra Clare
Illustrator: HyeKyung Baek

Review:
This manga does a great job of sticking close to the source material. I often find that rehashes of books/movies/television series often stray and try to do their own thing, but this adaption is pretty spot on.

This adaption also does a good job of developing characters in the picture print setting. I liked seeing the characters alongside the words that went with them. It added a bonus to the original source material. I would suggest that readers go for the original source material before this adaption, since it does not do perfect justice to the Clockwork Prince novel.

This was basically a shorter version of the books. There isn’t as much development and plot, but when you can only use pictures and have so many pages, there will be limitations. Don’t expect every aspect of the book to be in this manga, but do expect it to be an incredible adaption. Were there parts missing that I would have liked to see? Yes. Would I have gotten rid of anything that was put in this manga? No. It’s perfect the way it is.

I highly recommend this manga, even if you haven’t read the book. The artwork is great, the character development and plot is beautiful, and as far as adaptions go it has won my heart over.

Five out of five stars.

Manga March Book Review: Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Volume 7 by Naoko Takeuchi

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Book Review:
Book Title: Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Volume 7
Book Author: Naoko Takeuchi

Introduction: I have always loved Sailor Moon, so when my local bookstore got a majority of the Pretty Guardian manga series I had to pick it up and read it! This is a great throw back to my childhood!

Review:

Number seven in this series slows down a little in pace until the Sailor Moon power-up. While it is a slower volume, the artwork is still fantastic, and the manga is still cute, fun and fabulous! I definitely would not consider putting this series down even though the pace is slower.

This part of the arc is still a great continuation. The characters are still being built upon, the action is still interesting and the covers are absolutely gorgeous.

If anything, I am excited to see more of the characters be introduced in this series. I can’t exactly find anything wrong to force me to put these down and start another manga. This author knows what the readers want, and that makes this manga so much better than expected.

This series focuses on friendships, magic, teamwork and family. While there are some darker elements to the story (such as Sailor Saturn’s personality) it helps make the story not to light. It’s a great series of opposite elements. The love and compassion in this story mixed with the evil and death make it a great story full of thought and problem solving.

Overall, I loved it. I can’t wait to pick up the next in this series! The battling elements and steady paces make the readers gravitate towards this story continuously, and that makes it an excellent series of manga.

Five out of five stars.

Manga March Book Review: Vampire Knight Volume 16 by Matsuri Hino

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Book Review
Book Title: Vampire Knight Volume 16
Author: Matsuri Hino

Introduction: I read this series a long time ago, but I completely forgot to pick up this volume in the series. It’s been sitting on my book shelf, so I decided to pick it up and get back into this wonderful series.

Review:
Vampire Knight 16 brings yet another great spin to the ever continuing, fantastical story!

This story is for sure one of my favourite manga series. This ongoing soap opera has kept me hooked at every turn, and I cannot wait to pick up the next book in this series.

Yuki getting back into being a strong, female lead. For a while she wasn’t the strongest character in the series, but she is slowly getting back to her initial ways. While it may take a few issues for her to get back to her truly, incredibly, strong self, I’m glad she’s getting back to the character i initially fell in love with.

Kaname was the main focus of this Volume. He wants to kill purebloods, and Yuki and the Headmaster do not want him to do so. This novel also gives some insight into Sara and her ulterior motives within her position.

This volume in the series is a little more confusing than the others, but I still enjoyed it. The plot of this story seems to more be focusing on what the characters are up to, instead of plot development. That being said, when a series goes this long sometimes the authors need to drag the story out a little bit to keep readers interested – maybe the confusion in this volume will be answered in the next.

Overall, I enjoyed this volume. While it isn’t the best volume in the series, it is still a great addition. The artwork is fantastic, it kept me interested, and now I want to read the next Volume to know what’s going on.

Five out of five stars!!