It might be because I don't know the original, it might be because even at 400pp it's too abrupt, but this seemed seriously over-egged to me.  Ooh a horse disaster bring just the right person to the right door, ooh a woman fainting at a back story involving a servant I really couldn't give a toss about...  There clearly are problems with this book making everyone look and act as if they are in a manga and not historical France, but there are also problems with the cheesiness of it all, which I will charitably lay at the feet of M Dumas and not these creators.  Not my thing - DNF at a third.

Absolutely lovely. Perfect to keep to keep readers engaged and interested in classics. A must for teachers.

A wonderful addition to a great series, I'm so happy that one of my favorite novels of all time has been transformed into a different medium, Manga! Manga Classics has reinvented the traditional story with gorgeous illustrations and the author has stayed true to the overall themes and emotions of The Count of Monte Cristo. I enjoyed taking a new look at characters that were a little different than I had imagined before. Until recently, this format (Manga) was basically unknown to me, but I've kept up with this series and truly have been converted. What a great way to introduce new readers to the classics, and a fun way to reintroduce books to old fans. Recommended. 

Net Galley Feedback

I grew up reading illustrated classics so I enjoy these graphic novel adaptations and was excited to receive an ARC from Netgalley to review. The Count of Monte Cristo is challenging source material, but this adaptation does a great job at keeping the myriad of characters and plotlines from getting tangled. Edmond Dantes' emotional journey is also well portrayed, and I sped through this quickly.

A classic story redone in Manga format. This is honestly the first Manga book I’ve ever read. I was severely distracted by the backwards manner in which this book needs to be read. I understand that’s the way it’s supposed to be, but it’s like driving on the wrong side of the road. Overall, this book just did not fit my taste whatsoever. However, two stars for making a classic story more accessible to readers.

First, the setting. It’s set in France in the 19th century. And there are balls, parties, pirates and so on. Who doesn’t love France?

I also liked that the author exposed the corruption in the society. The book is basically about destroying corrupt men to the point of no return. Although, I don’t like the concept of revenge, I could understand why it was needed. The men involved were very awful people.

In the end, a plot twist occurs that was very welcome (can’t say more. Sorry😏)

I recommend this book to everyone.

I was a little iffy on the thought of a long and classic novel like "The Count of Monte Christo" getting a manga adaptation. It didn't turned out much better than I thought it would. I have great illustrations and it shows the story in a way I never thought it would be shown.

A fun manga adaptation of the Count of Monte Cristo. Our patrons love these!

This was a really interesting way to revisit a popular tale. The artwork is incredible and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the story brought to life through the drawings.

The Count of Monte Cristo is one of those classic stories that everyone should read in school. If you haven’t read it yet, then you can now in a manga adaptation. Manga is a visual, graphic-novel type format. The classic story of the Count is made accessible to a new audience with the new manga version. 

The story follows Edmond Dantes, who later becomes the Count of Monte Cristo. (No spoilers. You’ll see how if you read it.) He is a young man who is about to get married and get a promotion at work. However, several men turn against him and bring false charges and basically ruin his life! He is thrown in prison without a trial and sits there for years, while his fiancé marries someone else and his father dies of starvation. The rest of the story follows Edmond, after he becomes the Count and returns to get his revenge on those who wronged him so badly. The way Edmond pulls it all off is very intricate and requires quite a bit of planning on his part, but everything comes together at the end.  There are plenty of plot twists and subplots for the reader to follow. The manga version is condensed and not as long as the original, but the story comes through very clearly without sacrificing any of the original plot elements. 

The manga has high-quality illustrations to accompany the text. Each character is drawn with care in accurate period costumes. The artist even visited some of the actual locations in the book and toured them so that the drawings would be accurate renditions of those places. The people who created this book did an awesome job on it! 

This story involves a large cast of characters. It can be difficult to keep them all straight at times. To help the reader, there is a two-page character relationship guide that you can turn to if you need to refresh your memory on who a character is. 

I think you will enjoy this story and the manga presentation. I have read other books in the Manga Classics series and can recommend them as well. Each one is a work of art, and makes for a very interesting way to read classic literature. 

I thank NetGalley and the publisher for the advance reader copy I received in exchange for my honest review.

Edmond Dantes is betrayed by a coworker who wants his job, a romantic rival who will steal his bride, and a crooked government prosecutor with a dark secret to hide. Thrown into prison for decades, Dantes eventually escapes, becomes fabulously wealthy, and vows revenge on those who ruined his life.

Count of Monte Cristo is one of my top five favorite novels of all time, so I was interested to see how one of my favorite stories would translate into manga form. Although they had to simplify the story considerably, and there are really too many characters for a stand-alone manga, I enjoyed this wonderful adaptation of a classic tale!

I love the beautiful artwork! I was glad to see that each character has such a unique style that makes them, their clothing, their hair, and face really memorable, which is essential with so many characters.

There is also a family tree/character relationship chart at the back of the book to help you keep track of all the characters; although it does contain some spoilers, so I wouldn't look at it if you haven't previously read the story.

Even though the story is condensed, the bones of the novel are there with all their intricacies and mystery and flair. I was especially glad to see that character development is not lost in the super-plot. The author takes time to establish emotional connections between characters, and we still get to see Dantes go through all the ups and downs of his passionate nature. So much of the beauty of the story is lost because of the constraints of the manga form, but I think the author did a superb job of maintaining the truth of the story, the style and expression of the book.

Disclaimer: I received an ecopy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts and are not influenced by anyone.

Great illustrations and a must add to any libraries Graphic Novel collection.

I LOVE the source material, The Count of Monte Cristo. It's the ultimate tale of revenge (with a little redemption thrown in), and it's one of my all-time favorite novels.

As an adaptation, the manga does a very good job of staying close to the original plot. Pretty much all the main characters (and even some side ones) are present and accounted for, as are all the key elements of the Count's revenge schemes against Mondego, Danglars and Villefort. If you're that person who would rather watch the movie than read the book, but wants to get all the right info (you know, for Jeopardy, smartypants conversations, *whispers* school assignments), this is not a bad way to go.

As a manga on its own, I think this book could have been better. The artwork is nice, but the narrative tries to cram in so much. There are character nameplates everywhere for the first third of the book, half of which we probably didn't need, and there were a number of places where I wished for, ironically, more showing and less telling.

My biggest issue is that the story rushes through Edmond's time in prison and doesn't show any of his journey to get the treasure. I don't think you needed all of it, but the point where Edmond finds the treasure, has the world at his feet, and chooses revenge...that's a big moment! They tried to create that moment later, but I think the story and the Count's character arc were poorer without the original.

I think the manga would have flowed better if it took the movie's route and combined or omitted parts of the original, but that wasn't the manga's goal. It is supposed to be a faithful adaptation of Dumas' novel, and it does that pretty well.

The rich story of Count de Monte Cristo comes to life in this amazing manga, with rich drawings, long detailed plot and many deep emotions. I didn't expect the ending since I've watched the movies but I did like it very much!

I've been meaning to read The Count of Monte Cristo for years, but have always felt a little intimidated. This manga adaptation was a wonderful way to introduce myself to this classic work in a much more approachable way. The illustrations help interpret some of the more archaic language as well to make the entire work more cohesive and understandable.

This is one of the better in the manga classics line; I've been critical of past efforts, especially the overwrought Pride and Prejudice, but I think the authors are improving.  Novels are more than their plot and with the classics, the milieu is as important as the characterizations (and sadly lacking in previous manga classic efforts). In this case, a daunting task of taking a 1000 page Dumas adventure novel and turning it into a graphic adaptation that still makes sense was undertaken.  And it is surprisingly coherent.

Story:  In post Napleonic France, Edmund Dantes is about to become captain of a ship and wed his love; on his wedding day, three men conspire to steal his happiness away:  the spurned rival for his fiancee's affection, a compromised lawyer, and a fellow shipmate who feels he better deserves the captaincy.  Through forged documents, Edmund is framed and sent to prison - the feared Chateau D'If on a far away island.  After years of incarceration, and with the help of a treasure left to him from a fellow cellmate, Edmund transforms himself into the Count of Monte Cristo and enacts his revenge on those who wronged him.

The plot is quite elaborate and the authors made smart choices on where to condense.  Edmund's escape from the Chateau, several party scenes, and his time in prison with Abbe are greatly reduced or jettisoned altogether to focus on the revenge aspect and the main villains.  I think it was a smart decision to not leave off one of the villains since it would have destroyed some of the integrity of Dumas' work.

Even then, with all the name changes as all the villains used their dirty work to rise in the world, it can be a bit confusing.  Fortunately, there is a chart that shows the relationships of the characters and how they are involved with Dantes/The Count.  It makes it much easier to follow the story as a result.

I do still get frustrated when the historical aspects are not followed through thoroughly enough.  Especially clothing and hairstyles, attitudes and mores.  Since this is a manga adaptation, dresses are flowy, hair is left loose, everyone looks like they are 15 and dewey eyed, and all the dramatic scenes are over the top.  So while the intricacies of Dumas' book remain, everything is hyper translated to melodramatic degrees.

In all, I enjoyed this particular adaptation and wasn't as annoyed as with the other classics.  I wouldn't put the Pride and Prejudice version in the school library but I've have no problem adding this particular book's adaptation.  Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

I loved this.
I was a little leery at first because The Count of Monte Cristo is one of my favorite novels, I wasn't sure how safe it'd be in the manga edition. It's a fairly big book with a lot going on, and I know the story would have to be abridged to make it into this but suffice to say I wasn't disappointed at all. I loved it. The most important bits were here, the art was beautiful and helped give an extra depth to the story and it was immensely enjoyable.

I am delighted to say that is yet another wonderful rendition of a classic book by Udon Entertainment. They have made it possible for me to enjoy so many classics by turning them into graphic novels. I can only guess at how massive of an undertaking it is to do this. I have not read many of the classics over the years, but I am so enthralled with this method of enjoying them, I can’t get enough.  I also get a kick out of how the books are read backwards. (Start at the last page instead of the first.) 

There are so many reasons why I think graphic novels are a wonderful way to enjoy a book:  the pictures make it easier to understand the characters emotions and what is going on in the scene without a lot of extra words, and children enjoy reading them.  This is a book, I’m sure would not get a lot of attention in a library in typical novel form, but with the addition of a colorful cover and stunning artwork throughout, this becomes a book with a very large audience.

I highly recommend these Manga books.

Manga Classics: The Count of Monte Cristo (Paperback) 
by Crystal S. Chan
A beautifully rendered edition of the story, taking a dynamic story and bringing it to the modern era. The idea that the historical aspects of the story influenced the artwork makes it more beautiful and a masterpiece.