So many people have read Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, or at least know several quotes from this timeless classic. But reading the script versus actually seeing it played out in pictures is a whole other thing. While I can’t say that I have read the original Romeo and Juliet, I have perused it, back when my sister was obsessed with Shakespeare and wanted to read everything written by him. So I had the general idea of the plot when I decided that my second foray into the Manga Classics would be Romeo and Juliet.

I am happy to say that this version has made a lot of things clearer! The artwork was lovely, and at points, just downright amusing. The ancient style of speech, while understandable if you read a lot of it, has always been a little tough to understand at points, especially since Shakespeare enjoyed using as many metaphors as he possible could, as well as making his characters say things three times in a row. (Which, no matter how many times you read it, still doesn’t make sense.)

I will say that, while some moments of the story were *ahem* inappropriate, that Romeo and Juliet was at least enjoyable, and clearly showed the folly of youth.

Romeo and Juliet: Manga Classics
By: Stacy King
Rating: 3.1/5 3 Stars

Plot: 2.5
I did know the story of Romeo and Juliet from high school, but this was the first time I’ve read the entire story. The plot, of course, is tragic; but this was a great way to read the classic.
I know that this play is beloved by some people but I felt that it was way too dramatic. I rolled my eyes quite a few times. I just don’t understand why Juliet’s parents are complete idiots. And Romeo’s parents never talk to him. He’s gone for several days and not even his friends can keep track of him. There are just a lot of things wrong with this story.

Writing Style: 3
It is written in the original English so it’s not any easier to understand. I was hoping for an updated text but the artwork does help get the feel for what the characters are saying.

Character: 2
I think my favorite character was Mercutio. He was the most realistic of the bunch and seemed to be thinking more clearly than other characters. Romeo, I found it to be too dramatic and frivolous. At the beginning of the story, he is depressed because his girlfriend left him and just a few pages later he sees Juliet and he falls in love.
Juliet, I also found to be dramatic. If the two would have just been honest with their friends and family then they would probably still be alive.

Art: 5
The one good thing about this version of Romeo and Juliet is the artwork. It’s very beautiful. I love how the artist portrayed the character’s emotions. The artwork alone bumps up the rating for this book. I mean, who doesn’t want to read a classic that also has beautiful artwork?

Overall Rating: 3
I didn’t like the story at all. But the artwork is very beautiful. I can recommend this book for people that want to read the classic play and also have some great artwork to go with it. I also recommend it for people who love the play and want to see some beautiful artwork to go with it.

Romeo and Juliet (Manga Classics) art by Julien Choy, 395 pages. GRAPHIC NOVEL
Udon Entertainment, 2018. $18.
Language: PG13 (22 swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content: PG13; Violence: PG13
BUYING ADVISORY: HS - ADVISABLE
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
The Montagues and Capulets are not secretive about their contempt for each other, and the fighting continues against the express decree of the prince. But after Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet meet, they are determined to be together -- no matter what their families think. Friar Laurence finds himself in the middle of Romeo’s and Juliet’s desperate plans to wed, and he helps, hoping that love may end the hateful prejudices of their families.
Romeo and Juliet is a classic story that most know the plot of. In this era, though, we often miss Shakespeare’s humor and metaphors as we get lost in the old English used. With the graphic novel layout, the text is separated into more manageable, less intimidating chunks and assisted by illustrations. While I still used Google to help me understand some lines, I found humor and understanding in this adaptation beyond what I had of this classic before. The mature content ratings if for partial nudity and innuendo; the violence rating is for murder and suicide.
Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen

Manga Classics have so many talented people working to recreate masterpieces, making themselves masterpieces in their own right. I loved this adaptation of another famous classical work, Romeo and Juliet. It is very true to the classic and the artwork is another wonderful way to experience the story. I know I am repeating myself a lot with this vast collection of Manga classics, however, the books truly are such a great way to read and understand the classics in a new way.

Other than being a little indifferent to how the characters' appearances were, compared to the original counterparts, I loved the story. I loved the art; was a beautifully tragic way to showcase this story, and I can't wait to see what comes next from this series.

I did not enjoy this at all. I was never a fan of Romeo and Juliet but I just had to read this version and see if I would enjoy it more. I didn't. The artwork is beautiful but unfortunately that wasn't enough to convince me to finish reading it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

My Rating : 4🌟

Manga style graphic novels has recently really captured my interest and I was really excited to find the classic in this version! I absolutely love the artwork and especially the style of reading. It might be slightly confusing if it's your first time reading a manga, but it's absolutely amazing. I definitely recommend reading this classic in this style and I definitely enjoyed this a lot !!

Another well put together volume in the Manga Classics series. As with other entries in this series, this is a good alternative to reading the play for those audiences who find the language to be a barrier. The art overall is good and supports the narrative without distracting from it, and the way dialogue is broken down by panels serves to emphasize specific lines nicely. One complaint I have is how the more cartoonish designs for some characters made for some tonal issues when compared to the ikemen and bishoujo style of others.

Two of my favourite things: manga and classics. What can I ask more? I love reading manga, so of course I had to read this one. Though I am not a big fan of Romeo and Juliette, I enjoyed seeing a manga version. I think the characters are better like this than in movies or prints. It is a better solution for children to read classics even if they don't like to read the originals.
I can't wait to see more classics as manga. I would love to read Pride and prejudice.

Classic Romeo and Juliet! I think that’s this is a fantastic idea to get young readers interested in the classics !! The artwork was gorgeous and I appreciate the time and effort that was put into this manga

A good visual to the play. Doesn't given modern English translations or scene descriptions (obviously). For those who like Manga or want to have that visual before reading the play in school. Do get introduced to the characters, and at the end you get a visual of their swords and character design which is nice to see.

I love, love, love these manga classics and this was no exception. Very cute way of presenting the story and well done! I love being able to refresh on long classic with just a quick, fun read like this. I'm always hoping for more!

What can I say? We all know Romeo and Juliet's love story, but this new take it's absoluty wonderful, mostly because the art style is really beautiful. I think this manga format is a great idea to approach the classics to a new and young audience.

Another good entry into the Manga Classics line. I enjoyed this more than Macbeth, but then I am something of a hopeless romantic so all the scenes with Romeo and Juliet were quite charming to watch.

I love the art style. It is very in line and current with the conventions of shoujo (girls) manga from the 2010s. The characters are prettily detailed and cute. In particular, Romeo, Juliet, Mercutio, and Paris are so attractively drawn.

I love how the style did well in capturing Mercutio’s distinctive whimsy. The emotions during the famously tragic scenes are well conveyed. Buildings and scenery are also highly detailed and cleanly drawn.

There are many comically drawn scenes that illustrate and express some of the humorous banter that might be hard to grasp from the original prose.

Speaking of prose, as was the case with Manga Classics adaptation of Macbeth, the purity of the lines is fully intact and not re-written with modern standards in mind. I was surprised by how text-heavy some panels are and real effort is made to keep the story as intact as possible. As a result, I find myself reading more slowly to try to fully understand the passages. I like that no major changes were made as the original play as very special and its writing style exquisitely quotable. As usual for Manga Classics, this adaptation is nicely thick at around 400 pages, so I’d say it’s a great dollar value for the time spent.

My two favorite Manga Classics are still The Count of Monte Cristo and especially Les Miserables, but this is easily still among the best in terms of quality and appeal and has perhaps the most high quality art I’ve seen so far from Manga Classics.

I found this one so difficult to read. Somehow the book started off at the beginning? There were too many pictures on one page and all of the characters looked the same.

This manga takes a beloved classic and makes it more iconic! The art style is lovely and adds a more cheerful feel to the story.

Romeo and Juliet is the well-known Shakespeare tale of star-crossed lovers. In this Manga version, the story comes to life in a totally new way. If you’ve never read Shakespeare before, this version will open up the classic story for you.

The Manga Classics series is bringing these stories to a new generation. Manga is a Japanese comic-style book form. It is read from back to front and right to left. That may seem confusing, but you will quickly get the hang of it. The art in the Manga Classics series is amazing. The artists went into meticulous detail to bring these tales to life. Each scene is carefully researched. The researchers, adapter, and artists visited Verona, where the original story took place, and visited all the locations from the play. You will see these locations throughout the book, as backgrounds and as scene settings. Very nicely done!

The story itself is told in the original text, with nothing left out. The accompanying illustrations help the reader understand the story. Shakespeare’s original language is difficult for modern readers to interpret sometimes, but the Manga version has the advantage of being a visual art, so there are plenty of art panels that assist the reader in setting the scene.

Each character has a unique style, and they are drawn with very realistic expressions and body language. What you would see in a play is different from what you see in print form. But the Manga art form really handles storytelling well and gets across the emotions that actors would portray on stage.

I highly recommend Manga Classics Romeo and Juliet. You will see the story come to life. I recommend this for any teacher who wants to bring the classics to their students. This entire series is very well-done. Five stars.

As a high school English teacher I was very excited to so this manga adaptation, It is often very difficult to get my students interested in reading Shakespeare, mostly because the drama format is very unfamiliar and often hard to understand. The best thing for me is that they stick to the original text of the drama. I will be using this in my classroom in the future. I have already requested that my school put in an order for my ninth graders.

Blogger at Momotips

Thanks to Netgalley and Udon Entertainment for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review. It has not influenced my opinions.

Thanks to the Manga Classics collections, readers can read international literature’s classics in a new guise. I personally think that Manga adaptations are such a great idea! As a huge fan of the Romeo and Juliet I read the book, watched the movie, visited their homes in Verona and could not read the Manga adaptation! Romeo and Juliet is one of my favorite classic and I read it long time ago, so I really enjoyed refreshing my memory with this manga adaptation! I loved the manga format because it gives to the story a new cute look, more simple, easy and funny to read. What I loved most of Romeo and Juliet is how has been reinterpreted and illustrated. I was concerned of missing parts, on the contrary I feel the story has been told in a proper way attentive to details.
I do not have negative remarks, on the contrary I will search for other manga classics, and I will definitely recommend to everyone loving classic novels.

I have never read the original Romeo and Juliet, but this Manga was really nice to read. The art style was beautiful. and I'd definitely read more manga classics!