Kicking off 2025 with something different for me - Manga! I really enjoy Sherlock Holmes stories (especially movie & TV adaptations) and I haven't read any Manga before. This book was a fun way to re-read this classic and introduce me to Manga.

This first Sherlock mystery works great in the Manga format, artist Julien Choy did a fantastic job retelling A Study in Scarlet through their art. I loved the style, every panel was beautiful to look at. (Swipe to see a couple of screenshots of Watson and Sherlock.) The end of the book says a second adventure is coming, I can't wait to read it!

Many thanks to @netgalley and @mangaclassics for sending me this ARC, a great way to start my year of reading.

I've never read any of the Sherlock Holmes novel. All I've seen is the BBC show of it and... it really informed my view of the characters when I read this. Sherlock and Watson were seriously more than friends given by how they acted around one another and how they spoke about one another and too one another. It makes me want to read the novels to see if the subtext everyone brings to these characters is actually present in the original works.

I am a fan of the Sherlock Holmes books and the Sherlock TV show so I was excited to recieve an advanced copy from NetGalley.

I was curious how these verbose characters would work in a manga but it is done well. The full color panels were beautiful. The writing was succinct where it hits all the deduction components of the story so the trail of clues makes sense albeit it felt simplified vs reading this store in a prose structure.

This is a great manga for students who don’t care for traditional prose to help segue into the actual classics. It’s not a replacement for the original but a nice supplement.

I thought the main personalities of Holmes and Watson were spot on even if slightly lacking. Having so many versions of these beloved characters makes them easily recognizable but I wonder if others not as familiar would find them lackluster. I could easily fill in any blanks with my bias in knowing this story already so it’s hard to say how well the manga format works. I think Holmes is especially known to be mysterious and takes a lot of time to learn more about his character so this could be intentional as the the manga relies on additional volumes to develop the characters.

This is super easy to read so I think middle grade and high school readers would enjoy it since it doesn’t have the complexities that you get with Doyle’s works.

The timeless brilliance of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s A Study in Scarlet gets a vibrant new life in this full-color manga adaptation. Manga Classics excels at capturing the essence of Holmes and Watson’s debut adventure while adding visual depth and dynamic storytelling to the classic tale.

The artwork is stunning, with detailed depictions of Victorian London that transport readers straight into the heart of 1888. The character designs are expressive, perfectly conveying Sherlock Holmes’ eccentric genius and Dr. John Watson’s steadfast loyalty. The use of color enhances the dramatic tension, especially in scenes like the crime scene’s eerie red "RACHE" scrawl.

The manga format excels at pacing the story, balancing action, deduction, and the emotional weight of the backstory. The visual presentation makes the complex narrative more accessible without compromising the intrigue or the original’s sophisticated plotting.

While some purists might find the artistic liberties taken with certain elements a bit bold, the adaptation remains faithful to the spirit of the source material. Fans of Sherlock Holmes and newcomers alike will find this manga a thrilling and beautifully crafted introduction to the legendary detective’s world.

Highly recommended for manga lovers, mystery enthusiasts, and anyone curious about the enduring appeal of Holmes and Watson.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC!

I enjoyed reading the original Sherlock Holmes stories, so to see it adapted into manga format, in full colour no less, was a fun find! The artwork is stunning, and I pretty much read this in one sitting. I also strongly believe that the artist ships Holmes and Watson (as do I), which was so fun to see visually represented!!!

It is a great way to experience the classics and looking forward to more of it.

✒️📖ARC REVIEW📖🖋️

I have always been a fan of all renditions of Sherlock Holmes. It’s nice to see that the manga did A Study in Scarlett justice.

I will note that since this is a manga with full color images (some liberties were taken with character design to make it more inline with modern “pretty” anime style of the main characters) not all of the words where there as the images do some of the heavy lifting. The sweeping narration that is customary to Sherlock’s discoveries from deductions is all there.

There are some character drawings included in the back. Needless to say…I am excited for the next one.

I was provided a free advanced reader copy courtesy of Udon Entertainment via NetGalley. I am leaving this honest review voluntarily.

#arc #advancedreadercopy #NetGalley #MangaClassics #UdonEntertainment

This was a delightfully inventive and refreshing take on a well-known and often-retold story.

I've read many Sherlock rewrites and spinoffs over the years, and rarely is he portrayed as a person. Most writers so often treated him clinically, as though he is a machine. Maybe telling his story in a manga is what did the trick?

I am in love with the approach to the story, and the artwork was exquisite, which further helped to humanize Sherlock, and give better context for Watson. Outside of the BBC/Netflix series featuring Benedict Cumberbatch, I haven't found any portrayal more relatable than the one in this manga.

Five stars.

A good manga adaptation of a classic Sherlock Holmes story, about as accurate as any adaptation that has to deal with the limits of the chosen medium. There’s never enough room in a comic to really delve in a mystery, so many corners were cut, making it seem like the mystery was solved rather miraculously. Suspects sprung up out of the blue, and the real killer even faster.

This is the first Holmes story where he and Watson meet. Their cohabitation was brushed on, with Watson being much more understanding of Holmes’ eccentric manners than usually. For his part, Holmes was less obnoxious than in other versions. They were drawn very differently than is the custom, a bit of manga and a lot of steampunk, though I wish the artist had gone with some of the other styles they considered for Watson, shown at the end of the story, as all of them were better than the one selected. In general, the art wasn’t terribly accurate historically or geographically, but it was full colour and pretty. If you want a quick recap or introduction of the story, this will work fine.

We all know A Study in Red, but it is also worth rereading as manga, with the two characters engaged (at least in my opinion) in a kind of bromance. Maybe it's a YAOI and I didn't know it, anyway it's cute.

Uno studio in rosso lo conosciamo tutti, ma vale la pena anche rileggerselo come manga, con i due personaggi impegnati (almeno secondo me) in una sorta di bromance. Magari é uno YAOI e io non lo sapevo, comunque é carino.

I received from the Publisher a complimentary digital advanced review copy of the book in exchange for a honest review.

A very faithful adaptation of A Study in Scarlet. Follows the beats of the original very closely and the dialogue appears to have been lifted directly from the book. The adapters did a pretty good job of pacing this ~150 year-old story to the manga format without leaving out anything big from the original. The adaptation is close enough it might even get you through a book report! I didn't love it, but its possible my own familiarity with Holmes and this story in particular made it all feel a little rote. For fresh eyes, this seems like it would be a pretty good way of introducing readers to Holmes.

Received a digital ARC of this book via NetGalley.

This is a manga recreation of the classic Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes. I’ve watched various television and movie recreations but have yet to read the actual story. So, this was a nice medium to read the classic. The artwork beautifully captures the essence of Sherlock Holmes and the time period it was originally based in. The narrative perfectly captures the story well. I’ve read quite a few of these manga classics and have found each of them to be quick reads that could help young readers to actually read and understand the classics in a more modern medium. I definitely recommend these manga classics to teachers and/or parents.

I enjoy this take on Sherlock Holmes: A Study in Scarlet. It's a great manga adaptation of the original story. Some details I enjoyed was John have tan skin near the beginning, not many adaptations noticeably make John more tan even if it is mentioned that he is. Sherlock's outfit is top notch in my opinion, the hat that he wears is also more historically accurate than the iconic hat everyone knows of based on my personal visit to the Sherlock Holmes museum in London. This manga is certainly meant to follow the original content written by Doyle closely rather than taking a spin on the canon story like "Moriarty the Patriot" or the BBC Sherlock manga that was published in inspiration to the show, so this manga holds its own when it comes to telling the original story. I loved being able to see the sketches in the end to see what other appearances our characters could have had, its always a fun extra to see the artist through the creative process.

The art carries a more simplistic but easy to look at style that brings color to the black and white world of the Sherlock books. There were a few pages that I felt could have some adjustment or touch ups before it publishes, but the overall content and speech bubbles all did great to convey the original beginning of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson's adventures.

I think the illustrator did an amazing job with this story. The character art fit their personalities so well. They also did a great job on the actual story itself. This was my first time reading the manga classic series and will definitely be reading the rest of them! This Manga being done in full color too was a good surprise. Overall I have no complaints and am looking forward to reading more like this!

I love Manga Classics and was pleasantly surprised to read a full color story from start to finish. Sherlocks quirks and personality blended well with his manga illustration. Would definitely gift to a friend that enjoys literature and manga.

I have always been a huge fan of the Manga Classics series, so when I saw that they were coming back with a Sherlock Holmes adaptation, I jumped at the chance to read it!
And I was not disappointed!
Honestly I didn’t expect it to be in full color, so that was a pleasant surprise. The character designs were perfect, with Sherlock looking more on the wily side and Watson a bit more on the innocent side, fitting their personalities. I will always enjoy the fact that Manga Classics always keep the dialogue straight from the source story (or at least most of it) instead of turning it into more modern language, so it’s really just like reading the original work.
I can’t say I really have any complaints. If you love Sherlock and manga, you’ll definitely love this adaptation!
NOTE: I received a complimentary copy from the publisher via NetGalley for review purposes only. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was very fun read. Once I understood how the book flowed I was ready. It was a typical Sherlock Holmes story with him being awesome as always and Watson being the ever present sidekick. What I like about this is that it told a story of how they, Sherlock and Watson found themselves to become partners. Being my first Manga I was pleasantly surprised with the way the author was able to keep a decent pace with the story telling and how the images assisted in moving the story along, making the pictures almost a character in its own right.

I enjoyed this quick read, it was very relaxing between my epic fantasy reads.

I am leaving this honest review voluntarily thanks to the ARC received from Netgalley. Thank you to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and Julien Choy for entrusting me with an ARC of you interpretation of a classic character.

This is an awesome read. I have read Sherlock Holmes before but to see it illustrated like this brings everything into perspective. It's like seeing Sherlock animated. Definitely liked the artwork and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle never disappoints with Sherlock.

I love reading this Manga series to see how the classics are interpreted into visuals. I appreciate the simplicity and how difficult that is to achieve. This isn’t a favourite for me. Somehow, and I can’t put my finger on what, I couldn’t relate to the visual representation of Sherlock and Watson and, being so key to the story, that made it difficult to enjoy overall. Others are likely to differ entirely to my opinion so if you enjoy unusual storytelling says - such as Sherlock Manga - give this one a go!

I have not read the original A Study in Scarlet.

I really enjoyed this manga. The coloring was amazing as was the artwork. It was never hard to understand what was going on or who was talking. The characters were really interesting and I felt like they were fairly true to the source material. Honestly, I really loved this manga. It had me laughing out loud.

This was a fun and entertaining way to read about Sherlock Holmes. Holmes and Watson bounce off each other pretty well. The colorful illustrations are reminiscent of older generations of Anime art styles from the early 2000's. The pacing wasn't stuttered or forced in any way and the comic style was pleasing to see. the only problem I have is that some bubbles have a bit too much dialogue that makes it hard to read at times. But otherwise it was a great read!