Cover Image: Manga Classics: Jane Eyre

Manga Classics: Jane Eyre

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~This ARC has been gently provided in exchange for an honest review~

I absolutely loved this manga version of Jane Eyre. This is my favourite Charlotte Brontë's novel and it's amazing what Crystal S. Chan and SunNeko Lee have done with the story adaptation and the art.

Jane Eyre went to live with her uncle and family after her parent's death. Her uncle was very kind and treated her as one of his own children, but everything changes after his death. Her aunt disliked her very much and her cousins bullied her constantly.

One day, Jane Eyre was sent to Lowood, a charity school for orphan girls. She didn't know this at first; she was quite happy to leave her aunt's house and she thought that at Lowood School she wouldn't be mistreated. Therefore, it was hard at the beginning, but as days went by, Jane learned to control her emotions and with the help and love of her friend Helen and Ms. Temple, her days at Lowood were better. She stayed for eight years; two of them as a teacher. When Ms. Temple married and, therefore, left the school, everything at Lowood seemed differet to Jane; she realised that the world was wide and varied, she had to move on too.

Jane's new beginning would start at Thornfield. She was hired as a governess for a little French girl called Adéle. The first three months were quiet, but Jane felt unsitisfied, she needed to do something else, "[humans] must have action, and they will make it if they cannot find it."

Mr. Rochester was what Jane's restless spirit was waiting for. Although, he seemed "changeful and abrupt" at first, soon Jane realised Mr. Rochester's deepest feelings. Nevertheless, a long path should be walked by Jane before the life she longed for could become true.

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I want to start this review with a thank you to NetGalley and UDON Entertainment for sending this eBook to me in exchange for an honest review.
This is my first experience with reading Jane Eyre. I have a couple of shelves on my bookcase dedicated to the classics, but there are many I haven’t read yet, and this is one of them. Also, I am fairly new to reading manga’s and graphic novels. I find them to be entertaining in the story telling as well as the beautiful graphics.
After reading this, I’ve decided that I want to read the original Jane Eyre. I think it would be interesting to compare the differences. This manga has beautiful illustrations and tells the story of an orphan whose aunt takes her in and decides to send her off to a strict boarding school. Jane’s life has been hard, and we see her doing her best to work through bullying and difficult circumstances. The mystery begins after she accepts a governess position and there is an attack on the Master of the house, Mr. Rochester, and Jane wonders who would want to hurt him and why.
I don’t think it’s necessary to read the original before reading it in this format, however, I’m sure there are differences. I also love seeing classics being formatted in this way so that they appeal to a wider audience. I don’t think this makes a good recommendation for younger readers because it does contain dark themes, but it makes a great read for adults.

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Jane Eyre is a classic story that has stood the test of time. However, reading the events and seeing them unfold reaches readers a different way. As much as I enjoy reading classics it usually takes me a couple of readings before I can fully grasp all the events that are happening. Being able to read this book in manga form has shown me all the nuances that I usually miss in the first reading. The artwork was very clear leaving the reader with undeniably beautiful images for the setting and characters. Although there was very little difference in the transition of Jane from childhood to adulthood in the drawings, the story moved exactly like the book with very minor changes that enhanced the story. I was able to understand the events and follow the dialog a bit better using this version of the story than the traditional version. I do wish this was an option when I was taking my English classes in college. A great way to read a classic and enjoy it.

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Jane Eyre was a book I had heard a lot about. When I read the original book, I found it slow and dragging. The Manga classic was a perfect alternative. Lovely illustrations and the story is narrated so well. Recommended for people who are lazy to read classics like me

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I have mixed feelings on this Jane Eyre Manga Classic. This is my second Manga classic, and I found it varied more from the original text than the first one I had read. The overall story was the same, but I found the emotions off in the illustrations. Most of the illustration issues being where it looks like characters are screaming at the top of their lungs at each other. I know they aren’t in the original text, so that threw me at times. I do not know if this is typical in Manga, meaning that the shouting looks means a certain speech type that isn’t shouting, and I am just not used to it, or if it was meant to make the overall story more dramatic in places that are more demure in the original text. The authour does address this at the beginning and did give a heads up as to why things were changed. A lot of it has to do with the original point of view Jane Eyre was written in. I found several times, I felt thrown into learning something quickly (less mysteriousness like in the original,) but I think this was due to how the authour had to change the points of view and get messages across clearer since there is less content to go on. I did like that the authour was still able to express what was going on in Jane’s head, even though it was not the focus.
There were many beautiful illustrations, but the one that stood out most to me, and as a visual learner found very helpful, was the one of the family tree later on in the story. At the end the reader also learns how the height decisions and hairstyling decisions were made for this Manga, which I think is really cool, even though not the most historically accurate. One aspect of narrating and illustrations I found interesting, yet kind of unnecessary were the double lines distinguishing that the characters were speaking French. The entire text is in English, so except establishing that the characters speak French, I found it unnecessary. I think it could have been cool to see basic French in the bubbles, with translations at the bottom of the page, for those who do not know any French.
Lastly, no great interpretation or retelling is complete without quotes that stay with readers through the generations. This Manga had quite a few. I found quotes were the only time I felt the speech was not modern. I would have liked to have seen more old terms or speech, just to add another dimension.
This Manga retelling, while there was content, I would have liked to see different, so the overall spirit of the story shines through. I love Jane Eyre for her strong morals, and I hope her morals will continue to inspire readers through this Manga, especially those who would never pick up an original written by Charlotte Bronte.

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I loved seeing this classic under the Manga scope. The characters seemed much more reachable in this format. Great story in unique genre.

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Earlier this year, I had forayed into reading Wuthering Heights, and while I found it to be odd, I also enjoyed how different it was from most books of that period. Finishing the book, I turned to reading Jane Eyre, but was unable to finish the first chapter.

Reading this adaption of the famous classic has given me an idea of the story’s plot and shows just how different this story is from the author’s sister’s work. Wuthering Heights was dark and strange. Jane Eyre, however, was lighter and more hopeful, despite Jane’s dismal beginnings. Jane shone through the story with her strong will and her perseverance, no matter how bad her circumstances became. Her independence is admiral. Full of mystery and tension, the plot is just quick enough to keep the reader engaged. However, at times, it moved a bit too slow for my taste.

Overall, this adaptation of Jane Eyre is not only beautiful with its excellent drawings, but fascinating, with its dive into the past, bringing the characters to life in period-accurate clothing and hairstyles.

NOTE: I received a complimentary copy from the publisher through NetGalley for review purposes only. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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It was really amazing to see the story in manga form, but I felt like it was a bit too long.
I liked it more, if it was shorter.

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Jane Eyre is the story of an orphan girl, despised by her relatives for being poor, and ending in an orphanage of the time, with cold and hunger. Then she will end up going as a girl's governess in Thornfield Hall, there her employer is a temperamental and strange man named Rochester.

This is a classic of literature, and is even considered feminist by many of the character's ideas (which are from believed come from Charlotte Brontë's autobiographical material). The relevant thing about Jane is that a woman who rebels against injustices, and whose bad circumstances fail to undermine her own inner strength, refusing to be trampled by others or to give in to her own convictions.

Until now, I had not had very good luck with these adaptations of famous novels to graphic novels, so I was pleasantly surprised that I liked this version.

My only problem with the drawing is that Edward Rochester is too pretty, too shōjo, and he is not the rough-faced man described in the novel.

Also, The edition contains several explanations about the original work, and the time; in addition to drawings and sketches that were made. Very neat.
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(In spanish)

Jane Eyre es la historia de una niña huérfana, despreciada por sus familiares por ser pobre, y que termina en un orfanato de la época, con frío y hambre. Luego terminará yendo como institutriz de una niña en una propiedad llamada Thornfield, allí su empleador es un hombre temperamental y extraño llamado Rochester.

Este es un clásico de la literatura, e incluso es considerado feminista por muchas de las ideas del personaje (que se cree provienen del material autobiográfico de la autora). Lo relevante de Jane es que es una mujer que se rebela contra las injusticias y cuyas malas circunstancias no socavan su propia fuerza interior, se niega a ser pisoteada por otros o a ceder en sus propias convicciones.

Hasta ahora, no había tenido muy buena suerte con estas adaptaciones de novelas famosas a novelas gráficas, por lo que me sorprendió gratamente que me gustara esta versión.

Mi único problema con el dibujo es que Edward Rochester es demasiado lindo, demasiado shōjo, y él no es el hombre de aspecto tosco descrito en la novela.

La edición contiene varias explicaciones acerca de la obra original, y de la época; además de dibujos y bocetos que se realizaron.

Muy buena adaptación de la novela de Bronte.

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I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The artwork was beautiful and a pleasure to look at. However, I found that I couldn't get into the actual story and got bored very quickly. I attempted to read this book multiple times but just couldn't get into it.

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Jane Eyre is one of my favourite classics, so I was very curious about this title.
It certainly did not disappoint. I loved how the illustrator created visuals for the story, it was a true delight.

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Do you have books that you Always want to read, but are scared to start because they're super long, or you are discouraged by ratings? Well, Jane Eyre falls into the first cateogry. The original classic novel is 500 pages, which is a lot, for a classic book, but after reading the Manga adaptation, I understood why.

The story is about an orphaned girl, named Jane Eyre, who had a rough childhood, as she was living with her relatives, or forced upon them, as Mrs Reed sees her, by her uncle's dying wish. She was subjected to neglects and bully from either her aunt or her cousins, seeing her as a responsability they never asked for. When she was caught defending herself against the bullying of her cousin, her aunt punished her, sending her to the <i>Red Room</i>, the same room her uncle died in. Later on, she is sent to a charity school, where she is to meet new people and make friendships that would shape her and help her grow.

The story goes in four stages:
1. Jane Eyre's childhood
2. Her time in school
3. Her aulthood
4. Her falling in love.

At first, I pitied her, I felt seorry for this young girl who was punished for something she never asked for, and had no hand in doing. But as she grew old, I didn't like how she took most of her decisions, like leaving in the middle of the night with zero money, because I don't believe an educated woman would be this reckless, and how she didn't see the fault in St. John.

The love story wasn't really that comforting, because it just implayed that women are so into bad guys, those who treated them bad, and have good guys taking care of them, but always leave them for the bad guy. Mr. Rochester was horrible in giving Jane hope when he is already engaged with another woman.

So, you may ask, why did I give the story 4 stars if I hated the key elements? Well, "hate" is a big word, and I wished they weren't there, not just hate them, but they somehow helped in making Jane's personality. On another note, I liked the art, the flow of the actions, and how the story when in Manga style is turned into something more "barebale"

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Thank you Netgalley and Udon Entertainment for providing me with the arc of this book. I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Jane Eyre has always been on my radar but I never seem to pick it up for some strange reason. I really wanted to read the original before I got into the Manga edition but I didn't have the time to read the original before reading the Manga. So here I am diving straight into the adapted version of the original hoping it will be an enjoyable experience. I have to say I loved the Manga and wouldn't have minded it be longer. I enjoyed the illustrations, the characters, and now I can't wait to read the original book. Jane Eyre was the perfect amount of demure and feisty that is a rarity for women of that time. She is independent, passionate, speaks her mind, does not tolerate nonsense from people. She is also someone who is strong, holds onto her faith, tries to be better and also serve without judgment. I found her to be the perfect heroine for this romantic novel. I loved her and wanted her to find her happiness however she chooses it to be. Rochester is an interesting guy. I loved how despite their social standing and the class differences they seemed to have found one another. He was quirky, moody and handsome. I liked how he was portrayed and the illustrations were amazing. All the characters were done very well. Overall I enjoyed the reading experience. The visuals as usual with all these Manga editions were amazing. I am confident I'll love it more once I have read the original and have a good grasp of the complexity of the characters and the depth of the story. I gave the book 4.5 stars. This is a book about love, duty, social classes, morality, and destiny. If you love classics and you enjoy Manga this book would be a perfect combo to take with you. Highly recommend!!!

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Pretty great manga! A perfect addition for fans of the original. The art was beautiful, and the characterization and writing style of the manga were awesome

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Jane Eyre is on my TBR for so many years but I don't know why i didn't start it yet. I am glad I found the manga version of it because it was an amazing read. Now I should read the original story.
We need more manga classics!

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Finally an adaption of Jane Eyre in a visual form that not only captures the spirit of the original story but adds much to it. Jane Eyre is my favorite book of all time, I am always seeking adaptions of this book and this was by far my favorite. The anime-style was adorable and was able to capture every aspect of the setting, characters, and plot of the book. I felt like I was reading the book again for the first time. I love that this version doesn't try to change the original language to more modern terms. The dialogue and descriptions were kept the same, I was able to recognize all of my favorite quotes from the novel. I was thoroughly impressed by this adaption and I definitely want to seek out more from this series.

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I always find I enjoy adaptations of Jane Eyre more than actual Jane Eyre and this is no exception. Once again, the Manga Classics series does an excellent job of adapting the story while maintaining the integrity of the original language. The art, while making Jane seem too young at times, served well to emphasize the playful and sometimes childish banter between the leads endearing to me a relationship that always bothered me.

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I absolutely loved this retelling. It's been years since I last read Jane Eyre, but the manga brought it back to life. It's like reading the cliff's notes version of the story with pictures. SunNeko Lee did an amazing job with the artwork and the Crystal Chan's story adaptation was perfect. Now I want to go back and reread the original!

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Manga version of the classic book, had fun reading it. I hadn't read the classic or did read it but it has been so long since I did I didn't remember. So getting the manga version to read was good way of getting into this world.

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This was an excellent way to read one of my favorite classics! This is a great way to introduce classics to people who would otherwise never consider reading them.

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