Manga Classics: Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet

This title was previously available on NetGalley and is now archived.
Buy on Amazon Buy on BN.com Buy on Bookshop.org
*This page contains affiliate links, so we may earn a small commission when you make a purchase through links on our site at no additional cost to you.
Send NetGalley books directly to your Kindle or Kindle app

1
To read on a Kindle or Kindle app, please add kindle@netgalley.com as an approved email address to receive files in your Amazon account. Click here for step-by-step instructions.
2
Also find your Kindle email address within your Amazon account, and enter it here.
Pub Date 25 May 2018 | Archive Date 04 Nov 2023
Udon Entertainment, UDON Entertainment

Talking about this book? Use #RomeoAndJulietMangaclassics #NetGalley. More hashtag tips!


Description

Romeo and Juliet is the classic tragedy of western literature. Created by William Shakespeare, it is tale of two very young lovers from Verona, Italy who defy the wishes of their feuding families, get married then, and tragically, end their own lives in the name of love. It is their deaths that ultimately help the rival families of the Capulet's and Montague's find reconciliation.

Romeo and Juliet is the classic tragedy of western literature. Created by William Shakespeare, it is tale of two very young lovers from Verona, Italy who defy the wishes of their feuding families...


Advance Praise

Manga Classics titles consistently land on the YALSA Great Graphic Novels for Teens lists as well as the Texas Mavericks Graphic Novel Lists.   These brilliant manga adaptations bring new life to classic stories.

Manga Classics titles consistently land on the YALSA Great Graphic Novels for Teens lists as well as the Texas Mavericks Graphic Novel Lists. These brilliant manga adaptations bring new life to...


Marketing Plan

Debut at London Book Fair, Texas Library Association's Annual Conference in Dallas and at the American Library Association's Annual Conference in New Orleans.  With advertising campaigns placed with industry trade journals. Review copies will be made available

Debut at London Book Fair, Texas Library Association's Annual Conference in Dallas and at the American Library Association's Annual Conference in New Orleans. With advertising campaigns placed with...


Available Editions

EDITION Other Format
ISBN 9781947808041
PRICE CA$26.95 (CAD)
PAGES 400

Available on NetGalley

NetGalley Shelf App (PDF)
Download (PDF)

Average rating from 437 members


Featured Reviews

This is a brilliant adaptation of William Shakespeare's work of genius. The artwork is gorgeous and fits seamlessly in with Shakespeare's original text to form a breathtaking view of Romeo and Juliet. This has always been a favorite classic of mine and I adore the adaptations I have come across like the movie that stars Claire Danes and Leonardo DiCarprio. This manga enthralled me and fully captivated the essence of the original work. I highly recommend this version to anyone studying this literature in school for a better understanding or to anyone interested in Shakespeare.

This story is about two star crossed lovers. There is a long running feud between the wealthy families Montague and Capulet. What happens when the two young adult heirs of each family happen across each other and fall in love? They know their relationship could be doomed but what if their union could smooth over their families' hatred? This story is full of action, drama, romance and is never boring.

Thank you to NetGalley and Udon Publishing for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Was this review helpful?

I never really loved Romeo & Juliet's story but anyone who likes it and is a fan of manga should give this one a try. It was a lovely adaptation.
Can't wait for more Manga Classics stories.

Was this review helpful?

So on the off chance you haven’t heard me say this, and thus aren’t totally sick of me repeating myself, I’m going to say it again: I absolutely love the concept of Manga Classics. I love them for many reasons. It’s always fun to reread a classic, but even more so it’s very refreshing to read them in a new medium, such as this. Manga Classics condenses the larger classics into something less intimidating, which makes it great for both rereads and first time reading. I also believe that Manga Classics make the classics more approachable, which is something I greatly appreciate.
I’ve read Romeo and Juliet a time or two, not to mention I’ve seen the play itself and a couple of movie adaptations (which you’re welcome to pretend don’t exist if you’d like, I won’t judge you there) so it was really interesting for me to see the play in this form. The artwork was lovely, and I have to say I’m really impressed that they were able to make such a large cast of characters all look unique (though of course all main characters got an extra level of attention that makes them stand out). Not once did I find myself struggling to tell two characters apart. I’m really awful with names, but I’m decent with faces, so this was actually pretty fun for me. I feel like I got more out of this read because of it; I picked up on more details occurring in the backgrounds of scenes that I’ve likely overlooked in the past, simply because I had forgotten who so and so was or something like that.
Like any adaptation there’s a little bit of alterations that must be made, such as condensing some scenes, in the case of manga opting to let some scenes be shown instead of told. I don’t feel like we lost anything in the translation here, and I am very happy for it. I’ve read manga adaptations by Crystal S. Chan before, and she has never once let me down. I loved Julien Choy’s artwork, as you’ve already seen me gush about a little bit up above. I’m curious to see what will be adapted next. Part of me hopes they’ll do the twin to Romeo and Juliet and give us an adaptation of Midsummer’s Night Dream. That would be fantastic! But regardless, I’ll happily take whatever I am given.

Was this review helpful?

Possibly Shakespeare’s best known play and always a both hit and miss for me – a hit for linguistic pleasure and a miss for story (yes I know it’s a sort of fable *sigh*) Anyway of all adaptations of this classic romantic tragedy I’ve seen in any form of media, I think this may well be the best. 5 stars, Manga and please keep it up.

Was this review helpful?

I am a huge fan of Manga books! I have found these adaptations to be highly addicting, and now I want to read them all. I love the artwork and the graphic novel format. I also have to admit, I enjoy reading the books backwards; that just adds to the fun.

Romeo and Juliet is a book almost everyone is familiar with. While I’ve heard of the story, and watched numerous bits and pieces from plays inserted into television shows, I’ve never read the actual book, so when the Manga edition became available, I jumped at the chance to see what they would do with it. As always, they did a spectacular job, and I am thrilled to say that this another classic they did well, and I thoroughly enjoyed.


I can’t wait for the next one!

Was this review helpful?

I thoroughly enjoyed this reimagining of Romeo and Juliet. The imagery in the manga was amazing in that it helped to show the meanings of the dialogue, which understandably can be hard to decipher given Shakespeare's text. I feel this makes this play more accessible to an audience which may not have had access or the desire to read it. The art style captures the different characters and their manners perfectly, which further allows the reader to understand who these people are and their roles in the story.

Was this review helpful?

Everyone knows the story of Romeo and Juliet but I couldn't resist trying it on a manga platform! It was a refreshing beautifully drawn story that I enjoyed reading even though it doesn't end in with a happy ever after

Was this review helpful?

Honestly, this is my least fave of the Manga classics. But it's still 4/5 stars, so I think you know where I am going with this.

These manga adaptations are brilliant. My fave so far was the Count of Monte Cristo, but that's also my fave book... so, I was biased toward it. My relationship with Mr. Shakespeare is a wee bit more complicated. I appreciate his stories but reading the English of his era tests my nerves, it's just not natural to me. If I wanted to recommend Shakespeare to someone like me? I'd either go with an audiobook or this version. It's a little more compact. And the manga art form just makes anything more enjoyable.

This is a great place to start someone reading Shakespeare.

Was this review helpful?

One of the most famous works of Shakespeare, as well as one of the most famous love story.
While I do like Much Ado About Nothing and Macbeth better, this is a great classic that was transformed and adapted very beautifully by UDON Entertainment!
With great lines, and beautiful art I loved revising this classic again!
Would totally give it together with the book of the play as a gift for a friend or someone that wishes to get to know this tragic love story!

I would like to thank NetGalley and Udon Ent. to let me get back to this era and see it all happen again in the form of a beautiful art! 5 out of 5 stars!

Was this review helpful?

This adaptation of "Romeo and Juliet," with most if not all of the original dialogue, has all the drama, wit, and tragedy of the original play. The art style fits well with plot, and allows for both greater emotion and a greater understanding of the story than just a read-through of the script would provide. Overall, though "Romeo and Juliet" has never been my favorite Shakespeare work, I fully enjoyed the manga adaptation, and would recommend it to anyone curious about the story.

Was this review helpful?

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.

Was this review helpful?

One of Shakespeare's most popular and accessible plays, Romeo and Juliet tells the story of two star-crossed lovers and the unhappy fate that befell them as a result of a long and bitter feud between their families. This is a brilliant adaptation of William Shakespeare's work of genius. The artwork is gorgeous and fits seamlessly in with Shakespeare's original text to form a breathtaking view of Romeo and Juliet. Thank you to NetGalley and Udon Publishing for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Was this review helpful?

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

Was this review helpful?

When I was in high school in the tenth grade, my class had to read Romeo and Juliet. I was super excited since had read the play a few years before and couldn’t wait until my friends would share my love of Shakespeare. Well… that didn’t happen. My class painfully trudged through the play as the teacher would assign my classmates with the most unenthusiastic voices to read for Romeo and Juliet out loud. It was enough to put people to sleep. It also didn’t get anyone excited about Shakespeare.
Years later when I became an English major, I would tell my mom about my Shakespeare classes. “Oh don’t get me started on Shakespeare! That was so boring! We had to read Macbeth and I didn’t understand a word of it!” Unfortunately, Shakespeare’s reputation is as divided as the Capulets and the Montagues.
Manga Classics’ version of Romeo and Juliet took me by surprise. The manga has adapted most of Shakespeare’s dialogue into the panels, while bringing life to the text. At first, I wasn’t sure how a Shakespeare play could be adapted into a manga, but after starting to read the first few pages, I realized that manga is the perfect format for a play. Manga focuses a lot on dialogue, as do plays. The manga brought to life the expressions of the characters, and the figurative language was woven into the illustrations. It is so incredibly clever!
Manga Classics’s Romeo and Juliet would be perfect to teach Shakespeare in the classroom. It is perfect to draw in students who aren’t so keen on Shakespeare, and it would work well as a companion to the original text.

Was this review helpful?

I love Shakespeare so this was a very fun book to stumble upon. I like that this book may make new readers gain exposure to Shakespeare for the first time.

Was this review helpful?

This is an absolutely beautiful rendition of the classic tale. The characters are wonderfully drawn and give a depth to the story that I hadn't previously seen with just reading it.

I shared the story with my children and the teen was thoroughly impressed. They said it gave them a much better understanding of the story and it actually helped them pass their lesson on Romeo and Juliet with flying colors.
My younger daughters (7-9) also loved this book as the action was easy to follow. I feel like this book was a great addition to the Classics series and would work for all ages, story content and appropriateness considered.

Was this review helpful?

Readers who liked this book also liked: