Such a fun way to reading classic story. Romeo and Juliet isnt my classic fave, I can bring my self read the full length novel but this manga make my reading journey much fun.

I really like the artwork and I appreciate the classical narration. I will happily recommen this manga to some friends.

Thanks Netgalley for providing my copy.

I was very pleasantly surprised to see that this manga book uses Shakespeare's original text, rather than modernized, simplified language for a young audience! Of course it is abridged, but it does a wonderful job of introducing kids to Shakespeare's rich and memorable stories and immortal lines in a gentle and entertaining way. This book will no doubt make young readers feel hooked on Shakespeare and perhaps even inspire them to act out their own versions of Romeo and Juliet.

Love this adaptations, this takes a story we all know and puts in a different media that is easily assessable for many people. Super fun and adds another layer of enjoyment to the story. 10/10 would recommend.

I really love this classic by Shakespeare and reading it in the manga style was a treat. The illustrations really added to the stories and the cosy feeling of the books. If you enjoy manga and these classics I would highly recommend picking up these editions.

Thank you Netgalley for giving me the chance to read this book for free.

I've been trying to read and re-read classics that I haven't read since high school. Romeo and Juliet is William Shakespeare's most know work. It is a tale of love and heartache that can make even the coldest of hearts feel something. I've read many adaptations of Romeo and Juliet but never one like this. Reading it in a Manga style can be confusing for someone who has never read a manga before but it's quick to get the hang of it. For me, reading it in this style makes it even more dramatic than the story already was. The harsh lines that are used in the illustrations to represent movement and the dark, bold words used to emphasize loud noises really brings the story to life. If you like manga or like reading old stories in new and fun ways, I highly recommend this one. I enjoyed it much more than the other manga classic editions.

This manga adaptation of Romeo and Juliet is perfect in every way. Highly recommend for any one who loves the classic!

I'll admit that I've never been a big fan of Romeo & Juliet as I think there are other more interesting of Shakespeare's works so I won't be going into detail reviewing the content since it's already pretty well known. I mostly want to talk about the character design and the artistic execution of the volume.

The art is **amazing** first and foremost. This is my second volume from artist Julien Choy who again displays that they are an an exceptional artist who has an eye for detail and panel composition. One thing I'm especially loving in not just this volume but other Manga Classics is that Choy retains the charm of manga with certain mannerisms and responses that just aren't typically seen in Western comics. The fact the art is so beautiful makes the tragedy at the end seem that much more tragic tbh. I especially love the designs of Mercutio and Count Paris, who have always been my particular favorites in other retellings. Tybalt's design is also a bit more sinister than I've seen before but I'm not complaining. The story flows almost better as a manga that any other medium I think (and I acted in a version of play in HS, haha) which in a way invigorates the play so much more.

The more titles from Manga Classics I read, the more excited I am to revisit stories that I haven't touched since my years at Uni studying literature. I'm so glad to see a classic made into a medium that newer generations will be eager to pick up.

This is my first Manga Classic and I honestly thought and hoped this manga would have been made with a new linguistic adaptation to make it more up-to-date style. Note that I've never read Romeo and Juliet, and if I did, I would have in French as English isn't my first language - and I struggled very hard understanding everything here with old English language. So I really wished it'd have text with modern english (or at least not the thou/thee/etc) but still with the same meaning. Sadly it wasn't! I should have checked first.

But overall I loved the adaptation of this classic into a manga! The art was really well done and it was I believe very well adapted. It's a really great way to start reading classic without having to read the original play. The story itself wasn't that great, honestly, but this is more Shakespeare's fault than this adaptation haha

Sorry, but this book wasn't my cup of tea. I had loved the Manga Classic version of "The Count of Monte Cristo" and had assumed this to be written in a similar vein. But this is the original text version and not a modern English version as I had assumed. Shakespeare's original text is too convoluted for my liking and my mind keeps getting distracted. As NetGalley needs me to rate this, I am giving it three stars because I am sure it will work well for the right kind of reader. Thanks for the opportunity to read it.

If you’ve ever wanted to read “Romeo and Juliet” in its original English and manga format, you should have a look at this piece of work, it’s just what you need! The 413 pages of illustrations is truly a masterpiece and reflects the original story really well. There are also pages of doodles of the characters and ... wait for it... the swords of the characters and with lot of background info! The only reason I gave it 4 stars was because of the setup of the e-manga (I reviewed an electronic copy) which started from the last page, so it was a bit difficult to scroll down through all those pages and then up again, my index finger was not happy with the experience. ;)

Special thanks to NetGalley, UDON Entertainment, and the editorial team for giving me the opportunity to review the ARC, and to you, my reader, for taking the time to read this honest personal book review.

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#LifeLongLearning #RomeoAndJulietMangaclassics #NetGalley

So enjoyable! I realised I've never really read Romeo and Juliet before and don't know the story that well, so it was really nice to read this and finally know. The speech was sometimes hard to understand but that's understandable. I love this new concept of turning classics into manga. I'm very excited to read more!

A superb and thorough adaptation of another Shakespeare play by Manga Classics. Honestly, I need to collect them like I did Pokémon. This Romeo and Juliet version is excellent (timing, costumes and structure). It's violent when it supposed to be, a ton of cheeky when it should be (loved the scenes with the Capulet boys or the Nurse) and just plain gorgeous at other times too. Even if I've read the original play several times over a few years back and watched the movie adaptations too, I felt all the emotions all over again!

It is the old English version of Romeo and Juliet. It is the original script for Romeo and Juliet. I like how the manga is beautiful and has detailed illustrations. I think I will enjoy it more if I choose the modern English translation of the manga. But overall, even the script is too deep to understand, and I love the illustrations. I love how they publish a classic play from Shakespeare.

I put this book under 'will not give feedback' for a long time because I did not finish reading the book. But then I came back because it just feel so wrong to just let it be. I still have to thank NetGalley for the free copy I received, no?

Good adaptation of the original Shakespeare story.
The art is consistent and good, and it follows correctly the vibe of the original one.
It’s a good way to make children interested in “boring” things like theatre and drama.

TW// a little bit of sexism, murder, suicide

There’s two versions of the Manga Classics: Romeo and Juliet. There’s this one (the full text version) and the Modern English version. Had I known that there was two versions before requesting this one on NetGalley, I would’ve not requested this one and instead bought the Modern English version. Shakespeare’s old English writing style and me don’t get along. It’s so confusing for literally no reason. I was glad that I had studied the play back in high school so that I generally knew the plot because if I hadn’t, this manga would’ve been even more confusing to me. The artistic features that a manga format allows for lets there be panels where a metaphor comes to life, but if you don’t understand the metaphor in the text, then the drawings will confuse you even more than the text.

I did find the artwork to be really beautiful though. I particularly loved how Juliet, Mercutio, and Benvolio were drawn. The illustrations also made an attempt to appeal this story to a younger audience by using modern humor that teens would enjoy. If it weren’t for the stunning drawings, I would’ve struggled even more with this manga.

This is probably one of my favorite Shakespeare plays and I think everyone should read (or watch) this story in some format. It’s one of the earliest works of forbidden love, insta-love, and the miscommunication trope. The influence that this story has on pop culture will never be forgotten, but I just didn’t find this version of the story to be super interesting. I’m going to read the Modern English version of this manga at some point in the future and hopefully I’ll have more luck with that version.

This book has the same problems as the original play with the added bonus that it's not using the art in its favor.

Some people might love that this manga uses the dialogues from the play word by word, to me, it was a disadvantage.
We could have a very dynamic book that shows more than tells, but unfortunately, that's not the case.

On the bright side, the art has its high points -even if I felt it was very still at times-. But every character is very recognizable, there is a diversity of faces and hairstyles to help that. Also, some action pages were interesting which really made me wish once again that this could be a different type of adaptation.

I found the pacing a little weird, some scenes are super quickly with a few panels but certain conversations take up pages of just characters standing around.
At some point, some panels are in chibi style, and... that didn't suit the story at all.

Overall, it's a nice manga to look at but has so much text that makes the experience convoluted. I frankly don't think this play works as a manga if you are going to carbon copy the original source.

A little off-topic: the format in which Netgalley provides the copy it's not doing the book any favors either.

Much of my rating is based on the artwork, which is gorgeous. There is so much attention to detail in everything, and it's clear that a lot of thought was put into character design, costuming, expressions, background scenery, and how to convey the gestalt of certain things. The dramatics of Romeo & Juliet lend very well to the manga format, and this book took to that very well with the full-page illustrations.

All that said, I'm not sure how well a Shakespearean classic translates to manga. Having read other Manga Classics, I understand that the purpose is to stay as true to the original text as possible, but in this way this book kind of shoots itself in the foot because a more enjoyable/immersive read would be an adaptation rather than a reproduction: in other words, retelling the tale as a rewrite. Such rewrites have been done many times before, ranging in degrees of faithfulness to the original context, so in light of that fact and in keeping with their pattern, I can see why Manga Classics took the approach that it did for Romeo and Juliet. It does however, in my opinion, result in a weaker work despite the artists' extreme diligence and competence.

Another Manga Classic I really loved. I read Romeo and Juliet before and really liked the story.
But now with these beautiful drawings I enjoyed it even more.
For me these Mangas are simply a perfect way to enjoy classics.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Manga Classics: Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare is a stunning new manga adaptation of a classic work of literature. This book is literally tailor-made for classroom use. The classic work of literature is here in a trimmed-down form that will hold the student's interest while maintaining the integrity of the plot. Meanwhile, the cool and stylish manga-style artwork is sure to attract the attention of reluctant readers.

As a teacher myself, I am definitely happy to see this book and this series in general. I often have to teach classic works of literature to students who are reading below grade level, who are still learning English, or who have no interest in reading books without pictures. These books are a life-saver for teachers like me. If you're intrigued by the description, or if you're a fan of manga, I highly recommend that you check out this book, which is available now!