The extreme elements in Macbeth - the gore, the shocking imagery, the melodramatic speeches - pair well with the manga art style to create a shocking, moving and enjoyable adaptation of this Shakespeare play.

I love the concept of this series. Turning classics into Mangas would present so many challenges, but as many of my students love anime and mangas, this would certainly bring the stories to life so much more. Many of my seniors move on to Macbeth their senior year and I wanted to get caught up on the basic story line and be able to help them with the scenes. This was a great way to refresh my memory. It's hard to translate a classic to another medium without feeling like parts were lost or left out. I feel like Lady Macbeth didn't translate well to this medium. However, I do like how Macbeth is transformed both literally and figuratively throughout these pages. I love how his appearance and facial features get darker and darker as the story progresses. I think the drama of the story is beautifully captured in the manga format. Overall, I think this would be a great way for students to get the background/feel of the story before acting out the play.
Note to readers: This is set up in the traditional Manga format. It's read from our "end/back" to front. It also is read right to left. It's an adjustment and it also takes some thought and adjustments with the kindle/online version. It's a quick adjustment though and fun to change up how you read.

I very much enjoyed this art and adaptation of Macbeth. May I further compliment the amazing work of the artist, I'm truly astounded.

I've been wanting to get my hands on those classics-turned mangas for quite some time.
And finally the time came!

Manga Classics: Macbeth is the known story of a man who manipulates and is manipulated and through deceit and murder ends up becoming the king of Scotland.
But this time it's been adapted into a manga.

To be honest, never before had I read a manga (I've only watched a couple of animes) and reading a book backwards was a little tricky.
Also, for some reason, I thought that the language would have been adapted in a more modern form. It didn't though. it's still Shakespeare's English, which I am also going to admit that sometimes I don't 100% understand.

And yet, this one was more entertaining than I initially expected. It was very easy and quick to read, even with a harder form of English. Granted, being essentially a 'graphic novel' was a great help.
Both because it made reading it easier and because, since this is a play, it added to the visual experience - because as I've said before, plays don't always work as books - plus, the artworks were quite nice too.

This may be deserving of a *3.8/5 because the plot did stop dead a little in the middle and before the end. But overall it was a positive reading experience.

A very good way to make the Shakerpeare works accesible for all publics, i will look forward for more adaptations in this style.

* Thanks to NetGalley and Udon Entertainment for providing an advance copy for review purposes *

Manga Classics take on Macbeth intends to make Shakespeare's work more accessible. While it succeeds on some respects, it falls short of this goal. Macbeth's rise to power and the measures taken to get there make it through, and the visuals help a lot to convey the toll this take on his and Lady Macbeth's sanity. This adaptation retains a lot of the original dialogue, however, it is not straightforward to tell when the characters are talking to other people or in the middle of a soliloquy not really intended for other's eyes. The metaphors are depicted quite literally, and while that fits with manga tradition, it feels awkward. Character designs are good (I have no objection over the gravity defying hair styles), except that Macbeth and Macduff look very similar, particularly in the action scenes. So, while the visuals do help convey the gist of the story along, I do feel Macbeth and its gravitas are better suited to the stage. I think if the language had been modernized, the adaptation would have felt less out of place.

I love the Manga Classics series. I have read and enjoyed many adaptations in this series. This was the first Shakespeare piece in the series that I have read. As usual the art is beautiful. And although I do appreciate that they used the original text from the play, I think it made the manga confusing. Personally, I think the adaptation would have been better if it strayed from the original text a bit, just to make the story easier to follow for readers who are unfamiliar with Macbeth.

I love Manga Classic manga so very much.
In Macbeth, we have all the density and strength of Shakespeare's writing translated into graphics.
All the greed and madness of what a man is capable of doing to achieve and maintain power, an ever-present topic.

I love the images of this classic book. I’d highly rated, and reading this book. I was very interested. Thank you to my gallery for allowing me to read this book .

Finally I'm able to download to the Digital Editions.
I wish this book could keep the vocabularies simple. The illustrations as always are beautiful. Only it's bit hard for kids to read original text.

Got to read a manga adaptation of the bards book: Macbeth thanks to Netgalley. This adaption has kept the same story line as the original and I appreciated that. Having the old english as part of this comic was also another plus point. Coming to the graphics, I liked it in parts but was not completely into it, maybe cause having read the original the characters in my mind were a different than what I saw in the comic.
Overall a good one and it's definitely recommended.

I stand by what I've already said in the review I wrote for "Romeo and Juliet" from this same series: a script is perfect as a manga. I hope that after making all the Shakespeare's works, the creator of this might be interested in looking for other tragedies/comedies to draw.
I also still believe that this should be the mandatory text in school when it is asked to read a Shakespearean play: some people might not have the imagination to read a play and visualize it, and so might just decided that it is boring and they are not interested. However, through this (or works like this), more people might decide to give Shakespeare and the theatre another chance.

ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. (English and Spanish)


 A perfect book for those who are approaching Shakespeare for the first time. With a simplified language, which although it escapes the depth of the original text, continues to transmit its essence with integrity.
Plus, the illustrations not only add incredible aesthetics, they faithfully support the text; being very enlightening with the figurative language.

Without much more to say, I will only highlight how suitable this job is for the little ones, being the perfect complement to their school activities; although I extend the recommendation to adults who are just immersing themselves in the world of the great classics of literature.


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Un libro perfecto para aquellos que se acercan a Shakespeare por primera vez. Con un lenguaje simplificado, más actual, que si bien escapa a la profundad del texto original, sigue transmitiendo con entereza la esencia del mismo.
Además, las ilustraciones no solo aportan una estética increíble, sino que respaldan el texto con fidelidad. Siendo muy esclarecedoras con el lenguaje figurado.

Sin mucho más que agregar, solo resaltaré lo adecuada que resulta esta obra para los más jóvenes, siendo el complemento perfecto para sus actividades docentes; aunque me extiendo a recomendarla a adultos que recién se sumergen en el mundo de los grandes clásicos.

5/5 ⭐️
Oooh okay so Shakespeare has always been a bit iffy for me because of the language, but seeing it in manga form makes it super fun and worth the read. I’m exited to read more of his works in manga form.

Manga is a Japanese style of comic book or graphic novel that is written for children, teens, and adults. I really enjoy this format to introduce reluctant readers to classic works of literature. Manga Classics: Macbeth was adapted by Crystal S. Chan and it is a beautiful adaptation of Shakespeare's work.

I would recommend this to anyone that enjoys comic books or graphic novels and is interested in a gentler introduction to Shakespeare. The illustrations definitely make this story easier to follow.

I received a digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately, I was unable to open the pdf..
I really like Macbeth's story and wanted to read the manga to see the story from a new angle.

Thanks for the opportunity to review this book! This is one of my first experiences with classics adapted to graphic novels. I have seen them before but never tried one out — this one is Macbeth by Shakespeare. I quite liked this adaptation. The drawings were cool, the storyline was fair play to original. All in all, a decently done adaptation and graphic rendition.

Macbeth is one of Shakespeare's greatest tragedies. I never thought that it would be good as a manga. But I greatly enjoyed this one. The illustrations were beautiful and effective in conveying the greed and ambition in the play.

As one of my very favorite Shakespeare plays, I loved this adaptation of Macbeth! Though the dark traditional classic might not be thought at first as a manga adaptation, the exaggerated conveyance of beloved characters added to the creepy and dark feel of the tragedy - in fact, such stylistic elements unique to manga definitely helped to break down the challenging Shakespearean language. After finishing this adaptation, I was definitely left wanting more!

Beautiful artwork, and a great way of bringing a Shakespeare classic to life, I really enjoyed this, and look forward to more beautiful mangas from this series!