My Review
"Manga Classics Sherlock Holmes Vol. 1 A Study in Scarlet" is a fantastic adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle's classic tale. The artwork by Julien Choy is stunning and brings the story to life in a vibrant, engaging way. 🌟🖌️

The plot follows the iconic detective Sherlock Holmes and his trusty companion Dr. John Watson as they unravel the mystery of a gruesome murder. The manga format adds a fresh twist to the classic story, making it accessible and enjoyable for both manga enthusiasts and Sherlock Holmes fans. 🕵️‍♂️🔎

Thanks
A big thank you to Arthur Conan Doyle (RIP), Julien Choy, Udon Entertainment, and NetGalley for the ARC. I had a blast reading it! 🙌📖

If you're a fan of Sherlock Holmes or just looking for a captivating read, this manga adaptation is definitely worth checking out! 💖📚

Rating: Gentlemen's 3 If this is someone's gateway to the classics, who am I to gatekeep.

For younger readers, who are probably the target demographic, the simplicity and directness of the adaptation are positive elements. However, there are also depictions of tobacco and alcohol usage.

Full disclosure: I have never read Sherlock Holmes so I cannot say how faithful this is as an adaptation.

Things I enjoyed: Watson for some reason is a pretty boy. There are some really interesting page compositions. Watson fell first and he fell hard.

Wait, it's not a romance?

Watson is fresh faced war veteran seeking a new roommate. How fortuitous that equally fresh faced Sherlock Holmes is also looking for a roommate and also leaves his robe wide open to expose his chest in the mornings. The art is serviceable but can be distracting at times. Anatomy and proportions are suggestions. Action scenes are a little hard to follow. I would also say there is an overuse of the ellipsis. I know silence is golden and all but you could easily remove most (if not all) of the ellipses and still be able to easily tell that yes, these particular characters have been stunned into silence (the art is able to convey that). It felt at times that there was a tug-of-war between the visual comic adaptation and the textual adaptation within the speech bubbles. Occasionally we get Watson's inner dialogue, which generally guides our interpretation of Holmes. Watson's thought bubbles also seem redundant at times when the character's expressions should also be able to convey the same thing.

The backgrounds are nice and provide good atmosphere. For close-in shots, we are treated to the gradient background experience. I understand we are getting a FULL color presentation here but some pages are just a little too overwhelming with all the gradient backgrounds. The overall mood gets a little diffused as it feels like an energetic powerpoint presentation instead of a tense climatic scene with the suspect. When the backgrounds are present, it does feel really nice.

What the book does excel in is providing a Sherlock Holmes experience in a full color comic format. The updated adaptation can very well be the introduction of Holmes to some audiences and despite the alcohol and tobacco usage, he does seem more family friendly than some of the movie adaptations.

A Stunning Adaptation

As a fan of Sherlock Holmes, I was absolutely captivated by *Manga Classics: Sherlock Holmes*. The art style is stunning, perfectly complementing the tone of *A Study in Scarlet* while bringing the story to life in a visual and immersive way. It felt like I was reading a fully realized, visualized version of the original novel.

The adaptation stays true to the essence of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s work, capturing the intricacies of Holmes' deductions and Watson's narrative voice with remarkable fidelity. The characters are vividly illustrated, and the paneling flows beautifully, making the story engaging and accessible.

I’m thrilled with how well this adaptation was executed and am eagerly looking forward to the next Sherlock Holmes installment from Manga Classics. This is a must-read for fans of both manga and classic literature!

Meh. I kinda skimmed it because I was bored. The art was pretty on some pages but awkward on other pages. Not much else to say - maybe fans of the original books may like this manga version of the classic but I didn’t care for it.

I went into this hoping for a retelling. While that's not what this was, I did enjoy the book and it gets an extra star from me for the art alone.

In a Nutshell: A wonderful option for manga lovers to experience Arthur Conan Doyle’s ‘A Study in Scarlet’. Faithful to the original. Full-colour graphics. Sherlock and Watson look too young to be convincing, but the rest is great.

Plot Preview:
The same story as ‘A Study in Scarlet’, the very first novel where ace detective Sherlock Holmes makes his appearance. This manga is faithful to the classic in every relevant way, skipping out only a few of the relatively unimportant scenes.

Let me again begin by reminding manga newbies that this book is almost in traditional manga format, with the reverse right-to-left pattern of storyboarding. ‘Almost’ because unlike most manga, this is in full colour.

‘A Study in Scarlet’ is the first of the four Sherlock Holmes novels (The rest of his detective outings are in short stories.) While it is not my favourite of the Holmes books (That honour belongs to the incomparable ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’!), I still like this book for the way it introduced the characters of Holmes and Watson to readers. Without feeling too much like an ‘origin story’, it still offered us a well-rounded insight of the two characters such that we get a handle of their personalities before the actual case begins. This is something Christie failed to do for both Poirot and Marple in their respective first apearances.

I have read a few Manga Classics by now, and I have found them mostly faithful to the original works. (This also goes against them when it comes to manga adaptations of Shakespeare, but that’s a story for another day.) This book is no exception. The plotline is true to the original novel in all essential aspects.

If you have read ‘A Study in Scarlet’, you might remember that the story has two distinct halves. I wasn’t a fan of this decision as I was caught by surprise at the change in tone, setting, and characters for the second half of the story. It took me a long time to understand where Doyle was going with the whole thing. The segue between the two sections had been too abrupt. This manga rectifies the issue wonderfully. I can’t tell you how as it would be a spoiler, but suffice it to say, the story no longer feels like two distinct halves forcibly joined together.

The illustrations serve the story decently well. The actions and the emotions are spot on. I appreciate how characters were introduced with little text boxes containing their name – very helpful for a book with many characters. I especially enjoyed the depiction of Sherlock’s street squad: the Baker Street Boys. Their street-urchin charm and attitude were captured perfectly. I wish the art had got the portrayal right for some characters. Manga Sherlock certainly looks hot, but he doesn’t look “Sherlock-y’. Sherlock is supposed to be about 26-27 in the first book, so he does look his age. But John Watson looks like a college boy with his fresh face, not like an experienced army doctor straight out from Afghanistan. For some reason, I got this weird feeling that Sherlock and John were being set up as a potential romantic pair (‘shipped’, as youngsters say) in the artwork. Stamford, who is supposed to be Watson’s batchmate, looks like his grandpa. I am not sure if the “maid” in the story was supposed to be Mrs. Hudson, but if yes, she also was sketched too youthfully to be a middle-aged housekeeper.

Other than the issues with the art, I have no grouses with the story. I love it when adaptations stay true to the original, and this one certainly does. It would be a great way for manga lovers to experience the brilliance of Sherlock Holmes without having to wade through the descriptive text of the original.

Definitely recommended to manga fans and Sherlock fans.

4.25 stars.

My thanks to Udon Entertainment for providing the DRC of “Manga Classics: Sherlock Holmes Vol. 1 - A Study in Scarlet” via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

The classic novel Sherlock Holmes: A Study in Scarlet reimagined as a full color manga.

I have never read Sherlock Holmes. I have attempted to read it but it didn't stuck with me because of interest and as a person with English as a second language it was really hard for me to understand. However, I'm a manga girlie. And this was a good way for me to experience Sherlock Holmes literature.

For the first time, I finally know the mystery involved in this book. I only learned about the meeting of Holmes and Dr. Watson. And I definitely see why this book became famous for the way it is. The friendship of the two characters, Holmes' humbleness, and how society can be so cruel and kind, highlight this book.

As a manga. the art is good and easy to understand. A bit weird that it's colored but I thought it's a good ways to have a larger audience interest. However, I'm not much of a fan of how Holmes and Watson look, because it was a bit far from the usual protrayal of the characters. props to the artists though for putting out a unique look on the characters.

Overall, I really appreciated the manga. It was a good way for readers like me to experience a classic in a new way.

*I received an eARC of this book

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!