Manga classics has such wonderful classic adaptations. I would recommend anyone getting the novels for anyone interested in reading about classic stories in a fun and easy way.
The Scarlet Letter was no different.. The graphics were wonderful and the plot was very nicely brought out. The story was really great.

Book Review
Title: The Scarlet Letter
Author: Crystal S. Chan (Story Adaptation), SunNeko Lee (Illustrator), W.T. Francis (Lettering), Nathaniel Hawthorne (Original Story)
Genre: Classic/Manga adaptation
Rating: ****
Review: After reading the manga adaptation of Jane Eyre I couldn’t wait to jump into the Scarlet Letter, yet another classic I have heard nothing about (what a sheltered reading life I’ve had!) So, after being auto-approved for all Udon Entertainments books I could wait to start a Scarlet Letter. The story opens in 19th century Salem in the USA, where Nathaniel is clearing out some outdated paperwork finds a mysterious letter. We then jump back 2 centuries and move location to Boston where Hester Prynne is being persecuted for having an affair and having the child of her lover which is against everything that Puritans stand for. As the people of Boston are strong of faith they imprison Hester and her 3-month-old daughter Pearl for her crime and she is forced to wear an embroidered scarlet A upon her breast. We learn that Hester was married off to a man much older than herself who showed her no love or affection and after she was sent to Boston alone for several years she took comfort in another although she refuses to speak the name of the man who fathered her child and is soon returned to her cell.
However, Pearl soon falls ill, and a Doctor Roger Chillingworth arrives, this man is Hester’s husband and while he doesn’t wish to harm Hester or Pearl he desires to know the name of Pearl’s father, so he may take his revenge, yet Hester remains mute. One thing that struck me was Hester could have left and started a new life, but she chooses to stay in a place where she is condemned at every turn, but she does manage to make a living selling her beautiful needlework to those in the town although she is exempt from making bridalwear as it is considered to sacred for a sinner to make. Several years pass and Pearl is becoming quite the beautiful child but Hester fears that her sin has tainted her daughter and no matter what Hester preaches Pearl doesn’t believe in God and appears slightly demonic to others. As rumours of the Pearl’s blasphemy spreads around the town the Governors blame Hester and begins planning to take Pearl from her and give her to a better guardian, so Hester naturally goes to plead her case only to find her husband among the guardians.
As we approach the hallway mark in the manga, we see the Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale constantly pleads Hester’s case and is pivotal in Hester being allowed to keep her child and it almost seems as if that the Reverend, a man of God, is the father of the child of sin. Doctor Chillingworth also suspects the Reverend of defiling his wife and befriends the man to learn his secrets under the guise of healing his ailment but Mr. Dimmesdale much like Hester refuses to speak of the sin that is causing him physical pain, but it is so clear what the sin is every time he lays eyes upon Hester and Pearl although others remain blind to this the good doctor does not. It is confirmed when the guilt of what he had done becomes too much for the Reverend and he must confess his sins although he is too much of a coward to do it while alive but along the way he comes across Hester and Pearl and for the first time he acknowledges them as his own, however, this takes place in the dead of night with only the three of them present although another watched from the shadows.
It is unclear whether Doctor Chillingworth saw the whole exchange or just the end of it but it seems to confirm his suspicions but the Reverend has suspicions of his own and Pearl whispers to him who the Doctor is but he doesn’t believe her and still returns home with the man hell bent on vengeance. As the years pass two things remain constant, Doctor Chillingworth torments the Reverend with the unspoken knowledge of his sin and Pearl continually asks Hester about the meaning of the scarlet letter and both remain mute until Hester can stand it no longer. Hester speaks with her husband and reminds him that she kept her promise in not revealing his identity and asks him to release the Reverend, but the Doctor feels that the man who wronged him hasn’t suffered enough and will continue to hurt him until either the truth is revealed, or the man died while Hester knows he is doing more wrong to her and by extension her child than she ever did to him. Pearl is also a most unusual character as she speaks and acts much older than she is at only seven years old.
As we approach the final section of the manga, we can feel a tension building in the background as Hester must find a way to free the Reverend from the fiend Doctor hiding in plain sight. After the Reverend returns from his travels Hester and he talk as they used to and she tells him of the evil eye watching him and they, referring to him, herself and Pearl must escape it across the ocean to which he readily agrees but something strange happens. When Hester removes her scarlet letter Pearl personality changes until she places it once more upon her breast and she doesn’t really take to the Reverend as she did previously and on top of this the child seems very intelligent, cunning and manipulative.
In the final section of the manga, Hester, Pearl and Arthur prepare to leave their sins behind and start a new life elsewhere. However, the doctor soon learns of their plan and prepares to travel on the same boat but on the day of their supposed departure Arthur gives his final sermon and then prepares to confess his sins. All the while the Roger Chillingworth tries to prevent him from speaking the truth, but he does confessing that he slept with Hester and Pearl is his daughter and seven years ago they both should have been branded with the scarlet letter A. He dies shortly after his confession and making things right with the woman he loved, and his daughter and Doctor Chillingworth follows less than a year later leaving everything he owned to Little Pearl. The most mysterious thing is that after that Hester and Pearl disappeared and everything heard about them after Arthur’s death is rumour.
In the end we return to the 19th century where Nathaniel decides to write Hester’s story and share it with the world, which was a very inspired touch. Overall, I really like the mystery and suspense in the scarlet letter but it wasn’t as gripping as I was expecting, the story is good but most of the book isn’t that exciting except for the Doctor’s arrival and Pearl strange behaviour.

Yet another amazing manga adaption! This story is so sad but brings up great points. It really makes you think and visually, this manga is stunning!

Manga Classics is such a great way for the younger generations who do not appreciate classic literature, most likely due to it being difficult to read because of the style of writing, which I, myself, is why I'm not a fan of classics. However, I find Manga Classics to be very enjoyable. I've never read The Scarlet Letter, but I really enjoyed this manga as it was not at all difficult to read. The artwork is also amazing!

I want to start by thanking NetGalley and Udon Entertainment for providing me with a free copy of this manga in exchange for an honest review.

Unlike my experience with the Manga Classic: Jane Eyre, I’ve never read The Scarlet Letter so I was reading this without knowing the storyline. The art was beautiful and amazing. It helped emphasize the emotions and auras in the story.

I found however that sometimes the way the storyline was a little hard to follow and I had to go back a few pages and reread in order to understand what was going on. Pearl and the reverend were the most confusing characters to understand and follow, at times. A bit of clarity would really help. Overall, however, I really enjoyed it

I’ve tried reading the original novel but cannot get through the first couple pages. With this adaptation, I managed to finish it in one sitting. I’m sure that it’s a summarised version of it. The manga adaptation is very well done, easy to follow. I especially like how Pearl is drawn; like an ethereal elf but at the same time a young three year old who is too curious for her own good. Will definitely recommend this to anyone who is interested in reading classics but doesn’t have the patience with the original.

I've read quite a few volumes of the series Manga Classics by now, and The Scarlet Letter was the biggest bet of all for me, sine I knew the story but hadn't (haven't) read the book yet. For this reason, it is difficult for me to judge it as the adaptation that it in fact is, but what I can say without a doubt is that I enjoyed it a lot. If I enjoy the novel half as much as I did this manga, then I'll consider that a success.

The Scarlet Letter is a tale about a woman Hester Prynne who commits the sin of Adultery and therefore is imprisoned for a short time and made to wear an embroidered 'A' on her chest for the rest of her life to remind herself and others of the shame she brought upon herself and of the sin she committed. Although Hester wears it as a statement of pride almost and won't be belittled or made to feel like she has to live a life of shame because of it.

Hester gives birth to a daughter, Pearl, and refuses to state the father's name. Pearl grows up a strange and curious child who always questions her mother on the nature of her scarlet letter.

I feel like, having not read the novel itself this manga does a good job of telling the story so that I could understand what it was about and actually makes me feel like reading the novel now. Plus the artwork of this, as a fan of manga, I particularly like.

The retelling is OK, but the mixture with manga seemed to clash with the time period.

Manga Classics does it's best to engage new readers into the story of The Scarlet Letter. Having read the book in high school, I was glad for a version that cut out all the extra wording and a better understanding of what actually happened in the novel.
Hester cheats on her husband who lives a distance from her and has a baby. Because the Puritians are in control, she is forced to wear a red letter "A" She and her child are then shunned. But no matter what happens to her, including her husband showing up and dealing with the local pastor, Hester decides to be the best person she can be.
The story is sad and actually rather boring. But I love that the artist used read to draw Hester's emblem. It really showed off Hester's shame as it was the only thing colored on the page.

This is the first time I’ve read Manga and I enjoyed it. The illustrations are done very well. Reading this Manga from right to left and starting at the back of the book was different for me because I don’t read that way normally but once I got used to the format of the Manga and the way it’s supposed to be read, it was easy to follow what was going on.

While by no means will you be able to read Manga Classics: The Scarlet Letter and get away with it for your big book report, or does it truly master all of the complexity of the original work. The Manga Classics version could be read and understood without ever having read the original, and it's true, you would be able to understand the basic jist of the original.

I have a real appreciation for artists who make illustrated tellings of classic stories. I am a person who appreciates classics and has many of them of my TBR. But in reality I struggle to find the time, patience, and mind-space for ye old language to actually tick them off. And so I have a deep thankfulness to those which produce easy to digest editions of these classics.

I have not read the original story of The Scarlet Letter, but I do have a general understanding of what the story entails. Because of this I will not comment on the accuracy of the retelling.

Overall the book was easy to follow and understand (I did not need to interpret ye old language). I thought the illustrations and style, while quite traditionally manga-esque, did well at telling the the story. The emotions of such classic storytelling depicted in such a manga way (e.g. the shadowed expressions, Chillingworth depicted with a serpent during most morally evil moments) was interesting and unique, and honestly I thought it portrayed the story fine.

There wasn't anything standout-ish to me though. The illustration style was typical, the simplistic classic story retelling was typical, and while I quickly learnt of a classic story I didn't take away much else. But I guess this is what the artist's aimed to achieve. A classic retelling of a age-old story with little creative interpretation.

Note: I received this graphic book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Netgallery and the adaptive artists, Nathaniel Hawthorne, SunNeko Lee, Crystal S Chan, and Stacy King!

I received a copy of Manga Classics: The Scarlet Letter from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I know I’ve said this before; but I seriously love the concept of Manga Classics. I can now safely attest to the fact that they make the classics more approachable and less intimidating. Not only have I been able to read classics I love in a new medium (Pride & Prejudice) but I have finally been able to read some classics from beginning to end, where I had been unable to beforehand (Emma, The Scarlet Letter).
If you had asked me previously if I would ever sit down and read the Scarlet Letter in one sitting, I would have laughed at the thought. But thanks to Manga Classics, that’s exactly what I did. There were so many subtleties of the story that were perfectly supported by the artwork. It created this complete and cohesive understanding of what was going on. I’m not sure if the writer and artist work together throughout, but based on the coordination I’m seeing I can only assume that they do.
I tried reading the Scarlet Letter once, years ago. I’ll admit that I was unable to finish it (there was a list of reasons as to why, but mainly it just didn’t hold my attention). I am very pleased to say that I loved the Manga version of the Scarlet Letter. Crystal Chan flawlessly adapted it from the original to the point where I felt I wasn’t missing out on anything at all. That combined with the beautiful artwork of SunNeko Lee and I was utterly enthralled.

This is a manga comic version of the classical book- The scarlet letter written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The artwork is by Sun Me Ko Lee and adaptation by Crystal Chan.

This book has 10 chapters and is read from the right to the left as in any manga book.

The story takes place in 19th century, Massachusetts. A customs officer is seen cleaning out his papers, when he comes across a particular bundle of papers with the paper on the top displaying a prominent red "A". The officer is curious and further delves into these papers. He comes across a fascinating tale that took place in Boston, back in the 17th century.

Boston, in those days, was home to people who had come from England and setelled there. They are described to be very religious, orthodox puritans with rigid rules and disciplines.

We come across a woman sitting forlornly with an infant in her lap. She seems to be in a cell or some sort of confinement. She is paraded out on a stage in front of the people, like a common criminal. The people point accusatory fingers on the red "A" prominently emblazoned on her clothes. The "A" signifies that she has done something bad and it all points to the fact that she had the child out of wedlock. The woman's name is Hester Prynne. The elders of the town and the reverend urge her to reveal the other guilty person responsible for her plight but Hester remains silent. At this time we are struck by the behavior of the reverend. He seems to be young and keeps clutching at his clothes near his chest all the time.

Hester , meanwhile, is ordered to go out and fend for herself. She chooses to stay in an abandoned cottage on the outskirts of town. She remembers her happy childhood and also the fact that she got married while she was very young. Her husband was very peculiar, invovlved with books and study until he finally asks her leave. She goes away to Boston and never hears from him again. However, Hester, recognizes her husband among the crowd of accusers. He however asks her to tell no one about him. But seems very interested to find out who is responsible for her predicament.

Hester starts to earn her livelihood by doing embroidery, which she is skilled at. However most of the villagers still shun her. She names her daughter - Pearl , who is quite the wild child. Pearl is fascinated by the red "A" on her mother's chest.

We keep meeting the reverend and he is always depicted as sorrowful and clutching his clothes near his chest. There seems to be some kind of connection between him and Hester. He is so troubled by his guilty conscience that his health detoriates. At this times, Heather's husband, grabs the opportunity and takes up the job to look after him. He realizes the truth underneath the reverend's suffering and torments him to suffer more.

The reverend is unable to accept his sin publicly, so Hester decides to book passage for him, herself and her child to England. But finally the reverend is unable to bear his gulit and acknowleges it by embracing Hester and her child. He dies shortly thereafter. Heather's husband also passes away, as his thirst for revenge is unfulfilled.

Hester goes away to England with Pearl. Pearl settles there but Hester comes back to Boston. Hester spends the rest of her days in Boston, still wearing her red "A" and becomes a trusted to many of the people.

We return back to the officer reading the story. He is aghast at the rigid attitudes and judgmental behavior of his ancestors. He resolves to make the story known to all. Finally the symbol "A" is looked upon as a symbol of awe or respect instead of shame.

I think this comic has brought out most of the different and conflicting emotions in this story in a very clear way. It was simple and easy to understand why this book is a prominent one that is recommended worldwide.

MANGA CLASSICS: THe Scarlet Letter, but a good read, but it was not as good as other titles by this publisher. The adaptation struggled to handle the complex, dramatic themes found within the original novel. It was still worth reading, but it was not as good as either the original or other titles in the series.

OMG! I can't believe that I read the manga version of my favorite classic book!

I've never read the Scarlet Letter and this was an amazing way to get an understanding of it. I didn't understand some elements of it but I got the main themes from it. It was a fun read.

This was a great adaption of The Scarlet Letter! At first I wasn't sure about it because of the cute art style, but the adaption is really faithful to the book and the art grew on me after awhile. This is a great introduction to the classic story for younger readers. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

This is a story I'm not as familiar with, having only read it the once - so I can't really remember enough of the subtleties to know how many liberties have been taken with the narrative.
I may be wrong but I think that the identity of Pearl's father was given away sooner than it was in the book, but this helped the rest of the book make sense. Hester's love and devotion for her daughter over all other things was really moving and the illustrations were more reserved than Pride & Prejudice to fit in with the tone of the book.

I really enjoyed this format - it didn't feel dumbed down at all, it was just another way of telling a timeless story.