The manga adaptation of Charles Dickens' "Great Expectations" offers a captivating reimagining of this timeless classic. The artwork is visually stunning, skillfully illustrating Pip’s emotional journey and the rich tapestry of relationships he navigates, particularly with Estella and Magwitch.

The adaptation strikes a solid balance in pacing, successfully conveying the story’s essence while condensing some elements. Although a few nuances from the original text are streamlined, the core themes of ambition, class struggle, and personal growth shine through.

This manga is a delightful entry point for both Dickens enthusiasts and new readers. It beautifully combines literary depth with a fresh artistic style, making it a worthwhile read. While it might not capture every detail of the original, it effectively invites readers into Pip’s world. Highly recommended for those looking to explore classic literature in a new format.

Charles Dickens' novel Great Expectations is considered to be one of the greatest novels in English literature. It has been on my list for years. The problem is... it's extremely long. I read Dickens' other great classic, A Tale of Two Cities, and it took me forever to get through. It gave me less motivation to undertake such a huge novel.
Manga Classics makes huge classic novels such as Great Expectations accessible to those who may struggle with lengthy volumes. It tells the story of young Pip who always wished he could rise above his circumstances. Pip is an orphan living with his sister and brother-in-law. He is destined to become a blacksmith. All this changes when Miss Havisham invites Pip to her home to meet her beautiful adopted daughter Estrella. Estrella is cold to Pip, but it hardly daunts him. He vows to work hard and to eventually win her hand. Pip has great expectations for himself, though he may end up losing who he is in the process.
I could imagine that such a long novel would be difficult to adapt into a manga. After all, this book is not over five hundred pages for no reason. Despite the constraints, the story was fluid and very readable. I had a good sense of who the characters were. The symbolism was translated visually onto the page.
Great Expectations is often required reading in high schools. Perhaps reading this manga will give students a boost of confidence before undertaking the real novel.
After reading this adaptation, I fell more inclined to reading Dickens' novel.

really think that these Manga's of classic stories are a really good way to bring these stories to life for a newer audience. The art and new spin on these short stories really put them in a new perspective as you can see what is going on in the story.

Fun fact: though I have always been a big reader and I have a degree in Literature (so I read a lot of classics), I actually have never read Great Expectations. So honestly, that was one of the big determining factors for me picking up this Manga Classics edition. Most of the Manga Classics I’ve read and reviewed before this have been ones that I’d at least read the source material before.

I even tried looking up the movie and TV adaptations for this classic novel, and……nope, haven’t seen any of them.

So, basically I had no idea of the general plot or characters or anything of this story before going into it. And, let’s be honest, that summary tells you absolutely nothing about the content/plot of the story, except that it’s a rags-to-riches story.

I followed the story easily enough. Like with the other Manga Classics, there’s a nice blend of dialogue and exposition to tell you the things that can’t be explained visually with the fantastic manga-style art. There was a decent sized cast of characters in this story, and it felt like there was quite a bit happening, even as we had a few time skips to age Pip up from little boy to a younger adult.

I will continue to say that I’m increasingly glad for adaptations like Manga Classics or for film or mini-series adaptations of so many of these classics. With the evolution of storytelling, particularly in the last decade or so, I am increasingly aware of how absolutely dry reading most of these literary classics can be to a modern reader. Yes, there are many classics that I do still enjoy revisiting, but I think a certain amount of that is the nostalgia of it all, or because it is a shorter classic. A lot of Jane Austen is only a couple hundred pages long, whereas the original Great Expectations by Charles Dickens is over 500 pages, which is pretty long. Even more so when you consider that the font size used is typically smaller and some of those pages are chock full of big blocks of text.

It’s so much more palatable to read just 300 pages of a manga, which is a nice blend of art and text. Yes, these Manga Classics sometimes have more words on the page than most other manga I read, but compared to the original text, it is a lot less. It’s almost like getting an abridged version, cutting out all the lengthy descriptions of scenery or mundane activities.

Overall, I read this fairly quickly and liked it well enough. I honestly can’t say that I would go out of my way to check out the original novel or any of the other adaptations, but I’m glad I can say that I’m at least more familiar with the story than I was before this.

The artwork in these Manga’s is always so pretty, the artists are so talented.
This is a quick, easy read.
Though, the storyline was a little bit confusing at times (that’s on me though, I’ve honestly never read any of Charles Dickens’ works, only watched movies)
All in all I enjoyed this book and am thankful for the opportunity to read and review it.

This was an interesting book, it follows a poor boy who is being raised by his sister and brother in law. He goes through a lot of things which we get to see him struggle and grow as a person. It is redone from a classic book and it was done very well as well as the art is very well drawn as well.

The art style is beautiful, lots of colors. Really helped consume this story. I have tried to read the original and could never push myself through this, but this made it a lot easier!

This is actually the first Manga Classics story I read where I wasn't familiar with the original text or even another adaptation. I was impressed enough by previous ones I read that strived to be faithful to the original text even as alterations inevitably had to be made that I wanted to expand my horizons with something wholly new.

So I come to this story for the first time, and I find it to be an exploration of the upper class's hypocrisies, prejudices, and presumptions masquerading as a rags-to-riches story. Pip thinks he's Cinderella but he's actually in Parasite, basically.

It's also a look at just how alienating it is, to chase after the appearances the upper class is expected to keep up, being able to spend money on servants and such (Pip reflecting on how he doesn't even know what to do with a servant yet can't comprehend NOT employing one hit me hard). And worse, cutting out and snubbing people who are "beneath" you but genuinely care for you, as Pip tries to do with Joe and Biddy and as the child Estella did to the boy Pip.

The art is also beautiful as always, particularly the decadent ruin of Mrs. Havishham's mansion and the room where she keeps her moldering wedding cake. The setting was wonderfully realized, lush and occasionally action-packed between a fire scene and angry convicts trying to kill each other.

The characters were overall compelling as well. Pip is an unlikeable snot at points but that's very much the point, Estella is disagreeable but it's hard to not root for her with her well-realized "I must be taken as I am" speech with Mrs. Havishham, Mrs. Havishham is horrifying in how she twists two children left in her care and yet quite pathetic as well. Magwitch deserved better and I'm glad Pip came around to him in the end.

I'm glad the manga adapters were keen-sighted enough to keep Estella's and Pip's future together ambiguous, as they noted in the afterword explaining adaptation choice. To me at least, this is more a parable than a romance (and it's real easy to read Estella as aroace, too!), so I'm content to imagine they move forward as friends alone.

Great Expectations is one of my favorite stories ever. I especially love Pip and Miss Havisham. Estella is obviously a problem, and she is beautifully portrayed here and shown to be the problematic person that she is. This is a fantastic manga adaptation and I hope that it brings this story to a wider audience.
The only thing missing is the humor, which is hard to translate to another edition, because Dickens basically used exaggeration for humor.
Thanks so much to NetGalley for making this available to me

I enjoyed this story less than I expected. The classic literature stories are often so romanticized, but when I see them through a modern lens, I'm often confused on why the characters were so naive, or dense. Reading this manga did give me the beautiful artwork that I always enjoy from these titles, and the writing was digestible which makes it accessible to the younger generation as I personally struggle to read the classics in their original form due to the language that is used.

However, the story itself was not my favorite, however that isn't really something I can critique these creators for as they are simply retelling an original in manga form.

Pip was ignorant, and rude to his family, and loved a girl that wanted nothing to do with him, and just seemed so dense! I was shocked his childhood friend married his brother-in-law, I assumed the age gap would have been weird, but back in those days, age gaps were more common. And the was that Miss. Havisham lived was so unbelievable. Ther was also just a LOT going on in the story, like his deal with Miss. Havisham, the guy that escaped from prison, his friend that helped him that was related to Miss. Havisham, it all became very convoluted, but again, that's a critique for the original writer, not those reproducing it.

This was my first Manga Classic read where I hadn't read the original book first. It made for a different experience, to be sure. As always, the art is stunning, and the backgrounds make everything more vivid than reading alone would have.

I always love the author and artist's notes, describing what their thoughts were, and their processes throughout the adaptation. I thought the "summary monologue" pieces were great, to move the story forward to the next important scene, but still have an understanding of what was happening in between.

Yet again, I'm interested to read the book - this time not a re-read! I am curious if I'll find Pip a bit more of a sympathetic character as I read an unadapted version. Though from the notes, it sounds like many find him lacking in this regard. His world seems very singular, especially after he's pushed away those he used to hold most dear. Normally, the Manga Classics have helped me to draw <i>more close</i> to the character, with the stunning visuals.

I love a lot of Dickens' novels, but Great Expectations was not one of them.
It was incredibly dense, boring and overly repetitive.

But this manga adaptation does a really great job of capturing the essential of the story in a captivating way and with outstanding illustrations.

I'd say that this is a great way to dip your toes into a big classic and decide for yourself if you want to take the plunge and read the original book by Dickens.

This was another great book where a classic is remade into a manga graphic novel!
Let’s be honest, really, are there many young people out there who really WANT to read old-timey books, be they classic or not, even if they are pushed to be read at school? Most will avoid it at all costs. Let’s not pretend that everyone wants to read Charles Dickens. Even me, no matter how much I love reading, no matter how fast I read – nope, I’m not really interested in reading any of it. I have read most of it at school, but the books I didn’t read back then, well. I will never read them. I can’t blame kids for not wanting to read those either. In fact, I understand them all too well.
And then, enter the classic books remade as manga. It is seriously a game-changer. All of a sudden, the story comes alive, and it turns into an exciting read. My 10-year-old read this one also, she said she loved it, she said she enjoyed it so much, she said the story was really compelling and she wanted to talk about it for days. I consider that an absolute win!

A retelling of a classic using manga style artwork. Excellent art, story is true to the original. I love the the bonus stuff to use in the classroom. Excellent addition to curriculum.

4 stars

Wow! I wish I had had this edition when I had to read this for an English Lit class years ago. I understood the characters, emotion, (or lack thereof in Estella's case), and storyline much better than back then. The manga artwork is excellent and the story flows well expressing character traits, action, and emotion. I will be reading more Manga Classics in the future!

Another great telling of a classic novel! The manga version of these always helps me understand them more than it would if I were to read the regular classic, great job on the retelling of this one!

A wonderful rendition of a tale as old as time. I really enjoyed this retelling of Great Expectations! Sometimes having an illustrated edition makes for an even better experience!

Another great edition in the Manga Classics series! My daughter and I both love these books, This was a wonderful interpretation of Dickens' classic. It was a fun and enjoyable read that helps introduce readers to this well-known classic.

Let me preface this review with stating that the reason I gave this book 4 rather than 5 stars is due to my personal tastes. Objectively, this Manga Classic is very well done. I always say that MC's art is superb, and I will continue to do so as long as it continues to have the same quality. It's always clear that so much thought was put into character design, and absolutely nothing is neglected; the outfits, backgrounds, and really everything are always interesting to look at, and there aren't any of the shortcuts that many mangas take to produce pages faster. The way that this Manga Classic left the ending intentionally vague is really elegant and well done. Returning to why I didn't give this book a perfect score, was because I felt that it was rushed. The time skips make sense, as there's only so much that one can fit into a graphic novel adaptation, but to me, they did feel rather abrupt and jarring. I do like that this adaptation went to the end of the original work, as many adaptations stop when it is revealed that Miss Havisham had set Pip up for massive disappointment all along.

The art of this manga classic was beautifully done and adapted. Unfortunately not even the manga format helped me to enjoy Charles Dickens. Regardless on my thoughts about Dickens I will happily recommend classic lovers and novices to Manga Classics for a fresh spin on an old story.