elaby | Manga Hamlet

Okay, let's try this. For some reason neither my LJ client nor the update page want to post this O_o Like, multiple times refusing. Since last night. Please post, silly thing!

Manga Shakespeare: Hamlet was incredibly awesome. They left out my favorite line, but they always do (only the Branagh version hasn't, and that's probably because it's got the whole script), and the awesomeness of the way Ophelia was drawn made up for it. No, the awesomeness of the way everyone was drawn made up for it. It's a futuristic take, and all of the letters people get are contained in little pill-sized cylinders that you stick into ports in your neck/forehead/hand in order to "read". The clothes and those details were the only futuristic things about it; the language was all kept the same and obviously, the story and emotions are timeless.

Sometimes the art was not absolutely perfect, but I've come to expect that from manga, and the quality of the art was a lot higher than most of the boy's love stuff I've read lately, for example. This was illustrated by someone drawing in manga style but who isn't Japanese, and often it's really obvious that artists like that are only emulating the style and don't measure up to many high-quality Japanese manga artists. A great deal of Japanese manga artists are just as bad, of course (those BL artists I mentioned earlier, for example) but I'm not including them in the "high-quality" category. This artist, though, has a strong enough style of her own that the art in this manga is compelling and attractive even when it's not perfect. It doesn't look in most places like she was trying for "authentic manga style" and failed. I don't want to get into a "It's still manga even if the artist isn't Japanese" discussion, even though I believe that to be true, but it's worth mentioning because the artist's own style is strong enough to carry it where a less talented or experienced artist might look like they missed the mark.

ANYWAY. This wasn't supposed to be a discussion of manga style or really of the quality of the art O_o;;

The story was very well-adapted, and the costumes were cool, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern looked exactly the same except that they were inverted XD Black and white medium rules. I love manga.

Also, the players were done VERY niftily. They had facial markings and neat masks and the boy who recited the Priam thing was very pretty.

Also, there was lots of angst. *thumbs up* Not that you wouldn't expect that from Hamlet.

In short: LOVE. *hugs the book* My Early Modern Drama professor from last fall would freakin' love this. He was really into adaptations of Shakespeare for teenagers and kids. I'll have to e-mail him about it.