Rosh's Reviews

AUTHOR: Shiori Kanaki GENRE: Graphic Novel, Fairy Tale Retelling, Manga PUBLICATION DATE: September 12, 2017 RATING: 2 stars. In a Nutshell: A manga version of ‘Tangled’, Disney’s take on Rapunzel. Stick to the movie. I am not a manga fan, but I am a ‘Tangled’ super-fan. It is one of my favourite animated movies, and I have watched it umpteen times with my kids. Though not that faithful to the Brothers Grimm version of the fairy tale, this original retelling enhances the best of the tale and expands the universe to a wider and funnier level. It helps that Flynn Rider is the best MMC in the entire animated fairytales universe. 🥰 Given the above, it would anyway be challenging for this manga adaptation to match up to the movie. There’s no way a B&W comic adaptation can do justice to an animated movie that was six years in the making and involved the creation of a special animation program to simulate the movement of 70 feet of hair. So I didn’t go in expecting a similar experience. ...

AUTHOR: Yuu Minaduki GENRE: Manga PUBLICATION DATE: April 15, 2025 RATING: 1.5 stars. In a Nutshell: A yaoi manga about trauma and grief and hope and moving on. Tremendous promise, tremendous disappointment. Lacklustre in almost every way. This is an outlier review. Plot Preview: After the sudden death of his parents and his sister in an accident, Yuichi finds himself the sole guardian of his seven-year-old nephew Ayumu. Seeking a fresh start, the two move into a new neighbourhood with the ocean nearby. Yuichi hopes that the serenity of the location will help them both find peace and bonding. As Yuichi’s skills in the kitchen are less than ideal, the two frequent the neighbourhood deli, run by Ryo. Yuichi and Ryo soon become close, but it is clear that their individual pasts still hold much trauma. Bookish Yays: 🌊 Ayumu. 66.67% of my star rating is for him. 🌊 It’s standalone, unlike most manga. 🌊 The artwork. Quite good. Probably the saving grace for those who enjoy manga-style...

ORIGINAL AUTHOR: Arthur Conan Doyle ADAPTOR & ILLUSTRATOR: Julien Choy SERIES: Manga Classics Sherlock Holmes Vol. 1 GENRE: Manga PUBLICATION DATE: January 21, 2025 RATING: 4.25 stars. 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 outi...

AUTHOR: Kintetsu Yamada GENRE: Manga PUBLICATION DATE: November 12, 2024 RATING: 4 stars. In a Nutshell: A manga about a geeky IT guy who discovers love right next door during the lockdown. A sweet and funny story, though it takes too long to get going. The flashback-style narration also doesn’t do it any favours. But a good option for those wanting a light-hearted opposites-attract love story. Plot Preview: When Nokoru is told to telework from home during the pandemic lockdown, he views it as a blessing. His job as a system engineer is very demanding, especially because of clientele who don’t know what they want. Working from home comes with unexpected benefits, such as getting to wake up just ten minutes before work, or managing to find more time for hobbies such as gardening and gaming. What Nokoru doesn’t expect is to interact over his balcony with his new neighbour right next door. Natsu, a graduate student of archaeology, is everything Nokoru is not: impulsive, relaxed, chaotic,...

ADAPTERS & ILLUSTRATORS: Nishioka Kyoudai ORIGINAL AUTHOR: Franz Kafka TRANSLATOR: David Yang GENRE: Graphic Novel, Surrealism, Classic. RATING: 3 stars. In a Nutshell: If you are a Kafka fan AND you also like darker graphics in the style of Junji Ito, this is for you. This graphic novel, first published in Japanese in 2010, contains the manga adaptations of nine of Kafka’s stories. The specialty of the original is the macabre graphics by two siblings - brother Satoshi Nishioka and sister Chiaki Nishioka - who go by ‘Nishioka Kyoudai’, ‘kyoudai’ meaning ‘siblings’. This translation by David Yang, due to be published in October 2023, is the first ever translation of a Nishioka Kyoudai work in English. Take a moment to consider how wild this is! Kafka’s novellas were originally written in German, and translated into English, which were then translated into Japanese manga, which are now translated back to English manga. I don’t envy David Yang his job. He had the tough task of reta...

Original Author: Lady Murasaki Adapted by: Sean Michael Wilson Illustrator: Inko Ai Takita Genre: Manga, Japanese Historical fiction. Rating: 3 stars. The first ever English manga adaptation of Lady Murasaki's “Tale of Genji”, acknowledged as the world's oldest known novel. The original book is supposed to be the oldest and most famous tale of romance in Japanese literature. The (alleged) author, Lady Murasaki Shikibu (pseudonym given to her at court; original name unknown) wrote this story around 1020 CE, some 500 years before Shakespeare. The introductory note by author Sean Michael Wilson is very helpful in getting the right background for the novel. It reveals that there are many translated versions of the original, and this manga takes inspiration from multiple versions rather than sticking to a single translation. What is also of note is that all the translations are well beyond a thousand pages long, but this manga is just about 180 pages in length. Wilson’s intention is...

Author (Adaptor): Stacy King Original Author: Alexandre Dumas Illustrator: Nokman Poon Genre: Classic, Manga Rating: 4.25 stars. A rendition of the Alexandre Dumas novel in manga format. The book is faithful to the original story and as such, is just as complicated. If you found yourself lost in the multitude of characters that the 1844 classic contained, you will be stuck in the comic version too, even though it is much easier this time. Some sequences are written in proper detail but some are rushed through in just a few pages. For instance, Dantes’ escape from the prison and his finding of the treasure is barely covered. The author’s note at the end explains the creative calls taken about the inclusions or exclusions of various events from the classic. That helps us understand how difficult it must have been to take a 1000+ page tome and convert it to a 400 page manga without losing the original essence. The book is written like an actual manga, beginning from what is usually the la...

Author: Fumi Furukawa Genre: Manga, Erotic Romance, LGBTQ+ Rating: 4 stars. In a Nutshell: An unusual story in manga format with anthropomorphic animals and forbidden feelings. Mind you, the story is cute but part of the content is R-rated. Story: The setting is a peaceful world divided in two camps, carnivores and herbivores. Each category sticks to their side of the city unless there’s a genuine need to go to the other. Yagi is a goat who loves books and dreams of working in a bookstore. Unfortunately, as a goat, he also loves to eat books, which is why no herbivore bookshop is willing to give him a job. In desperation, he tries his hand at the bookshop in the carnivore section. To his surprise, Ookami, the scary wolf bookstore manager, gives him a job willingly. Will Yagi be able to do justice to his new employment? Will he still eat books? Will he be in danger from the carnivores that surround him? Why did Ookami offer a job to a book-eating herbivore? Read and find out. The story ...

Author: Mallory Reaves Illustrator: Studio Dice, Gianluca Papi Genre: Manga, Retelling. Rating: 3.75 stars. This is better than Belle’s version but it is still not as satisfying as I had expected. The story is based on Disney’s 2017 live action movie of “Beauty and the Beast”. While the story is faithful to the movie, it doesn’t include all the scenes but covers the events that happen from Beast’s perspective. This lends the story a novelty that was missing in the other book that contains Belle’s version of events. After all, hers is the more popular narration so to see things through Beast’s eyes made a big difference. The story tries its best to help us understand Beast’s decisions. I loved Beast’s internal monologues in this book. This book is part of a two-volume manga series which was originally released in 2017, just after the movie. This edition is the full colour version of the original B&W manga. While Belle’s book was full of bright and pastel-y colours, this one has mor...

Author: Mallory Reaves Illustrator: Studio Dice, Gabriella Sinopoli Genre: Manga, Retelling. Rating: 3.25 stars. Okay, first things first. This is based on Disney’s live-action version of “Beauty and the Beast” released in 2017. (I’m a fan of the original Disney animated movie released in 1991 but the 2017 version is pretty good too.) I don’t need to sum up the story this time, right? Everyone knows “Beauty and the Beast”. This is a faithful rendition of the original “tale as old as time”. To a great extent, having familiarity with the movies will help you appreciate the plot better because there are a couple of abrupt scene changes and skips in the narrative. Of course, if you know the original fairy tale, that would help too. But the movie will make a difference to your experience. I’ll focus mainly on the manga aspect of this book. This is part of a two-volume manga series which was originally released in 2017, just after the movie. This latest edition is the full colour version of ...

AUTHOR: L.M. Montgomery ADAPTER: Crystal S. Chan GENRE: Manga, Classic. PUBLICATION DATE: November 10, 2020 RATING: 3.75 stars. Most of us have read and loved the story of chirpy little Anne and her life with Marilla, Matthew, Diana and Gilbert in Green Gables. So when I saw that there is this manga version of the novel available, I grabbed at the opportunity. This manga adaptation is entirely faithful to the book. It doesn't tamper with the story nor does it skip out essential elements as many adaptations do. I really enjoyed reading this graphic version of the popular tale. Most of the illustrations are gorgeous. Anna and Diana especially have been drawn in a picture-perfect manner, exactly as they are represented in the book. However, I didn't like the way Matthew Cuthbert, my favourite character from the book, was drawn. I was sorely disappointed to see that the ARC had only BW illustrations. I am sure I would have enjoyed the book even more if I could see the comic as it i...