Manga Shakespeare: As You Like It

Manga Shakespeare

by Richard Appignanesi (Adapter), Chie Kutsuwada (Illustrator), William Shakespeare

Alternate cover edition here

Othello and As You Like It are the newest additions to the imaginative world of Manga Shakespeare. In the face of the false evidence produced by the conniving Iago, Othello
cannot trust his wife, and his mistrust leads to the play’s tragic conclusion. In As You Like It, Rosalind, dressed like a boy, falls in love with Orlando. A mistaken-identity comedy follows, with a happy ending (or the ultimate justice served) for those who deserve it. Both plays have been refreshingly updated in the style of manga while maintaining Shakespeare’s beautiful language.
 

Genres: Manga, Graphic Novels, Shakespeare, Classics, Comics, Romance, Adaptations

207 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Richard Appignanesi is a published adapter and an author of young adult books. Published credits of Richard Appignanesi include Manga Shakespeare: Julius Caesar (Manga Shakespeare), Manga Shakespeare: Macbeth (Manga Shakespeare), Manga Shakespeare: Hamlet (Manga Shakespeare), and Manga Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet (Manga Shakespeare).

Reviews

[Brittany | BookRamblings · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great way to make a Shakespeare play more accessible!

[ashes ➷ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to reread this to seriously review it, but it was a big step towards my being open to read more Shakespeare and an easy read-- even genuinely funny! The art is nice, the aesthetic take is a great direction, and it really sells the play to new readers. I remember I wound up reading the full play in No Fear Shakespeare form and not really enjoying it, so I always came back to this version. Will try to get a decent review out once I can read this again with a more serious consideration of how it compares to the full text of the play, though, since I'm loathe to recommend abridgements of Shakespeare if I don't have a decent idea of what they're cutting.

[Halima (Starlight_and_blooms) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love these Manga Shakespeare books! And As You Like is one of my favourites.

This has to be one of Shakespeare's greatest romantic comedies. Owing much to its fabulous heroine - the wise, witty and virtuous Rosalind but made even sexier nearly 400yrs on as a manga set in an oriental backdrop. In this manga, the Arcadian beauty of the forest of Arden is transposed to modern-day China, where rural and urban worlds collide.

Simply fab!

[Kier Scrivener · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think I might have read this too soon after the original play but I think it is a nice tool for people that do not like/or understand Shakespeare's plays to enjoy.
Celia and Rosalind's friend still makes me smile

[Sam B.]

Idk if I’m gonna rate this one because I never really read manga and I don’t know how to tell if it’s good or not. But it was an interesting rendition of As You Like It, and I enjoyed it for the most part.

[Selena Pigoni · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you want to understand Shakespeare, go see it as a play. If you can't see it as a play, this is the next best thing.

Obviously, this is an abridgment of As You Like It in manga form. I would still recommend reading the full play or seeing an actual performance. Don't use this to try and get through a class (not that I ever read one of Shakespeare's comedies in school).

The scene transitions can be a bit... what's the word... "jolty" sometimes, since this is an abridgment. Most of the time it works, though, so if you want a little help understanding the bard, this is a good way to do it.

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is more anime than any manga adaptation of an anime I've ever read. Ngl, I love how unnecessarily complicated this play is. It's also the first Shakespeare play I was ever in! 😊

When that motorcycle showed up in the first few pages, I full on cackled.

[Kian Aleman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one's up there with Much Ado About Nothing as one of my favorite Shakespeare plays. Now I just need to read the full version.

[Debesuota · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shakespeare'in dili başta basit gelse de sonradan hoşuma gitti. Herkesin bu kadar şairane konuşması dışında beğendim de. Hikayenin temelinde tek görüşte aşklar olsa da "aşk" güzel ve farklı bir şekilde anlatılmıştı. Her şeyin hızlıca olması dışında beğendim. Çizimler ve kitabın kalitesi de güzeldi.

[Zoe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the fact that the author of this manga has been a very thoughtful guy and written this book so children can understand the story instead of reading the real book and feel very discombobulated( dis-com-bob-u-late-ed Means confused) I am reading this authors other mangas and they are awesome. I would recommend the whole series to everyone, especially Twelfth Night.

[Jack Reynolds · Rating 3 out of 5]

While Katsuwada's art was stronger when she depicted flashbacks compared to her character designs, this was a fun adaptation that sped up the play's pace and centered the narrative on Rosalind (in disguise as Ganymede) and Orlando's budding romance. I wasn't as frustrated with this as I was with the play. Sometimes, that's all I need.

[Mary L · Rating 3 out of 5]

Manga Shakespeare: As You Like It is a great way to get into Shakespeare's plays if you are intimidated by them (or if you're a weeb like me lol). That being said, I think I still need to read the actual play.

[Alan Fricker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Helpful aheAd of a trip to the theatre

[Pauline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyable and helpful in explaining the plot.

[Vale · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story and the manga are really nice, my only problem was the old english, as I’m not used to this.

[Pascale · Rating 3 out of 5]

There isn’t nearly that many people when I go in the woods, even on the trails in the summer. That alone is enough to ruin the whole thing for me! Oh, Willie, such a city boy!

[Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vivid drawings!
Easier understanding of the plot!
This is the first Manga I borrowed from a library, and now...
I have now become a fan of Manga Shakespeare series! :)

[Smiley C · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well. Surprisingly I like it :D

[Lynda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as the play.

[sabisteb aka callisto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Die Zeichnungen sind schon sehr plakativ. Der Böse hat natürlich dunkles Haar und eine düstere Miene, die Guten haben blonde oder helle Haare und sind zumindest hübsch. Den jungen Lesern soll es aber auch leicht gemacht werden, die Figuren zuzuordnen und das ist gelungen. Die Figuren lassen sich in den Zeichnungen gut unterscheiden.
Die Dialoge sind, wie man es von dieser Reihe her gewohnt ist, auf die Handlungstragenden Elemente zusammengekürzt und so werden einige Stellen, die einem nach der Lektüre des Originaltextes obskur waren oder gar nicht so klar waren, tatsächlich besser verständlich. Der Manga gibt damit natürlich eine Interpretation vor, aber das ist OK. Der Schmutzige Witz des Narren ist leider komplett untergegangen, der wäre aber auch nicht jugendfrei gewesen.
Das Setting ist, wie bei vielen anderen Büchern der Reihe, ein modernes und zugleich feudales Japan, was durchaus gut passt. Der Mönch ist halt Buddhist, was OK ist.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

A quick and fun manga adaptation of As You Like It. The art is well done and adds clear expression to this genderbent comedy!

[Arminzerella · Rating 2 out of 5]

I started watching As You Like It (DVD) the other night and was not at all caught up in the story. I thought that reading it first might help me figure out what was going on (and I might be more inclined to pay attention). Then I found this manga edition – even better! Shorter! Faster! Pretty pictures! I quite enjoyed the artwork, but the story just wasn’t all that inspired - and I think that that’s Shakespeare’s fault more so than Richard Appignanesi’s. Appignanesi includes a summary of the story (in case you failed to grasp it from the manga) at the end of the book. Essentially, you have a bunch of young people who all end up in the Ar-den forest together (in various guises) and they fall in love with one another and everyone ends up married to someone else at the end. Not one of Shakespeare’s tragedies, then, eh? Two of the women are high-ranking daughters of dukes who run away together when one of them is to be banished. They take false names and Rosalind, the banished young lady, pretends to be a man (Ganymede). They use their money to purchase a shepherd’s lands and flocks once they reach Ar-den (which is where Rosalind’s father has been exiled). Rosalind’s love, Orlando, also finds his way there, when he and his manservant flee the wrath of the usurper (Duke Frederick). Why he doesn’t recognize her in her men’s garb – especially when he claims to be madly in love with her – is a mystery to me. Orlando’s brother follows him to Ar-den and undergoes a total character transformation when Orlando saves him from a lion attack. He falls in love with Rosalind’s cousin, Celia (code name: Aliena). Several other pairings (less central and more silly) are made, and at the end the God of Marriage (Hymen) brings everyone together, and the usurper duke repents of his evil ways and returns all of his brother’s lands and wealth to him. Very tidy.

What I’ve liked about Shakespeare in the past is his language and humor (which are sometimes rather inaccessible when you’re reading him for the first time, or without notes). This felt like it was supposed to be funny or at least fun-loving, but I wasn’t really into it. It was silly and there were too many convenient coincidences, and no character development (I could have cared less about any of these people). While I was initially excited about the setting being Japan, it could easily have taken place anywhere – why was this special? On the whole, not my favorite Shakespeare play. I suppose I should take a look at the actual play (as written by The Man), but I’m still not wild about the story.

[May · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Shakespeare, and I love manga. So naturally, I love Manga Shakespeare.

What I love the most about this series, actually, is that it keeps the original Shakespearean English. And because it's made in manga format, it tends towards over-dramatization of expressions which lends the story a life that just reading it in text doesn't.

The art style at times seems to get a little lazy, a little less-than-best, but it doesn't detract from the story.

If you love Shakespeare, this is for you.
If you love manga, this is for you.
If you're trying to get someone who loves manga to love Shakespeare? This is definitely for you. It makes Shakespeare readable and accessible, and the daunting old English isn't so daunting when you have images to balance out the words and help decipher what the characters are saying. I had never read, or even knew the story of, As You Like It before I read this book. But not once did I get lost or confused.

[Marsha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not necessarily one of Shakespeare’s greater works, this one has its comedic sensibilities firmly in place as romance is pursued in and out of the forest of Arden. If the ending is too contrived (with no less than four couples being married off at once), what with the appearance of a god and the handy dispatch of a lugubrious character finding religion, yet there is mild amusement to be had in the japes of the fool and one of the most memorable speeches on the human condition from the melancholy Jacques. The reader is helped by color panels in the front of the book that give the dramatis personae. The illustrator Chie Kutsuwada puts the action in a more or less modern setting with a mix of contemporary and old-fashioned clothing. The artwork isn’t particularly original or vibrant (some of it looks rather clumsily drawn); it retains the sensibilities of traditional manga with wide-open mouths and rounded eyes. But it remains true to the text and spirit of this light-hearted romp.

[Cathal Reynolds · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5 stars
Poor adaptation. Twas never truer that Shakespeare can only be experienced on the stage. There were so many lines missing from the middle of speeches that I actually got lost reading them, because I'm so familiar with the play. Most noticeable was in the Seven Ages monologue, because it ruined the pace and flow of it, making it feel almost like it was stuttering. The way I read it was in the style of the Globe production in 2008 I think it was which is one of the best adaptations of it. There were several elements of the play that relied on the stage setting, and it just didn't work in a graphic novel. The art style was simplistic and not, in my opinion, appropriate for the play, neither was the modern setting, though I found the melancholy Jacques vaguely humorous. Vaguely.

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I purchased a couple of these Manga Shakespeare as Christmas gifts for a certain teenage manga lover I know and I think that they will be a hit. They're shortened from the originals of course but Shakespeare's language is retained pretty much intact and the translation to manga format and style is a great fit. The inherent emphasis on visuals and action make this a little more like watching a performance instead of just reading a text. And let's face it, Shakespeare's plots seem to be made for manga (teenagers in love, cross dressing, wrestling, what more do you need? Maybe ghosts and revenge: see Manga Hamlet). All in all, these are a great way to begin exploring Shakespeare.

[Kereesa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've always been curious about the Manga Shakespeare series, and when I saw this one used at my local Gamezilla I decided to pick it up. (And am supremely happy I did so) I've actually never read the play in question, (but you can bet I will be now), but the adaptation seems pretty fantastic in my opinion.

i.e. I had no problem following this abridged version (yes manga Shakespeare sadly doesn't adapt all of the play-too much awesomeness would make them explode or something) and laughed more than once.

God, how I adore thee Shakespeare.

The art was a bit eh for my taste, but I am a graphic whore so go figure.

A lovely 4-4.5/5

[Kalilah · Rating 2 out of 5]

'As You Like It' isn't as well spun - or as funny - as 'Much Ado' in my opinion, although there were still a good many jokes that made me grin (and others that went straight over my head. Admittedly, I do struggle with the Shakespearian text). The artwork is good; it stays true to the whole 'Manga' theme, more so than some of the others in this series (I'm am aware that there are various styles of manga art, but this one is perhaps one of the more popular types).

It's an okay book but but based purely on the plot I don't know if I would read it again. I have a good mind to etch some of the more hilarious jokes into my notebook though...

[Hanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

While good, this play is in need of more details than this small manga volume can supply. If you want the general idea of the overall play to come through, you need to elaborate on a few things more. The art was mostly good, though there were a few "wth?" panels. Like, why draw it like this?? But overall, this is a great Shakespeare for reluctant readers, I suppose, as it gets those who weren't originally interested interested b/c it's Shakespeare... in manga form!

[Michael P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I may assign this book to students in the fall, so I shall not comment here.