Manga Classics: Pride & Prejudice by Stacy King
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I’m not a regular manga reader, and I actually had not planned on reading this book when I found out there was going to be a manga version available at Comic-Con this year. But when I happened to pass by the UDON booth on the Saturday (which by the way, I’m usually at Hall H all day on Saturdays) of Comic-Con weekend, I decided to take a peek inside.

Needless to say I was very impressed with what I saw. I purchased it almost immediately. And since this past weekend, I have read the whole thing once and have glanced over the pages more than several times.

This really is a wonderful representation of Jane Austen’s classic and it made me fall in love all over again with Darcy, as well as appreciate the journey of the relationship between Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet.

Honestly, for those who have struggled in understanding all that was written in the original version, you may find this version much easier to understand, even despite its traditional manga reading style (pages read right-to-left instead of left-to-right, and panels also read right-to-left, as is instructed in the beginning of the book.

It certainly helped me to understand more of the storyline that I pretty much glossed over when reading the classic novel. Now, after reading this, not only do I understand more of the story, I have another beautiful visual description of the characters.

The funny thing about the art of the characters is that Darcy is not drawn as extremely attractive all the time, but depending on his actions, his look can range from seemingly haughty to embarrassed to rude to caring. The same goes for Elizabeth Bennet. As is routine with manga art, facial expressions are sometimes (quite) exaggerated to depict certain emotions, often in humorous or emotional situations.

I loved it all. I found it was a wonderful and beautiful addition (not replacement) to telling the story of the Bennet sisters and their relationship struggles, and I highly recommend it to those who can’t get enough of Darcy and Lizzie.

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