Category: Manga

Title: Anne of Green Gables (Manga Classics)
Author: Crystal Chan, Kuma Chan (illustrator), L.M. Montgomery
Genre: Manga
Publisher: Manga Classics
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: September 1, 2020
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Siblings Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert were planning to adopt an orphaned boy to help out around their farm, Green Gables – instead, they got Anne Shirley. A plucky redheaded girl with a vibrant imagination, Anne turns first Green Gables and then the rest of Prince Edward Island on its ear. 

Manga Classics® is proud to be the only authorized manga adaption of Anne of Green Gables by the Heirs of L.M. Montgomery, with a foreword by Kate McDonald Butler – granddaughter of the original author! 

This volume presents a faithful recreation of this classic kids novel, from the Lake of Shining Waters to the Dryad’s Bubble!

Review:

Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert are adult siblings who wanted to adopt an orphaned boy to help around their house. When Matthew goes to pick up the boy, he finds a girl named Anne instead. They aren’t sure if they want to keep her, but they soon realize they can’t send Anne away. Anne’s imagination keeps them on their toes, but they eventually become a loving family.

I haven’t read Anne of Green Gables since I was a child. It’s a fun Canadian classic. Reading this as an adult, I appreciated Anne’s carefree attitude. There were a few scenes which seem absurd for a children’s book today. One of Marilla’s friend told Anne she was ugly when she first met her. Then Anne had to apologize when she snapped at the woman. I can’t imagine an adult being that rude to a child when they first meet them. There was another scene where Anne accidentally gets her friend drunk when she comes over for tea. This was a funny misunderstanding, but not appropriate for a modern children’s story.

One interesting part of this book was that it had a foreword from the granddaughter of L.M. Montgomery. Her heirs authorized this adaptation of the story, which makes it extra special. I’m glad that they appreciated the way this book has been adapted into a new form.

This is a great Anne of Green Gables adaptation!

Thank you Manga Classics for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What to read next:

Have you read Anne of Green Gables (Manga Classics)? What did you think of it?

Title: Spy x Family, Vol. 2
Author: Tatsuya Endo
Genre: Manga
Publisher: VIZ Media
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: September 1, 2020
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

An action-packed comedy about a fake family that includes a spy, an assassin and a telepath!

Master spy Twilight is the best at what he does when it comes to going undercover on dangerous missions in the name of a better world. But when he receives the ultimate impossible assignment—get married and have a kid—he may finally be in over his head!

Twilight must infiltrate the prestigious Eden Academy to get close to his target Donovan Desmond, but does his daughter Anya even have the academic prowess to get in to the school? But perhaps the truly impossible mission is making sure Anya becomes a school scholar and befriends Donovan’s arrogant son, Damian!

Review:

Twilight is a master spy who has created a fake family to infiltrate an exclusive private school. Twilight’s daughter, a secret telepath, was sent to the private school so she can become friends with his target’s son. However, she has a big fight with the boy on the first day. This mission is much harder than Twilight expected.

This was another fun spy story in this series. This story jumped right into the action, since all of the characters were introduced in the first one. The story in this book seemed to have a faster pace than the first one, probably because the action began right on the first page.

Twilight’s daughter, Anya, was adorable. She can read people’s minds, but her parents don’t know that. Sometimes she would get overwhelmed by listening to her parents’ thoughts and their conflicting feelings. Though she had these complex thoughts, she was still just a little girl. When she got her new uniform she had to run around the park and show it off to everyone there. She was a sweet little character.

This is a great story. It ended with a cliffhanger, so I’m excited to see what happens next.

Thank you VIZ Media for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What to read next:

Other books in the series:

• Spy x Family, Vol. 1

Have you read Spy x Family, Vol. 2? What did you think of it?

Title: Not Your Idol, Vol. 2
Author: Aoi Makino
Genre: Manga
Publisher: Viz Media
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: September 1, 2020
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

A psychological suspense series about a girl who has given up her life as an idol after being assaulted by a fan.

After that day, she stopped being a girl. In the wake of an assault, Nina Kamiyama, a former idol in the group Pure Club, shuns her femininity and starts dressing as a boy. At high school she keeps to herself, but fellow student Hikaru Horiuchi realizes who she is. What secrets is she keeping? The shocking drama starts.

“This is exactly why she got herself stabbed by a fan.”

Heartbroken Nina Kamiyama is a former idol. She’s decided to live her life by keeping her past identity a secret, but her situation intensifies when another discovers who she really is. Who can she trust?

Review:

Nina Kamiyama is a former pop idol, who left the group Pure Club after she was attacked by a fan. She disguised herself as a boy and started attending a regular high school. At the end of the last volume, someone threatened to reveal her identity. Her friend Hikaru had some photos of her in his bag, so Nina’s friends think he can’t be trusted. Another student at their school, Miku, is also threatened with someone sending her secret photos of her walking down the street. Miku doesn’t feel safe walking by herself, so she gets Hikaru to walk her home. However, he can’t protect her all the time.

This was an intense story. The themes of sexual assault were introduced in the first volume, but they became much more prominent in this volume. Nina is still recovering from the post traumatic stress of being attacked by a fan. Hikaru’s sister was sexually harassed by her teacher, but when she spoke up, she wasn’t taken seriously. Other students were randomly attacked as well, but they were shamed into keeping it a secret. This is a disturbing reality for many girls.

The sexual exploitation of girls was also an important part of the story. When Nina was in the pop group, Pure Club, they had to pose for lingerie photos to give out the male fans. They were young girls and it was extremely inappropriate to put them in these revealing outfits and positions. This has happened to many young female performers, and still happens today. These kinds of photos also make men think they have permission to do whatever they want to the young women. This story showed the aftermath of putting girls in these kinds of situations.

This is a great story!

Thank you Viz Media for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What to read next:

Other books in the series:

• Not Your Idol, Vol. 1

Have you read Not Your Idol, Vol. 2? What did you think of it?

Title: Manga Classics: The Count of Monte Cristo
Author: Stacy King, Alexandre Dumas
Genre: Manga
Publisher: Udon Entertainment
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: April 1, 2017
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

A Conspiracy and a miscarriage of justice turn the gentle Edmond Dantès into an implacable agent of fate: The Count of Monte Cristo . Obsessed by vengeance and empowered by providence, the Count avenges himself on whose who have wronged him – but is this justice, or is this hubris? In the end, does even the Count know?

Alexandre Dumas’ skillful narrative combines intrigue, betrayal, and triumphant revenge into a powerful conflict between good and evil. Now this exciting saga, rich and diverse, takes on an entirely new life in this Manga Classics adaptation!

Review:

Edmond Dantès gets the exciting news that he will become captain of the ship he has been working on. When his adversaries find out, they make sure he will not be captain, and put him in jail. After being in prison for years, Edmond becomes friends with a fellow prisoner who gives Edmond his personal fortune. With this newfound wealth, Edmond reinvents himself as the Count of Monte Cristo. It takes a few years, but the Count devises a plan to bring justice down on all of the men who made him suffer.

I found it funny that the characters didn’t recognize Edmond as the Count. It had been years since they saw him and they assumed he had died, but I still think they would have recognized him. This created some dramatic irony, since the reader knows that he is Edmond, but most of the characters don’t recognize him.

I liked the illustrations in this manga. I find that sometimes the characters end up looking alike in some manga comics. Each character had a distinct style and looked different, so it was easy to tell them apart. I also found the story very easy to follow with the illustrations. The Count of Monte Cristo is a long novel that I’ve never read, but I could understand the story, and read it much quicker, in this format.

This is a great manga adaptation!

Thank you Udon Entertainment for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What to read next:

Have you read Manga Classics: The Count of Monte Cristo? What did you think of it?

Title: Spy x Family, Vol. 1
Author: Tatsuya Endo
Genre: Manga
Publisher: VIZ Media
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: June 2, 2020
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

An action-packed comedy about a fake family that includes a spy, an assassin and a telepath!

Master spy Twilight is the best at what he does when it comes to going undercover on dangerous missions in the name of a better world. But when he receives the ultimate impossible assignment—get married and have a kid—he may finally be in over his head! Not one to depend on others, Twilight has his work cut out for him procuring both a wife and a child for his mission to infiltrate an elite private school. What he doesn’t know is that the wife he’s chosen is an assassin and the child he’s adopted is a telepath!

Review:

Twilight is a master spy. His latest mission involves infiltrating an elite private school. However, he will need a family to do that. He knows the school will want him to have a wife, and a child to send to the school, but he is single. Twilight adopts a child from an orphanage. He doesn’t know her secret, that she’s a telepath. The woman he finds to act as his wife, Yor, is a secret assassin. Twilight has to train his new wife and child to get used to their new life, while they both have their own secret identities.

This was an intriguing plot. Twilight had an important mission, but he had to make some major changes to his life to complete it. It was kind of absurd that he needed a wife to be able to send his child to the school. It was even more suspenseful since the wife and child were hiding their secret identities from him as well.

There were some sexist parts of the story, which I didn’t like, but they were so extreme that they weren’t realistic. The idea that a man would need to have a wife to enroll his child in a school is crazy. Yor’s friends teased her for not having a boyfriend before she met Twilight. There were also some inappropriate questions that were asked during their private school interview about the mother and father’s roles in the household. I didn’t like these sexist parts of the story, but I don’t think they were meant to be offensive to the reader.

I’m curious to see what happens in the next book!

Thank you VIZ Media for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What to read next:

Have you read Spy x Family, Vol. 1? What did you think of it?