Hi Readers,
Just had to take a moment there because for some reason I thought it wasn't Monday! It was really weird because I knew it was Sunday yesterday so why would my brain think it was any other day? I don't know. Anyway, so today I'm continuing to review Gail Carriger's Soulless/The Parasol Protectorate Series with the Manga Trilogy. I decided to write about these three books together as they just re-tell the first three novels and nothing new is added.
I'd so recommended reading my reviews on the novels before reading this because I don't plan to go into the same level as detail as I did for them. Also, I'd say to read those novels before you read the manga. This is because I found that somethings that happened in the books don't appear in the manga. Those things were mostly details about the other plot lines and characters, which just had more depth. In a way, I wish I'd read something else to clear my head before racing through these mangas, but it was also good because of the things I noticed.
What I did love about these was that the opening pages are colored in so you get a sense of how the manga artist has interpreted Carriger's descriptions. I found that the drawings were also good and it sparked my wanting to read more manga! The opening to the first book is actually something that is set a little bit into the first novel. Alexia and her family are at breakfast and her step-sister is reading the newspaper that tells of how a woman was attacked at the ball they all want to last night. Then we get the flash back of this event. Though that is the actual opening to the novel.
So, basically the manga trilogy is a condensed version which focus on the main plot from the novels. This actually works very well and I couldn't see it done any other way. I love the drawings of the different dresses and the wolves! The characters do come across well, but I got a lot more about them from the novels then I did from the manga trilogy. It was interesting to see the characters in a different way though.
I did enjoy the first book and it was a refreshing read for me. The second one followed on from the first and covered most of the second novel.
I'd so recommended reading my reviews on the novels before reading this because I don't plan to go into the same level as detail as I did for them. Also, I'd say to read those novels before you read the manga. This is because I found that somethings that happened in the books don't appear in the manga. Those things were mostly details about the other plot lines and characters, which just had more depth. In a way, I wish I'd read something else to clear my head before racing through these mangas, but it was also good because of the things I noticed.
What I did love about these was that the opening pages are colored in so you get a sense of how the manga artist has interpreted Carriger's descriptions. I found that the drawings were also good and it sparked my wanting to read more manga! The opening to the first book is actually something that is set a little bit into the first novel. Alexia and her family are at breakfast and her step-sister is reading the newspaper that tells of how a woman was attacked at the ball they all want to last night. Then we get the flash back of this event. Though that is the actual opening to the novel.
So, basically the manga trilogy is a condensed version which focus on the main plot from the novels. This actually works very well and I couldn't see it done any other way. I love the drawings of the different dresses and the wolves! The characters do come across well, but I got a lot more about them from the novels then I did from the manga trilogy. It was interesting to see the characters in a different way though.
I did enjoy the first book and it was a refreshing read for me. The second one followed on from the first and covered most of the second novel.
The opening pages were once again in color and I do wish that the rest of them were too! But I'm guessing that would be real expensive. Anyway, this time Alexia is on a trip to Scotland to catch up with her husband and solve the loss of supernatural elements. I did like the flying airships and the sense of adventure in this one though. It does stick more true to the second novel then the first I thought, but once again it's a very cut down version of the main plot and it didn't seem to have much of the other plots that the novel had.
I liked reading it though and I think it shows that novels can convert in manga easily enough. I don't think it took me very long to read and the others either, though I did try to space it out to enjoy them more. Also, I wouldn't say these books are aimed at children. They were done for the fans and readers of the novels. There's some nudity and a bit of violence, but not that much that easily offends. The dialogue is simple and short like in other mangas and comics. For my dyslexic brain it was a nice break! And I did really enjoy reading them.
The third book fits in well and it's a shame they only decided to do a trilogy! I think books four and five would have worked out okay, but for some reason they stop here. The actual ending is nice enough, but I really felt the wanting to read more! I did try to see if I could find anything in the same vein of Victorian Steampunk, but I haven't found anything I liked. If you know of any manga series comment and let me know.
Overall, I enjoyed this manga trilogy. I think they fit in well and go along side the novel series. I'd recommend these for fans of the series, but I'd say if you like this kinda of manga but didn't want fancy the novels for whatever reason then give them ago!
Thanks for reading and next week I'm looking at the spin off series which follows Alexia and Conall's daughter Pru.
Images from: Amazon UK.
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