"Hamlet" (Manga Classics) by William Shakespeare (original story), Crystal S. Chan (story adaptation), and Julien Choy (art)

There are two options to read this play in the Manga Classics series.  One is to read it in the original language, and the other is to read it in a more modern adaptation.  I chose the original language edition, so that's what I'm reviewing here.

This book is breathtaking.  The art is just gorgeous -- crisp and moody, atmospheric and alluring.  And the story is "staged" very nicely, suiting the actions to the words in ways that made the story come to life.  

Like the other Manga Classics I've read this summer, I handed this off to my kids when I was done with it.  All three of them have read the Usborne graphic novel of Hamlet, so they knew the basics of the story already, and who the characters were.  My 14-yr-old son and 12-yr-old daughter both read this whole manga, and they did ask me a lot of questions about archaic words, but they did not have trouble understanding the story.  My 12-yr-old daughter read part of it and decided it was too creepy and weird, so she stopped reading.  I agree with her that the Ghost is quite creepy -- he's supposed to be, but I understand why she would object.

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG-13 for containing the original curse words, accusations of marital infidelity, and violence.  It's not filled with gore, but the deaths at the end do involve some blood spatter.  Which is black and white, and cartoony, but still might not be acceptable for some readers.

This is the 40th book I've read from my TBR shelves for #TheUnreadShelfProject2022.