Manga* Shakespeare is kind of a brilliant idea. Shakespeare's plays can be a little hard to sit down and read for the simple reason that they aren't supposed to be read; they're supposed to be watched! Just bringing in a visual element gets you halfway there. And Hamlet as an edgy white-and-black-haired anime boy? Perfect. Now, the execution could use some polishing in parts. Some abridging of 'Hamlet' is necessary, even in most performances, because it is quite a long play. However, some of the cuts here made the transitions between scenes a bit abrupt and hard to follow. And the artwork likewise is sometimes very nice (I never stopped appreciating Hamlet's off-the-shoulder outfits. Slay.) but sometimes just zooms way in on a doodle of the character's profile or something, in which case it isn't all that helpful in conveying what is happening. I'm not sure why there was a weak attempt to set it in the future...other than the artist just wanting to draw people with sci-fi ports in their skin. But that part is fine; theater troupes play around with costumes from different cultures and time periods for Shakespeare all the time.

I bought the Arden Shakespeare of Hamlet and Julius Caesar together. Both have long, informative and scholarly introductions. The plays are easy to read, with detailed explanatory notes on each page to explain unfamiliar words or historical references. I thoroughly recommend both editions to all students.