The victim of a miscarriage of justice, the Count of Monte Cristo is fired by a desire for retribution and empowered by a stroke of providence. In his campaign of vengeance, he becomes an anonymous agent of fate. The sensational narrative of intrigue, betrayal, escape, and triumphant revenge moves at a cracking pace. Alexandre Dumas‘ novel presents a powerful conflict between good and evil embodied in an epic saga of rich diversity that is complicated by the hero’s ultimate discomfort with the hubristic implication of his own actions.
Story based on the novel by Alexandre Dumas, adapted by Nokman Poon and Chrystal Chan
An old story, a style of our time
I first discovered this story in musical form, falling in love with the songs, the characters, and the plot. Now I got to experience way more details and elements of Dumas’ heritage, falling for this story once again. Although I do not count myself as a fan of manga (not anymore), I was highly intrigued by the opportunity to read this adaptation. The Count of Monte Christo is known to be a very long, detailed book, so I took the advantage of discovering it in a shorter, condensed version. Nevertheless, I had my pleasure with the many twists and characters the manga could, despite its decreased length, convey.
Reading through the notes on the production of this manga at the end of this book, one gets to know about some of the changes made to Alexandre Dumas’ novel. Still, I believe that this manga has caught the essence of the story and the main characters quite well. Although I seldomly appreciate this art style nowadays, I was intrigued by the Count’s detailed expressions and his handsomeness, as well. But he is not the only figure of the book that comes to life on these pages. Although condensed, the manga does not fail to convey many side stories, motivations, and faults of minor characters.
Experiencing the story in this way allowed me to discover the genius that is Alexandre Dumas without suffering through hundred and hundred of pages. I loved every twist and turn of his story that I read and saw in this manga. I was pleased by how the plot turned out and how one could, respectively, recognize many details in one single frame. Surprisingly, this manga is not only for lovers of this artisan genre, but also for admirers of the writing of classical authors like Dumas.
In conclusion
I fell in love with this story due to its highly simplified adaptation as a musical, but now discovered more and more details. Enjoying the many shades of the characters and the depth of the story itself was fully possible within this condensed version that did not omit the most shocking, surprising twists. I will surely pursue some more of these amazing adaptations that are the Manga Classics.
The author:
Alexandre Dumas established himself as one of the most popular and prolific authors in France, known for plays and historical adventure novels such as The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo. He died on December 5, 1870, in Puys, France. His works have been translated into more than 100 languages and adapted for numerous films. Source
This could be interesting for you as well:
Another beautiful adaptation of a many-layered, long tale of love, loss, dreams, and revolution. I only got to know the story through the 2012 movie adaptation of the musical, but loved the story ever since. To see it in some more details and these intriguing pictures was a joy. Now, I’m more tempted to read the original book by Victor Hugo more than ever.