Manga Shakespeare: Othello

Manga Shakespeare

by Richard Appignanesi (Adaptor), Ryuta Osada (Illustrator), William Shakespeare

VILLAINS SPREAD UNFOUNDED JEALOUSY

Isolation, jealously, and betrayal haunt one of Shakespeare's most well-known tragedies. Othello, deceived by the traitorous Iago, believes his wife has been unfaithful, and his blind jealously drives this timeless story. In this fantastical manga version, much of the action takes place in the carnival atmosphere of a reimagined and otherworldly Venice. While masks may hide some characters' real motives, the very real emotions of Othello are dramatically revealed.

The Manga Shakespeare series is an exciting new way to read the works of William Shakespeare—and much more fun than a study guide! Using Shakespeare's original text and drawing inspiration from modern Japan, each of the books brings to life one of the most important works od literature in the English language. Whether it's for school or for relaxation, whether you're a fan of manga or of the Bard, manga Shakespeare won't disappoint!

Genres: Manga, Graphic Novels, Shakespeare, Comics, Classics, Fiction, Plays

208 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2008

About the author

Richard Appignanesi is a published adapter and an author of young adult books. Published credits of Richard Appignanesi include Manga Shakespeare: Julius Caesar (Manga Shakespeare), Manga Shakespeare: Macbeth (Manga Shakespeare), Manga Shakespeare: Hamlet (Manga Shakespeare), and Manga Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet (Manga Shakespeare).

Reviews

[Debbie Zapata · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sep 1, 145am ~~ Review asap.

115pm ~~ Well, this final title in my August Manga Shakespeare binge was the most bizarre of all. I was so distracted by the artwork that I barely paid attention to the text, although I can say that the basic story was there.

Othello had wings, like John Travolta's in Michael. Desdemona had little curved horns (for the longest time I thought they were just part of her headdress, not actually part of her head). Roderigo was a dog. Literally, not just wearing a mask for Carnival. Iago's wife, who was also Desdemona's companion, was a woman with butterfly wings and four arms. Then there was the Doge of Venice and his Senators: a pale man and two women wrapped together in chains! Iago looked like an evil puppet come to life. Of course, that image was easy to understand, but the others left me trying to decide where the ideas came from.

It was all just too weird. Like trying to figure out someone's fever dream.

I've only read and seen this play a few times so I do not consider myself familiar enough with Othello to nitpick about anything missing or what might have been changed. After all, as I have said repeatedly during this binge, I believe that these editions should act as a springboard to help readers get at least a little familiar with Shakespeare and hopefully inspire the curiosity to read his work in its original format, but no one should accept them as replacements for those originals.

There are a few other Manga Shakespeare titles, but I think the ones I have are plenty. I have had fun with them all (yes, even poor bizarre Othello!) but I have also had enough. And I do now have a nice fat project for next year: go to the originals of all of these Manga books, read them and then watch a performance of each one. I am already looking forward to that, so I can honestly say thanks Manga Shakespeare for the inspiration for the idea.

[Jade · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like how we see Othello get controlled by jealousy and how it charges him and you feel really bad for his wife .
He falls so deeply in that the Othello in the beginning of the book was different from the monster inside his mind we meet later.
I think shakespeare does better as a graphic novel, most people can't get into shakespeare because the writing is hard and with a visual more take it helps people to understand it better.
Keep in mind these was never words wriiten for a novel but words for a play, and most people when they see the play including me it more fun but reading the words, no matter how grand his writing is doesn't have the same fun effect, so these novel gives readers that effect a little by having a visual entertaining and well written book

[Nathalie van Pelt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good story, but not a fan of the theme of this retelling.

[SB · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought I'd try to familiarise myself with more of Shakespeare, but in a different form from the originals. This Manga adaptation is a brilliant introduction to Othello, with some stunning artwork that still captures the essence of the story. I reread it soon after I finished to gain a better understanding of different characters, but felt that some parts such as the ending felt rushed and confusing upon first read.

Recommended!

[Lena · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a favourite of mine so far - perhaps since I had studied Othello already, I found this adaptation to be less exciting than I expected. I wasn't particularly attracted to this artist's style, and found it the most difficult manga to follow compared to the other ones that I have read so far. Still, it covered the plot line and I liked the portrayal of Cassio.

[Kirsten Cummins · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually had a difficult time following along with this, and I worked on this show!

[Eden · Rating 3 out of 5]

The graphic novel adaptation of Othello combines Shakespearean language with the use of popular anime graphics to create a new world for Shakespearean characters to explore. The use of graphics in combination with Shakespearean text creates a new platform for students to begin learning Shakespeare without the fear, because of the close relation to television cartoon. Othello Manga still has all of the themes the classical play is known for, only incorporating images of a “lighter read”.

[Gill · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn’t a big fan of the illustrations, it just looked strange. The characters are mostly animals I felt it took away from the story, generally wasn’t to my taste. Even though the drawings weren’t for me they were still very impressive and I enjoyed it.

[Maryam · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOOOOVED IT! Who wouldn't love MANGA shakespeare????

[Armağan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Othello Shakespeare'in en cok sevdigim oyunu olmasına ragmen bu versiyonuna pek baglanamadim acikcasi.

[ashes ➷ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Manga Shakespeare in the trashiest way possible. I think, on the one hand, that they're doing something incredibly important (making Shakespeare more accessible by providing visuals to the text for everyone), but the actual quality of the books is often very low.

It took me a while to get into this one; I was confused about a lot of minor plot elements in the beginning and had to look up a plot summary. Not great. It made more sense as I moved along, but all these little things (as well as, most likely, the abridged script) made it harder to understand.

The artist on this one... fantastic character design. Awful proportion. I don't want to be mean, but 99% of these books are illustrated by artists who seem to be "not good enough for (professional) manga." It's art that's... fine, and would be amazing for a teen with a webcomic, but as professional adults illustrating a book I kind of expect better. There were pages where the awful proportion just... killed me.

Also, Othello is 100% a white anime guy they painted brown. His facial features are drawn so, so white. Oh my God.

But I made it through! And I did overall enjoy it. And, again, fantastic character design (one of the best aspects of the Manga Shakespeare line, as far as I'm concerned.) So it's something I'd still recommend to someone trying to get into Othello without just flat reading the play in full text online.

[Gözde · Rating 3 out of 5]

Türkiye’de son zamanlarda Othello Sefirin Kızı dizisi sayesinde biraz daha popülerleşti bence. Normalde de popüler tabiki Shakespeare eseri sonuçta. Venedik Taciri’ni okumuşken elimdeki Othello mangasını da bitirmek istedim. Kısaca tek bir Iago nasıl bu kadar insanın hayatının içine edebilir anlayamıyorum. Elbette yaşananlardan birçok kişi suçlu başta kesinlikle Othello ama bir kişi bile saçmalamasa Iago başarılı olamazdı. En çok zavallı Desdemona’ya üzüldüm resmen hayaller hayatlar yaşadı. Cassio’ya da üzüldüm elbette. Ama geri kalan tüm karakterler kötüydü. Okurken çok sinirlendim kesinlikle. Çizimler yine ortalamaydı bence. Venedik Taciri kitabında olmamıştı ama Othello ellerimde parçalandı resmen çok üzüldüm. İkinci el falan değildi üstelik.

Othello kalbimi kırdı. Sevdiğini iddia ettiği kişiye karşı öfkesi ve şiddeti çok düşmancaydı. Kıskançlığın insanı getirebildiği/getirebileceği nokta saatlerce tartışılabilir ama insanlar sevdiklerine Othello gibi davranıyorsa sevmiyorlar demektir bence. Tebrikler Iago ve onun gibiler!

[Soobie has fog in her brain · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read it in two sittings: the first one was perfect and I could understand everything that was going on. Then I stopped and resumed my reading the next day in front of the wood stove and nothing made sense anymore. It was so frustrating!

Compared to other titles of the series, this one has better art, even if sometimes I could tell the characters apart. The panels contain mostly the characters and rarely we get to see the setting in which the play takes place.

Well, as an introduction to Othello, it was a good one. I'm planning to slowly read all the titles in the series: five down, nine to go...

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is entry 6/12 for my 2025 challenge to read one book per month that was recommended/lent to me!

I liked this a lot more than Manga The Tempest, but I like Othello as a play more as well. Again the art style is pretty dated but I liked how fantastical it was this time around - Othello's wings turning black was cool. I haven't read the original play in a long time so can't comment on how good of an adaptation this is, but I had fun with it.

[Safaa · Rating 3 out of 5]

The artwork is beautiful, however I felt that the expressions/tones that some of her characters evoked were a bit misinterpreted from the original play. Iago as a character did not have the evil charisma he possesses in the original, but in all honesty this is just an interpretation therefore it is just subject to the creators interpretation!

[Ms. Ballister · Rating 3 out of 5]

To be fair to the book, I read this really fast - just rushed through it. Not because it was that good, just because I was speed-reading the text and not attending to the images enough. So for me this felt like a pretty chaotic adaptation. It was ok. I think someone who didn't know the plot of Othello already would be pretty lost.

[Roan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was skeptical at first but this was so fun to read! I wanted to read the actual play but haven't gotten around to it. The manga adaptation is very entertaining and digestible, which I really appreciate. The designs were a little strange but they somehow worked haha. I want to read more of these now.

[Rich · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not sure this is going to be helpful in my live theatre experience next month. I will need to read another study guide of some sort.

[Büşra Demiri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Başta biraz zor girdim olayın içine ama keyifliydi

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Need to read the original now!
These are great reads for Shakespeare newbies, or quick summaries before jumping straight in.

[sabisteb aka callisto · Rating 3 out of 5]

Das Setting in einer klassischen Manga Fantasywelt mit Elben, geflügelten Wesen und Magiern ist zwar putzig, kann mich aber so gar nicht überzeugen. Im Gegenteil, dieses Setting läuft meiner Sichtweise des Stückes so diametral entgegen, dass ich es geradezu irritierend finde und es sogar die Hauptelemente des Stückes nicht einfängt.
Eine gute, auf die tragenden Elemente der Dialoge gekürzte und bebilderte Variante, aber nicht so wirklich gelungen.

[Marsha · Rating 2 out of 5]

The color panels in the front of this manga clue the reader right off the bat that this “Othello” is going to be something…completely different. Abandoning the traditional depictions in other manga, Ryuta Osada goes overboard by presenting us with a world filled with animalistic creatures in even more fantastical dress. Strangely, the treacherous Iago is the only one presented with human features and body. Are we to believe the entire tale of “Othello” a fevered dream of this man, one of the most baffling and compelling villains ever penned in theatrical canon? If Iago is a being of “motiveless malignity”, his every action open to interpretation, then perhaps it is only right that the characters peopled within the story itself become figures subject to re-invention and interpretation. Often posed against plain shadowy or white backdrops, there are only the characters themselves to distract the reader from this growing horror tale of a spouse who is inexorably brought to suspect his wife of infidelity and the drastic measures he takes when he comes to his fatal decision. Such illustrations may not be to everyone’s taste but no one can deny their inventiveness.

[M · Rating 2 out of 5]

The classic William Shakespeare tome Othello receives the manga update in this contribution from Ryuta Osada. Played out using the olden dialogue, Othello, Iaga, Desdemona, and the entire cast are re-imagined as Japanese-styled characters. While I always enjoy seeing artists try and get literature into the hands of teens, this adaptation leaves me unsettled. A winged Othello, a wolfen Roderigo, and a multi-armed Emilia are only a few of the altered cast members that detract from the initial themes of jealousy and betrayal. Honestly, the summation provided at the conclusion of the book proves to be more informative than the actual work itself. Osada would have done well to adapt the dialogue to fit his style to create a better read.

[Lillian Angelovic · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining manga version of the classic Shakespeare tale. I chuckled a lot, despite the obvious tragedy. Readers accustomed to graphic novels should note this is true manga style, with classic Japanese manga-style characters. The Moor has wings, and Iago sports a feminine cast with the classic razor-bob-hairstyle of sly manga bad guys. And that's just the beginning (Desdemona with bunny ears? Sexy female senators chained to the three-eyed Duke of Venice, anyone?)

Readers new to the story would do well to read the summary in the back first. It won't ruin the suspense. It's a classic. You should know it already.

[Scarlett Sims · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this as like a precursor/reading alongside Othello because I really don't understand Shakespeare and I thought this might give me some idea of the plot so I could follow the actual play better. I think it serves its purpose in that regard, and it does use Shakespeare's original language, it's just highly abridged. So I wouldn't recommend it as a standalone.

[Bethany · Rating 3 out of 5]

*2.5
This was good, but not as enjoyable as A Midsummer's Night Dream. However I did prefer that play anyway. I hope the rest of the series are as good as my first read as they are fantastic books and beautifully drawn.

[Michael P. · Rating 1 out of 5]

I suppose I should review this since I would never assign a book this bad to my students, but maybe under the right circumstances I'll suggest that someone look at it. Feh!

[BCPL Youth Services Librarian]

Click to see book in BCPL's online catalog

[Extreme · Rating 3 out of 5]

As expected of Shakespeare, the story comes with a tragic end that provokes readers to anger. A straightforward story of deceit with lessons to be learnt.

[Moopies · Rating 1 out of 5]

Maybe its been a while, but I am pretty sure this was kind of off.. then again maybe my memory is just off. I LOVE Othello, but I didnt much like this at all. I need to read Othello again.