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Star Wars Manga #4
Star Wars Manga: A New Hope, Volume 4
The manga-style Star Wars saga concludes with this, the fourthvolume of Star Wars: A New Hope -- Manga, artfully rendered by the hand of Hisao Tamaki. You won't want to miss the dramatic final assault by the Rebels on the Death Star. It's Star Wars like you've never seen it before! This material was originally published in Japan in book form in 1997. Alternate title in Japanese.
96 pages, Paperback
First published December 2, 1998
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
June 5, 2020
One of the tiny yet noteworthy nitpicks I have with this one - it skips Luke's ecstatic gasp as he sees he's just successfully destroyed the Death Star. There was a lot of emotion in that one inhale.
January 1, 2019
The final manga in the series covering A New Hope continues to deliver what the previous three books have brought to the table.
As with the other volumes, the art is fantastic, and the technical drawing is stepped up a notch with the run against the deathstar. The sheer level of detail is amazing, and I have nothing but admiration for Tamaki's attention to every small detail of the space combat. (having done fine arts, I know how difficult drawing machines and vehicles can be)
I really enjoyed this finally to the series, and it really brought out my nostalgia. I highly recommend this series to anyone who loves Star Wars as well as anime and/or manga. The art style compliments the movie beautifully and I was surprised at just how easily Star Wars could have been an anime in another time or place. Worth picking up!
As with the other volumes, the art is fantastic, and the technical drawing is stepped up a notch with the run against the deathstar. The sheer level of detail is amazing, and I have nothing but admiration for Tamaki's attention to every small detail of the space combat. (having done fine arts, I know how difficult drawing machines and vehicles can be)
I really enjoyed this finally to the series, and it really brought out my nostalgia. I highly recommend this series to anyone who loves Star Wars as well as anime and/or manga. The art style compliments the movie beautifully and I was surprised at just how easily Star Wars could have been an anime in another time or place. Worth picking up!
May 27, 2023
Fantastic finish to the New Hope adaptation. I felt the urgency and the seriousness in the art mostly in this volume over any of the others and it read a bit differently because of that.
November 20, 2022
The fourth and final book of the Manga adaptation of Episode IV.
The Millennium Falcon escapes the Empire to rendezvous with the Rebellion, but the Death Star is hot on its heels and the Battle of Yavin begins.
'A New Hope' is great, so it's safe to say that a very loyal adaptation of it will be great too. The Battle of Yavin is not only one of the most iconic moments in Star Wars, but also one of the most iconic moments in cinema as a whole, so seeing it brought to life again through manga is a treat.
Throughout this series, where the artwork has excelled has been in the depiction of action and spaceships, and this book is made up mostly of spaceship action, which is brilliant.
The slight downside is that the sound effects text is often really intrusive, being too large and not always representative of the sound from the movie anyway (the Falcon, for example, goes 'VEEEEEEEEEEEE' for some reason).
Before starting this series I wondered if I really needed to experience another adaptation of ANH (I've read various comic book versions plus the novelisation), but I'm very glad I did.
* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.page *
The Millennium Falcon escapes the Empire to rendezvous with the Rebellion, but the Death Star is hot on its heels and the Battle of Yavin begins.
'A New Hope' is great, so it's safe to say that a very loyal adaptation of it will be great too. The Battle of Yavin is not only one of the most iconic moments in Star Wars, but also one of the most iconic moments in cinema as a whole, so seeing it brought to life again through manga is a treat.
Throughout this series, where the artwork has excelled has been in the depiction of action and spaceships, and this book is made up mostly of spaceship action, which is brilliant.
The slight downside is that the sound effects text is often really intrusive, being too large and not always representative of the sound from the movie anyway (the Falcon, for example, goes 'VEEEEEEEEEEEE' for some reason).
Before starting this series I wondered if I really needed to experience another adaptation of ANH (I've read various comic book versions plus the novelisation), but I'm very glad I did.
* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.page *
April 30, 2024
"Really liked it." - 4 out of 5 star rating.
Star Wars: A New Hope... but in Manga form!
These are awesome. I love the [Japanification] of this Star Wars film as a whole and characters contained therein delivered here. They were ever so kind to hybrid this, with Americanizing it where we read the "comic" from left to right and front to back, versus traditional Magna that is top right to left down and back cover to front.
They even provide a tutorial with R2 and C-3PO at the very beginning to explain how-to-read. Love it.
But yeah, these are as simple as that. Star Wars: A New Hope flipped into a Japanese inspired, anime-style, comic/magna hybrid that are truly awesome.
The only reason why I'm not giving these a 5-star rating is that they ultimately don't offer anything new and are a 1:1 conversion of the film.
Star Wars: A New Hope... but in Manga form!
These are awesome. I love the [Japanification] of this Star Wars film as a whole and characters contained therein delivered here. They were ever so kind to hybrid this, with Americanizing it where we read the "comic" from left to right and front to back, versus traditional Magna that is top right to left down and back cover to front.
They even provide a tutorial with R2 and C-3PO at the very beginning to explain how-to-read. Love it.
But yeah, these are as simple as that. Star Wars: A New Hope flipped into a Japanese inspired, anime-style, comic/magna hybrid that are truly awesome.
The only reason why I'm not giving these a 5-star rating is that they ultimately don't offer anything new and are a 1:1 conversion of the film.
February 1, 2020
This ends the first part to the original trilogy, I found rereading this adventure in the Manga style was really enjoyable. It sparked something inside. The visuals are fantastic, fully complement the dialouge.
April 16, 2026
3.8 - Love the manga drawings, took pictures more times just to admire it later, but while reading it, sometimes it was very hard to understand some "movements" by the drawings
March 26, 2013
*3.9 Stars*
**Warning: I'm assuming everyone who wants to read this and other reviews in the series has at least seen A New Hope once. Therefore, I will not be hiding any "spoilers".**
Review of Star Wars: A New Hope Vol. 1
Review of Star Wars: A New Hope Vol. 2
Review of Star Wars: A New Hope Vol. 3
*The Gush*
As I have reiterated in the last three volumes, this is an amazing series. What stands out in this particular volume is the space scenes whether the battle scenes or just ships flying around. The planets and stars frames are just beautiful...and then there is also a rather amazing frame of the Death Star exploding. The ending scenes during the medal ceremony are also well done.
*The Rant*
Again, I refer you to my first review for my reasons for not giving this series the full stars.
*Conclusion*
What can I say that I haven't already said? If you are a Star Wars fan or like manga, this is a must read. Just a great comic book series.
If however you like neither...might give this a miss.
**Warning: I'm assuming everyone who wants to read this and other reviews in the series has at least seen A New Hope once. Therefore, I will not be hiding any "spoilers".**
Review of Star Wars: A New Hope Vol. 1
Review of Star Wars: A New Hope Vol. 2
Review of Star Wars: A New Hope Vol. 3
*The Gush*
As I have reiterated in the last three volumes, this is an amazing series. What stands out in this particular volume is the space scenes whether the battle scenes or just ships flying around. The planets and stars frames are just beautiful...and then there is also a rather amazing frame of the Death Star exploding. The ending scenes during the medal ceremony are also well done.
*The Rant*
Again, I refer you to my first review for my reasons for not giving this series the full stars.
*Conclusion*
What can I say that I haven't already said? If you are a Star Wars fan or like manga, this is a must read. Just a great comic book series.
If however you like neither...might give this a miss.
April 15, 2013
Review for entire series...
Very faithful adaptation to the movie, with excellent illustrations that capture the feel of "Star Wars" appropriately for manga. Fans of manga and "Star Wars" (if those are truly separate groups, instead of fully-overlapping!) will enjoy this series. I really liked the renderings of the main characters, and Tamaki uses stylized images and outlines very well.
Now, the downsides... the reading order is inexplicably reversed from the original Japanese right-to-left by flipping each image. This is frequently noticeable when characters use weapons in their left hands (perhaps a "Han Shot Right-Handed" controversy is inevitable here?!?) and especially when the Millennium Falcon is shown with the cockpit on the wrong side. Also, $10/volume when it is divided into 4 volumes seems pretty pricey, Dark Horse! How about an omnibus edition for $20 and all 12 volumes that comprise the original trilogy for $40? (I got mine at the used bookstore, or else I probably wouldn't be interested in owning them.)
Very faithful adaptation to the movie, with excellent illustrations that capture the feel of "Star Wars" appropriately for manga. Fans of manga and "Star Wars" (if those are truly separate groups, instead of fully-overlapping!) will enjoy this series. I really liked the renderings of the main characters, and Tamaki uses stylized images and outlines very well.
Now, the downsides... the reading order is inexplicably reversed from the original Japanese right-to-left by flipping each image. This is frequently noticeable when characters use weapons in their left hands (perhaps a "Han Shot Right-Handed" controversy is inevitable here?!?) and especially when the Millennium Falcon is shown with the cockpit on the wrong side. Also, $10/volume when it is divided into 4 volumes seems pretty pricey, Dark Horse! How about an omnibus edition for $20 and all 12 volumes that comprise the original trilogy for $40? (I got mine at the used bookstore, or else I probably wouldn't be interested in owning them.)
March 31, 2014
It's hard to understand why to read this book. In terms of its plot, it's part of Tamaki's copying of Star Wars: Episode IV into manga form. So you know the story, you know most of the dialogue to an almost verbatim level.
Even if you happen to be new to the Star Wars story and for some reason this is your preferred medium against one of the most culturally famous movies made..., even then, it's not really that new, I don't htink. A lot of action gets skipped in one or two panels of lines around a ship, characters don't seem too emotional. It indeed seems like shadow memories of the actual movie.
The only unique appeal is the manga-isms, also associated with anime, of goofy Japanese people reacting to things and stuff like that. But that's pretty mellow here. Luke Skywalker and others get a little distressed, but its compartentalized and shoved across the Star Wars flow.
Do yourself a favor, watch Ep. IV again, skip this. Or, since this book is so short, read this and agree with me. Either way...1/5
Even if you happen to be new to the Star Wars story and for some reason this is your preferred medium against one of the most culturally famous movies made..., even then, it's not really that new, I don't htink. A lot of action gets skipped in one or two panels of lines around a ship, characters don't seem too emotional. It indeed seems like shadow memories of the actual movie.
The only unique appeal is the manga-isms, also associated with anime, of goofy Japanese people reacting to things and stuff like that. But that's pretty mellow here. Luke Skywalker and others get a little distressed, but its compartentalized and shoved across the Star Wars flow.
Do yourself a favor, watch Ep. IV again, skip this. Or, since this book is so short, read this and agree with me. Either way...1/5
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July 5, 2010SW nh v.4
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews