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SINGAPORE: Shakespeare classics are now available in a new art form – Japanese manga.
UK-based book publisher, SelfMadeHero, decided to combine Shakespeare with Japanese manga to attract more young people to gain knowledge on the classics.
Emma Hayley, publisher at SelfMadeHero, said: "We thought manga was a perfect medium to portray Shakespeare's plays because it's a very cinematic medium. It's more akin to performance than any other sort of graphic novel, and we felt that it's a really dramatic medium as well.
"When you read a manga, the stories lift off the page and you can almost see the animated version. We thought this was an excellent way to get kids engaged."
And engaging them involves some hands-on coaching.
Harold Cheng, 3rd Year Digital Media Design student at Nanyang Polytechnic, said: "Usually, manga is quite Japanese orientated but now there is a sort of fusion with the European style, so it's quite nice to look at."
But when it comes to drawing the characters, it is actually quite a challenge.
Paul Duffield, the manga artist behind "The Tempest", said Shakespeare's plays have many characters that enter and exit any one scene.
"In order to turn that into manga, you've got to think a lot about positions of the characters, make sure that you keep continuity. You don't break filming rules like the 180-degree rule, or things can really start to get confusing for the readers," he said.
Readers can appreciate details of one of Paul's favourite characters – the magical spirit Ariel in "The Tempest".
"Ariel can change shape depending on the kind of situation he is in. And I had great fun making Ariel dissolve into these ribbon-like shapes that recombined into other forms. That was great to work with," said Mr Duffield.
These Shakespeare graphic novels are available at bookstores such as Kinokuniya and Borders.
- CNA/so
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