Dracula by Bram Stoker created a new genre within the horror category. In this brilliant Manga Classic adaptation we find Jonathan Harker, a young English lawyer, traveling to Castle Dracula in the Eastern European country of Transylvania. The reason for his journey is to finalize the details of a real estate transaction with a nobleman named Count Dracula. As Harker explores the beautiful countryside he begins to receive warnings from the locals about the man he about to meet. They give him odd charms and crucifixes to ward off evil spirits. They also utter a strange word that Harker later discover means "vampire." Originally published in 1897, Dracula has inspired many horror genres, gothic drama, theatrical, film and tv interpretations.
Hi there! I'm a Toronto-based writer and editor who works in both prose and graphic novel formats, usually for younger readers.
My current projects include:
Dungeons and Dragons Young Adventurer's Guides - introducing new players to the classic role-playing game through amazing new artwork and streamlined prose.
Manga Classics - faithful adaptations of western literary classics with Japanese-style artwork.
Beyond writing, my interests include historical costuming, comics, manga, young adult fiction, magic realism, chocolate, and the oxford comma.
Bram Stoker’s Dracula. In manga form. Wonderful adaptation. Perfect for Dracula enthusiasts who can’t get enough of this classic tale. I’m very happy the manga world is revisiting these old stories. An excellent way to reach younger audiences. The panels were great, and they kept with the original journalistic style of prose.
"Listen to them- the children of the night. What music they make."
Dracula was one of those stories that haunted me as a kid but I loved it. People used to think that I was a vampire because I grew up in a state that ended in Sylvania. I wish... talk about living the dream.
Usually, when authors try to make the story of Dracula their own I'm not impressed. They change things and I wind up giving up on future stories written by that person because of how dirty they did Dracula. This one was different and I enjoyed it immensely.
Most of the story was great. There were a few times when I thought things got a tad bit jumbled and that it wasn't as gory as I had hoped. Other than that this was a great addition to the Dracula collection.
Though I find vampires interesting, I never felt inclined to read the classic novel Dracula. It just didn't seem to my taste. But when I heard Manga Classics' had a version of the classic, I felt it was worth a try.
I'm not sure how I would have fared with the classic novel, considering it's all journal entries from different characters. But for the manga, I found this style captivating. The only thing I had difficulties with was the constant changing of font. The author notes explained why they did this, but when it changed too often, it gave me a headache.
Still, an enticing read! And I loved the artist's portrayal of Dracula, himself. The whole book was wonderfully done! If you are curious to read Dracula, I highly recommend picking up the Manga Classics' version.
This manga reading thing is an experiment on my part, trying something new, getting out of the comfort zone, and all that jazz. This is my second one (the first was Les Miserables). I also have Great Expectations waiting in the wings, but I think once I read that one I can retire from the manga reading field and be just fine. There's nothing wrong with them, but I don't see anything to write home about either. I guess I'm just apathetic with them. This is strange since I love comic books, and I also love these three classic stories I'm reading, but I reckon in the end I just prefer the original books. That's not to say these are bad; I just don't think they're for me.
I didn't enjoy this one as much as Les Miserables. Dracula is an epistolary deal and the manga also follows that format. I don't know if that works in the genre's favor, but I also don't know that it doesn't... Hell, it looks like I don't know a damn thing so far.
This is fine if you want to experience the story quickly but don't have time to dedicate to the real book. It follows it pretty closely, leaving out a few minor parts here and there. It would be a good introduction to anyone who's unsure about tackling the original, but the writing in the original is what makes it worth reading. Something is missing in the manga even if it does add some pretty sweet pictures. Several of the characters didn't look the way I've always envisioned them in my head (thanks Hollywood), but I got over that pretty quickly. I've also seen so many movie adaptations that I was mixing them up with the book, and it was nice to revisit the original story.
In summation, I enjoyed reading this but felt like something was lacking. Maybe this is best for people who haven't read the original, but a lot of them might think this was a little dull due to the epistolary format. I don't know. Check it out for yourself, and you be the judge.
As a certified Dracula connoisseur, I was excited and nervous to find out about this book's existence. Dracula has had some pretty troubled history with adaptations, ranging from having nothing to do with the book, to actually being fairly faithful to the original novel. Not that faithfulness to the source material is a prerequisite for a film adaptation to be good, as there are some pretty good Dracula movies that only follow the broad strokes of the novel (such as the famous Hammer production from 1958).
So imagine my pleasure when I find out that this book is a pretty faithful adaptation of the novel. Of course, it cuts things and some small things are changed, but it really closely follows the book. All three vampire women are there (though one of them becomes blonde for some reason); Dr. Seward, Quincey, and Arthur all coexist; Lucy and Mina are just friends and not siblings... there's more, but those are the common changes. It makes sense, it's a comic so there's a lot more freedom to change less.
I think at times it can be a touch hard to follow for someone not familiar with the story. A scene will just sort of abruptly end and transition to the next seemingly with no real apparent connection. Even I felt myself a little confused at times. There are some important bits of information that are omitted about Stoker's vampires (none of which are currently coming to mind) but ultimately, it's not really a big deal.
One large, and very odd discrepancy I noticed was when Van Helsing and friends go to Lucy's grave to destroy her, the first time it's outside, but then it's correctly in more of a mausoleum mere pages later. What's up with that? Ultimately it doesn't really matter but it definitely took me out of the story a bit.
Aside from that though, the art is very nice, Virginia Nitouhei did a great job. As someone who has watched many film adaptations of the novel and of course read the book, I have developed a certain mental image of all the characters. That said, I think Nitouhei's designs pretty closely match how I would think Stoker envisioned the characters. I do like all of the designs, though I feel like Van Helsing should have been a little older. He is more of a wisened old man than his appearance in this comic would suggest.
Overall, I would certainly recommend this version if you're turned off by the prose of the original novel. It certainly gives you all the major points that make the novel a classic, even adapting the epistolary format, though it can feel a little disjointed at times.
Es el primer manga que me leo y tengo que admitir que me he apañado bastante bien con el distinto sistema de lectura (de atrás hacia delante, y de derecha a izquierda), ja, ja, ja. En cuanto a la adaptación, la he encontrado bastante aceptable (se nota que hay un enorme trabajo detrás), pero, a pesar del esfuerzo, creo que existen dos razones por las que no me siento movido en absoluto a subir la puntuación de cuatro a cinco estrellas:
-Existen algunos saltos argumentales que impiden comprender exactamente la historia para quien no la conoce previamente o que provocan incongruencias.
-Se reproducen muchos estereotipos de género que subordinan claramente las cualidades de la mujer frente a las del hombre. Entiendo que estas intervenciones se corresponden fielmente con la novela de Bram Stoker, pero las encuentro prescindibles en una adaptación moderna, la verdad.
I’m very surprised I enjoyed this as much as I did because I didn’t love the actual novel by Bram Stoker. I thought it was a bit boring, but this manga really has me questioning what the heck I was thinking!! Perhaps a reread is needed in the future
I love the idea of adapting classics into manga, I have lots of them! but I have to admit I never liked Dracula so, even if in manga edition it is less tedious, I didn't love it.
Una buena manera de acercar obras clásicas a todos los lectores, aunque si ya conoces la obra original lo disfrutarás todavía más. El dibujo me ha gustado mucho, la representación de cada personaje, y la historia que está muy bien adaptada y es fácil de seguir.
While it's not a complete adaption, it's a good one that embodies the feel and most points of the original. Unlike the other adaptions in the series, it doesn't have moments typical of manga and it made me a little sad, but I understand why this was done.
I didn't think I would enjoy the og vampire slayer gang as much as I do. I have issues visualising, so going to Whitby helped a lot, I literally sat where Mina and Lucy did :') the character drawings represented each character perfectly bruh, (except van helsing but I imagined him like darwin so their idea was probably better) and the artist I swear ships arthur and quincy, rip quincy I love you
This was a super slow read because the story is so BORING. The adaptation really helped me get through a story I'd always wanted to experience. The artwork is so beautiful.
I read this immediately after finishing the original novel, and I enjoyed it as a companion read since it helped me more clearly visualize what had happened. I don't know if I would recommend that you read this instead of the original novel, since, obviously, it has omitted certain parts for adaptation purposes, but I suppose this could be a more digestible read, especially if you're overwhelmed by long descriptions of scenery. (I know I was by the time I got to reading about Mina & Lucy at Whitby). In general, I didn't have an issue with the omission of details, except for two moments when certain events were portrayed in a way that I felt suggested something very different than the original novel. But as far as adaptations go, this one is pretty faithful.
The only other downside is that the narration might get confusing by the end of the story. At first, this adaptation does a pretty good job of handling the epistolary style of the original novel, labelling the change of dates and indicating the shifts in narrator, but during the latter half of the story, I noticed that narration shifts weren't documented as clearly, and I found myself getting confused about who "I" was referring to, especially when they were all on the page and you couldn't just guess based off of context. This adaptation does distinguish between the different narrators by assigning each person a unique font associated with their writing, but I personally wasn't able to memorize which font belonged to which person while I was reading, so when explicit labels like "Dr. Seward's diary" & "Mina's diary" stopped appearing, I became confused. And I read this right after reading the original novel, so if I got confused, I can't imagine how much more confusing it could be to someone who read the original novel a long time ago or has never read it at all!
The characters generally looked much different than my own mental images of them and what I had expected, which isn't really a good or bad thing, but rather, just an observation. They gave Harker a very boyish appearance, whereas I expected him to look more mature. Lucy also surprised me because she looks so innocent in an almost infantile way. It's fitting since she is portrayed as "pure" and almost helpless for most of the story, but then she turns into a "voluptuous" seductress after she becomes a vampire, so her excessively childlike appearance is kind of disturbing. I found Morris rather unimportant and he didn't really leave any impression on me when I read the original novel, but somehow, I felt like he was much more charming in this adaptation, haha. On the contrary, I had a positive impression of Seward while reading the original novel, so I was stunned by how they made him look so weird in this adaptation. He has really long sideburns and looks a little crazy, which makes me wonder if there's a stereotype that doctors working at asylums have a certain "look." Regardless of his occupation, I thought of him as a lot more normal before reading this adaptation, lmao. Arthur was also more "princely" than I expected him to be. I'm not sure what I expected him to look like, since he didn't really leave an impression on me either while I was reading the original novel, but I definitely didn't think of him as "prince-like." The youthful version of Dracula was different from what I expected, too—they depicted him as quite attractive and even seductive/sexy, but I imagined him as more cruel-looking and not nearly as young. I think Mina was the only character who aligned with my pre-existing expectations. I think of her as less feminine and more mature compared to Lucy, so her more serious appearance, with her hair tied into a bun most of the time, matched perfectly with my impression of her.
One upside to this adaptation is that I felt like it actually made the final showdown with Dracula more exciting. Personally, I found the final confrontation between Dracula and the protagonists to be fairly anticlimactic in the original novel, but the mangaka said she envisioned the ending as something akin to a "Hollywood Western," and I completely felt that when I was reading this adaptation! It was almost like a shootout, haha, and there was definitely more of a sense of "action" going on.
(p.s. A warning for fellow arachnophobes—there are spiders in this story! Eek!)
Either the general tone of the book lends itself really well to manga or this adaptation was especially brilliant. I'm not able to say which is the case with certainty as I have not (yet) read the original novel, but based on my experience with other books in Manga Classics series, I suspect it is the latter.
Started off slow, dry, and predictable --especially since Dracula is a well-known fixture in the general zeitgeist of today. However, that very fact adds an additional layer of suspense as the rest of the ensemble cast is introduced and suddenly everyone seems suspicious.
Grandiloquent drama and randomness aplenty. Tonal shifts (likely emphasized by the medium) provide a great source of humor.
The manga does a good job honoring the epistolary nature of the original while still playing to the strengths of manga. After learning that the original book was written in this format, I'm especially keen to read the full-length classic.
I know one thing: Of all the paranormal creepy crawlies out there, Vampires are the ones I needn't ever worry about. Mosquitoes don't even like me, so it's doubtful a vamp would bite on the opportunity...even as a last resort. Besides, I consume a lot of authentic Asian food and have an affinity for those deli-style pickles you can only get in the cooler section of your local food market, all of which contain obscene amounts of garlic. So there you have it.
Anyway, enough side-tracking... This was a decent adaption of Dracula. I've been wanting to read about a legit vampire, as opposed the shampires who populate a certain other not-to-be-named book I recently attempted (and failed) to read based on a well-meaning friend's recommendation. Wash the taste of sparkles from my literary palate, so to speak. This fit the bill nicely. That said: I'd give this graphic a solid PG-13 rating, being that it doesn't shy away from blood or body counts. Delightfully macabre!
I started reading “Dracula” due to my amazement and awe for the fantastic 2024 film directed by Robert Eggers “Nosferatu”. My really good friend said it’s the best adaptation of the book we have. I think this book is a strong *FINE*. I do really enjoy how the story is told through multiple characters journal entry’s. It keeps things very fresh. I also enjoyed the beginning half of the book way more than the later half of the book. All of the events with Lucy had me in a choke hold. My two main issues with this story are how Count Dracula is never really apparent it feels like? He’s supposed to be a glooming darkness but I never felt that while reading this. Second is the art. It just flat out sucks in comparison to 99% of the mangas i’ve read. There are some decent panels but man, the way some of the characters are drawn and their facial expressions kinda just ruin some of the major events of the story. All in all it wasn’t a bad read. I think i should have just ran with a regular copy of “Dracula” instead of a manga version.
Given 3 stars because the manga itself is fantastically done. I've never been much of a fan of Dracula, never understood the popularity of it and always found it a fair drag. But since vampires are a special interest of mine I decided I should try to read it at least in some form but could never get far into the book, since I know Manga Classics are always as faithful as they can be in their adaptations I decided to give this a go. Virginia Nitouhei's art is gorgeous. The characters are all beautifully depicted, she depicts the scenery wonderfully. Unfortunately the manga adaptation hasn't really saved the story itself for me. I've just never really been able to enjoy Stoker's original work though I have given it several attempts. I am glad that I have now completed the story in one form, even if not the actual novel.
Though I will confess that Quincey Morris carried my attention the whole time. I don't know why but there's something about that man that I am irrationally obsessed with.
Alright, the original Dracula was a 5 star for me. It is the same for this Manga Classic adaptation. ( Borrowed from my local library) The artwork is beautiful, and it was adapted well to suit a Manga style reading experience. I really love how they even gave the letters and diaries written through out the story the personality of the writer. For example, they mention in the extras Lucy's writing was bubbly because she was a happy cheerful person.
One thing I noticed in a grave yard scene and thought was funny was a tomb stone with a 1987-2000's birth and death dates. Dracula took place in the 1890's. 😂
All in all, really enjoyed this, and definitely will look at some more Manga Classics. This is definitely one I want to own and place on shelves
( Maybe I'll enjoy their adaptation of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne better than I did the original.)
Actually a pretty solid adaptation. It sticks close to the original, as every book in this series does, and the manga style is much more restrained here than it has been in other entries in the series. No improbably manga hair, for anybody! I was particularly happy with Dracula's character design, which sticks close to the book's descriptions of him and makes him look menacing without being grotesque. It's interesting that they chose to stick with the format of the original book, which is mostly made up of books and journal entries. There's an attempt to give the characters distinct fonts, but they aren't quite distinct enough (Mina and Jonathan's are very similar) and the key to whose font is what is, oddly, at the end of the book.
A solid manga adaptation of Bram Stoker's sensational horror novel Dracula, this version highlights the original's epistolary style by having each character's individual story presented with different handwriting and/or fonts. An abridged text, this version still manages to capture the suspense and the action of the original, and the manga style is particularly well suited to the story's fantastic transformations (vampires into bats, mist) and dramatic violence. Some confusing transitions and plot lines are the result of the abridgment, but the overall story is well-drawn and convincingly told.
Honestly, this was one of the best Manga Classics I've read so far! The book was legitimately creepy, I loved the character designs, and I thought that the adaptation was true to the book, even though a lot had to be taken out. Since this is something of a wordy book (being an epistolary novel), I was impressed that the manga didn't feel too wordy, even though there was a lot of text.
All in all, this made me see Dracula in a whole new light, and I can't wait to reread the classic tale of the Count!
3.5 stars. Stays closer to the original novel than most adaptations (Dracula is scarier and more sinister that way, not a romantic hero/antihero), and has nice artwork. The epistolary nature of the work can get a bit confusing with all the voice-switches, but the creators went to the trouble of giving every character their own font ('handwriting') to try to clarify who was narrating when. A good adaptation for anyone who is interested in reading the original work but doesn't have the patience to plough through an entire novel of Victorian language style!
Me gusto bastante, siento que contiene todo lo esencial de la historia, y que los gráficos contiene todo el texto no necesaria, abarca bastante bien y rápida la historia, fue mucho más fácil leerlo de esta forma que leer el libro en si ya que siento que no hubiera podido avanzar con el libro normal, igual me encanto como el autor manejó la narración desde diferentes puntos de vista a través de los diarios de todos los personajes.
Loved the art, and the adaptation was loyal to the original book. That being said, the only aspect that broke my suspension of disbelief was the artwork rendered for the crucifixes. The art portrays a simple cross which is not a crucifix, as a crucifix needs to included Jesus; otherwise, it’s just a cross. This small detail interrupted my reading experience, but this book still gets five stars from me because this is one of my favorite classic stories.
This was a very good adaptation of the book. I can't imagine how challenging it was to take a long, dense book and condense it into something that would work for (somewhat long) graphic novel length. It stays very true to the original work. My only real issue was not liking some of the character illustrations. Dracula in particular bothered me. Even grabbed my copy of the original novel and the image in the manga just doesn't match his description in the novel.
This is one of the most accurate adaptations of the original novel I have ever had the joy to read. You can tell that the story has been taken and transformed to the manga version with much love, whilst still capturing the very essence of the book. The art is pretty with the characters rendered nicely.
Desconozco el proceso de creación de este manga, pero adaptar a imágenes una novela de mucha narrativa y menos diálogo no tuvo que ser sencillo. Disfruté cada página de la original Drácula de Bram Stoker y me ha encantado verla adaptada a este formato. Me encanta que Norma haya apostado por la colección "Clásicos Manga" y tengo ganas de leer más adaptaciones.