Review: The Art of ‘The Mandalorian’ Manga Adaptation Is Worth the Price of Admission
If you’ve checked out our comic book reviews before, you’ve probably seen our reviews of The Mandalorian comic adaptation. We here at Star Wars News Net tend to give those adaptations relatively low scores. The comics tend to follow the episodes too closely to their detriment, and the art — the biggest difference between the mediums — is oftentimes just mediocre. But the manga adaptation of The Mandalorian is different.
Written and drawn by Yusuke Osawa, The Mandalorian manga adaptation has been an ongoing series in Japan that’s only now making its way to North America. The adaptation from VIZ Media is a manga through-and-through (read from right to left, black and white, all in all). But that’s what makes it special. It’s unique and different enough that fans of the show or the medium have something worth at least checking out.
The biggest aspect to talk about is, of course, the art. Thankfully, the art is exceptional. While art is a matter of taste, I’ve always felt that manga artists are better at capturing action than Western comic artists. Compared to the art in The Mandalorian comic adaptation, the manga adaptation doesn’t cut any corners and puts the right beats on the right moments. It looks great in both action sequences and in closeups during dialogue exchanges. For film enthusiasts, this is the gritty black-and-white version of The Mandalorian that many of us have been clamoring for.
The other interesting talking point is that this book only covers the first episode of the series. While this may be disappointing to some, it works for the manga. It puts the spotlight more on the art, allowing for panels that take up big portions of the page. The package itself is a little over 150 pages, meaning it gives the artist lots of space. But it also means it covers very little ground.
If you’ve watched the show, you already know the story. It still follows the script, word for word, but if you’re a diehard fan of The Mandalorian, it at least offers something different with the Japanese manga-styled artwork. And the black-and-white art by Yusuke Osawa is gorgeous to look at, even if it only covers the first episode.
Score: 7/10
A special thank you to VIZ Media for the copy used in this review. Star Wars: The Mandalorian Vol. 1 manga is available now wherever books are sold.
Born and raised in Hawaii, Jay Goodearl runs the YouTube Gaming channel “Good Games, Dude” His channel aims to open up video games to beginners and immediate players and help them understand what makes games the art form that it is.
