Beauty and The Beast Manga Movie Adaptation by Mallory Reaves

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Disclaimer: The original photos were created by Tokyopop and Mallory Reaves based on the Disney's musical live-action movie Beauty and the Beast. I just used Paint to manipulate and tweak the photos. I do not own the original pictures or the story. 

 

Synopsis  

In Disney's live-action film Beauty and the Beast, Belle, a bright, beautiful and independent young woman, is taken prisoner by a beast in his castle. Despite her fears, she befriends the castle's enchanted staff and learns to look beyond the Beast's hideous exterior and realize the kind heart and soul of the true Prince inside. This manga explores Belle's innermost thoughts as she learns that true beauty comes from within. Belle's Tale - Goodreads

A tale as old as time ... told in timeless manga style

Disney's much-anticipated live-action adaptation of "Beauty and the Beast" hits theaters in March 2017, and it stars Emma Watson and Dan Stevens. This original two-part manga series is based upon the upcoming movie... but you've never seen this classic love story told quite this way before.
The "Beauty" manga delves into Belle's deepest thoughts as she's taken prisoner by the Beast in his majestic castle. Where the "Beast" manga explores Beast's deepest thoughts as he captures Belle in his castle and finds himself falling in love with her feisty attitude and adventurous spirit. The Beast's Tale - Goodreads

My Opinion

Belle's Tale - 3.75/5.00 stars The Beast's Tale - 4.75/5.00 stars

I am going to start by saying that the graphics of this manga were exquisite. (Oh! Look at me using big words.) The overall story was not very far from the original Disney's Beauty and the Beast, the cartoon. I know. I haven't seen my most anticipated 2017 movie, yet. Notice the "yet."

Since it is based on the movie, there may be lots of spoilers.

We learn more about the characters' backgrounds. Belle's part was confusing-ish and felt cut short, in a way, while The Beast's was intriguing. Probably because we knew so little about the beast in the previous Disney's adaptation. Or the manga story makes more sense the second time and it happens to be The Beast's point of view. The overall dialogue combined with the images made the tale to flow rather nicely. Since the manga focused on Belle and The Beast, we do not see too much of Gaston and LeFou. Some plot holes are here and there because of the shift from third person - seen in the movies - to first person in the manga (e.g. the crowd from the castle).

This was a great quick read. And if you are a Beauty and the Beast, you might want to ask Mrs. Potts for some tea because this might be your cup of tea. ;)

Also, are you caving for more Beauty and the Beast? Feel free to check out my review on the French adaptation, La Belle et la Bête, here. 

 

This is my sole opinion. ^_^ 

 

I would like to say thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Fairy Tale, Manga, Graphic Novel, Sequential Art
Language: none
Sexual content: none to mild
Violence: moderate to heavy
Drugs/Alcohol: none

 

La Belle et la Bête or, how the English are calling it, Beauty and the Beast

Hello-Hello! Today I am bringing you another foreign movie. It is called - hence the title of this post - La belle et la bête or Beauty and the Beast. I know that a lot of you are excited - myself included - for the upcoming Disney live action adaptation musical of Beauty and the Beast to hit theaters on March 17, 2017.

So, I thought it will be a great idea to talk about the French adaptation from 2014 since March is almost here and February is also the month of love in lots of cultures.

Yes, you "heard"/read me right! It is a French movie. And yes, the whole cast is talking in French, despite Vincent Cassel playing the beast.

Some of you will say, "Duh! He is a French actor. What is your point?" Well, my point is that until 2014, when I saw this movie on a plane, I did not know that! Shocking. I know. Thus, I am assuming that other people know him more for his English movies like Black Swan and Jason Bourne.

 Anyway, back to the French La Belle et la Bête! 

Let me tell you this: This movie is freaking amazing!

I've watched it two or three times already. Ignore the cheesy poster because I couldn't find a better one to depict how epic this movie is.

Did I forget to mention the Beast's cape?



 

First, let's talk about the visuals!

This film deserves to be watched for the special effects only. They are that incredible. I mean, just look of a couple of concept arts I put throughout this post!

The fairytale atmosphere was successfully created. As a viewer I was mesmerized of how real everything felt. Vibrant colors. Breath taking images. I loved that there was no overuse of the dark filter (excuse the lack of  better technical terms) to depict the era of the story or the darker themes. Everything feels and seems real.

The storyline. Well... You know the basics -ish! It is more based on the real Beauty and the Beast than the Disney version. Of course, there are lots of twists.

Belle is from a big family. She has two brothers, two sisters, and a father. Her father is a merchant who loses everything and the family is forced to move in the country side.

And...

Go, watch it!

I do not feel like spoiling you so I am going to say the minimum minimorum.

We have a more mature love story and not the cute-roses-and-doves type going on. I was able to sense the sexual tension between the protagonists.

Also, we get to see in detail why the prince became the beast in the first place.

So, what are you waiting for, beside finishing to read this post?

Go watch it!



Another contributing factor to this epic retelling was the acting. The actors were able to make the story flow and feel real. Nothing felt forced. I was able to connect and feel.

The feels! Let me tell you: The Beast has the most intense facial expressions I have ever seen!

I know. I know. I am using too many exclamation points because I am that exited to talk about this movie. :D

The music is the secret ingredient to complete the fairytale atmosphere.
What can I say? I love instrumental music especially movie scores. Consider my opinion biased about this topic. ;)



Just think of it! How cool is it to have the "story as old as time" (quote from Disney's Beauty and the Beast) told in its original language?
It is romantic.
It is sexy.
It is the language of love.
L'amour!



The movie has its flaws and some small plot holes.
Nothing is perfect!
Do not let small details to obscure the overall story.
 

More concept art



More concept art

I hope you enjoyed this post.

And I hope I was able to convinced you to watch the movie.

Be Happy!

Be Loved!

And offer love!

 

Movie Trailer

 

Emerald Green by Kerstin Gier - Movie Adaptation

 

 

 

 

 

Hello! I just got the chance to watch the last movie from the Ruby Red/ Precious Stone Trilogy franchise. Smaragdgrün (Emerald Green) is the last book/movie.

I read the books two or three years ago. I absolutely loved them. (I will leave a link to the Goodreads page of the first book for more details after my review.)

I've seen the previous two movies too - Ruby Red and Sapphire Blue. And I loved them also.

The people working on the movie adaptation did a great job to stay true to the books while adding their own twists to the story.

Although... When it came to the third movie... Things got complicated. The storyline followed the one from the book but with some major changes. Some of them were good because I would have liked to see them in the book too. While... Some of them... Eh... Let's just say they created more confusion. It had great visual effects.

The movie is worth watching. I liked it.

As a warning, think twice if you want to watch it. You might be over frustrated if you like movies to strictly follow the book storyline.

Oh! This whole thing is about time travel. :D

There are two families carrying this time travel gene: Montrose and de Villiers family lines.

Time travelers come in pairs (at least in out time). There is a secret order which takes care of the time travelers.

Gwen Shepherd and Gideon de Villiers are the last pair of time travelers.

The order is keeping secrets from them. Gwen and Gideon have to obey the order, no questions asked. The only problem is that, until recently, Gwen did not know she is the gene carrier. She was not raised by the order like Gideon. She does not trust the order and the order does not trust her.

 

 

This is the end of my non-spoiler section.

If you have not watched it yet, you should stop reading.

Watch the movie.

 Come back later and then we discuss it together.

 

Spoilers

 

Sooo... What just happened? After I finished watching it, I was confused asking myself, "What just happened?"

First half of the movie was fine. Everything was by the book. And then, BAM! Complete confusion. Time-travel-paradox-complete confusion.

Important family-background characters are missing with no explanation. There were some scenes where I was expected them to appear. For example, Gwen's mom when people from the order came to brutally search for the second Chronograph.

They never complete the circle of blood for both Chronographs. 

One Chronograph is destroyed after it gives that florescent green liquid - the equivalent of the philosopher's stone. After that, the remaining Chronograph is completely forgotten. What? They have the chance to get two elixirs.

The fact that Gideon can become immortal and live forever with Gwen is never explored. I mean, the count can become immortal but Gideon can't. What? But, Gwen can give up immortality by drinking the elixir.

The second half of the movie got confusing at the end. Gideon dies. The count becomes immortal. Gwen hides from the order - since the count has taken control of the order - and she finds out she is an immortal and can time travel at will with no Chronograph. 

Then she is determined to save Gideon so she makes a plan of action. This part was cool. Up to this point, the movie is great. She learns to fight and time travel when and where she wants without the Chronograph.

She goes back in time to save Gideon from dying. He still dies but he is resurrected by the green elixir. In this scene, Gwen fought like a pro. I was so excited while watching. The count is defeated. He never becomes immortal thus he disintegrates. One Chronograph is destroyed. The other...?(question mark). Because Gideon does not ingest the elixir is only resurrected but does not become immortal. The past-present-dead Gwen disappears while the future-present-alive Gwen stays. This is the point when things got messy. They (Gwen and Gideon) return to the same point in the present time as before (the moment when Charlotte, Raphael and Mr. Bernard find that Gideon is dead for good unlike Gwen). So... no special training session happened in a sense. The future Gwen became the present Gwen. So basically dead-Gwen never existed/returned from the past? But she had to because she needed to discover her abilities, train and prevent Gideon from dying.

See where I am going with this? Quite confusing.

Let's not forget about the count's own time line. Since he did not become immortal, all the things he did for the order should not have happened. He never existed. Things should have changed. People should not be able to remember him at all in the present. But nooo... These things did not count.

The movie did not do a good job resolving the story. It made it messier. It confused me. It created a paradox.

Also, there were some characters who deserved more screen time (e.g. Gideon, Lesley). Although, I loved that I got to see more of Charlotte and how se redeemed herself. She was an excellent ally. I do not remember if she was the same in the book thou. (I will check it out.)

 

End of Spoilers

 

Overall, it was great to watch - with few exceptions. As a separate story the movie was great. I wished it kept the book order of events. The book did a better job wrapping up the story with less confusion.

Let me know what are your thoughts!

And if you are interested in the story and you did not read the books, here is the Goodreads link for the first book Ruby Red.

 

This is my sole opinion.^_^

 

Movie Trailer