Nancy Drew Manga series: Book #8 - My Review

I was at the local library today when I noticed a book I hadn't seen before: a volume a the Nancy Drew manga. I'd heard about this, but never seen one, so I decided to check it out.

First, this is an "American Manga", which is a slightly redundant term. This is shorter than your average Japanese manga, and done in full color. Graphic novel, by the way, is nothing more than a different term for 'manga.'

Now, for the record, this is just based on the Nancy Drew books, and really isn't anything like those books. They tell you this write on the cover. I was still disappointed, though. This book is so littered with environmentalism it's not funny. Tokyo Mew Mew gave up by volume four and became a well loved kemonomimi shojo heroine manga, but if volume eight and the previews for volumes 9, 10, and 11 are any indication, this whole series is littered with it, and the author and illustrator make no point to be subtle about it, blatantly changing everything that wouldn't find the new cares-about-the-environment Nancy Drew.

At least the movie had the decency to leave some things alone; Nancy drove a convertible both in the original series and the movie, but in this manga, she drives a "smart little hybrid".

Even if I ignore the obvious, blatant environment worshipping, the plot was weak. I figured out who the villain was by the time I began the first page of chapter 3. (it's not like it was really that hard to figure out, I was suspicious by the middle of chapter two. And wouldn't you know, I was right.) Plus, this book was printed in China. This stuns me the most, because the translated Japanese mangas I read are printed in the United States.

If you're considering buying this book, my advice is: don't. I give this book one and a half out of five stars, and strongly recommend you skip this whole series and read the original Nancy Drew mystery books.

And the same company that makes these books want to give the Hardy Boys and Zorro a makeover, too. Heaven help us.