Review: Disney Manga: Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas by Jun Asuka

Jack Skellington is the Pumpkin King, the ruler of Halloween Town and master of all things creepy and spooky. But he's tired of his life in the shadows and longs for something new. When he accidentally stumbles upon Christmas Town, he decides this is the perfect chance to try his hand at a brand new holiday and is convinced he'll have the world yelling "Scary Christmas"! With the young patchwork doll Sally trying to dissuade him and the evil Oogie Boogie waiting in the wings to take over Halloween Town in Jack's absence, he'd better hurry if he wants to get his plan in place by December 25th! You've seen the movie, now read the manga for a new twist on an animated classic!

-- Goodreads.com description --



I want to thank Netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc copy in exchange for an honest review.

I love The Nightmare Before Christmas is one of my favourite animation films and I was excited to read this manga. However, I didn't truly realize that this would be completely the same.

What I liked about this manga:

I really liked the illustrations, but then, I always like Jack Skellington.

Things I disliked:

I don't think the story translated well into this format. When Jack asks "What's this?" my mind immediately starts singing the song. When you only get a couple of sentences, it felt like a disappointment to me.

The dialogues in this manga were mediocre, I don't have a problem with this in the movie, but in this format, dialogues become so much more important and I found them lacking at times.

If you haven't seen the movie, I believe that this would be a very confusing read. Nothing is explained that well, I at times had some trouble grasping what was happening and I have watched the movie several times.

All in all, I gave this manga 2 out of 5 stars. I am disappointed in this book.

Have you read this book or are you planning to? Do you like to film as well? Leave your thoughts down below!