Emma

Emma

 

Author: Kaoru Mori

Title: Emma

Publisher: Wildstorm Productions

Publication Location: La Jolla, CA

Publication Date: 2002

Number of Pages: 183

Recommended Age Group: 13-14

Review: 4

Cover Art: The cover has a drawing of an English maid in front of a street of tall English buildings. 

 

 

Annotation:  Emma serves as a maid to an English society mistress who was once a governess to a boy named William Jones.  William finds his old governess and pays her a visit, where he meets Emma and immediately is attracted to her.  Over the course of the novel William and Emma manage to bump into each other several times and Williams infatuation with Emma grows and grows.  Emma too, starts to have feelings for William, which is interesting since she seems to have turned many a suitor away before.  A friend of Williams, Prince Hakim comes to visit William and England causing quite a bit of commotion.  Eventually Hakim lays eyes on Emma and also becomes infatuated.  William must fight with his friend for Emma’s affection.  Eventually it is made clear that Emma is only interested in William, at which point William lets it be known to his father that he intends to marry.  The problem arises when Williams father insist that he marry someone of his superior class.  This is where the first Emma book leaves off- encouraging readers to read the next book in order to discover if Emma and William can be together.

 

Reaction:  This was my first manga title and it was more enjoyable than I thought it might be.  I’m not a huge fan of cartoons, but have seen several Japanese cartoons on television and this book reminded me of a play-by-play version of one them.  The reading was very fast, since there are few lines on each page.  The visual depictions of Victorian England were quite fascinating as well as the inclusion of elephants in such a setting.  While the book was a quick read, and the illustrations were pleasant, I found the plot and storyline lacking.  After finishing the whole book not much more had happened than a boy becoming interested in a girl.  I would have preferred in there was more of an inclusion of a story.  Perhaps if the other books in the series were read this would be the case.