It isn’t uncommon for Disney or Disney-adjacent series to get manga adaptations. For example, there was one for Cruella, not to mention the Kingdom Hearts adaptations. Twisted Wonderland felt a perfect fit for a manga version, and fortunately for us it does work quite well. While it doesn’t mean immediate introductions to all of the houses and characters, Twisted Wonderland builds on the game’s story with a natural progression that feels like it will eventually give everyone equal attention. While the identity of the main character can seem a bit vague in the Twisted Wonderland game, to assist with self-insertion, the manga is much more clear. Things begin with Japanese high school student Yuken “Yu” Enma. He’s great at kendo, poised to lead his team to victory, but he’s also a genuinely good person who appears to want to root for and assist people with dreams and just starting on their own journeys. However, after a practice, he’s suddenly essentially hit by a black carriage pulled by black horses. He awakes in a coffin at the entrance ceremony for Night Raven College. It’s a school with “houses” tied to iconic Disney villains. Only those with incredibly magical potential are admitted, but Yu has none. After a weird encounter with a cat monster determined to attend the school, headmaster Dire Crowley allows him to stay at an abandoned, haunted dorm. This part, as well as the introduction to the various members of Heartslabyul, all is handled incredibly well. While we get teasers of the Twisted Wonderland characters who head up the other dorms in the introduction, the manga doesn’t throw too much at us by allowing us to just focus on one group of characters. It offers familiar segues for those who started with the game, as well as those for whom this adaptation is their first exposure to the story. It hits all the major story beats of introducing Grim, as well as setting up Ace Trappola and Deuce Spade as Yu’s first friends. Especially as the quartet ends up needing to get magestone to avoid expulsion.
- Image via Viz Media
Published: Aug 12, 2023 12:00 pm