#kanemune

The first thing that stuck out and bothered me was the way the manga show Morgana and Michel’s appearances right off the bat. Sure, they’re not very discernible at the start, but you can still easily make out what they looks like and their overall bodies right from the beginning, which is completely impossible in the VN. It’s not like I don’t understand that choice; the manga is a much more visual medium than a VN and it would’ve been more complicated and confusing to readers to try to hide those, but I still think it’s actively undermining some thematic parts and plot points later on — Morgana being only a ‘voice’ for like 60% of the story is very important to her character and to the Maid’s, and to me it really lesser the reveal of her appearance at the end of Door 7 to introduces her directly that way at the beginning. Same thing with Michel ; regardless of whether or not you’re able to figure out who is the ‘‘Master’’’s identity, there is a very peculiar way the mystery is unveiled in the VN that is just completely lost here. Identities are such a big deal in FataMoru’s story that it just genuinely feel like a shame. I do love the way Kanemune slowly manages to divulge their appearances throughought the volumes (with us finally seeing Michel’s full face only after his conversation with his brother, or the way Morgana’s first represented in her skeleton form with a skull until Giselle take on her identity; that was done pretty nicely) but that still doesn’t comes anywhere close to what was the original intent with these.

On that sense, Michel’s thoughts being much more detailed also give me some mixed feelings. Again I understand the intent, and I think it give way to some interesting bits — the moment after Door 2 where Michel gets angry at the Maid for her disinterest on the story’s events was interesting to me and I liked that. But on the other hand, it sorts of undermines the fact at this point on the story Michel really isn’t supposed to have much of an individual personality of his own, that he’s meant to be really detached from everything (hell, Georges even outright he cannot tell what he looks like at all), almost just as much as the Maid, in a sense, until he truly reclaim himself; whereras here it truly seems like he has a much stronger sense of self and that kind of come across as off with his character’s trajectory and portrayal.

All of this aside, I feel like I don’t have much to say about Door 1’s adaptation. They cut and rushed a lot of content, but at the same time it didn’t bother me too much pacing-wise and I believe they did an okay-job overall (especially given honestly Door 1 in the VN can drag a bit at times, so in that sense maybe the cut content was beneficial too). Although its introduction definitely felt lesser; the fact we spend so little time with Nellie and Mell as children when it’ s very pivotal to their story, or that we’re instantly thrown in the middle of a scene between Mell/Nellie/Michelle and not taking the time to properly introduce the siblings’ dymanic is a bit problematic.

Random details I liked was Michelle trying to poison Mell instead of strangling him. Her trying to strangle him is his bed is more intimate in a way, but I thought the poison felt like a nice callback and parallel to other assasination attempts in the series (Hayden’s death, Gratien’s attempt on Jacopo in Requiem, even Georges and Aimée in that one short story), so I might prefer it from the VN. On a more personal level, I also really liked this small scene when Michelle try to comfort Nellie after seeing her cry and for a moment it seems Nellie almost let herself confide in her until she sees the necklace, and I thought it was a nice touch; the idea that maybe, had Nellie let go of her unhealthy worldview that the only person that truly matters in her life is her brother, she could’ve even become friends with Michelle (and it give me some grounds for my Morgana/Nellie friendship so yeah I take it).

It was interesting to me that the manga actually gave Michelle some POV. The VN have some insights on Nellie and Mell’s thoughts, but never to Michelle’s. Having an actual flashback with her father and giving him lines also somehow made it more palatable and effective rather than just having her it narrate her story. (They did this in a way with the Rhodes parents too, who got actual names, appearance and speaking roles here, which I liked too.) However, I couldn’t say which version I prefer. On one hand, it’s nice to get more focus on Michelle, on the other, her being this idealized, mysterious, almost non-existent presence in the first part of the story is very important thematically, and especially given in the VN the only time we truly got to see more of her as a person and get into her head is in Door 3 with Jacopo, which I think was very deliberate (even if here again it was mostly because she herself narrated her story to Maria). Although as an aside, it did feel like they missed some of the nuances with the other characers, especially with Nellie; her manga self does come off more as your traditional brocon whiny brat which, she IS on some level, but unlike the VN we don’t really get a perspective on how her codependant relationship with her brother developed or any hints about how lonely her life is. The conclusion was very well adapted though in the end (even if actually seeing it drawn make me even more confused as to how Nellie was able to mak ea wig out of roughly cutting Michelle’s hair but oh well.)

Door 2’s adaptation somehow feel like it almost has an opposite problem to Door 1. They spent a lot of time developing the introduction and first part of the story, which I liked, but then rushed and cut off a lot of things at the end… and honestly if I had to choose I wish they’d done the reverse, cause the final has always seemed more important to develop to me. I don’t really like either how they added the scene where the Maid tries to kill Michelle right off the bat, instead of in Door 6’s flashback. I guess it’s because they felt they couldn’t integrate it later on so it needed to be there somehow, but even so it felt out of place and I fail to see why the Maid at that point in time would show the Master something like that.

I disliked the way they portrayed “Bestia”’s appearance as... well, an actual pork-like beast. Maybe that’s just me but it... felt kind of ridiculous honestly? And as a result I couldn’t bring myself to take him seriously. I mean, Yukimasa can be kind of ridiculous in general (lol), but the first part of Door 2 in the VN possess a legitimate eerie and sinister ambiance notably with how they portrayed Bestia as this... weird, humanoid shadowy thing; it felt actually creepy and worked much better. I think they really should’ve done the same thing here cause him having some sort of pork-human body just didn’t come off good at all to me.

For some reason Pauline came across as much more endearing to me here? I’m not really sure why cause she is pretty much the same as in the VN. Maybe because the way Kanemune draw her is way more expressive and adorable than just seeing her sprites from the game. But either way as a result I felt much more for her and her friendship with Javi this time around.

On the other hand, Yukimasa felt like a lesser character. Speficically, he seemed like a much less worse person in the manga, which funnily enough is actually a detriment for him lol. Yukimasa’s character is interesting and refreshing to me because the VN makes a point to say he’s always been this bloodthirsty murderer weirdo; even if his trauma might have accentuated his condition, concretely that’s not what rendered him that way, but the manga cut off all of this and really rushed the ending so this aspect is completely left out. Here, it genuinely seems like he was originally a good man who got warped because of his circumstances and what he experienced, that he truly did love Pauline, not that he was just trying to appears as a good man and mostly only used her. (Kinda funny that Pauline’s parents makes zero apparitions too given they had a more noticeable role in the VN contrary to the Rhodes parents. Well at least we still get poor Orlando here lmao.) Javi stabbing Yukimasa amused me too and was kind of cathartic, but that also lesser the original VN’s ending where Yukimasa simply massacre everyone, and the fact Michelle’s fate is left uncertain instead of being mercilessly murdered also have less of an impact (and unforeshadow Morgana’s death as well). As I said, I really wish they’d actually spent less time on the introduction part and more on the ending in this case honestly.

Door 3 in terms of plot feel like the one who was the most complete? There was still definitely some cuts here and there, but the narrative was left fairly intact and its pacing and narration flew well. My only true gripes with it would be that, while Jacopo’s characterization was great and I liked them spending time on things like detailing his meetings with his father, they don’t nearly do as good a job at truly picturing under which pression he is and how badly his mental health is deteriorating throughout the story; we don’t get much of his psychosis or hallucinations or anything, which is kind of very central to his character (even if admittedly maybe less so than in Requiem).

I thought it was interesting that Jacopo and Michelle seemed to be… much more ‘physical’ with each other? By which I mean, there’s quite a few instances where Jacopo is drawn holding her or touching her, whereas the visual novel never describes them like this, so it had always given me the impression that despite being a married couple she and Jacopo were pretty distant physically (though I admit I don’t know much about what was appropriate behavior for American upper class couples from the 19th century. Did they ever even kiss? Somehow I never really got that impression either. Anyway.)

Not gonna lie, the wheat field vision appearing when Jacopo confesses and Michelle clearly wearing Morgana’s clothes during that moment almost made me scream. That was a very cool but a very mean addition! And Michelle hallucinating Jacopo killing her, which is only sort of implied in the VN, was also pretty neat.

My favorite part though might be the additions they did to Maria’s character. I’ve always found Maria’s character in Door 3, while very fun, a bit off-putting because of how over-the-top she is, which also goes completely against how she’s portrayed in Door 8 — especially given we really don’t know much about what exactly she’s been through because of Jacopo’s family. So the manga detailing a bit more what it must’ve been like for her as a child to be chased off her home, her mother’s suicide, etc. really helped fleshing her out. They also heavily toned down her Villain Monologues which, despite her clearly having fun with what’s happening, still made her more relatable and also feel more in tune with her Door 8 counterpart. Although, I admit I did feel sad we didn’t get to have her final dramatic showdown where she put on that pretty dress with the tits out lol, even with how dramatic it is I absolutely love that scene. Let Maria wear her Tits Out Dress!! Another bit I found interesting though was where she says that she’s the one who seek out Jacopo first with the intent of taking her revenge, when I’m pretty sure in the VN she says the opposite? That it was Jacopo who first went to find her with the maid job and even that at the beginning she didn’t feel like taking revenge, but after he made her his maid and seeing his ideal life she couldn’t stand it anymore and snapped…? I’m not sure which version I’d prefer to be honest. I feel like her seeking him out with the idea of revenge would make more sense for her character, but on the other hand her not having the intention to get back at him and still wanting to believe in him and help him out in a way at first would feel more in tune with her Requiem self.

I really love the way the rose necklace Mell offered Michelle was persistantly used throughout all three doors. It was there in the VN too of course but had a much lesser role (as far as I recall Nellie never saw it or got angry about it either in the VN), and it completely disappears in Door 3, so them having the detail of the Maid giving it to Michelle this time and it being part of what makes Jacopo ultimately snaps was very good.

I noticed that at absolutely no moment anyone call Michelle a ‘witch’ except in the very last Door 4, and that also seems very odd to me because that was an important element that, if my memory don’t fail me, was present in all first three doors.

Sadly I think that Door 4-5-6 is where the adaptation got the weakest. Or, more specifically, where they rushed the most things; which is quite disappointing given it’s the most important part.

I was surprised they gave Georges this little black fellow appearance instead of just. him being a literal black painting lmao. But somehow it’s funny and fits him as a character? So yeah I kind of dig it. But as I said before, not a fan of us being revealed to Michel’s face this early on. As an aside… it’s most definitely a translation problem, but Georges referring to Michel with female pronouns in that scene was very yikes. I don’t see the original manga making such a mistake, so I imagine it must’ve been the translator who was not very familiar with FataMoru as a whole but still… that made me wince pretty bad. Hope they get to rectify that at one point.

So, now, Door 4. I often feel people tend to dismiss Door 4 as being not as important as the others, given it is a ‘fake’ story, and I cannot tell you how much I disagree with that sentiment; Door 4 is very crucial to the story, even moreso after you’re aware of the truth behind it, especially so for Morgana and Giselle and the bonds that ties them to Michel. There is so much meaningful things packed into it about these characters, so that’s why the fact the manga adaptation decided to completely condense it into a vague summary save for one or two scenes really was frustrating to me. Again, I understand the pages restriction they probably had, that they wanted to privilege Michel and Giselle’s actual story, but even so having just Michel and the Maid coldly narrating what’s happening remove so much heart and nuances to it and that just sucks.

Door 5’s beginning was very fine. They manage to preserve the important segments even with the few cut contents, so much that it doesn’t feel too much like they did; even so, I felt a bit disappointed by the scene where Michel threatens Giselle when he finds her in his room because of how he felt much less intimidating than in the VN, where there was a genuine rawness to his anger and where he honestly seemed ready to kill her. Or by them removing the reason why the villagers got so desperate was because of some nobles discovering their place and starting to tax them, making them seem like they randomly decided to turn on Giselle out of nowhere.

The second part is where there are more problems. While they are able to more or less capture the essence of Michel and Giselle’s sweet developing romance, they really rushed it and it sort of feel like they fell in love too quickly? That we don’t actually get to really see them becoming closer? Obviously they couldn’t put in every scene from the VN, but even so it feels off to have just Michel basically being like "Yeah and then we got closer, trust me" after Giselle come back and be done with it. The most glaring issue about the relationship was how they entirely cut the confession scene and the intimate scene of Giselle showing him her scars. I understand they couldn’t have put the entire thing in there because it’s very long, but completely cutting the entire thing feel actively like a bad choice? THAT’S very important to Michel and Giselle’s romance, so even if they had to cut a few important moments of it they still should’ve included it in some way. Michel seemingly realizing his feelings without making a big deal out of them when he freaked out immensily originally also feels wrong, and them not ‘officially’ dating by the end also make it odd that Michel would decide to write a letter to his family all by himself, without even consulting Giselle about it, or even asking her beforehand if she wants to live with him once they go back (here he only says he wants to protect her, which isn’t nearly the same thing). I dislike it because it makes it seems like Michel is assuming things about Giselle without ever asking for her choice which… is really the opposite of his character at this point, where the only time he does this is at the end to save her life, and which is actually something the narrative readily criticize him for.

Door 6 suffers a bit from the same problem as Door 4 but not nearly as much, where they rushes some story bits much more and doesn’t give some scenes the weight and emotional impact it really should have (like Giselle choosing to give up her identity to Morgana that feels underwhelming) — but then again, the VN tend to have that issue as well. I appreciate they kept Hayden’s entire story complete though, that was nice to see it.

My dislike of them making Morgana appears concretely so early on aside, I still really love her depiction in the manga. However, one thing I really disliked was  the fact they just? Completely removed her scars?? She seems to have them at the start, but they doesn’t appear nearly as… pervasive and ugly as on her sprites, it just comes across as a few cuts, and then by the end they just completely disappears?? Like WHAT?? WHY. You can’t just take away Morgana’s scars this early on in the story, it makes no sense and completely mess with her character?! Also I’ve only now realized this after finishing reading, but actually the manga says Morgana’s name only ONCE and it’s at the very end, which is… also very odd? You know, her name (and names in general) being very important to the story and all?

The ending was cute but welp, it sure felt easy for Michel to get Giselle back to her old self. To be fair that’s kind of a criticism I have with the VN too, but it felt even more simpler here lol.

And so that was the whole five volumes. It clearly ends on a cliffhanger, so I do wonder if we’ll ever get the rest of the story adapted? I admit I’m curious as to why only the first half of it was adapted but not the rest. I know VN manga sometimes do this to tease people and incite them to play the game, but it doesn’t seem like it was the case here given Hanada specifically seek out Kanemune for it? Was that a budget thing maybe? Who knows. I certainly hope they take it back one day cause I would die to see Michel’s story and Requiem drawn by Kanemune.