Authentic depiction of Roman life and showcasing one of the best rivalries in human history.

Introduction

Ad Astra is an excellent historical fiction series depicting (primarily) the 2nd Punic War. Mihachi Kagano utilises many sources from Polybius and Livy. I always found this period in Roman History to be one of the most fascinating, as this is where Rome took centre stage in the Western world. It's where one of the greatest military commanders in history combated each other (Hannibal and Scipio respectfully). One of the most surprising aspects is how accurate the manga is, at least broadly. Of course, there's a lot of invention as it's a fictional account, however, not as much as you would think initially. I think one of the most tragic aspects of history is how we don't have any Carthaginian sources. Those sources were destroyed presumably during the 3rd Punic War. It saddens me to read the manga knowing Carthaginian doomed fate by the end. I only felt that heightened my enjoyment as you know the inevitable fate hence the tragedy of the situation. That said, the moments that were invented showcasing Carthaginian POV were well done. The author's depiction of Hannibal was fantastic across the board, he captures the larger life attitude of the man, his coldness, and his humanity and whenever he had a speech you can't help but be engaged. There's a lot more Scipio than Hannibal which makes sense (as we have more sources on the figure). This may seem like a strange piece of advice, but if you don't know the details of the 2nd Punic War don't look at it in advance. It's silly to suggest history can spoil a story, however, if you don’t know it’s best to go blind. I knew the general outcome of the 2nd Punic War but key details I didn’t know, so discovering them as they played out here was amazing.

Art- Panel Work

One of the most rewarding elements of reading this manga is seeing how the art evolves as it progresses. You can tell the author matured as an artist over the span of 7 years. Furthermore, I think it serves as a nice contrast to depict certain characters' ages as the war took place in the span of 218 – 201 BC. Even if that may have been unintentional it works to the author's advantage. I don't think it reaches the calibre of other historical fiction like Vagabond, Historie, Blade of the Immortal and Lone Wolf and Cub artistically, but that's a silly bar to give any manga. Generally speaking, it's pretty good across the board. The panel works I would generally say are nothing too remarkable. It's probably what holds it back from being a master of the medium (like some mentioned above). It's not bad by any means, it does the job, it handles exposition quite well and there's a lot of clarity.

Clarity

Interestingly enough, one of the strongest aspects of the art is the use of clarity. He knows when to depict a double spread appropriately, which makes up for the panel work not being amazing. That's including the battle tactics, the war sequences have a lot of clarity, it isn't confusing, and you can understand the tactics on display. It isn't mindless action, in which every scene serves a purpose.

Criticism?

I did wish this manga was a bit longer just because I wanted to be engrossed in this time period more. However, it's the appropriate length, it never overstayed its welcome. I hear some criticism of Hannibal we should have gotten more from his perspective. On the one hand, I agree but I felt that was an intentional choice of the author to give him a certain presence. Furthermore, we don’t have a ton of resources on him, so there’s only so much invention you can do.

Conclusion

In Conclusion, Ad Astra is an excellent and short historical fiction series that doesn’t outstay its welcome. I loved my journey reading it and reading one of the greatest rivalries in human history.