Unmarked spoilers ahead, because I couldn't really delve into Hannibal without referencing the actual History, so TLDR; You should read Ad Astra.
Ad Astra, a manga based on real life events inspired from the Second Punic War set in 218 BC.
It first starts off with Carthage losing the First Punic War against Rome, where Hamilcar Barca (Father of Hannibal Barca) was forced to lose just because of the foolishness of his other comrades. This particular sequence is served as an introduction to Hannibal's brilliant insight ever since he was a kid. This defeat of Carthage led to the very hatred of Hannibal towards Rome who would later turn into a monster and the worst nightmare of Rome, quite literally.
The intellect of Hannibal was unmatched by any of the generals from Carthage and Rome alike.
Both sides accepted that fact without any place for doubt ever since Hannibal did the unthinkable feats of crossing the Alps with his entire army to invade the lands of Italy, utilizing the terrain to win his battles, such as battle of Lake Trasimene, or battle of Trebia. But what sealed him as truly a monster was the battle of Cannae where Hannibal won against the Romans with only half the troops as compared to Romans. I don't think Ad Astra could have done a better job at introducing Hannibal's character, since it was already perfect. The calm and composed man who never faltered even if the fate was not favoring him.
Since there is no documentation from the side of Carthaginians and most of the narratives came from the romans, one would think they would purposefully tarnish the name of Hannibal, but that wasn't the case since they highly respected him. Even when any disaster strikes the modern Rome in today's date, the common phrase they use is "Hannibal is at the gates" which just goes to show that he really was the Rome's worst nightmare.
But there existed a single Roman man, with the name Publius Cornelius Scipio, who would later match Hannibal's wits and pose as a threat to his existence in the lands of Italy. The manga excels at showing the point of views of both the sides but is mostly focused towards Scipio as a protagonist, though I still found myself rooting for Hannibal most of the times. The dynamic between these protagonists is excellent, the student-teacher relationship between the two who are forced to fight just because of their birth in the rival countries.
But the manga still has its flaws. There were times where the fight between some notable side characters started only to be skipped to the aftermath right after, by saying "X character is dead" or just by showing the decapitated head of that character. This was a lost opportunity to further solidify their development. Maybe the reason is that the mangaka only wanted to focus on the protagonists.
It was painful to witness the downfall of Hannibal Barca whom I've come to admire so much. It's disheartening to say that the reason for this downfall is Carthage, his home country itself. The greedy aristocrats completely disregarded Hannibal and didn't provide reinforcements. This was the only reason why Hannibal is considered as a monster who failed. If Carthage actually supported him, who knows what would have happened to Rome.
In the end, It's one of the most enjoyable manga I've ever read. I hope I've convinced you to read it as well.
