Ad Astra: Scipio to Hannibal

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Ad Astra: Scipio to Hannibal is the best historical manga I've read, and a great work of historical fiction by any standard. It follows the known history to the letter, while filling in the gaps with compelling interpretations of historical figures and authentic explanations for their actions. It is often the case that creators will insert modern sensibilities or anachronisms into their depictions of ancient times, but the mangaka of Ad Astra avoids these kinds of common pitfalls. Furthermore, he manages to do justice to the wide cast of characters in the Second Punic War, without making any major player seem too perfect or too ... flawed. Scipio and Hannibal are, of course, well-rounded and brilliant, but it is the secondary major characters such as Fabius and Marcellus who bring the manga to such great heights. Even minor figures like Hadrusbal or Maharbal stand out.

The art is not awe-inspiring, but it more than gets the job done. Hannibal looks like he's being played by Keanu Reeves, but that should not be read as a criticism. In general, characters look distinct without looking cartoonish or unrealistic. Battle scenes are depicted in such a way as to make the overall sequence of events very clear to the reader, while not losing focus on the human element of the conflict. The overall structure of the story is similarly effective at communicating the shifting strategical situation, while taking into account the personal motivations of characters involved. Ad Astra: Scipio to Hannibal does everything right, and almost nothing wrong. Some may enjoy more fantastical or original depictions of history, but if you're looking for a manga adaptation of Polybius, this is the closest thing you'll get. My most substantial criticism is that I wish there was more if it.

The lack of popularity surrounding Ad Astra has always surprised me. Even after 11 years, the community for this great manga is almost non-existent, which is a pity to be honest. Revolving around the Punic Wars (264-146 BC) fought between the two ancient Mediterranean powers, Rome and Carthage (present day Tunisia), Ad Astra specifically tells us the magnificent story of the 2nd Punic War of all the three wars fought between them, the first being ended with The Treaty of Lutatius and Rome's victory. Since the source of historical information for this manga is Polybius's "The Histories", the general flow of events and fate of ... characters can be considered to be completely true.

The story is facile to follow through even without having prior knowledge about anything related to the Punic wars. In the case of a historical manga, the lack of information regarding events often leads to the mangaka to rely on complete asspulls for the story to move on, but thankfully there are no such issues with Ad Astra and almost every event and decisions made by the characters makes complete sense. The manga covers both the political and military sides of the warfare really well. Due to the same complexity, the time taken for completing a chapter takes longer than reading an average manga chapter. Plus points for the adequate usage of maps to get a better understanding of the events.

The Punic wars introduced us to two of the greatest military tacticians of all time, Scipio of Rome and Hannibal of Carthage, and as the main characters of this manga, the author does justice to both of them, even though the focus largely lies with Scipio. The manga really well demonstrates the monster that Hannibal is, who racked up victory after victory through cunning tactics and left the Romans shaking in their boots. It is estimated that during the battle of Cannae, Rome lost 20% of its entire adult male population to Hannibal. One of the few issues I have with this manga is the lack of focus on Hannibal's personal life. Unlike Scipio, Hannibal is presented to us mostly during the battles only and his value as a character comes from his wisdom and strategies. There is almost nothing presented on his personal life and I wish the author had given some focus to it. This could have been brought about through flashbacks of his past or even mentioning events through other characters. This manga is one of those rare ones where I prefer its side characters over its main ones. Each of them has their own unique traits, flaws, motivations and backgrounds that perfectly fit into the puzzle, making this manga truly a diamond in the rough.

The art is good and stays consistent throughout the manga with occasional screenshotable great panels that portray the full scope of battles or the battles itself. It does have its fair share of comedic relief and nudity, neither being too focused or completely absent. Overall, I really enjoyed this manga and my issues with it are very minimal. The chemistry between Hannibal and Scipio was fantastic and I wish that it had been a little slower paced. Nevertheless, this manga is a must read and I will highly recommend this to every historical manga fans out there.

It really did feel like I was reading Polybius. This isn't just a manga, it's a full-on illustrated narrative history of the Second Punic War (itself perhaps the greatest epic of Rome, at the very least a story up there with those of Caesar and Atilla) combining beautiful art with an impressive level of attention to detail and more than one quote taken straight from antiquity.

I do quibble with Archimedes' treatment - he's merged with another figure in a way which is not justified by the sources, and while it fit the whole scheming geniuses aspect of the story I don't think it was flattering ... to that great Syracusean patriot. The rest, from the crossing of the Alps to Zama, is simply outstanding - two great minds constantly scheming against one another, an existential war that gripped the whole of the Western Mediterranean, battle scenes and elephants galore. If you at all like the period - or just historical epics in general - you won't be disappointed.