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Manga: Masters of the Art
With its stylistic characters and vivid colors, manga has captured the imagination of millions. Now, Masters of the Art goes straight to the source -- the artists themselves -- for the ultimate insider's look at this global phenomenon. Each section includes a question-and-answer session, allowing the reader first-hand access to the artist's thoughts and ideas. They discuss how they became interested in manga, their first published work, where they get their ideas, the creative process, tips and techniques, artistic influences, the genre itself, and much more. Illustrations and photographs of each artist's most seminal works are accompanied by extensive, explanatory captions. Masters of the Art is a practical reference book, a fascinating look at how this incredible artwork makes it from concept to reality, and a thoughtful commentary on the genre -- perfect for the growing legions of manga fans. The artists featured
256 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 25, 2008
Interviews and short biographies of various historical and big names across several genres/target audience groups in the manga industry, though I only recognized a few names as I read mostly mainstream shonen, seinen and the occassional shoujo or josei. Very informative for those who are interested in the personalities and creation styles of different manga creators.
The thing that struck me the most, other than the insane work hours and the absolute necessity of having at least 3 assistants to keep your sanity, a surprising number of the artists had no formal art school training at all.
Some of the artists were more gregarious or interesting than the others. Some just rambled. I almost wish there were less interview (with almost the same batch of questions and answers each time) and more images of unfinished pages and process images. Anyone interested in drawing would probably be able to glean a lot more information looking at just those than reading an interview.
Still, most of the interviews had a few nuggets of gold that I found interesting, if not necessarily useful for future manga creators. There needs to be more volumes, though. I would love to see how Naoki Urusawa works/thinks. Or Taiyou Matsumoto. Or that absolutely insane dude that created Akagi and Kaiji.
The thing that struck me the most, other than the insane work hours and the absolute necessity of having at least 3 assistants to keep your sanity, a surprising number of the artists had no formal art school training at all.
Some of the artists were more gregarious or interesting than the others. Some just rambled. I almost wish there were less interview (with almost the same batch of questions and answers each time) and more images of unfinished pages and process images. Anyone interested in drawing would probably be able to glean a lot more information looking at just those than reading an interview.
Still, most of the interviews had a few nuggets of gold that I found interesting, if not necessarily useful for future manga creators. There needs to be more volumes, though. I would love to see how Naoki Urusawa works/thinks. Or Taiyou Matsumoto. Or that absolutely insane dude that created Akagi and Kaiji.
May 27, 2018
Not for children. I checked this out at our public library to help my son do research for a middle school anime club. It not only included some nudity, which I could handle, but also sex scenes and discussions of group suicide, racial slavery, child rape, bondage, etc. This is sad, as there are also some beautiful images I would have liked to share with him. I will be looking elsewhere for resources. Not sure how helpful this would be for an older manga fan, but definitely a book for adults.
March 12, 2018
You may not recognize any of the featured artists here (I only previously knew of CLAMP's Chobits, Vol. 1 series), but if you'd like an insider's glimpse to the process of some of the most influential mangaka in the history of the medium this is a great book to begin with. There's a glossary of terms, an infographic categorizing art style, artist's work recommendations, and thorough disclosure of each artist's 'toolbag' they use. Anyone from the aspiring artist to the ardent otaku will find something to love in this tome and I highly recommend it.
The print quality of this book is fabulous and really brings life to each interview. Each mangaka's personality is exquisitely laid bare for their part. It is so interesting to read about how consistently hard each of them work, yet they arrive at each project's completion so differently. The only concrete similarity is their 5-6 day work week and the quality of work each of their respective talent produces. Every artist is exhaustively interviewed and each of them has such interesting advice for aspiring artists when asked. Even artists that I had little interest in (whether their art style or favorite genre) were found to be fascinatingly complex and it was a joy to step into their world.
This book was originally published in 2005 so there are some points to take note of. This is a snapshot of art production compiled before the massive proliferation of both the modern internet and the smartphone. A few times in the course of reading this book, you'll probably chuckle at some parts of an artist's process (oh, the computer specifications are nostalgic), but you have to remember how quickly technology changed after this point. It is also important to understand how vital screentone was (and still is) to the timely production of pages. It is interesting to note how much a computer could help speed up that process; even though you'll notice many artists complaining about how slow their computer processed their work!
There's so much to learn here. If you or someone you know is interested in graphic novels or even storyboarded art in general, you'll learn a lot about the process and terminology along the way. It can be a dense read and almost impossible to navigate without the wonderful glossary, but don't let any of that stop you from trying to read this. It is a labor of love and we get to enjoy the spoils.
The print quality of this book is fabulous and really brings life to each interview. Each mangaka's personality is exquisitely laid bare for their part. It is so interesting to read about how consistently hard each of them work, yet they arrive at each project's completion so differently. The only concrete similarity is their 5-6 day work week and the quality of work each of their respective talent produces. Every artist is exhaustively interviewed and each of them has such interesting advice for aspiring artists when asked. Even artists that I had little interest in (whether their art style or favorite genre) were found to be fascinatingly complex and it was a joy to step into their world.
This book was originally published in 2005 so there are some points to take note of. This is a snapshot of art production compiled before the massive proliferation of both the modern internet and the smartphone. A few times in the course of reading this book, you'll probably chuckle at some parts of an artist's process (oh, the computer specifications are nostalgic), but you have to remember how quickly technology changed after this point. It is also important to understand how vital screentone was (and still is) to the timely production of pages. It is interesting to note how much a computer could help speed up that process; even though you'll notice many artists complaining about how slow their computer processed their work!
There's so much to learn here. If you or someone you know is interested in graphic novels or even storyboarded art in general, you'll learn a lot about the process and terminology along the way. It can be a dense read and almost impossible to navigate without the wonderful glossary, but don't let any of that stop you from trying to read this. It is a labor of love and we get to enjoy the spoils.
January 21, 2012
Lots of great interviews with Manga artists. Definitely does it job of getting you to look for these books. Mainly in black and white with a colour section. It is worth getting hold of, for comic fans.
January 31, 2012
Excellent book covering some of the best writers in manga. I wrote a review up at Tokyo Art Beat Blog.
Link:http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/en...
Link:http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/en...
March 25, 2014
Excellent book containing interviews from some of the most influential artists from the Japanese comics industry. What I enjoy most about this book besides the interviews, are the photos of each artist's work space.
October 2, 2013
Information for the curious
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews