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The Rough Guide to Manga
Product Description: "The Rough Guide to Manga" is the ultimate handbook offering a comprehensive overview of one of the most fashionable genre's in today's popular culture. The guide features the manga story: from manga's twelfth-century roots to the rise of English-language manga with profiles of influential creators like Leiji Matsumoto and CLAMP as well as publishers to look out for. You'll find an overview of manga's unique styles, techniques and genres decoded as well as a canon of fifty must-read manga, including the iconic "Astro Boy", global hits "Fruits Basket" and "Battle Royale", plus less well-known works like "Please Save My Earth". "The Rough Guide to Manga" demystifies unfamiliar terms and genres for newcomers whilst offering manga fans plenty of new recommendations including listings for manga magazines and websites along with a glossary of terms. Crammed with illustrations, and including a section on the anime connection, this is must-have Manga for beginners and enthusiasts alike.
- GenresNonfictionMangaComics
304 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
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January 22, 2021Nice overview of manga if a little bit dated by now. A ton of stuff I heard of before but a lot I had not. The early section on the history and evolution was very interesting. The book could have used more visual examples of the manga it was discussing, though. Not full story reprints or anything but at least examples of the art style even if it's just an image for each one discussed.
July 18, 2015
Much as the The Rough Guide to Anime 1 was an excellent primer on anime as a medium, so the Rough Guide to Manga is to manga. The book does an excellent job giving a brief history of manga, both in Japan and in the US, and giving a good rundown of useful terminology for the beginner before getting into the "Manga Canon".
Further, the 50 volumes in the Manga Canon are books that I can't really argue with, covering books both recent and past, and books which I'd consider significant to the medium, whether through their influence on other works, or due to their popularity. If I was to give one criticism to the canon, in the Rough Guide to Anime there were more than a few works of anime that I had never heard of before, that the book introduced me to, notably "Night on the Galactic Railroad". The Rough Guide to Manga doesn't have as much of that.
Were it not for the fact that Penguin Books has discontinued their Rough Guides series and is going to let the books go out of print, I'd consider this the perfect book to give to someone who was new to manga and was looking for a place to start. As it is, this book is still a good gift to give, and worth recommending.
EDIT (7/17/2015): I've recently re-read the book, and while the manga canon and the history of manga sections are still incredibly useful, there are some portions that have become unfortunately (and in one case, fortunately) dated.
The good news - As of this writing, the manga "Rose of Versailles" has been licensed for an English language release!
The bad news - CPM Manga, ADV Manga, and Del Rey Manga have stopped operations. Some of Del Rey's stuff has been picked up by Kodansha USA, but not all of it. Further, Anime Vice has basically become just a YouTube channel, with Gia Manry having started working in the industry instead of covering it, and Tom Pinchuck taking over hosting duties for the channel. Finally, the magazine Protoculture Addicts has stopped publication.
Further, the 50 volumes in the Manga Canon are books that I can't really argue with, covering books both recent and past, and books which I'd consider significant to the medium, whether through their influence on other works, or due to their popularity. If I was to give one criticism to the canon, in the Rough Guide to Anime there were more than a few works of anime that I had never heard of before, that the book introduced me to, notably "Night on the Galactic Railroad". The Rough Guide to Manga doesn't have as much of that.
Were it not for the fact that Penguin Books has discontinued their Rough Guides series and is going to let the books go out of print, I'd consider this the perfect book to give to someone who was new to manga and was looking for a place to start. As it is, this book is still a good gift to give, and worth recommending.
EDIT (7/17/2015): I've recently re-read the book, and while the manga canon and the history of manga sections are still incredibly useful, there are some portions that have become unfortunately (and in one case, fortunately) dated.
The good news - As of this writing, the manga "Rose of Versailles" has been licensed for an English language release!
The bad news - CPM Manga, ADV Manga, and Del Rey Manga have stopped operations. Some of Del Rey's stuff has been picked up by Kodansha USA, but not all of it. Further, Anime Vice has basically become just a YouTube channel, with Gia Manry having started working in the industry instead of covering it, and Tom Pinchuck taking over hosting duties for the channel. Finally, the magazine Protoculture Addicts has stopped publication.
September 24, 2015
Learned some really great new titles through this book. I think I have to catch up on 30-something series.
What bothered me a little is that the author tends to make his sentences way too long and as a result there are some unfinished or very unclear sentences in the book.
What bothered me a little is that the author tends to make his sentences way too long and as a result there are some unfinished or very unclear sentences in the book.
July 16, 2011
This book thinks it's so good. Well it's not.
It's such a know it all. Well manga isn't a test!
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It's such a know it all. Well manga isn't a test!
>:P
>:P
>:P
>:P
>:P
>:P
>:P
>:P
June 27, 2010
helpful in perpetuating my new addiction
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews