Manga! Manga!: The World of Japanese Comics

The first book written on Japanese comics in English. It is very important to remember that this book was written in the year 1983 because when today's manga reader reads this book he is most likely to be greeted with several series that he or she has never heard of, but don't let that stop you from reading the book. Schodt's book is a wonderful introduction to manga, and many of its cultural aspects. The book is divided into several sections including, the history of manga, girl's comics, work comics, and comics dealing with samurai or the modern day samurai the salaryman. Easy to read and ckock full of information about manga creators and readers. This is not a book to be missed by manga fans, and if you like this book please read _Dreamland Japan_ also.

Fred Schodt's Manga! Manga! still delivers the goods. The toughest of acts to follow, his fluency, his meticulous research and his personal anecdotes make his work truly irreplaceable. Schodt's translation genius shines through, it's his job to break the language barrier, and he does it so well one forgets that at the time he wrote it, nobody knew what a manga was. Be advised, this is classy stuff. There's no amateurish, media-studies fudging, no fancy guesswork about partially-understood titles, but an incredible introduction to the manga world, presented with stunning clarity. Schodt has no need to rely on what others translate, by going straight to the source he remains years ahead of the competition. To write this review, I took my weatherbeaten copy off the shelf and was amazed at how much of Schodt's writing remains original and unexplored, even today. I found a piece on Graveyard of the Fireflies (why didn't I see that before?), and chunks of Saito and Otomo much ripped-off by lesser researchers, I chuckled once more at the manga Einstein, and fell in love with three titles still unavailable in English. This is still the best book on manga, and even now, the only serious contender is Schodt's own Dreamland Japan. After nearly 20 years of being plagiarised by lesser writers, Schodt's book is still effortlessly outshining them all. Buy it. I did.

Very interesting work. Goes over every aspect of manga - what it is, how it developed, and then different genres of manga - samurai series, manga showing japanese values about work, boys and girls manga, sports manga...every type of manga is described. There are also tons and tons of b & w images, not to mention a few color ones. If this wasn't good enough, Frederik L. Schodt is also a very articulate and interesting writer, and is able to express himself very well while keeping the material interesting. This is not all: the book comes with four samples of manga from Japan. My favorite in this group is Leiji Matsumoto's short story "Ghost Warrior," set during WWII. This book is more than just the sum of it's parts, though: It's also a fantastic introduction to manga, and can be read and enjoyed by even people who aren't fans of comic books. My highest reccomendations.

A very serious fan of manga and anime will like this very intriguing study of the immensely popular Japanese medium. It takes you on a tour from the fables of the feudal times through the 19th-century political satire to the use of cartoons to taunt the American soldiers during the WWII to the great mushrooming of popularity in today's "manga" and "anime" that we all know and enjoy greatly. We are also introduced to Osmau Tezuka the very reowned "father" of the modern manga and anime. In fact, he was quite aptly dubbed "the god of manga" when he first began creating comics quite similar to the Disney style of 1930s; thus bringing some real entertainment to the bored children of the post-war era. His work includes AstroBoy the cute little flying robot and Kimba The White Lion (ironically, Disney actually "borrowed" from Mr. Tezuka's work while making "The Lion King" WITHOUT knowing it at all - a real repay, of course!) Other than those sweet children's tales, Osamu Tezuka also launches very serious projects such as BlackJack the eccentric surgeon and a very long saga about a young man finally meeting the legendery but vain Phoenix in her very own flesh. In addition, you get treated a few samples of the best work from the other well-known manga artists, including the very sparkly and flowery "Rose of Versasilles".

Schodt discusses in graphic detail the evolution of Japanese comics from its roots in "irresponsible pictures" in 12th century scrolls, to Disney inspiration in the early 1950s, and works up to the '80s -- presenting such genres as sports, history, science fiction, and shojo (girls) comics. This book might not be an exhaustive coverage of the Japanese comics industry, but Schodt makes a heroic attempt. For an authoritative look into a piece of Japanese popular culture, buy this book!