More How to Draw Manga Volume 4: Mastering Bishoujo Characters

I've just started experimenting with drawing and I find myself turning to this book every time I get my pencils out. This book has twelve personalities and characteristics for female manga characters. I find it a very useful resource and didn't expect to see step-by-step instructions as that was not mentioned anywhere and I have other books for learning the basics of drawing. If I have trouble duplicating something I just grab some tracing paper and play around with it until I figure it out. There are a couple of shots with breasts but they aren't offensive or anything, just outline sketches so you know where everything is and can dress them appropriately. I figure if you don't want to see them you should probably stick with drawing male characters since they're inevitable with females. All-in-all, as a newbie, I found it to be a terrific help with creating my characters.

This book truly lives up to it's name, mastering bishoujo characters. For those of you having a little trouble with designing a unique character, then this book is definately for you! This book contains different personalities that you can give to your characters, the kinds of clothes that character would wear, and hair styles. It is full of poses that would be beneficial to you as well as some scenes of walking, jumping, and the way the body twists when it's doing a certain action. Another good quality this book has is girls waking in groups and sitting in groups. I think that is very helping if you are planning on drawing a manga with a school scene with a group of friends. This book really doesn't have any nudity, it does have the outline of the nude body, but nothing obscene. I would really recommend this book. A must buy!

First off, I just want to say that you must have some experince in drawing manga already, as this book does not start from the basics; it assumes you have a good foundation in anatomy, basically. But for those who are already into drawing, this book is invaluable. It covers the 12 different types of personalities of bishoujo ("pretty girl" in Japanese) in manga, from the self-confident Strong Girl to the refined, delicate Princess. It essntially shows the reader how to imbue personality and emotion into the character (to avoid the "they all have the same face!" syndrome) by showing how to alter facial features (e.g. longer, thinner faces project a more mature, older look), clothing styles, posture, etc. If you want to improve on your skills in drawing bishoujo, definitely get this book...