Shojo Beat's Manga Artist Academy

This book is great. I got it two years ago, and I still read it. It's very informative, and hillarious too. I highly recommend you buy this book! ^-^b

Though I've never been interested in manga instruction books previously due to the somewhat subpar art, child intended audience as well as all-too-basic instruction, I was surprised to find that this book takes a different approach. For those that can already draw manga-styled illustrations, this book takes you the next step into actual character personality creation, successful character contrast, plot and toning techniques (all taught by successfully published mangaka I might add) and even an incredible survey of all the tools of the trade that 20+ published mangakas use categorized by what each tool is used for! Not only did I find this book incredibly useful for those actually intending to seriously create their own manga, it was a pleasant surprise to find the teaching method an interesting read as well. It reads just like a manga collaboration by these famous mangaka! Though the reviewers before mine mention having issues with the violence within this book, I honestly didn't even notice it. It is merely the same sort of slapstick humor that you would encounter in almost every other manga. As it's even taught within the book, there needs to be some sort of character contrast in order to create tension. Having a somewhat silly protagonist and a best friend type character (often also the male love interest in shoujo manga) to constantly call her on it is possibly one of the easiest ways to create that sort of humorous tension and has thus been used so often in manga, it might as well be an archetype! I would definitely recommend this book as it is I believe, the only manga instruction book out there taught by the pros in the manga industry! To find out their techniques and tools of trade was an absolute joy. I also found myself relying on this significantly in the creation of my own manga. I definitely hope instructional books similar to this will be published in the near future!

I ended up buying this book for two reasons: 1) it's written in a comic format, and in the traditional "backwards" way 2) it didn't look like a beginner book i've become slightly frustrated recently as i've been scouring the market for how-to books that are geared for intermediate-to-advanced artists. most of the "how to draw manga" books are out there for the beginners, or the simply curious people looking for tips on drawing. This book is not like that. the first "chapter" is centered on drawing, but instead of a step-by-step manual, it skims over a few topics before moving on. Mainly encouragement. if you're a beginner, this book is not for you. it caters, instead, to those people who are ready to take the next step with their art, to begin to draw comics. it brushes the surface, of course, but i liked it because it packed useful tips, starting at learning to draw and ending at publishing, in its pages. instead of having to sort through my entire stack of detailed but specialized books every time i have a question, i can simply quickly flip through this one book to get a general idea of whatever topic i'm questioning. useful. one thing i was a bit disappointed in, however, was the way the poor cute panda, Satomi, was treated throughout. granted, she's a bit ditzy, but by the time i finished this book i came away with a general feeling of frustration over the continual smacks and shouts of "idiot!" why does violence have to predominate, even in a "how-to" book? in conclusion, if you're a beginner, or looking for narrowed-down, specialized information, this book is not for you. if you are an artist who wants a quick, easy, engaging read to help give you an overview of creating comics, then you should really check this out. This is a veritable manual of quick tips and suggestions.