The Rough Guide to Manga by Jason S. Yadao

Manga can be described as Japanese Comics, a short, if mostly accurate description. Arising from cartoons drawn by Japanese artists, after World War II, comics loomed large in Japan as a cheap form of entertainment, one eagerly consumed by a public desperate for cheap entertainment.

Decades later, and Manga are still wildly popular in Japan, from books for kids to ones aimed at adult men (seinen manga) and adult women. This wide variety of material has led to a rather diverse view of manga, from that of "just Kids stuff", the way most western comics are oriented. To the ultra-racy books filled with alien tentacle beasts, rape, murder and every sort of strange sexual perversion which has made the people of Japan out to be a race of the most vile perverts imagineable.

To break down both images and show what Manga are really like, this guide shows where Manga came from, and the forces that shaped its development. Then, it introduces readers to 50 significant manga- the best of the best, their creators, and other works by the same artist/creator, everything from Astro Boy (Tetsuwan Atom or "Mighty Atom") by Osamu Tezuka to newer manga like "Fruits Basket" and "Love Hina", along with a wide range of stories and creators inbetween, with profiles of Manga Producers such as CLAMP and Leiji Matsumoto.

But no discussion of manga can be complete without a discussion of Anime, and so there is a section on that as well, showing some of the problems that haunt those who try to turn their favorite manga into Anime, and what happens when the Anime catches up to the story in the manga.

The rest of the book is devoted to resources about manga, from books and magazines to websites and documentaries, allowing anyone to find out about their favorite series, sequels and so forth.

This is an excellent overview book, filled with lots of information laid out in easy to read chapters and sections, and filled with lots of information about different manga series, even ones you may never have heard of. and that's what it does best, linking different series to a specific artist and showing off what else they have done (though not always- the Creator of Akira never really did anything else of note) and therefore giving you something else to check out.

Though some of the information is out of date (Shojo Beat being mentioned as still in publication when in fact it has stopped publication and subscribers are now being given Shonen Jump instead), most of the information looks to be pretty accurate, so that one quibble aside, I found myself liking and enjoying this book.

I wouldn't necessarily buy it, you understand- it's made for someone newer to the manga scene than I am- most of the information I found here I had seen elsewhere. But for someone new to the manga scene, this book would be just perfect to clue them in about manga and bring them up to speed. Recommended.