Manga! Manga!: The World of Japanese Comics

This book has been invaluable for my anime art history class. I found myself reading well beyond the assigned chapters because the information in this book is so well presented. Anyone who loves anime and manga should invest in this book.

This is an absolutely wonderful work and is considered, as earlier commentators expressed, the bible of manga studies. As others have said, it's an impossible act to follow, for many reasons. Schodt's credibility in the field, which includes his friendship with Tezuka, his high level Japanese language skills, the award given to him by the Japanese government, his wonderfully accessible writing style for all readers, his fascinating ability to subtly project his own enthusiasm for the material, all combine to make this a "must-have" book for anyone interested in manga. Fred Schodt actually knows or knew many of the manga luminaries that he writes about. What is even more spectacular is that his Dreamland Japan climbs up to the same lofty level of achievement, exploring the more obscure, but equally fascinating, sides of manga. Anyone with interest in manga should read both works to begin exploring the field of manga studies that Fred Schodt pioneered (his other books are excellent too!). One of the many wonderful things about his writing is, despite it being scholarly and having the utmost credibility, is how entertaining it is. One of the book's many advantageous qualities is Fred's desire to point to larger issues through his explorations.

The book itself is a landmark publication and essential guide to the world of manga for Western readers.

I bought this book while I'm writing my dissertation about manga and I wanted to start from the basic. Schodt's work is the first of a long series of book about that matter.What I found interesting was the perspective the author used for this book. He knew he was going to present something extremely new to a public which didn't know absolutely nothing about Japanese comics and had a completely different idea of comics.I don't agree with the Schodt only towards the end when he writes that it will be almost impossible to translate lots of Japanese comics into other languages because the cultural differences are too wide. I've been reading comics for 16 years now, which is more that half of my age, and I've read about anything. Japanese mythology or playing Go or Japanese history. And all of these was translated into my language.In addition, Schodt said that according to him the tropes of manga where difficult to understand for an American audience because they were not used to them. By tropes I mean, for example, the little drop that appear on the face of a manga character when something doesn't go as planned or the fact that people got a nosebleed when they are aroused. Schodt's comment was really American-centered because I'm not American and still I find it more difficult to read American comics rather than manga. I probably miss some of the tropes that are common for US readers and the boards are something built in a weird way and I have to think which way to read and that doesn't happen when I read a manga.To conclude, I give this book four stars only because it's an outdated book. The reader should read something newer after this one but as introduction into the world of manga is perfect.

I lost my hardback copy, but was so happy to even find a trade paperback of this material.

This book helped me in my thesis a lot. Manga Manga gives you a soft background of history (which you can complete with 1000 years of manga) and the way manga works (in general) how its participation in culture is.I recomend it if you want to know more about manga, its not for learning how to draw.

Haven’t had time to look thru it

Good use for research project on the art