Customer Reviews

The Anime Companion: What's Japanese in Japanese Animation

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I can't help but feel that the author is either yet another typical self-proclaimed otaku or that they _had_ a good idea but their publisher suggested they dumb it down a little to broaden the audience. The intro "This Ain't No Speed Racer!" is ... oh god I really don't know where to begin. The rest of the book is just an alphabetized collection of abridged info on things found in only a handful of anime. I think a better title for this book would have been "Everything I Know I Learned From Ranma 1/2 and Urusei Yatsura". The anime images are screenshots so they're not very clear. And of course, the book would not be complete without the author's little Rant Sections that fill the empty spaces. If your reason for getting this book is to learn more about Japan through anime or vice versa, then I suggest the books "Japan Edge" which is very well-written and has sections on anime and manga, or "Dreamland Japan" which is on manga, but still very culturally insightful for anime fans.

The world of Japanese animation is a very different one than American animation fans are used to - this book helps to take away some of the foreign-ness and provide a basic introduction to manga/anime and Japanese culture.

While the organization (alphabetical) is a poor choice, since many will not know the Japanese vocabulary for looking up a reference. Despite this, the book is a good value. It's best used by a simple flip-through, reading entries at random.

Purists may find the book mildly offensive as it does deal with the blatant sexism often presented in mainstream anime. This is not to say it does anime a disservice, however - it places the animation squarely in the context of the society that has created it. Americans and Japanese people have a very different concept of what crosses the line from stereotype into outright sexism, and I feel this book has done a fairly good job in illustrating some of the commonly seen genres and images within anime exported to the United States.

This book does Japanese animation a great service, as well, by making sure that a new anime fan does not think that all anime is so violent/sexual in nature - it allows the reader to see anime for what it is: a type of film genre with tons of variety, and stories for people of every taste.

I am glad I was not the only person on here who rated this book with less than 3 stars. As I was reading this, I was pretty disgusted, but when I got to Amazon to do my review, I was shocked to see this book had as high as a rating as it did. I did feel a little better after I read some of the reviews that shared the same concerns I had, however.

This book is not for a "veteran" anime fan, not by any means. There are many interesting tidbits of info, but it all comes in the form of a dictionary, and unless you like to sit down with your Webster's and have a good read, I suggest you pass on this book and look elsewhere for your info. All the entries are alphabetical in Japanese, which means you are going to have a hard time finding the info you want if you are indeed looking up something, unless you are pretty fluent in the language. The organization is bad and the sidebar "rants" the author has are annoying. He claims in the first "rant" that he has a right to whine all he wants in his book, but to that I say "No you don't, not when you are attempting to be professional." I'm all for fun in books, but there is a thin line between fun and immaturity, and I'm sure you can guess where this guy is. Some of the things this guy rants about are boobies, guns, boobies, guns, boobies, boobies, boobies. You get my drift? It's VERY insulting to female readers. He even talks about his ex-Asian girlfriend's breasts. Like we care!

Other problems include the author's sources...While he claimed he was limited because of the only 100 or so titles he had available to him at the time, he pretty much refered to the same 6 anime titles when he did his entries, and 90% of those references were Rumiko Takahashi references. I don't like Rumiko Takahashi's art or stories at all, but even her fans are complanining in their reviews that enough is enough and that there are many other talented manga artists and animes this guy could pull references from. If you are not a fan of Takahashi or have never seen her work, how are you supposed to know what these things are or where they came from?

Yet ANOTHER problem are the pictures and artwork for this book...you may have noticed the cover is very ugly, it looks like some bad fanart laminated, the inside illustrations are the same way, and the screencaps that you do get to see are black and white and blurry. Over all, this is terrible design, and I cannot understand how the editor let this pass through his hands without gagging.

This book only further progresses the bad anime fan stereotype. The author talks about how anime fans are loud, like to complain, and obnoxious, among other things. He whines that "dubs suck lol, subs forever!". We know that there aren't a lot of good dubs out there, but if you are writing a reference book about anime and anime in the United States, you can't be a snob and only focus on subtitled shows. I know a lot of fans who appreciate both. He also constantly uses the word "Otaku" to describe himself and other anime fans...this is a very derogatory word used by the Japanese, and any true fan would be nuts to go around calling themselves that. If you have any respect for yourself or your anime hobby, you won't take this book very seriously, or better yet, you won't read it. I wouldn't even read it again if someone handed it to me off the street for free.

Don't buy this book, don't buy the second edition, and don't encourage this guy to write ANYMORE!

163 pages of pictures and entries on animation and Japanese culture. Quizzes and information on food, sex, gender, art, religion, humor, historical figures and events, bloody noses and even architecture. Gilles Poitras uses humor and knowledge on anime to write a book for anybody who wants to learn about some of the things that happen that non-Japanese might miss. Lot of the information is based on such mainstream cartoons as Ranma 1/2 and Tenchi Muyo!, but there is also a small list of books in the back that were also used WHICH allows the reader to find more books on the issues he or she may wish to focus on. Remember, the book also deals with the fact that the Japanese seem to be interested in age difference between males and females in relationships, women with guns and, yes, big breasts. IT is not that the author is not being serious, but in fact VERY serious and open minded. If one is going to explore anime one has to explore ALL parts of it and not just one side.

In fact, I would also suggest 'The Erotic Anime Movie Guide' by Helen McCarthy and Jonathan Clements.

The only things keeping me from giving this book a five star rating are: 1: The organization would have been better in English, with the proper Japanese word listed thereafter. 2: A wider variety of sources, while Rumiko is an excellent artist and story-teller, she's not the only one out there. 3: Instead of alphabetical, it would be easier to access particulars based on category, then alphabetized.

Overall, a very useful sourcebook for anime fans, or those who are interested in Japanese culture. Contains a number of day to day type of things, such as how Japanese toilets are not the same as Western ones.

For those of us who loved anime but didn't know a whole lot about individual symbols or customs of the Japanese culture, this book certainly helps. It mentions countless culture references along with scene-stealing pictures, strange facts, and priceless references to notable anime. If your curious about the symbols and funny quirks of anime, then this is a must-have guide for you.

For anyone who has ever wondered about the little cultural details of anime, your prayers have been answered. Everything from the Ainu to the zori is clearly explained with illustrations, text and examples taken from anime and manga. The Anime Companion is a well-written book that should be on the shelf of any otaku!

This book is a good example of how to introduce japanese animations to the uninformed american person that believes the movies centere around sex, violence, gore and BIG BIG breasts. It also teaches vocabulary in a fun way to the average person that is learning Japanese. However, it does lack a section on how to draw anime and manga, but that would be something I personally would have added as an appendix.

The fannish attitude expressed in the book's introduction ("go read a bestseller," you inferior being you) almost made me stop reading, as did the lame illos, "rants" about topics like breast sizes, etcetera. I was also frustrated by certain entries that told me what an item was and what anime it appeared in, but not what its cultural significance might be. (For instance, the shrub in a certain cartoons was a hydrangea. In the first place, duh. In the second place, what does that hydrangea mean? Anything? Nothing? Does this plant carry the cultural baggage of, say, cherry blossoms/sakura, or is it just set dressing?)

All gripes aside, this is a fascinating intro to Japanese culture as well as anime that could benefit from a little professionalizing to take it beyond the fanboy level, since the author obviously knows what he's talking about. I'd definitely supplement this book with Levi's Samurai From Outer Space and/or Napier's Anime: from Akira to Princess Mononoke.

I personally found this book to be very degrading to women and Japan. Besides being full of Inaccurate(!) information, the author comes across as very biased and an embarrassment to male otaku. A few examples, his rant sidebars: "Babes With Big Bazookas. I'm not talking about breasts here; women with destructive armaments is the topic." And on the next page, in a different sidebar: "Babes with Big Bazookas--Dirty Pair (I'm talking armaments here)" And two pages before that one the heading is: "Asian Women Don't Have T--s That Big!" Where he talks about how big his asian ex-girlfriend's breasts were. He also makes the mistake of contrasting Dirty Pair with "kimono-clad submissive women". If this guy really knows anything about Japanese culture, then he should know that the Kimono has nothing to do with submissiveness. And by saying so, he's only creating stereotypes and insulting the people and culture he's writing about. If you're serious about anime, I suggest putting your money towards more videos or merchandise and spare yourself from owning a book like this. Besides, you can still find out all you want to know from lots of great online resources out there.