Customer Reviews

Anime Mania: How to Draw Characters for Japanese Animation (Manga Mania)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I really love Chris Hart's art books and 'how to' art books in general, but this book is sub par for Chris.

My biggest disappointment was the serious lack of 'how to' drawing illustrations actually included in this book. This book is comprised of mostly completed illustrations, and lacks the sort of detail Manga is famous for.

The sections on 'head shots' is simplistic, the line quality heavy, and the color unspectacular. To make matters worse, over 3/4 of the book is filled with finished drawings. If you are the sort of artist who learns by looking at finished illustrations, this book is for you. However, if you were looking for a 'step-by-step' approach, this book would be a poor choice.

I recommend reviewing this book before purchasing.

I would rename this book, THE ART OF WESTERNIZED ANIME. The colorful illustrations are great, but there isn't much instruction on "How To" achieve the drawings. It's a much better idea-generator book. There has also been some criticism about the "Americanized" anime used in this book. I agree that hard-core Anime fans will notice right away that there is something "wrong" with the drawings, the characteristic anime nose, for example.

Despite the above mentioned, the Pokemon crowd will really enjoy this book. The most obvious reason is that it is in COLOR and is filled with ILLUSTRATIONS. It also has pages of those draw "cute" anime critters. So, while it may not be traditional Anime, the younger crowd is not likely to notice, and may actually prefer the "westernized" look. And the lack of instructions probably works to their advantange as well (don't most kids like to skip to the end of instructions, anyway?)

For serious Anime fans, who are truly interested in learning how to draw Japanese Anime, I recommend taking a look at HOW TO DRAW ANIME & GAME CHARACTERS, VOL.1, by TADASHI OZAWA. This book/series is popular in Japan, and has now been translated into English (by an American publishing Co, so have no fear of "all-your-base-belong-to-us" English!) It has step-by-step instructions and the characters really look authentic. Why? Well, because, it's written/illustrated by an animation director at STUDIO GHIBLI (Oscar-winning SPIRITED AWAY) The book, however, is completely in black & white, and while it is completely suitable for kids, will probably not be as attention-keeping as CHRIS HART'S ANIME MANIA.

Overall, I give this book 4 STARS. The breakdown:
5-STAR rating for kids and people who's range of Anime consists of Afternoon cartoons. Highly Recommended.
3-STAR rating for serious Anime fans. Neutral Recommendation. (It still makes a good "Art of" book, though)

I admit I've only browsed through this book at a bookstore.. I didn't buy it because I didn't find it to be worth paying for.

The drawings don't look very... how should I put it? Well done? They look like they're done by a beginning artist. They're not what I'd expect as far as traditional anime goes. I'm a fairly good artist myself looking to hone up on my skills. This book wouldn't be that much help to me at all in that respect.

Maybe I just expect more out of a book that's supposed to be teaching you the proper way things should be drawn? :)

When I bought this book, I was expecting a good "step-by-step" & "how-to" book. This book REALLY disappointed me! >.< I found that the drawings in the book were VERY "cartoony" & "western" looking. The drawings were all very generic & simple. Looking back at certain illustrations, I can hardly say that it looks like anime! I'm sure that this book will be promising for younger readers, but a failure to hardcore otakus! o.O

I own many manga comics & "how-to's", & I recommend the "HOW TO DRAW MANGA" series. They will give you a good start to manga drawing. Looking for a first manga series to read?? Try "Fruits Basket", by Natsuki Takaya. ^_^

This book isn't for people who seriously want to learn how to draw animé and manga. It's obvious it was made with that in mind, but somewhere in the jumble of publication, Mr. Hart forgot that he was trying to teach the reader- not show them pretty pictures.
The book covers basic character concepts, but ones that should come intuitively to any one that has watched TV and/or gone to highschool, like the cheerleader, troublemaker, outcast, entrepeneur, farmer, and a fantasy and scifi fighters' squad. It doesn't really teach you anything you couldn't learn by going 'underground' and just buying some manga comics and teaching yourself by looking through them.
Pretty much all this book does is designate a (very general) character concept, give a brief paragraph on the type of character despite the obvious fact that all of us already understand what kind of person that character is, and then provide us with a figure and complete sketch.
I was not impressed by the main content.
On the other hand, the interviews and how-to's on working in Japan are interesting, things like equipment you may find in an animation studio and different phrases you might need to start off with if you plan to work as an artist in Japan (a rough venture).
In all, I'd say it would be best to buy a book on human anatomy and detailed character concepts, this book doesn't really make itself worth the twenty.

Yes millions of anime fans hate his Manga Mania because he can't do the art right and they hate his books because he hires people to do the art for him but........THIS IS THE WORST YET! Last year one of my friends showed me this book. I felt like laughing Chistopher Hart really doesn't know what anime is! He hired the worst people yet! There is like only two or three good artist (one was the one the one that did the front)and the rest of them were terrible.Most of the book is terrible mabye like ten pages are good but the rest how sad! Even if this books cover looks good don't judge a book by its cover.

This book does a nice job attempting to teach the anime style, but falls short of teaching beyond what is already basic and typical of anime. It also fails to achieve a very objective approach.

As a fan of the art style, I collect art books on anime both in Japanese and in English, and it's very obvious just from taking a quick glance through the book that it's a highly westernized interpretation of the art style (just look at the costumes, for instance). Additionally, it doesn't go into the storytelling methods and cliches of anime-style art, which, being an art book, might seem okay, but I think it's important information to understand in order to learn how to draw anime convincingly (proper camera angles, settings, keyframes, etc).

The majority of the book goes over figure drawing in very typical anime proportions and drawing by example.

If I had the chance to look through the book before purchasing it, I would not have bought it, but unfortunately I ordered it online and could not do so.

I got this book when I was just finding out about the anime/manga world. I now realize that this book is more for begginers. not a very good beginer either. it has a lot of useful info, though.( weight bearing leg, basic body construction, character design, and other suff) however, this book is sort of confusing becouse there are lots of different art styles in here.(Mr. Hart hires other artists) different artists draw differently.

there ARE colored illos all over the book. Mr. Hart breezes through lots of different types of characters without getting into them that much. he just shows you how to draw them at one angle and moves on. he could write a detailed series based on this book( how to draw creatures, how to draw high-tech punks,dramatic seens, how to draw special effects, etc.).

but if your a begginer and want an overview of anime this is the book for U.

I would never recommend this book to anyone who takes the Animee/Manga world seriously. This book is a joke. How can I possibly learn to draw these objects with such a confusing format?

If you buy this book you will be sorry. This book is a disgrace to the art of Anime/Manga cartooning.

dont buy this book. buy a book from someone who actually draws manga or animates for a living. worst anime style ever!!!!