Customer Reviews

How to Draw Anime & Game Characters, Vol. 5: Bishoujo Game Characters

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The fifth book in this series basically brings all of what you learned in the previous books together with some new features. The beginning of this book is dedicated to character types, their common facial features, clothing, etc. The bulk of this book is dedicated to clothing including school uniforms, nightwear, job uniforms, beachwear, skiwear, kung fu costumes, and many more. They also go into small details such as bags, shoes, and guns.

That said, I must say that I really didn't get as much out of this book as I did the other ones. Everything was basically explained in more detail in the previous books. This does give you nice clothes and character types, but you can also come up with that stuff on your own. It's up to you.

This book is pretty good! It has lots of sample shots of different scenes. This book gives you a rundown of girl personna's, their outfits, and them changing clothes. The content of this book includes:

Chapter one- What are bishoujo games?

1-1 Types of bishoujo games

1-2 Character roles

1-3 Individual character roles

The herione

The honor student

The cute, younger girl

The bad girl

The athletic girl

The princess

The sexy older girl

The smart aleck

The whole cast

Crash course editing

Chapter two: Bishoujo video game Character expressions

2-1 Making facial expressions distinctive

2-2 Desinging romance simulation game chaacters

2-3 Desinging bishoujo rpg characters

2-4 Desinging anime, action&combat game characters

2-5 What to include and what to leave out:

effective compositions

crash course editingII

Chapter three: Uniform and costumes

3-1 school uniforms

Sailor suits

blazers and jackets

summer uniforms

jumpers

cropped jackets

collars and pleats

novel uniform designs

gym suits

school swimsuits

3-2 Clothing for every occasion

3-3 combat game bishoujo

assorted costumes

3-4 Personal effects and props

Chapter four: Body lauguage

4-1 Gestures and facial expressions in combat scenes

4-2 gestures and mannerisms on campus

4-3 common gestures and mannerisms

Chapter five: designing posters

5-1 character numbers and key compositions

5-2 popular backgrounds

crash course in editing III

Advice from a young creator

Even though this book is about game characters, it is still good for basic manga designs. I would definately recommend this book for those who have a little trouble with the concept of character design and personalities. It is also kid friendly! There is no nudity at all. However, I believe this book is more suited for those who are a little above beginner stage to intermediate. If this book isn't what you had in mind for character design, then try the "how to draw manga mastering bishoujo characters." It gives you a more extended list of girl characters as well as what they would wear and their hair styles. Both are good buys.

Tho its the last vol. I bought it first as well as vol. 3 (which I found was not very helpful unless you know few body poses and/or alignment of body parts when poseing... big disappointment for me -_- but I must admit it was a little hepful on things like reaching, sitting, running, and stuff like that.) when i read this book, and scaned details of characters and thier body language I found few flaws. I was amazed at how much better it was compared to other books I own. Like in the other volumes it show mistakes of begginers and does them over show the corrected areas. It also gives ideas for clothes, backrounds where to place the character in the backrounds, differnt angles, acsseories characters use, emotions, body language, poses, costumes, characters used in some manga stories/comics, and personalities of the characters. I wish I could show you a picture I drew using this book alone and how much better it was compared to earlier drawings. Also I helped my older cuz. (who confesed she couldnt draw to save her life) draw an almost perfect pic. of a character from the book. Altho I gave just a few tips Iv picked up from other not so helpful books I didnt do much of anything, the book did it for me (so to speak). I must confess that im not begginer tho im still learning and this book lacks the beggining steps such as... how to draw facial body parts like the eyes, nose, or ears and other such beggining things even tho its the last vol. its supposed to be a reveiw sorta, so that dissapionted me cause somtimes I cant get it off the top of my head and steps make it easier to remember but besides that it is all around a great book even for some adv begginers. In conclusion I give it 5, even if it lacks a small skill or two, I think Tadashi Owzawa and his book earned a 5 for everything being just about perfect. ^_^ Oh by the way you should get this book, begginer or not.

1. i paid full price for a NEW book what i got was a used book with drawings in the back
2. the illustations are crap

This book is great for the intermediate to advanced Manga artist who specifically wants to improve facial expression, body poses and body language, gestures, mannerisms and key compositions to create anime movement and action. The book covers an array of distinctive facial expressions with many characters. Dress, uniforms and costumes are well covered to help create a particular persona.
I was told that this is the best book for beginners. I simply searched for the title. I now realise this is volume 5 and it's too advanced for me. As a beginner look out for the previous volumes.

This book is the fifth and last entry in this series, which started a bit lacking, but certainly concludes with a bang. The illustrations in this book are of the highest quality as in previous entries of this series. And this book stands on its own, as an excellent reference that will help you enter the bishoujo world very well prepared.

This is the contents in this book:

Introduction
Chapter 1 What Are Bishoujo Games?
Chapter 2 Bishoujo Video Game Expressions
Chapter 3 Unifofm and Costumes
Chapter 4 Body Language
Chapter 5 Designing Posters

The material in this book is really good. Most of it is in chapters 1 to 3.

Chapter 1, is basically a road map for chapter two, presenting archetypes most commonly seen in bishoujo anime and games.

Chapter 2 starts out as a repeat from volume 2, with facial expressions in a table, from mild to extreme vs. emotions such as pleasure, anger, sadness, confusion, and affection. This chapter continue exploring facial and body expressions of archetypes such as the heroine, honor roll student, cute young girl, bad girl, athletic girl, sexy girl, princess, and smart aleck

Chapter 3 contains a good concise collection of costumes, ranging from the common school uniforms to the magical girl costumes. These even include characters in action poses. This chapter also includes a few props such as bags, shoes, and even a few weapons.

Chapter 4 is about expressing emotions. It feels like a shorter repeat from volume 2, but it allows this book to stand alone. And of course, this is focused on girls only.

Chapter 5 is a filler with a few sample posters, background scenes, a how to fix your character tip, and a final advice from a young creator.

Overall, this is a superb reference book for all of those interested on bishoujo art.

Other books in this series:
How to Draw Anime & Game Characters, Vol. 1: Basics for Beginners and Beyond
How to Draw Anime & Game Characters, Vol. 2: Expressing Emotions
How to Draw Anime & Game Characters, Vol. 3: Bringing Daily Actions to Life
How to Draw Anime & Game Characters, Vol. 4: Mastering Battle and Action Moves

1st of all, this book isnt for begginers, so if youre starting out read something else, since you need a bit of expereince.this book was only ok, i suppose it might be of greater help to someone who is in the video game biz.I still have the same problem with this book as i had with all the other how to draw anime and game charaters books--the characters are generic.the girls seem a bit stale,cuz truly great games and anime and manga dont use these girls-- they use more original people.that isnt to say it isnt a bad book, it isnt.you will find many hints and tips.hope this helps.