How to Draw Manga: Bodies & Anatomy [Paperback]

Society for the Study of Manga Techniques (Author)

Book Description

Series: How to Draw Manga (Graphic-Sha Unnumbered) | Publication Date: August 25, 2003

A manga consists of showing characters' moves. One can learn to draw most manga-like poses and moves using this one book. The secret is in following these anatomically accurate drawings shown in expoded view. Slightly erotic poses are also covered. WARNING: This book contains nudity!

Product Details

• Paperback: 136 pages
• Publisher: Graphic-Sha; English Ed edition (August 25, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 4766112385
• ISBN-13: 978-4766112382
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #530,334 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

56 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars NOT for beginners., February 26, 2005

By 

V. Suzukawa (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: How to Draw Manga: Bodies & Anatomy (Paperback)

Skipping past the complaints of nudity (or not) between genders, or just how "manga" the style is, this is a great reference book for bone and muscle structure. I suppose it helps that I'm not seriously into manga; honestly, most manga characters have about as much muscle definition as a 14-year-old, and the level of body structure in here is almost geared for superhero comics.
The majority of the book shows a fairly equal amount of males and females in action poses. The overarching lesson is where the muscles and bones connect and overlap, and relatedly how the surface of the body changes during movement, but you also learn a good bit about foreshortening and overlap. Most of the pictures first show a more geometric anatomical view, emphasizing the joints and bones and major muscle groups, and then next to it is the same pose shown as a surface drawing, with only light shading. The artist makes an effort to pick unusual angles and poses, ones most other books don't show--overhead views, reclining, mid-throw, etc--so it's decent reference. There is a lot of focus on the back, something very neglected. I will note if you're looking for different body types, not much help here, you've got the usual 36-24-36 anime hottie and a guy who looks like an olympic swimmer. And the book falls down when it tries to show "real" facial anatomy using the typical oversized eye/forehead manga face...stick with the body lessons.
I must reiterate, it's not for beginners. If you're just learning to draw, go far, far elsewhere. But, this is a good book for someone who is comfortable drawing the body as a whole, and just wants a little tweaking on particularly difficult poses--especially if you've got a well-built character. Can't get the neck tendons to look right on someone looking up and back? Try this.

36 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredibly Detail, February 15, 2003

By 

Nicole Yokich (Corning, New York United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: How to Draw Manga: Bodies & Anatomy (Paperback)

I currently own five of this series, and continue to be impressed by the amount of detail they contain, but this one truly takes it.

Bodies and Anatomy covers it all, and could be used for any drawing type, not just for use in manga. This book is PACKED with incredibly detailed, accurate drawings of the skeleton, muscular system, etc., for every part of the body.

To me, this book felt more professionally and maturely presented than the others in the series, and I highly recommend it for any artist looking for some extra help when drawing the human form.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars good for anatomy, not for manga, April 18, 2003

By 

Russell A Robinson (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How to Draw Manga: Bodies & Anatomy (Paperback)

Having finally received this book after a long drawn out shipping fiasco (thanks to UPS), I was immediately confronted with a problem. As I began to flip though the pages of this book, which I had been so eagerly awaiting, I noticed, like many others have apparently noticed, that this is not a book about drawing manga. As far as that goes, it's probably one of the last books you should buy if you're looking to start drawing manga.

However, with that said it is a good reference tool that can be used to simplify and condense muscle groups and other body parts into nice clean representations. Though the drawings aren't manga, they are somewhat stylized and could possibly work as a bridge for someone accustomed to drawing real life figures who wants to try manga. Of course, they'd have to go buy a real book about drawing manga afterwards, but...

Personally I have found the book to be useful in an indirect way. Because I already know a little about manga and have been drawing for quite a while it wasn't too difficult for me to translate the images presented within the book into manga. I would imagine that this would be rather difficult for a novice though, so again, if you're just starting out I would suggest looking elsewhere for a good reference book.

If you have some experience under your belt, it's a good reference for stylized anatomy but that's about it. If you're a beginner and you want to study manga, stay away. I'd suggest saving your money, unless of course you want to draw what the book demonstrates and call it manga, thus destroying the genre.