Customer Reviews

How to Draw Manga: Bodies & Anatomy

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

I feel that I'm a decent manga artist, but unfortunely I am unable to link to my artwork as a demonstration due to guidelines. I have 3 other books which are How to Draw manga for Male Characters, Female Characters, and Bishoujo Around the World. I was impress with all three of them, but with Bodies and Anatomy I was extremely disappointed.

First of all, other than a very few anime pictures, it does not even feel like an manga book at all. Like what someone else mentioned, it doesn't even have manga proportions. The book might as well not have manga in the title and I still wouldn't be able to tell that this was a manga book.

I was completely fooled by the cover of the book. The drawings inside do not even match the quality of the cover. The bodies on the cover are manga, the bodies within the book are not! Previous How to Draw Manga books had similarities with the cover and the content inside. At the end of the book, there is also no individual drawings from various artist.

The written information provided with the drawings are subpar when compared to the other 3 Manga books that I've mentioned earlier. Sometimes it goes into useless details and other times, it there isn't enough description. For example, it throws a few pictures of the ear and then the nose, but never says a single word about it. I would have liked for it to at least mentioned how it compare and contrast from human to anime form. Again, the other manga books mentioned the difference and similarities.

Also I have to question the source of the book as well. Almost every other How to Draw Manga book has a japanese author, but this one does not. It's source is 'The Society for the Study of Manga Techniques'. I can only guess that its origin is nonjapanese and it shows just like every other nonjapanese How to Draw Anime type book out there. Something is wrong if an amateur artist like myself can draw equal or better than what is provided in the book.

I would have returned the book the same day I received it if it weren't for the fact that the shipping to return it is almost half the cost of the book. In the end, I feel very cheated and do not want others to be fooled in the same way. An unforunate lesson I learn from this is that you can't judge a book by its cover.

First off, I have to say I was very impressed at the beginning of this book. The starting chapters, covering some perspective and posing, detailed skeletal and later muscular structures were very well done. The skull, hand and feet sections were in depth and very helpful and detailed.

However- when they started into full body poses I was remotely annoyed. Most of the poses and references they gave for men were in action. Throwing something, or starting to run- pictures that neatly expressed the male body in motion. That's all very nice and well, but I would have enjoyed seeing more relaxed forms as well. Not all my work and other people's work with men is drawn in motion! Quite a bit is still.

And when we move into the woman, there's no action at all. Mainly references draw for woman who are stretching, or reclining and a lot of these poses are from 'suggestive' views. It's also slightly annoying to find 10 different views from which to draw a female crotch and the male subjects mysteriously elude this area. While we're at it, not all female's breasts are aroused 24/7. It's not truly necessary to draw nipples on every figure.

This whole extra fascination with the female body is perhaps more annoying to me then others since I originally got this book hoping for help on male anatomy- since if I truly need a reference for a female form I can simply go into the bathroom.

It would have also been nice to see more variations in the male/female models. In general a nice reference book, though it could have covered a lot more in some areas and a lot less in others.

People have reviewed this book already, saying that it is not a book for drawing manga. I have to agree with them--while this book has great drawings, very detailed (especially the girls, so if nude women bother you, don't buy this book), they are more lifelike than manga-like. However, that is the only reason I give this book four, not five, stars. If you're looking for a strictly manga book, this may not be for you. But if you're looking for excellently-drawn bodies to help you with the human form, definitely buy this book.

i luv this book...it was exactly what i needed to improve my already ok sketches. since i am the type of artist who likes things looking life-like, i thought this book was excellent w/ proving tips on muscle and bone structure. i now see that my drawings look better and more impressive than b4. but enough about my drawings...

i dont know how helpful a beginning artist might find this book, but i will say that it is a good reference book. it has many drawings of the front and the back...a hard to draw side of the human body. they are sitting, standing, throwing,...even a small bit on doing splits...i enjoy that section when drawing faeries. it has a decent amount of male and female drawings and a lot of poses i havent found in other "how to draw" books.

i do have a few complaints, though. i was not real happy w/ the woman drawings...they had detail on there that they (4 some odd reason) omitted when drawing the men. they can cover up the guy parts but they had to show the nipples on the woman, didnt they? yes, that is all normal and you see that if you are studying a live nude model in a class, but this is a drawing book! i would have liked them to omit the nipples and do what Tadashi Osawa did...just sketch the outline of the chest.

another thing that i didnt like was the section that showed you how to draw the crotch. i got absolutely no help from that section...plus i dont know who would draw that part up close (ew...gross). all i really got was how not to draw it in the form of a "v"...other than that, i skipped that chapter.

overall, the book was very good and very detailed with the muscles and bones, and how they moved and behave. i encourage people to by this book if they really want to bring life into their drawings. if you like this book i suggest getting others in the "How to Draw Manga" series...it is the ONLY series that i trust when drawing anime characters

happy sketching!!! :-D

This is a decent book that shows how to draw the human form. Not necessarily from a cartoony, *manga* perspective but the way the body actually looks. If you don't see how that could improve your skills as an artist, well...

The main reason I wanted to post this review was to comment on the juvenile attitude of many of the other reviewers. This is an anatomy reference. That means pictures of the human form in different positions without clothes. I wonder how serious these artists are not to know that. It may shock them to know that life drawing classes often hire nude models to sit around in the middle of class just so the students can get a better understanding of the human form. This is NOT PORNOGRAPHY and is no different that the photo anatomy references you can find in the art section of any major bookstore. The breasts are shown but who cares? the genitalia is not shown, just a bare patch. For some reason they drew shorts on the guys but not on the girls, but naughty parts are not visible on either so really who cares? This kind of panicky, knee-jerk conservatism makes me ill.

Sorry for the rant but really, this is an totally decent book that has been much maligned for no good reason.

Ok, so this isn't the best How to Draw Manga book in the series, but I found it very useful. Sure you won't find any fancy tips on inking with your pens, or how to draw costumes. What you will get is some great poses and gestures. It is an Anatomy and Body book. It helps explain the placement of all the major muscle groups, and how they affect the body when in certain stances and poses. This is great for things like action sequenses, building up that tension in the bicep and tricep as the character strikes the opponent. Good reference for drawing that perfect body shape in proportion and in gestures. Perfect for action Manga type artists.

This book is perhaps one of the best books on how to draw Manga ever.. though honestly, the art in here could be used for drawing life-like people in any art form. Over 100 pages showing different muscle positions, skeletal structures, natural body movement patterns.. the list goes on. And yes, there's a little nudity, but let's be grown up here; those are parts of human anatomy too (even if the men in here wear underpants and the women don't). I have yet to find a book as in-depth or varied as this one. A must-buy for the beginning artist looking for good reference material, or even for the advanced artist looking to keep shart with some difficult positions of the human body.