Customer Reviews

Manga Matrix: Create Unique Characters Using the Japanese Matrix System

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is not a "how to draw" book, but rather a "how to think creatively" book. If you wanted to draw the characters shown in this book, you'd need a lot of experience to do so. However, any manga artist from beginner level through advanced would benefit from the matrix technique described here, not to mention the benefits of having such a massive collection of diverse characters in a single volume. The matrix technique, in a nutshell, is a way to combine different aspects, both physical and mental, to create unique characters. For example, one character (a "wind spirit") was created using a witch, a circus leader, a balloon and the sky as components. Weird? Certainly. However, at first glance it's not obvious that these are the pieces that comprise it, but after reading the character description it becomes readily apparent, as is the logic for selecting these elements. To boil it down, this book is about taking a diverse system of aspects and using them to create characters that are greater than the sum of their parts. In essence, this book is an immunization against artist's block or creative burnout.

This is a very good book filled with good information on how this artist logically compiles characters, but it's not easy to understand at times and the artist can be very vague and inconsistent on many details making this book a very tough read to process.

Pros:

This book presents a logical step-by-step process one could use to create unique characters. Gives a detailed working flow on how to CREATE, not just conceptualize, a character visually from head to toe. Example say your creating a half-robot character this book has a tree for the whole body and you can go into detail on what was robot and what was human from say something general like the torso right down to the fingernails. Much different from other general books like the "How to Draw Manga" series and others that just give a broad idea of how to start or just one or two examples of a specific character already made. Another good thing this book has going for it is how he has many different branches of creatures such as angels, devils, and dragons categorized with lots of suggestions so you can build or get inspiration if your stumped.

Cons:

The Artist is very vague on many details and his explanations leave something to desire. This is the way HE does his character design so likewise much of his workflow sounds like it comes from a long history of trial and error mixed with experience and he is having to explain something he most likely put together from different sources and compile them the best he can. As well he can be inconsistent on some details telling you to do one thing on one group of creatures but telling you to do something different later on, will be explaining one thing but leave you asking "But what happens next?" or "Wait, what do I do now?", or just graze on something interesting or important sounding then move on. Another complaint is how thin the creature index can be, some creature groups get more face time then others or just don't get enough explanations as if he assumes you already know how to do it or you already have a good working knowledge of the subject.

In the end this is a good book but it is in no way for beginners this is an ADVANCED book. It is possible to deceifer this book but it takes ALOT of brainpower to understand what he's talking about and fill in the blanks that he seems to assume you already know. The matrix he presents is a good system but it's hard to understand at first glance. But if you can overcome all these obstacles you can have yourself an extremely useful reference and guide to character design. The body part tree alone is a good reason to buy this book.

The main purpose of this book is to systematically pre-design your characters and do it in a way that is logical, formulaic and archetypically sound.
I almost wrote that I didn't think it was 'for beginners', but thought the better of it when I remembered those that inspired me in my youth and younger days... They were not giving me 'step by step' instruction, instead they inspired me by their work instilling in me the desire to do my own work, and to imagine.
What Tsukamoto-san has done here is just that, with the added benefit of laying out a methodology of creation. I can see this of greatest benefit to those starting out who have various characters laid out in the scheme, but who lack the skills to 'invent' the soul of that character. This book is to explain and punctuate that skill.
When first I paged through after opening my mailer envelope from Amazon... my initial impression was the flash of inspiration I got when I first (in the early 1970's) saw the work of Brian Froude... or when I was perusing the works of Roger Dean or Frank Frazetta or Boris Vallejo... or reading over and over again the works of jean Giraude's (Who created work under the name Moebius) "The Air Tight Garage" in Metal Hurlant.
Not to mention Fred Schrier or Dave Sheridan's spectacular works of wonder. It is that that makes me say to who ever takes the time to read this review, please do yourself a favor, get this book. Keep it by your desktop, close at hand and read it in the still of the evening when you want to dream, or in the heat of creation when you need to find that one thing to fill the gap. It is that good! Even though the mythologies are primarily 'foreign' (being from the ancient Shinto and archaic Japanese cultures, though not completely!) to the western mind, maybe it will inspire 'aspiring artists' to plunge into studies of ancient cultures of their own ancestry! It is a wonderfully presented book.
And to those who have been out there for a bit I would say, "YES! It is worth the price!"
I give it 'two thumbs up"!

I have several how to draw books. They are all very easy to follow and some of them read like a story. This one is not. The material very dry and there were a few places the thought process of the author did not flow very well.

However,the Matrix that is taught in this book is very valuable. I love the ideas that are taught in this book. Anyone who is serious about their art needs this book.

I keep this book close by and use it like a textbook or reference book, when I need help creating new characters.

There is a lot of very good "how to draw" books, including "how to draw manga". If you need such kind, go and get them.
But this one is completely not about the drawing techniques, but rather is about what to do before you start to draw. It shows you a regular method how to think of you character, how is it supposed to look from three points of view (form, costume, personality) and how to get deeper into all three directions by using complex tabular checklists.
The idea of matrix method itself is not too complicated, and the method explanation takes about 30 pages. But the rest of the book illustrates how to use it by examples of creating monsters, artifical creatures, faires, and many more others types of characters.
This book is of good quality, full coloured and contains a lot of amazing illustration.
Could be useful not only to anime/manga fans, but for any artist, including game designers.

THIS is my most prized book that i own. its very unique with so many characters, and the technique of the matrix system will get you far.if you have felt like you didnt know what to draw before, just open up the book and you WILL get so many ideas. its just plain AWESOME and i REALLY recommend it before any other book ive looked through or owned!

At first when I read the product description, I thought it was for characters creation rather than mystical beings/monsters. But after reading the reviews and realizing what the book is best for, I bought it for the purpose of creating unique beasties and it is wonderful!

Just about the only part useful for human character creation is the costume aspect, though that's about it. I give the book 5 stars for it's monster creation technique, if it had a sister book for actual characters I would buy it in a heartbeat.

Manga Matrix describes a truly innovative method for generating characters using "the matrix technique". The versatility of this system is evident right from the beginning of this book and with plenty of awe inspiring color illustrations, this is definitively a resource that any manga artist would like to have at hand.

This book is divided into three parts:

Guide to the Matrix Technique
_ What is The Matrix?
_ Form x Costume x Personality = Infinity
_ Steps in Character Making
_ Form Matrix
_ Costume Matrix
_ Personality Matrix

Free Character Creation using the Matrix Technique
_ Angels
_ Fallen Angels and Devils
_ Dragons
_ Nonhuman Creatures and Phantom Beasts
_ Fairies and Spirits
_ Creatures in the Artificial World
_ Monsters
_ World of Fantasy Characters

Expression of Humanlike Emotions
_ Ultimate Lives Borne from Human Ego
_ Joy
_ Insanity
_ Love
_ Appendix: Form Matrix
_ Appendix: Costume Matrix-Mask
_ Afterword
_ Contribution

The matrix technique involves using a rectangular layout arranging characteristics in columns vs. rows and selecting from within the matrix to determine how these characteristic will mix. This technique is demonstrated on the first part of this book through the creation of sample characters.

The second part show how a variety of character from mythology and fantasy are generated using matrices. One can easily see the source of inspiration for many of the awesome creatures shown in science fiction/fantasy anime. The last part of this book is used to show a few archetypes representing emotions. It also shows matrices for Form and Costume, including a two page library of full animals and plants, and one page library of animal parts for character design.

Indeed, if this book can be criticized is for the minimalistic use of instructions, which at times may be a bit disorienting. However, once you get pass this small hurdle, is easy to see how useful this book can be.

I am an Anime fan, have been for years. Inspired by the style and the expression of individuality through design, I have struggled to come up with characters and personalities of my own. With this book as my guide I've found that creating interesting characters can be super easy with a little bit of organized thought in the creation process. If nothing else, this book will leave you full of inspiration and renewed hope of being able to create amazing work of your own, all in your own style!

Make sure you don't just look at the pictures and you'll learn plenty from this book! It does a great job of breaking down parts of the body to help you think how to combine different things to combine unique characters. If you are only looking to copy drawings, this is not for you. But if you are serious about creating your own characters this is tremendously helpful. The art in the book are certainly of high quality, but the process that it takes you through to understand how to effectively create character is extremely helpful.

I have a bunch of other famous "how to draw" books, but this really goes beyond how to draw to what to draw. This is not for beginners to quickly learn how to draw something impressive, but for serious artists who really want to explore their own creativity with a tour guide. Loving it, and so worth rereading too!