Manga Mania Shoujo: How to Draw the Charming and Romantic Characters of Japanese Comics (Paperback)

~ (Author) "Shoujo is perhaps the best-loved, most recognizable manga style in the world..." (more)
Key Phrases: shoujo characters, speech balloon

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Shoujo manga is one of the most popular styles of Japanese animation, featuring the most recognizable characters in manga-seen everywhere in comics, books, toys, television, film, and video. Since shoujo is based on stories that focus on peer pressure, romance, and friendship, it initially appealed to young females, but today more and more boys are attracted to this genre, which inevitably includes young male heroes. Best-selling author Christopher Hart once again reveals the secrets and techniques that go into building all the basics of the shoujo style-the big eyes, the miniscule noses, and the cute or angst-ridden expressions. Teen body language is explored. In addition, artists learn to draw teen clothing styles and also different character types, from school kids and cuddly creatures and cute pets to heartthrobs.

About the Author

Christopher Hart is the best-selling author of many drawing and cartooning books, including Manga Mania, Drawing Cutting Edge Comics, Human Anatomy Made Amazingly Easy, and Cartooning for the Beginner. He lives in Connecticut.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Watson-Guptill (May 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0823029735
• ISBN-13: 978-0823029730
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #59,016 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars it'll take more than this book to be a good manga artist, April 17, 2005

By	M. Cookson (Colorado Springs) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The author, in the introduction, calls this book "a complete and thorough guide to drawing the world of shoujo manga." I think that's a bit too optimistic, especially considering that it's only 143 pages. There are several helpful hints and tips in this book, but I think this book would be best if read in conjunction with other manga how-to books and plenty of actual manga. The book's various sections are: the basics (things like heads, profiles, hairstyles, bodies, etc.), poses, bishies, the magical girl style, other popular shoujo styles, cool clothes, and design details.

These sections sound great, but everthing is covered VERY briefly - the step-by-step instructions are very short and would probably be, at best, only marginally helpful for beginners. The best part about this book is the artwork, although, as one reviewer wrote, even that has its issues. Much of the artwork, although nicely colored, does not really look that good - it's nice, however, that the artwork varies in style, so that it doesn't appear that all manga art looks the same. Still, I think this book would've benefitted from using examples from actual manga and discussing how those examples reinforce the book's hints and tips. At the very least, "further reading" lists at the ends of each section might have been nice.

As with many how-to art books, this book seems to assume that its readers have some previous drawing knowledge, so I wouldn't recommend this book for absolute beginners, but if you've tried to draw manga characters and have been having problems, this book might help you out. Or it might not. While it covers quite a few drawing hints and tips, some of which I, for instance, found very helpful, there is an aweful lot it doesn't cover. If you can afford it, it might be good to get this book along with other "how to draw manga" (or even "how to draw") books, but if you can't, you might want to look for a more thorough book.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One of Chris Hart's better items, December 16, 2006

By	Bryan Bankhead (Columbus, OH United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

All art books are faced with striking a balance between how much space to devote to 'the basics' ( figure ,perspective, shading, color theory ,etc) and the specific aspects of a narrowly focused subject. (what are the proportions of a typical manga 'bisho' boy? What is a good creative process for designing a tranforming mecha?).
This title winds up with four stars because of what it DOESN'T try to do. It doesn't try to take you from stick figures to Masamune Shirow in one book like his first two titles. And yes this IS a lousy book for beginners, because beginners need a focus on 'the basics' and 'the basics' are worth a lot more than one book.
This book is for intermediate+ amatuer artist who want a solid sourcebook for the design elements of the shoujo manga genre. Even a professional aritst who wanted a 'instant expert' guide would find it useful.
As for the quality of the art in the book, yeah, they don't do it like Clamp, but that may be to the good. If they did, the relative beginners might be a bit intimidated! I find the style of the books art give the whole thing an air of 'Hey I can do that', which makes you want to wade right in. Especially since they show a lont of the art with the multi-stage construction drawings with it.
So I would say the book is well worth it. As long as you know what it's trying to do.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Shoujo Manga book. , December 19, 2005

By	Larry "Larry" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

Christopher Hart has written an excellent book. He captured the essence of Shoujo, its beauty, grace, and subtlety. This book contains a great deal of information that will help the beginning and advanced artist. It is also beautiful to look at. I personally loved the Magical Girl section as well as the Chibi section. His treatment of colors is top notch.