Amazon.com
In this important book, Jonathan Clements and Helen McCarthy present an enormous amount of information about 2,000 series and features, detailing their plots and relationships to other anime properties. In these areas, the book is definitive, and readers can only wish a comparable volume existed for American animation. The authors are less sure about non-Japanese influences (
Cowboy Bebop owes more to noir detective films than to
Route 66), and they focus more on storylines and the business of anime than on visuals. They don't discuss the influence of American Saturday morning TV on early anime designs (
Speed Racer, the component series of
Robotech) or the art nouveau styling in
Revolutionary Girl Utena. The editorial evaluations are much harsher than McCarthy's
The Anime Movie Guide: some of the most popular anime series in America--
Tenchi,
Evangelion,
Ranma 1/2--receive sharp criticism. The result is a book that anime fans will either love or love to argue with.
--Charles Solomon
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
From the first examples in 1917 to today's feature-length animated masterpieces like Princess Mononoke, Japanese animation (or anime) has drawn a devoted international fan base. For quite some time, these enthusiasts have needed an all-encompassing, detail-oriented reference work. Fortunately, Clements and McCarthy, who coedited The Erotic Anime Movie Guide and have an outstanding history in anime indexing, translation, and criticism, are just the folks to carry it off. Choosing the best examples from a field that was about twice the final number of entries, the authors review and detail more than 2000 anime films and TV series. Each entry includes a short synopsis, commentary, details about key creative personnel, and evaluation of the work's significance. Over 100 illustrations representing major releases are sprinkled throughout. Other notable features include a selective bibliography, a name/studio index, and a title index that makes it easy to go right to the vital information about a particular example. The end product is a huge, exhaustive, timely, and authoritative compendium of information that will be appreciated by anime experts and neophytes alike. Recommended for all libraries and essential for film and media collections. David M. Lisa, Wayne P.L., NJ
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
See all Editorial Reviews