How to Draw Anime & Game Characters, Vol. 4: Mastering Battle and Action Moves (Paperback)

~ Tadashi Ozawa (Illustrator)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

An enemy is creeping up on the hero, when the hero suddenly does a half-spin and sends him flying with a back roundhouse kick! Then the hero jumps up and on the way down delivers a punch to the enemy. Action scenes are the highpoints of a story. This book selects action and movements often used in popular combat games and explains these motions to allow you to master drawing them quickly starting out by tracing and, later, to draw your own original character performing.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Graphic-Sha (June 15, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 4766112547
• ISBN-13: 978-4766112542
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 7.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #76,917 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Useful for more than just anime and game creation, November 30, 2003

By	A. W. Kessinger "keilinger" (Colorado, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I got books 2 and 3 in this set before I got this one, so I knew that there would be a lot of useful information for me to use. I make computers games and draw manga, and these are my favorite resources I use to figure out just how to draw an anime style character without making things look awkward.
This book isn't my favorite of the three I own in the series. It shows very throughly all kinds of brawling and physical hand to hand techniques, but I found there to be a lack of battle and action moves that involve weapons, which is a must for sci-fi stories and so on. Since 6 of 7 pictures on the front and back had weapons, I expected a little more instruction in that respect.
Another note would be that they show so many different angles of the same move (about 4 pages per pose) that it seems a bit redundant the first time through. However, since I see how knowing these angles is really nessecary for any kind of game with a 3d effect.
Things I liked about this book are the good descriptions of the important points. It's also easy to use the index or simply flip through to find what you are looking for because it's well organized. It's clear and easy to understand as well.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For the Future Animator or Game Artist, November 22, 2004

By	Rio A. - See all my reviews

If you've gotten Ozawa's other books, then you already know how detailed his books get! This volume is no different and goes a step further by showing you actions in progress such as showing you each movement of a person walking. Then he shows you how to do the same action but at different angles and foreshortening. There's so much info in here that it'll take you awhile to digest all the information in it. It's stacked full of drawings and side notes!

There are quite a lot of action moves in this book, specifically hand-to-hand combat. No instructions on drawing weapons even though the cover shows them.

Quite unlike Martials Arts & Combat Sports and Illustrating Battles editions, this book prep you to think in 3 dimensions and animation-type movement. If you're set on making animations and video games in the future, this book is the best way to learn spatial relations and seeing your characters more than just one or two-dimensionally.

If you're into making manga, getting this book won't hurt at all but you're probably better off getting the Illustrating Battles or Martials Arts & Combat Sports book initially.

Like his other editions, this book is young-reader friendly and covers nudity well using block, wire, and wooden model figures.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent book for the *animation* of battle scenes, February 5, 2006

By	ProfessorF - See all my reviews

If you view this book as just a drawing book, then I can understand some of the negative reviews.

For example, one of the reviewers complained that the author spent too much time on the drawings for a side kick. And that reviewer was absolutely right.

The reason is: this is really an ANIMATION book. And all those "redundant" drawings that the author is spending time on are the Key Frames and Passing Frames that are ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL for creating great animations.

For example, take Macromedia Flash, draw in those key and passing frames. Then draw in the inbetweens, and you have FANTASTIC animated action sequences. I know, because I've done it!

Viewed as an animation book, this is THE DEFINITVE BOOK for martial-arts, anime animation.

Buy the Animator's Survival Kit by Richard Williams, along with this book and you will have a complete course on anime animation.