Creative Staff:
By: Helen McCarthy
What They Say:
Manga—Japanese comics—are now ubiquitous, but how much do you actually know about the innovators, artists, writers and publishers of some of the most beloved comics in the world?
A Brief History of Mange is the only concise volume of its kind to provide a snapshot of the past 150 years of this sequential art form. Lavishly illustrated, and stuffed with facts, figures and anectodes on key manga—from Akira to Mazinger Z—and the creators behind them, the book boasts a unique quick reference timeline running throughout, with publication dates, important historical events and the births and deaths of the biggest names in manga art.
Written by one of the West’s most renowned and respected anime and manga experts, A Brief History of Manga is an authoritative and essential guide—a crash course on the world’s most prevalent and popular art form.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
I’ve read snippets of Helen McCarthy’s book of Hayao Miyazaki (Hayao Miyazaki: Master of Japanese Animation) and Osamu Tezuka (The Art of Osamu Tezuka: God of Manga) for school or to bolster my knowledge for review of those respective movies or books. Admittedly, though, I had never read cover to cover one of her books. For research purposes and reviews, I just skimmed the parts that I needed.
But it is completely worth it to page through this tiny volume. Each page explores a year in manga, usually focusing on the most influential comic of that year. In 1995, Neon Genesis Evangelion, the Yoshiyuki Sadamoto manga, not the Hideaki Anno anime, got focus. In 1997, One Piece and Naruto (the year the Naruto one shot premiered). In 1999 (the year Naruto proper started), 20th Century Boys. Going back, 1966 was sports manga, 1946 was Tezuka’s debut, and, of course, 1982 featured Akira.
The format makes it extremely easy to read as well. Each year takes up a spread and it’s easy to just read one year each day and learn a bit that way. I bulleted through it, which is perhaps a poor way of going about it because a lot of details aren’t going to remain in my memory. But it’s also very easy to go back to a certain year and revisit that information. Nearly any other format wouldn’t be conductive to do that.
Reading through this, I not only got an impression of manga’s roots (which lie in more than just Disney and Tezuka), but also discovered several manga I want to read for myself.
In Summary:
The only thing I could ask for is more detail, but the format is not conductive to that demand. As is, I love the book. The hodgepodge of manga drawings on the cover show just how far reaching manga is in Japan. Given its 1,314 year history—or, more accurately, 153 year history—I’m surprised by how much information was stuffed in here. I could only hope for more.
Content Grade: A
Packaging Grade: A
Released By: Ilex Gift
Release Date: March 30th, 2014
MSRP: $12.95
