The Rough Guide to Anime 1 (Rough Guide Reference)

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The Rough Guide to Anime provides a comprehensive overview of the diverse and amazing world of animation from Japan. Combining a critical approach with all the essential background information from history and short biographies of the key people in the industry to the different genres, themes and cultural references of anime this is the ultimate guide to Japanese animation.

The book introduces the creative talents behind the major anime movies, TV series and OVA (original video animation) from the Oscar-winning Spirited Away to classic works like Howl's Moving Castle, Princess Mononoke, and the iconic shows Astro Boy, Kimba the White Lion, Speed Racer and Robotech.

Written by anime expert Simon Richmond, features include the Top 50 must-sees, with details on the most influential directors and creative artists. There's an exploration of the art form's history, plus information on the anime conventions and manga-related attractions in Japan.

Newcomers will love the glossary of all the anime slang and jargon, while devoted fans will relish the fresh exploration of themes, genres and obsessions in the colorful anime universe. The Rough Guide to Anime explores the best of the prolific genre of anime in today's popular culture.

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Customer Reviews

Review by Lesley Aeschliman, 2010-05-05

The book contains an introduction, acknowledgements, seven chapters, a glossary, and an index. The introduction covers some of the very basics of anime. In the course of seven chapters, the author covers the history of anime, fifty "must-see" anime, the history of the anime studios, biographies for individuals involved in anime production in Japan (directors, animators, and voice actors), the connection between manga and anime, biographies of some manga creators whose works have served as source material for anime, the various genres represeted in anime, how anime has helped influece some anime series, the European influences on anime, merchandising tie-ins, anime's influence on popular culture, various ways to watch anime, recommendations (for anime books, periodicals, and websites), information on anime conventions, and places of interest to anime fans in Japan.

Overall, I thought this book was very well-done, and is very informative. It's also one of the more recent books I have read on anime, so it's more up-to-date that many of the other books I have seen. There's a lot of information, but it is written in such a way that it is accessible to the reader, regardless of whether the reader is already knowledgeable about anime, or is learning about anime for the first time. The Rough Guide to Anime should really be in the reference library of any anime fan.

In order to write this review, I checked out a copy of this book through the King County Library System.