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Manga Mania: How to Draw Japanese Comics

Manga Mania: How to Draw Japanese Comics

List Price: $19.95
Your Price: $13.57
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Okay for beginners, but...
Review: As another reviewer mentioned, Christopher Hart's anime how-to books would be best for people who are very new to drawing or are in the age 8-13 range. Anyone who has had some experience drawing anime, however, needs something more advanced. The art is okay, but not as good as many of the amateur manga artists that I know, and the lines seem to have a pixely quality, like they were done on Microsoft Paint. There are some good examples to copy from, and some figure building techniques. But Hart's manga style looks too much like Digimon and his character examples are kind of clichéd (Pink-haired J-Pop girl, Deedlit-ish elf girl, boy with robot pal, etc.) I would recommend the Japanese How To Draw Manga books over this one for a more in-depth learning experience.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Alright
Review: This book is okay, could've been better but for the price I think it covered a wide variety of subjects. I'm a noob to the anime scene and this book helped a little, esp. in giving little hints. Now I know how to draw those cute kids I always had so much dang trouble with. Not for professionals, but then again, with a title like 'Manga Mania', do you honestly expect it to be?

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: It all depends on your situation
Review: This book is not exactly wonderful. Something worth a trip to the library. It is great for us who see very little western "How-to" books and though not completly manga-tized have put one foot in the domain (like me). That or for Manga starters.

What I did with this book was simply: do all the drawing with quick sketches. Of course, if you do a million sketches of any, you'll get better. This just gave you some ideas.

I dislike his (Hart's) heavy stereotyping, three times over. But hey, it will help when your developing a character to know what "shy people" do to express themselves with their bodies.

I think you should go to your local library, pick it up, and maybe copy a page or two out. If you find yourself constantly going back for more pages, buy it.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Taking lessons on a Japanese art from an American?
Review: "Manga Mania" (the title itself is cheesey) could be appreciated by (1)new anime fans and (2)younger children with an interest in manga. If you'r 13 or up, have seen a couple of animes, and can draw pretty well, I highly recommend going with the "How to draw Manga"s. Yeah, they aren't very generalized at all, and they are very expensive, so learning everything about anime will cost you about $70-$120 but it's worth it. And you don't NEED to buy all of Hayakashi's books to learn. In one chapter, Hart compares Japanese style to American style, but then in the next chapter you can't tell the difference. The only authentic pictures he has are in the "fantasy" section where he has images of elves and such. Fans who want to learn how to draw characters like in most modern animes should avoid this book. Oh yeah, and the coloring is pretty ugly too...^_^

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Excellent
Review: This is a great book, and sadly I don't own it (yet). Anyway, even though I don't own it, I have been able to use it thanks to my manga-drawing fans. I think that it's a great book for beginners by giving you basics for many things that are very helpful. It even shows you in the back some information that is very useful if you want to become a mangaka. I think this is a great book for beginners, and probably wouldn't really benifit someone who is an advance manga drawer.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: More than Manga
Review: This book is a must have not just for Manga enthusiasts, but for anyone wanting to explore the realm of illustrating characters with powerful expressions, postures, and personalities. Anyone who loves drawing or would love to get into drawing should check this out as it has easy-to-understand techniques and tips for making everything from cutesy sweet characters to sinister and deadly villains.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Not For Beginners
Review: Good book. I actually learned alot, but it's a little to advanced. It doesn't really teach you "How to" it just shows you more techniques, assuming you already have the skills. Rent it from the library or something, but even though it's informative and you can learn from it, you might want to INVEST in something a little more "step-by-step."

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Manga Mania
Review: This book is good for almost anyone who likes to draw, especially manga or anime. It goes over several areas in drawing manga, but not in detail. It showed me a lot I didn't know, but it didn't really improve my skill. This book is mostly for beginners.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: OK, but not all it's cut out to be...
Review: I bought this book, mainly because it seemed to be the only manga book at the Chapters I went to...anyhoo, let's get down right to the point--this book is ok, even great, if you are NOT particularly looking for the "Japanese" manga, but if you ARE looking for that "Japanese" style, it's...well, somehow, it has too much western style to it. I'm not really sure how that happened (especially the colors! whoever painted it totally ruined the Japanese-manga-eyes and the style), but it's more of a how to try to draw Japanese manga for western people.
In conclusion, if you're an expert at Japanese manga/anime and wants to learn more about it, I definitely wouldn't recommend this book. However, if you're just a beginner who's from western country or have no idea what Japanese anime is, then this book may be a good way to start off.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: GAH!!! x.o;
Review: I own this book, and am beginning to wish I don't. I thought it was neat at first, but it really doesn't go into technique that much. Oh sure, it demonstrates how to draw the eyes and a couple of other things, but otherwise I didn't find anything all that useful.

Now, my preference is the books from the How-To-Draw-Manga series... n_n


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