Rating: 
Summary: Makes me want to give anime another chance...
Review: I've never liked Japanese animation. I missed out on "Astro Boy" and "Speed Racer" when I was a kid. To me, "Kimba the White Lion" represented Japanese animation. Something about the oddness in the characters voices (they always threw in extra syllables at the end of their sentences, "We have to go save him, huh?") and the gender ambiguity of the lead character (these things are important to uptight pre-pubescent kids) really bothered me. By the time Japanese animation took hold in the US cartoon market with shows such as "Voltron," or "Robotech," I was done with cartoons. By the time Japanese animation started showing up on the shelves at Blockbuster Video, I learned that one should refer to Japanese animation as "Anime." In the years between, I found that the same kind of geeky know-it-all kids who dominated the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons scene and who lingered too long at comic book stores discussing the outcome of a battle between the "Teen Titans" and "Alpha Flight," were the same folks who loved Anime. Have you ever disliked a band because of its fans? This was the same kind of thing. I have yet to listen to anything by The Misfits merely because of all the losers in leather jackets who would come to concerts and stand in my way or push people around in the pit. Nine times out of ten they'd have on some sort of Misfits paraphernalia. No one's written a book explaining the music of the Misfits from an outsider's point of view. Thankfully, Antonia Levy's book Samurai from Outer Space is the perfect guide for jerks like me who've dismissed an entire animation style out of dislike for its diehard fans. Subtitled "Understanding Japanese Animation," Levy takes the reader through the history of Anime and Manga (Japanese comic books). She explains common themes explored in these media, helping to put them into cultural and historical perspective. Levy's book isn't a lofty dissertation on the integration of Shinto myths into modern Anime. While she covers those subjects and more, Levy quickly gets to brass tacks. In her first chapter, she addresses one of my burning questions about Anime and Manga, "Why do these Japanese characters have exaggerated Anglo features?" According to Levy, the characters are not thought of as belonging to any one particular race. Instead, those big round eyes are more of a stylistic flourish of Manga - just as big eyes are trademark in the U.S. to those annoying Precious Moments statuettes. In Samurai from Outer Space, Levy addresses the appeal of Anime and Manga to Easterners and Westerners. More than cheaply made adventure stories, Anime and Manga are often steeped in the rich culture of their homeland, just as U.S. storytellers sweeten their narratives with references or by playing off of common cultural themes. Just as a viewer not entirely familiar with Greek mythology might not get as many laughs watching "Xena: Warrior Princess" as someone who really knows their Homer, without a substantial understanding of Shinto myth one might scratch their head at "Ranma ½." A thorough and well-written tome, Samurai from Outer Space convinced me to give Anime another chance. (ISBN: 0812693329)
Rating: 
Summary: Enjoyable & educational
Review: If you are just now learning the world of anime and want to expand your knowledge this is a great book for you. It is extremely informative for a beginner and contains many details on the mythologies and customs of the Japanese which appear numerous times in anime and manga. You'll learn a few new Japanese words, and you can impress your friends, "I know why this happens, what that means" etc. Unfortunately it doesn't cover the reasons why anime made such a big boom in the States, only speculations. The author also makes false or unfounded claims of the origion of American morals.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book for Brand New Anime Fans
Review: If you are just now learning the world of anime and want to expand your knowledge this is a great book for you. It is extremely informative for a beginner and contains many details on the mythologies and customs of the Japanese which appear numerous times in anime and manga. You'll learn a few new Japanese words, and you can impress your friends, "I know why this happens, what that means" etc. Unfortunately it doesn't cover the reasons why anime made such a big boom in the States, only speculations. The author also makes false or unfounded claims of the origion of American morals.
Rating: 
Summary: Understanding what, exactly?
Review: Levi's book is a good introduction to anime 'fandom' in America. However, while it presents one somewhat interesting way to 'read' Japanese cartoons, it wholly fails to live up to its title. This book is not qualified to help readers "Understand Japanese Animation" (as if that were a straightforward question waiting for a simple answer). On the other hand, it does give us a good example of how Americans often choose to categorize and view cartoons from Japan (and even Japan itself). The book focuses on titles that have been translated and released on video in North America; titles not released in the U.S. by the time of the book's printing (even many of Japan's most influential anime titles) are all but ignored. MIYAZAKI Hayao, for years the most popular director of animated films in Japan and a household name even among non-Japanese anime 'otaku', is barely mentioned. There are also several minor factual errors, and when the book edges toward sociological reporting on Japan (the chapter on women, for example), the results are confusing and misleading to say the very least. This book places an exotic veil over Japanese animation that serves to color standing Western assumptions rather than open ideas for cross-cultural understanding. Not recommended. Academic criticism of anime has a long way to go in the West, but Schodt and Schilling may be able to offer more "understanding" (and better researched) glimpses into this area of Japanese media and literature.
Rating: 
Summary: Insight into culture undermined by shallow anime knowledge.
Review: Ms. Levi's discussion of Japanese animation has a two-fold purpose: she wants to explain why Americans find anime so fascinating while she dissects the symbolism behind anime itself. Ms. Levi obviously has great affection towards Japanese history and religious culture, and if she were to write a book on those subjects exclusively, she would probably have a winner. However, Samurai From Outer Space shows a careless disregard for the facts of many anime. Some mistakes are so blatant that it brings the author's own knowledge of anime itself into question, and it undermines the credibility of the other material in the book. According to the book's cover, the author has written books "on subjects ranging from the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers to the Japanese Communist Party." This diversity may be why her actual anime knowledge seems quite limited. Nevertheless, the author's attitude can be read as haughty, and disrespect for Christianity and Western culture in general is also very apparent. Finally, the book takes an outsider's view of Generation X--it's full of speculation on why this group enjoys anime so much, but there is never a sense that the author actually sat down with modern non-Asian anime fans and discussed the topic at length. This is not to say that the book is without merits--indeed, it is very informative about Japanese legends and ancient culture, and good chunks of the book are useful if that's what you want to learn. Bottom line: it's a decent book on Japanese tradition, but a lousy book on anime.
Rating:
Summary: Insight into culture undermined by shallow anime knowledge.
Review: Ms. Levi's discussion of Japanese animation has a two-fold purpose: she wants to explain why Americans find anime so fascinating while she dissects the symbolism behind anime itself. Ms. Levi obviously has great affection towards Japanese history and religious culture, and if she were to write a book on those subjects exclusively, she would probably have a winner. However, Samurai From Outer Space shows a careless disregard for the facts of many anime. Some mistakes are so blatant that it brings the author's own knowledge of anime itself into question, and it undermines the credibility of the other material in the book. According to the book's cover, the author has written books "on subjects ranging from the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers to the Japanese Communist Party." This diversity may be why her actual anime knowledge seems quite limited. Nevertheless, the author's attitude can be read as haughty, and disrespect for Christianity and Western culture in general is also very apparent. Finally, the book takes an outsider's view of Generation X--it's full of speculation on why this group enjoys anime so much, but there is never a sense that the author actually sat down with modern non-Asian anime fans and discussed the topic at length. This is not to say that the book is without merits--indeed, it is very informative about Japanese legends and ancient culture, and good chunks of the book are useful if that's what you want to learn. Bottom line: it's a decent book on Japanese tradition, but a lousy book on anime.
Rating:
Summary: Brings new perspectives to the table
Review: Surprisingly rich in detailing Japanese cultural references, especially those relating to symbolism and theatrical conventions, this is an intelligent survey of the storytelling aspects of anime. Note that the emphasis is on *story*, not so much on matters of film-making craft. But since anime story construction is so rich, and so uniquely different from western pop-culture forms, that's a worthy focus.
Rating:
Summary: a totaly awesome book
Review: This book is the best referance i could find on anime. I actually wrote a thesis statement on anime, well anime related, and this book was the only true resource i had besides web pages. Its worth the money. I believe every otaku must read this book before they can consider themselves a true otaku.
Rating:
Summary: Good but Dated
Review: This book was originaly written back in the year 1996 before the anime boom had hit America. I know anime is still not a word known in every household, but it is more popular now than what it was five years ago. I found this book to be quite an interesting read although most of the information seems to be for those who are only interested in Japan because of anime, which is not a rare thing to say the least so things such as literature and religion get pushed to the side because of a superior interest in Animation. I'm not saying that this is a bad thing, but fo those who have a deeply rooted interest in Japan in other things besides anime might find the book to be lacking in new information, but overall the book is quite enjoyable and might help make sense of some of the "strange" stuff that some viewers might see in anime. such as what figures of folklore the Urusei Yatsura characters Benten and Oyuki were derived from. I found a couplke of errors in the book as well in anime refernces. The first is obviously a mistype on page 51 Dr. Levi calls the manager of Maison Ikkoku Ryoko. The character's name is Kyoko. Maybe she was thinking about Tenchi Muyo! at the time. the second on page 131, Dr. Levi says that Akane cut her long hair of intentionately. This is not so her hair was accidentally cut off by Ryoga. She had her sister Kasumi even it out for her, but besides these little errors the book is an enjoyable read, but only scratches th e surface of the deeper meanings within anime. A better book to read would be Anime: from Akiira to Princes Mononoke by Susan J. Napier.
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable & educational
Review: This was well written, a lot of fun & educational as well. A lot of in depth info but still manages to be a great introduction to anime for folks like me who really don't know very much about it. Answers some of those nagging questions about content & why it looks the way it does. Author has a great sense of humor - you'll enjoy it.
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