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Average Customer Rating:

Good collection of and guide to licensed manga, inconsistent and mediocre ratings of titles

Customer Rating:

I picked up a copy of Manga: The Complete Guide, since I already owned an Anime version of this type of collection. Basically, it is a listing of every Japanese manga licensed in English (by early 2007) with a synopsis and a review, along with volume information and age ratings (though mistakes like the volume # for Hero Heel abound). This volume also contains an introduction and afterward about Japanese comics (and even has a hiragana/katakana chart for reference), which are all very interesting and useful. The book succeeds as a reference guide to manga in general, but the separate yaoi section fails as a good guide for determining whether a series is worthwhile or not, and probably because this book was compiled mostly by men (presumably straight) who are not necessarily fans of the genre (the ratings seem to get lower the more graphic the series are...) and seem to prefer Viz shonen series (for which the author is an editor). The book does list all of the active licenses up to last year (2007), except for being entirely lacking of any of the BL novels (aside from mentioning the OtRFK novels) or non-BL light novels, and not containing any Korean manwha titles, Chinese manhua, OEL (western graphic novels styled like manga) or cine-manga (picture manga based on anime series/movies). This is an English-licensed-Japanese-manga-only collection. I wouldn't take the ratings to heart, especially since they go from 0 to 4 stars, which aside from being awkward are completely inconsistent. Naruto got 4 stars, but Fruits Basket, the greatest selling shojo manga in the US and Japan got 3.5. Bleach got 3 stars, though the review would lead you to believe it wasn't "that great" of a title. People expect a 5 star system (0 to 5, that is), especially since it gives you more to work with in differentiating between "bad" titles and "okay" titles. The top score should be reserved for the seminal works and there seemed to be just too many of them slapped on titles that only marginally deserved a high rating (Naruto, anyone?). The yaoi section reviews were particularly abysmal, when there actually were reviews (many of the titles were left unrated). Some of the most celebrated BL titles of all time were snubbed: FAKE got 2 stars because the reviewer didn't like the artwork; Embracing Love got 4 stars while fellow BBGold signature titles Finder Series and Kizuna got 2.5 stars?! Other marginal titles got rave reviews: Wild Rock got 4 stars, and while not a bad series, the rating seems based on someone's personal feelings about the title and not its own merit. The review and rating system would have better been served by extensive research of official published reviews for series and average manga fan reactions to them and not the personal and incosistent feelings of the people compiling this book. However, this is a good collection of information about past titles you might want to look into. This is one of those books that you'll want to look out for future editions of/additions to (since there are more and more titles being licensed every day). For the price, I would suggest finding this book on sale or used somewhere. The inconsistent ratings, errors and omissions (particularly of light novels and manwha) only garner this collection 3 stars. If it were available in an updatable e-book format I would recommend that instead.

Rating System Terrible, Not a Useful Guide

Customer Rating:

This book is billed as a resource to 'find good manga you missed.' It fails. Personally, I like seinen manga with intricate plots, some humor, and a fast pace. I picked up this book hoping for good recommendations regarding series I might like. First I paged to the seinen section, which contained five pages with about 10 entries. Half the entries had a rating of 'NR' (not rated), and the other half had low ratings (or I had read already). Not useful. Next I hit the general section, looking for 'seinen' titles that weren't mentioned in the 'seinen' section. "Berserk," the only manga in existence that when the subject of horse rape is mentioned, a fan must ask 'which time,' is rated at four stars. (Not a fan.) 3x3 Eyes (discontinued by Dark Horse), one of the best seinen titles, is rated three stars. Claymore, my second favorite series of all time, is two stars. At this point, I was annoyed. Then I figured it out. Whoever rated these, gives bonus stars for sales franchise numbers (1-2 stars) and for the shoujo genre (0.5-1 star). How else would Card Captor Sakura, a cutesy manga targeted at selling 8 year old girls princess combat outfits, be described as four stars must read? Rave Master, one of the most derivative, trashiest shonen offerings, garners three and a half stars! It is my opinion, after some analysis of the author's descriptions and ratings systems (having read about 1/3 of the manga mentioned in this book myself), that the star system is utter garbage. Shounen series, unless they are old or big sellers, average one and a half stars. Shoujo series, even if they are bad, average two and a half stars. Synopsizes having mistakes in spelling and plot content makes me wonder about the editing. Obviously this guide was slapped together based on the number of NR on manga which have been available for over a year, the lack of a 'yuri' chapter, and the absence of Korean Manwha titles (which are appearing in the manga section often now). While this might be the best published guide listing American manga right now, it's because nothing else is out there. Personally I find using a search engine on the internet gives better results as to whether or not I'll like a series than this guide. Do not buy.

Great Manga Dictionary - Not Much Else

Customer Rating:

I got this book to function as a dictionary of all things manga (a term that is defined by the author of this text as Japanese ONLY created manga no Korean or Chinese creations are included). Fortunately this is how this book functions best as a dictionary. It fails to do little else. Included in the book are small articles are all forms of manga from shojo to shonen to otaku to doujinshi. The best part about these articles is that they refernce manga titles found within the book according to the article's subgenre. Interested in horror or fantasy or pet comedies, but don't know what else is out there - check out this book. Unfortunately, this book suffers from a few problems as well. There are instances of poor editing. On one page the word relationship is spelled "relationshi" and the period is missing. Another problem is the zero to four star rating system. In short, it can't be used. The author's prefernce for all things Shounen Jump is obvious and if the work is old (think Tezuka) it is guarenteed a good review. Another problem with the rating system is that whomever decided upon the rating didn't do it consistently. Bobobobo (bo whatever) receives a rating of 2.5 stars making it better than average while Loveless receives 2 stars making it average. (Loveless is described as "boring" showing the author's roots in shounen manga. There is even a comment that in other manga the characters at least trade swords.) Another insult is that Godchild received the same rating as Bobo. And for Descendant of Darkness fans (myself included) 1 star. Whereas Love Hina gets 3 (granted it is a fun work, but come on). Tenshi ja nai! receives 2 stars and is described as "trashy". However, anything Yu Watase does is not trashy or expected, but rather wonderful receiving an average 3 star rating (think H3 here). FMA receives a rating of 4 stars (which I happen to agree with) as does Naruto. Another problem is that the book already needs an update. Many of the works are left with NR (not rated) ratings because the work could not be reviewed prior to publishing. This includes works like Vampire Knight, E's, Black Sun, Silver Moon, or Gunsmith Cats: Burst. Works that have been out for a year or more. However, to compensate for this problem Del Ray does offer a link on its website to get updated reviews (the link is in the book). Also included in this work are subsections on hentai and yaoi. (Yuri is left to a small article. A major problem because many of the yuri works could not be reviewed by the author and are left as NR.) NR also appears heavily in the yaoi section. Only three yaoi works get four star ratings Shout Out Loud (deserved it), Wild Rock (never read heard it sucked), and Gerard & Jacques (I can't get over the girly art). Other fantasic works like Junjo Romantica (2.5 stars), Yellow (2 stars), and Brother (3 stars) receive lower ratings. Interestingly Love is Like a Hurricane is included in the NR catagory along with half the section. Additionally many works are missing from the yaoi catagory (Spell, Scandoulous Seiryo High, and many others). Admittly, I don't know anything about hentai. Overall, I gave this work 4 stars as a dictionary. Great reference. If I were to rate it for its reliabilty in rating or its updated manga list I give it a 2 or 3.

The definitive guide to manga for parents, librarians, educators, students, fans...and pretty much everyone else

Customer Rating:

Thompson's book is an impressive achievement, and he's written the definitive "Everything You Ever Really Wanted to Know About Manga (But Had the Good Sense Not to Ask)" reference book. He provides coverage of every single manga that's been translated and made commercially available in the United States, which is a major undertaking by itself, and he goes the extra mile by including extensive essays on a variety of subjects ranging from basic Japanese culture to American fandom to the ins and outs of the publishing industry itself. Any librarian or educator who really wants to get a handle on what their kids are reading should do themselves a favor and order a copy. Manga fans themselves will want this just to keep track of the sheer number of comics that have been released since the 1980s, and to determine which ones are worth tracking down, and which should be avoided at all costs.

A must for those new to Manga

Customer Rating:

I first heard of this author and this book on the "Comic Geek Speak" podcast, (an excellent podcast by the way). I have been reading American comic books for over 25 years and had read very little Manga but was always interested. I was bit put off from some Manga because it either seemed juvenile or pornographic. This book does a tremendous job in dispelling the image of Manga that many of us raised on American comics have about the genre. This book explains not only the history of Manga but the various types of Manga to the point where if you can't find something you'd like, you just didn't look hard enough. Plus there are over 900 reviews! Don't like big-eyed teenage girls running around in skirts? Don't worry! There is a Manga series that caters to both men and women of every age group and interest. Horror, fantasy, occult, mystery, politics, sci-fi, sports, pets, martial arts, military, business people, etc...Whew! Without this book, the hundreds of titles and dozens of genres would be too much to try and piece together. I'm sure many experienced Manga fans will disagree with some of his reviews but when you've read as many as the reviewer has, cliches are probably very easy to spot and quality easy to discern. If you feel that your American Comics collection is getting a bit predictable or drab, or you just want to expose yourself to this art form, this book is a must for people absolutely new to the form.