Japanator review: Manga - The Complete Guide

2:37 PM on 10.24.2007   |   Dale North

There's no doubt that the popularity of manga is on the rise in America, and so you could consider the release of Jason Thompson's Manga: The Complete Guide as quite timely. This book attempts to tackle and review the almost 1,000 domestically released, English language manga series, rating them all from one to four stars. As much as we love manga here at Japanator, I wouldn't wish that task on anyone. Ever. That being said, I'm glad someone has taken this task on, and it makes for a very handy book -- if not one that's hard to stump.

Manga: The Complete Guide is very... complete. My nature had me instantly thumbing through it to find something that I thought wouldn't be in there. I had no success at all. Do you remember Nymphet (Kodomo no Jikan) and it's related drama over the manga's content? I thought for sure that this title, which didn't really make it off the ground, would be missing from the book's listings. I was wrong: it was listed, with full details, and even gave the cancellation date. 

Hit the jump to read our full review of Manga: The Complete Guide. 

After that, I went about comparing my views to that of the reviewer, hoping to call him out (sorry Jason!) on half-assed or "I didn't watch all of it"-type review that you'll see so much of on the internet these days. Gah! Foiled again. Not only are we seeing eye to eye on most things, the titles with the longer reviews seemed more deserving of that, and it's almost like the author seemed to like the same titles I did! A good example is an older favorite of mine, Otomo's Domu (Child's Dream). This title came out in the mid-1990's from Dark Horse, and has always been one of my manga treasures. After seeing the review and its four stars, I wanted to high-five the author. And on that note, a double high-five goes to the author for a four-star rating for Kishimoto's Naruto -- professionals can also be Narutards, and I'm glad that there are others that will admit it. 

Being as complete and concise as I could tell, I couldn't stump Manga: The Complete Guide, and eventually I found myself playing with it like some nifty informational toy. An internet Web site is great for information, but nothing beats flipping through pages that are right there in your hands. I found myself comparing past loved titles with ones I haven't read yet, looking at translation times, finding new manga to check out, and learning a few things in the process. Heck, it was even fun to look at yaoi manga titles and giggle. I gave in, and the loving began.

Now, don't think that this book is just a review guide. It's packed with articles on everything from hentai to yakuza, and then topped off with the history of manga, a glossary, and even a handy guide on the Japanese language. There's a few dozen articles on everything manga related, giving newcomers the necessary background to understand the manga they just picked out. These articles are fun and entertaining (I liked the adult section!) for seasoned manga fans, as well. Sections on specific manga topics like video games, sports, and even salarymen gave full historical details, and the end of each of these articles listed the related manga. You could look up "transgender," learn about it, and then get a list of transgender manga to check out. How handy is that?

It's great to see that age guidelines were included, enabling parents to actually use this as a guide. We all know that these kids will eventually grow up and gravitate towards the back of the book (adult manga, yaoi/BL), but for now mom and dad can flip through the book and know that Sgt. Frog is a stronger candidate than Pink Sniper (look it up or ask a furry). 

Again, Manga: The Complete Guide couldn't have come out at a better time. Hardcore fans need a all-in-one reference book, and the masses of newcomers need a good starting point. Know-it-alls like (like myself) can get more info on series' artists for later name dropping, and first timers can learn the background on what they're reading and get recommendations on related titles. Everyone wins. And at $20, or the price of about two manga books, you could potentially be saving yourself much more in the future. One flip through this book will tell you that there are plenty of duds out there.

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